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Matt Wells #4
The Nameless Dead
GENERATIONS OF EVIL
Crime writer Matt Wells hasn’t had much time for a career of late – he’s been too busy fighting for his life. Matt’s thoughts are not his own – his subconscious has been infiltrated and a single word can trigger hidden orders buried deep within Matt’s memory, turning him into a killing machine.
The FBI aims him at the man responsible for his conditioning: an architect of Nazi revival and devotee of the Antichurch of Lucifer Triumphant. The man who twisted Matt’s mind and took his life away. Submerged into a world rife with ritual murders and hired killers, if Matt can’t trust his own mind – who can he trust? He is now both assassin and target – and either fights back or he dies.
416 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
2 people are currently reading
253 people want to read
About the author
Paul Johnston
90 books90 followersPaul Johnston was born in Edinburgh, studied Greek at Oxford, and now divides his time between the UK and a small Greek island. His highly-acclaimed Quintilian Dalrymple series won the John Creasey Memorial Dagger for best first crime novel.
Series:
* Quint Dalrymple
* Alex Mavros
* Matt Wells
Series:
* Quint Dalrymple
* Alex Mavros
* Matt Wells
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
May 10, 2019
A crime writer has a hypnotic suggestion implanted in his mind. If someone says the key word, he becomes a killing machine. Sort of like The Manchurian Candidate. He tries to stop the conspiracy.
Not very memorable. I felt it should be scarier.
Not very memorable. I felt it should be scarier.
February 1, 2019
I was on the fence with this one. I think it's because I haven't read the others in this series yet. Overall, I enjoyed it, and was able to follow the thread of what happened previously.
November 2, 2011
There's more than a little scheming going on in The Nameless Dead, the fourth, and last, book in author Paul Johnston's Matt Wells series. Following their involuntary assassination attempt on the President of the United States, British crime novelist Matt Wells and his pregnant girlfriend, London Metropolitan Detective Chief Superintendent Karen Oaten, are being held by the FBI. As their activities were the result of a mind control experiment performed by a Neo-Nazi group, the FBI is working on deprogramming Wells and Oaten.
Of course things wouldn't be any fun if it was that simple. So when bodies begin turning up killed in a gruesome ritualistic manner reminiscent of that Neo-Nazi group, the FBI gets the bright idea to use Wells' programming to their advantage and turn him loose to hunt down the group's leader, Heinz Rothmann, the man responsible for Wells and Oaten's predicament. As you'd expect, things don't quite go as planned.
What plays out is another wonderfully, deliciously twisted Paul Johnston special. With virtually any other author the sheer volume of activity going on in The Nameless Dead (we also have a vengeful former lover who happens to be a world-class assassin, a satanic cult, and the continuing Manchurian Candidate-esque elements) would be near impossible to handle, but not only does Johnston do so, he does it with impressive ease. Taking elements of a traditional thriller (the FBI /hero working to stop a criminal plot), horror (satanic cults, graphically detailed ritual murders), and scientific experimentation (mind control) and mashing them all together, Johnston has cornered the market on some of the most creatively intense storytelling you'll ever read.
Johnston does provide enough information in The Nameless Dead that reading the previous books in the series is not necessary, though I do think having read its immediate predecessor, Maps of Hell, at the very least will enhance your enjoyment. As with the previous books in the series, the science behind events (in this case the mind control experimentation) is explained in believable detail, and the history behind the activities of Heinz Rothmann is equally well and thoroughly presented. There is also a healthy dose of dark humor laced throughout the story, never more evident than in the breakneck final quarter of the book, allowing Wells to move forward through unbelievably grim circumstances with a sort of gallows humor.
Perhaps the most impressive feat Johnston manages to pull off, however, is the marvelous blurring of the lines of morality for each character. Just when you think Wells is a man motivated by justifiable rage and "pure" intentions he does something that pushes the boundaries of acceptable, while at the same time you'll find a ruthless assassin doing things that will make you question just how ruthless they really are. Where does a search for justice cross the line and become a quest for revenge? When does a seemingly unjustifiable act of violence become an acceptable (if pro-active) act of self-defense/preservation? Johnston constantly challenges the reader to question the very core concepts of "good" and "evil" as played out under continuously shifting circumstances of threat and loss.
Johnston's books are no place for the timid or those unwilling to deal with a story more complicated than a paint-by-numbers thriller, but if you're willing to take a step - or three - somewhat off the beaten path I guarantee you'll be hard-pressed to find a more satisfyingly challenging and enjoyable read.
