Short letter to the publishing industry: why oh why don't you indicate that a book is part of a series on the cover? Sure, a first book might eventually turn into a series unexpectedly, but by book four.... I think you knew.
There's something profoundly frustrating about getting two thirds of the way through a novel only to realize that you've accidently started in the middle of a series. Usually when something like that happens, I put the book aside. It's just frustrating because the narrative assumes I know things that I maybe don't. In the case of The Devil's Only Friend, I managed to finish the book. I actually didn't feel like I was missing information reading it until the very end which speaks well of the author. I'm still frustrated that it wasn't marked anywhere on the cover that it was part of a series.
It's always interesting when the protagonist of a book could be considered a villain. We expect protagonists to be either heroic or sympathetic. Villains aren't either of those. When it's done well, it makes for an intriguing read, but if the author messes it up, it can make a book unreadable. Wells did a good job with it.
John Wayne Carver is 17 in this book and has the capacity to be a serial killer. He knows this and fights the impulses. He's devised a large number of rules to both protect those around him and himself. That doesn't mean he avoids the impulses entirely. He focuses all his energy into hunting and killing a very specific group of victims - demons.
At some point before this book, the FBI discovered John's 'talents' and pulled him into a special taskforce who hunts the same group on behalf of the government. So, yes, the demons are real, or at least they are supernatural creatures who prey on humanity.
There's a lot of action and the investigative angles are interesting read. However, this really is a character driven book. John's interesting. There are moments where he's sympathetic, but mostly he's pretty alien and therefore interesting to 'watch'.
Wells's style is reminiscent of reading Tim Dorsey's books. It's a fast paced quick read. I read it over the course of a single afternoon and evening. I would not, however, hand this book to just anyone. There are some pretty disturbing moments.
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