Don't Fear the Reaper

Starred review from October 24, 2022
Jade Daniels and her encyclopedic knowledge of slasher films return for another blood-soaked romp in Jones’s superb sequel to My Heart Is a Chainsaw. It’s been four years since Jade—now going by Jennifer—survived the Independence Day Massacre that devastated her hometown of Proofrock, Idaho. Jennifer is trying to put her traumatic past behind her when Dark Mill South, a legendary hook-handed serial killer, escapes captivity on the outskirts of Proofrock during a once-in-a-century winter storm. When gruesomely gutted bodies pile up around town, Jennifer’s reflexes and genre savvy kick in and she must once again rally her friends and the local authorities, while using her familiarity with cinematic slaughter to save them all from victimhood. The only problem, as she deduces from the killer’s unstoppable onslaught, is that “he knows all the same movies we do.” Jones expertly blends snappy graveyard humor with nail-biting suspense, and he gives his characters distinctive personalities that distinguish them from the underdeveloped body fodder common to most slasher scenarios. This characteristically clever gore-fest proves Jennifer to be a horror heroine worthy of many more adventures. Agent: B.J. Robbins, BJ Robbins Literary.

Starred review from June 1, 2023

This sequel to Jones's My Heart is a Chainsaw is a textbook example of a sequel exceeding expectations. Four years after the Independence Day Massacre, Jennifer "Jade" Daniels returns home. She wants a fresh start, but there is still unfinished business in Proofrock, Idaho. When a snowstorm paralyzes the town and releases a serial killer with a passion for slashing, Jade must once again be the final person to save the day. Or, perhaps, is there someone else ready to take up the machete? If Chainsaw was Jones's love letter to slashers, this story reaffirms that love with deep levels of callbacks and brutal kills. However, the story's real draws are Jones's dazzling prose and his compelling characters given life (and a series of unique perspectives) by a massive cast of voice actors, including Isabella Star LaBlanc and Jane Levy. VERDICT This story, full of heart and hemorrhages, emphatically proves that literary beauty and gory kills aren't mutually exclusive. Jade Daniels could be the horror heroine who will have both Freddy and Jason checking under their own beds.--James Gardner

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