Of course things wouldn't be any fun if it was that simple. So when bodies begin turning up killed in a gruesome ritualistic manner reminiscent of that Neo-Nazi group, the FBI gets the bright idea to use Wells' programming to their advantage and turn him loose to hunt down the group's leader, Heinz Rothmann, the man responsible for Wells and Oaten's predicament. As you'd expect, things don't quite go as planned.
What plays out is another wonderfully, deliciously twisted Paul Johnston special. With virtually any other author the sheer volume of activity going on in The Nameless Dead (we also have a vengeful former lover who happens to be a world-class assassin, a satanic cult, and the continuing Manchurian Candidate-esque elements) would be near impossible to handle, but not only does Johnston do so, he does it with impressive ease. Taking elements of a traditional thriller (the FBI /hero working to stop a criminal plot), horror (satanic cults, graphically detailed ritual murders), and scientific experimentation (mind control) and mashing them all together, Johnston has cornered the market on some of the most creatively intense storytelling you'll ever read.
Johnston does provide enough information in The Nameless Dead that reading the previous books in the series is not necessary, though I do think having read its immediate predecessor, Maps of Hell, at the very least will enhance your enjoyment. As with the previous books in the series, the science behind events (in this case the mind control experimentation) is explained in believable detail, and the history behind the activities of Heinz Rothmann is equally well and thoroughly presented. There is also a healthy dose of dark humor laced throughout the story, never more evident than in the breakneck final quarter of the book, allowing Wells to move forward through unbelievably grim circumstances with a sort of gallows humor.
Perhaps the most impressive feat Johnston manages to pull off, however, is the marvelous blurring of the lines of morality for each character. Just when you think Wells is a man motivated by justifiable rage and "pure" intentions he does something that pushes the boundaries of acceptable, while at the same time you'll find a ruthless assassin doing things that will make you question just how ruthless they really are. Where does a search for justice cross the line and become a quest for revenge? When does a seemingly unjustifiable act of violence become an acceptable (if pro-active) act of self-defense/preservation? Johnston constantly challenges the reader to question the very core concepts of "good" and "evil" as played out under continuously shifting circumstances of threat and loss.
Johnston's books are no place for the timid or those unwilling to deal with a story more complicated than a paint-by-numbers thriller, but if you're willing to take a step - or three - somewhat off the beaten path I guarantee you'll be hard-pressed to find a more satisfyingly challenging and enjoyable read.
June 11, 2011
I roared though the second half of this book today. Hey- it's not great writing, or the best plot ever, but I was suitably carried along. All rather unbelievable - natch. But great fun along the way
July 16, 2018
Very good book, but had so much going on it was confusing at times. I do want to read the rest of the series with Matt Wells.
January 10, 2025
DNF at page 40, I couldn't get into it.
March 25, 2011
The premise of this novel appealed to me on a few levels. I loved the movie 'The Manchurian Candidate', and it reminded me of that in some ways. I love conspiracies and secrecy, threats on a national level. You know, all the good stuff that comes with a thriller. This book has all that, plus Nazi's, Satanists, and quite a large cast of characters.
I didn't know at the time that it was book #4 in a series. That said, it does a decent job of providing you with enough information on the many characters without going into information dump mode. I feel like I would have been more invested in this story if I had read the last three books though, and strangely found myself rooting for the Soul Collector - the woman who is trying to kill the main character - over the others.
At points I felt like there was too much going on in the story. So many characters, all of whom seemed to be making choices based on their core beliefs (which generally, I like in characters), and all with actions in their past which could be construed as making them 'bad' (which I also tend to like - black and white characters can be boring, give me those blurred lines, with characters not always making 'good' choices, thanks).
Because of this there doesn't feel like a clear 'bad guy'. The stakes didn't feel high enough to me, despite the dangerous situations the characters find themselves in. The 'impending doom' is never really spelled out, or perhaps wasn't concrete enough for me to feel really invested.
In any event, it was a well written novel, with good pacing and interesting characters. I enjoyed it, and firmly believe I would have enjoyed it more had I started at the beginning of the series and read through - there was enough in this book to make me keen to do that.
I didn't know at the time that it was book #4 in a series. That said, it does a decent job of providing you with enough information on the many characters without going into information dump mode. I feel like I would have been more invested in this story if I had read the last three books though, and strangely found myself rooting for the Soul Collector - the woman who is trying to kill the main character - over the others.
At points I felt like there was too much going on in the story. So many characters, all of whom seemed to be making choices based on their core beliefs (which generally, I like in characters), and all with actions in their past which could be construed as making them 'bad' (which I also tend to like - black and white characters can be boring, give me those blurred lines, with characters not always making 'good' choices, thanks).
Because of this there doesn't feel like a clear 'bad guy'. The stakes didn't feel high enough to me, despite the dangerous situations the characters find themselves in. The 'impending doom' is never really spelled out, or perhaps wasn't concrete enough for me to feel really invested.
