Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones

February 23, 2023 9:13 AM

December 12th, 2019, Jade returns to the rural lake town of Proofrock the same day as convicted Indigenous serial killer Dark Mill South escapes into town to complete his revenge killings, in this riveting sequel to My Heart Is a Chainsaw from New York Times bestselling author, Stephen Graham Jones.

Four years after her tumultuous senior year, Jade Daniels is released from prison right before Christmas when her conviction is overturned. But life beyond bars takes a dangerous turn as soon as she returns to Proofrock. Convicted Serial Killer, Dark Mill South, seeking revenge for thirty-eight Dakota men hanged in 1862, escapes from his prison transfer due to a blizzard, just outside of Proofrock, Idaho.

Dark Mill South’s Reunion Tour began on December 12th, 2019, a Thursday.

Thirty-six hours and twenty bodies later, on Friday the 13th, it would be over.

Don’t Fear the Reaper is the page-turning sequel to My Heart Is a Chainsaw from New York Times bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones.

[Blurb from publisher's website, previous book previously discussed here]

posted by quatsch (5 comments total)

Just finished this! I felt like I should have re-read My Heart is a Chainsaw before this one because the story picks right back up (despite a four-year gap in the story), with side characters from the previous books popping up in consequential ways, so it would have been nice to have a better idea of what those people's deal was going in. That said, I had a great time, even if I had a hard time keeping track of who was where and what was going on in the midst of some intentionally-obfuscated action sections.
posted by quatsch at 9:20 AM on February 23, 2023

It’s a good sequel. Jennifer/Jade has matured but remains her stubborn self. Numerous side characters get more development. Complicated goings on require attention. Thoughts:

1. SGJ likes confusing the issue with multiple killers. This makes me think that Theo Mondragon was probably the guy with the nail gun, although maybe not the killer on the yacht. There is a lot of stuff with identity in the series.

2. Nobody in this series gets the credit or blame they deserve.

3. I laughed when Jade was outraged that Dark Mill South veered off script.

4. Letha continues to be a complicated and fascinating character.

5. The stunts and murders are well-imagined, bar a few. I don’t think anyone has tried to kill a slasher with a snow plow before.

6. SGJ has a thing for spirit elk.

7. I didn’t love the multiple readers in the audio book. It made some characters hard to track.

Looking forward to the third book, although there are very few named chapters left….
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:57 PM on July 18, 2023

I’m relistening to the trilogy after the release of The Angel of Indian Lake, and I am very impressed by how much pipe laying SGJ is doing, and some subtle stuff about how similar and utterly different Jade and Armitage are (and how similar Armitage is with some of the other abusers in the series.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:23 PM on April 21, 2024

I'm finally wrapping this up now. I got interrupted by... life stuff... 33 chapters in on first read and took so long to get back to it, I had to start over. I wantt to catch up so that I can read the new one right after.

I'm enjoying this, but there is something about this many people having become horror experts that feels weird. We've gone from just Jade, to Jade, Letha, Ginger, Mr. Armitage, DMS... it's a lot.

It is making me want to watch Curtains though, so I think I will post that.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:05 AM on May 21, 2024 [1 favorite]

Well, Jade and Letha make sense, as Letha lost… quite a lot from not paying attention the first time around. Armitage likewise, since he’s the anti-Jade. Dark Mill South and the Bakers are a harder sell, I agree.

Edit: It kind of works, though, since genre-savvy is threaded through the series.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:17 PM on May 21, 2024