Not Quite the End of the World

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Charles has his life organized just the way he wants it. But when a freak accident plunges his city into anarchy, Charles and his boss, Janet, must journey to a distant town where things are simpler. Along the way they encounter a particularly hot sun, possibly dirty water, cans that can't be opened, impolite cannibals and sore feet. But in a world where the only trail mix has no chocolate chips, can things ever go back to the way they were?

Published:
Genres:
Dark Comedy, Postapocalyptic
Excerpt:
Reviews:DMD on Amazon US wrote:

Great read - great ending. Not quite like your general "end if the world" novels. The characters are so well developed it's like each has a whole book to tell their story. Then being able to throw such subtle humor into a gruesome dismantling of a person is genius.
I read it straight through.
★★★★★

Patricia Hamill on Goodreads wrote:

"...a lot of fun. [...] I really liked this book for its irreverent, mature humor and its unique take on the end of the world. Folks who enjoy absurd stories that are still logically sound would like this story; I know it sounds like an oxymoron, but the author pulls it off. "
★★★★

Dianski on Amazon Canada wrote:

Things have gone horribly wrong for everyone [...]. And while there is nothing funny about the end of the world, just about everything is funny in this story. I laughed out loud several times, frankly. [Full of] heavy concepts, they are introduced and explored in a variety of wonderfully funny and imaginative ways. This is really one of Jonathan-David Jackson's best books!
★★★★★

Amy's Bookshelf Reviews wrote:

★★★★


The Quest for Nothing in Particular

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Cover image for The Quest for Nothing in Particular. Click to view summary, reviews, and purchase links.
Part of the Paranoia series:
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Oscar isn't looking for anything, since he has just about everything he could want. A wife. A house. A hedgehog that isn't trying to gnaw his face off. But their life of comfort lived under martial law is disrupted when the Red Fist Army suddenly disbands and a nuclear weapon goes missing, leaving it up to Oscar and his wife Penelope to save their town.

Along the way they receive help and sometimes hindrance from one or possibly two hedgehogs, a shotgun-wielding preteen, and a Russian veterinarian, and Oscar finds much more than he was ever looking for, including being beaten practically senseless, his archenemy Ron in case you forgot that guy, fatherhood, muggings, burglarly, buggery (actually I think he was looking for that), rats in charge of society, demonic possession, and at least one nuclear explosion.

Published:
Genres:
Dark Comedy
Excerpt:
Reviews:Amazon Customer on Amazon UK wrote:

Third instalment as good as the first two. Well paced story telling, thoroughly enjoyed this book.
★★★★★

Corey Waters on Google Play Books wrote:

I'm schizophrenic and this series hits the nail squarely on the head. Loved it!!
★★★★★

Diane on Goodreads wrote:

All in all, just a brilliant, good and funny read. Enjoy!!
★★★★★

Patricia Hamill on Goodreads wrote:

"...just as eccentric, quirky and humorous as the first two [...,] a satisfyingly epic conclusion to one of the oddest quests I’ve ever read about."
★★★★★


The Quest for Truth

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Oscar's orderly paranoid world has been turned upside down by the Red Fist Army and he now lives in exile. With the help of Penelope, Jim, and Mr. Hodge the hedgehog, he must free their hostage town, take on the Red Fist, and discover the truth about Dr. Boggs.

However, when things go wrong and Oscar loses his closest friends, he has to rely on an unlikely group of refugees with surprising mental abilities. As he continues on his journey to freeing the town and himself, he finds out more of his own truths than he ever imagined, and absolutely nobody shoots lasers out of their eyes.

Published:
Genres:
Dark Comedy
Excerpt:
Reviews:Deborah Knisely on Amazon wrote:

LOVE LOVE LOVE.... one of my best reads so far this summer... ( The ENTIRE TRILOGY 5 STARS)
★★★★★

'chelle on Amazon wrote:

The Quest for Truth was every bit as funny as its predecessor.
★★★★★

Trish on Goodreads wrote:

The Quest for Truth is a hilarious yet frightening book. Adult humor, gore, and mental instability color everything in this story. So, in short, this is not a book for kids. However, adults who enjoy books that embrace the absurd, who like hedgehogs, and who like a good bit of action will likely enjoy this story and its predecessor, The Quest for Juice. I eagerly await book three, The Quest for Nothing in Particular.
★★★★★

A. Harris on Google Play Books wrote:

My new favourite author. Bought this after reading The Quest For Juice. He's incredibly talented.
★★★★★

swampmaven on Amazon wrote:

Really, this is a great series. The second book is perhaps a little darker than the first, but still highly entertaining and funny. Well worth your time. The characters are fleshed-out, the story is engaging, and you won't think twice about staying up waaaay past your bedtime to finish it. Excellent second installment.
★★★★★

Amazon Customer on Amazon wrote:

Couldn't wait to read the second instalment having finished the first. Did not disappoint - well paced and still different.
★★★★★


The Quest for Juice

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Oscar has always lived a life of quiet paranoia, but now everything is changing. Suddenly, the bus is frequently late, his housekeys won't fit in the lock, and someone has taken his juice, which was the one thing holding his life together. He strikes back against the people behind it all, but when he strikes too hard an innocent man ends up dead, and Oscar ends up in jail, diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and facing life in a mental institution. On his journey to mental health and the truth, he has to make hard decisions about medication, trusting his own mind, dating a nurse, and whether that hedgehog can actually talk.

Published:
Genres:
Dark Comedy
Excerpt:
Reviews:Amber on Goodreads wrote:

Hysterical. Seriously.
★★★★★

J.D. Turner on Goodreads wrote:

The story started so well and just kept picking up the pace. [...] A very original book, with a unique style, and I loved every page.
★★★★★

Publishers Weekly wrote:

In this rollicking novel, lovable mental patient Oscar Well finds himself caught in the thorniest of paradoxes: he is paranoid, but it's possible that he really is being followed. Though the story often pushes the limits of suspension of belief, Oscar's stellar sense of humor and wildly unreliable narration keep the novel's roller-coaster momentum going up to the very last page. Part One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, part Alice in Wonderland, the story delves merrily into astute observations of human nature as well as the vivid surrealism of hallucination. Whether Oscar is truly hallucinating, or caught up in a dystopian world, is never entirely clear; the murkiness offers the reader both delight and frustration. Nevertheless, excellent pacing and nonstop action [...] make the story well worth the ride.

Mandy White on Goodreads wrote:

This was a real mind-bender. At first, I was both fascinated and disturbed as I found myself drawn into the mind of a paranoid schizophrenic. I experienced all the little nuances of the character's paranoia along with him; he was so convinced it was real that I would have been convinced as well, had his beliefs not been so outlandish.

Finally he gets treatment for his condition, and that's where the story takes a really messed-up turn. I can't really say more without spoilers, but I will just say that in this story, things are not what they seem. Then, when things do appear to be what they seem, they are not. Like I said, it's a real mind-bender. I was thrilled to find an excerpt for the sequel at the end of the book.
★★★★★

Jo-Ann Murphy on Goodreads wrote:

I had trouble putting down this fast paced book. Is he crazy? Is it paranoia? Maybe he should be paranoid? What is going on?
★★★★★

Charlie on Goodreads wrote:

This book touches on a very serious matter – and includes some very serious content – yet it is written in an extremely humorous light, almost to the point of being characterized too much and over the top. I’m not schizophrenic, nor do I know anyone who is, so I have no idea if the stream of consciousness that Jackson has used in this book is accurate of schizophrenia, but it is so insane that you can’t help but laugh…continuously.
★★★★★

Constant Reader on Amazon US wrote:

This is a deeply weird book. I mean that in the best possible way. The journey was not at all what I expected - it was much, much better! In fact, I'm buying the sequel right now. Hope you'll take a chance on this one too, it's a lot of fun.
★★★★★

Lisa K on Amazon US wrote:

Loved this whole book.....definitely one to read! I laughed out loud and told all my friends to read it too!
★★★★★

Terry Doherty on Amazon UK wrote:

I enjoyed this so much that I bought the two follow up books as soon as I finished reading it. Took a bit of getting used to in the first few chapters but soon I found it near impossible to put down. Highly recommended.
★★★★★