In any event, it was a well written novel, with good pacing and interesting characters. I enjoyed it, and firmly believe I would have enjoyed it more had I started at the beginning of the series and read through - there was enough in this book to make me keen to do that.
August 15, 2013
About 2 years ago, my ex handed me 'The Death List' with a frown, and said she couldn't find it in her to read it all the way through. She knew I loved reading, and I'd often lie around doing so whilst she was sewing.
In the next two days, we had a trip to London planned, and I took the book along with me, the cover intriguing me - I always had a love for gory stuff!
The first chapter peaked my interest, but I wasn't lost in it. A few chapters later, I didn't want to put it down.
And thus begun my addiction to the 'Matt Wells' series. I bought the rest of the series online after I had read the last. And when it came to 'The Nameless Dead', I paced myself. I wanted it to last, because this well and truly is my favourite crime series!
I never saw the twist coming with Karen and Magnus, nor did I expect Sara's change of heart. I was wondering whether she would become more human, and kind of expected it. But the way it happened tugged on my heart strings; and despite the amazing writing, all of the believable cults and what not, I have to say she really made this book a beautiful masterpiece.
I don't think I'll ever find such a well written female serial killer in another story, so that's my only flaw with this! My expectations are going to be very high from now on.
In the next two days, we had a trip to London planned, and I took the book along with me, the cover intriguing me - I always had a love for gory stuff!
The first chapter peaked my interest, but I wasn't lost in it. A few chapters later, I didn't want to put it down.
And thus begun my addiction to the 'Matt Wells' series. I bought the rest of the series online after I had read the last. And when it came to 'The Nameless Dead', I paced myself. I wanted it to last, because this well and truly is my favourite crime series!
I never saw the twist coming with Karen and Magnus, nor did I expect Sara's change of heart. I was wondering whether she would become more human, and kind of expected it. But the way it happened tugged on my heart strings; and despite the amazing writing, all of the believable cults and what not, I have to say she really made this book a beautiful masterpiece.
I don't think I'll ever find such a well written female serial killer in another story, so that's my only flaw with this! My expectations are going to be very high from now on.
October 31, 2011
i really liked this author's noir dystopia of modern day scotland
for their fairly believable characters and plots. these series of book in question though, while having lots of suspense and pager-turner qualities, have cardboard characters with cia/black ops sensibilities and too many guns. not really mysteries here but more cussler adventure. i suppose it puts beans on the table for him and his family, but....not a way forward really.
for their fairly believable characters and plots. these series of book in question though, while having lots of suspense and pager-turner qualities, have cardboard characters with cia/black ops sensibilities and too many guns. not really mysteries here but more cussler adventure. i suppose it puts beans on the table for him and his family, but....not a way forward really. 
February 13, 2012
Matt Wells is a crime writer who hasn,t had much time for his career as of late he,s to busy fighting for his life. He can,t trust anyone, not even himself. His subconscious has been infiltrated and a single word can trigger hidden orders buried deep within Matts memory. The FBI aims him at an architect of Nazi Revival and a devotee of the Anti church of Lucifer Triumphant. He took Matt,s life away and he must pay
January 6, 2014
The book is okay. It was exciting at first, but soon got old. How many times can the main character get in trouble and get somehow bailed out? Part of my dislike for the book is my fault. Someone gave me the book and I started reading it without knowing that it was possibly the third (It could be the fourth book or fifth book in the series. I am not sure. I haven't looked into it that much. I think it might be the last book in the series anyhow. I will just leave it at that.
September 29, 2014
This story of Nazis, brainwashing, religious fanatics and sinister plots by high ranking government officials was completely ludicrous with many very far fetched scenes, but it was still an entertaining read.
If you enjoy ‘shoot them up’ conspiracy books this is probably worth looking at.
If you enjoy ‘shoot them up’ conspiracy books this is probably worth looking at.
July 18, 2011
Not a bad read. I haven't read the first two books in the series, but I was able to jump onboard rather quickly.
October 7, 2012
An OK read but nothing great.
June 7, 2012
Didn't read the previous books, so it was somewhat confusing in the beginning. It felt it could have stopped at some point, but kept going on.
August 10, 2012
Awesome book!! If u love mysteries, murder, & mayhem read this book!!!
January 30, 2013
I thought it was a little boring and not really my style
March 12, 2013
enjoyed this, just wish I'd realised it was a series before I started. definitely want to read the ones before now!
November 27, 2013
Wonderful ending!!!
September 19, 2016
just a read
July 4, 2022
Good read!! Lots of twists
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews