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Johnny

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Aubrey St. James is in trouble. She's locked in a cell at a government black site. She doesn't know where that site is or how the hell she got there. But she knows that it has something to do with the stranger she rescued from the river. Someone - or something - called Johnny.Saul Tarson knows that the thing he's locked up is dangerous, because it left a trail of six dead cops in its wake, all killed in a way that defies explanation. It is Saul's sworn duty to get to the truth about Johnny before more people die - a lot more. All Johnny wants is to return home. But he has a mission to fulfill first. And what he does in the next 20 hours will either save mankind - or bring it to its knees.

395 pages, Paperback

Published December 20, 2018

180 people are currently reading
158 people want to read

About the author

D.J. Molles

45 books1,436 followers
D.J. Molles became a New York Times and USA today bestselling author while working full time as a police officer. He's since traded his badge for a keyboard to produce over 20 titles. When he's not writing, he's taking steps to make his North Carolina property self-sustainable, and training to be at least half as hard to kill as Lee Harden (his most popular protagonist).

Molles also enjoys playing his guitar and drums, drawing, cooking, and “shredding that green pow” on his Onewheel.

Most nights you can find him sitting on the couch surrounded by his dogs and family, trying to stream an hour of Netflix with his really sketchy satellite internet connection.

Are you interested in becoming a writer? I've started a video series called "Lessons in Writing" which you can find on all my socials.

Follow on IG & FB @djmolles
TikTok @djmollesauthor

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5 stars
136 (26%)
4 stars
181 (34%)
3 stars
148 (28%)
2 stars
39 (7%)
1 star
15 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
August 8, 2019
Audio – 5 stars
Story – 3 depressing stars

Sheesh the human race is doomed. Even an alien crossing over in hopes of enlightening us realizes it’s pointless and wants to abandon his mission and go home. Unfortunately, we humans are so toxic, anything pure that comes in contact with us gets contaminated and faces the same doomed fate. What I mostly find sad is that it's not an unbelievable concept. 😢
Profile Image for Montzalee Wittmann.
5,244 reviews2,344 followers
August 11, 2018
Johnny by D. J. Milled takes us to a deeper level of what makes someone human, or humane. This also has a new take on aliens and a new evolution of mankind. I enjoyed it. I liked the deep feelings that the alien and the gal were going through. Also it was interesting to think about their society vs ours and how easy our society was "corrupting" Johnny just to stay alive. I thought it was good brain food.
The narrator is Marc Vietor and he did a fabulous job in his performance.
Profile Image for M.N. Arzu.
Author 7 books250 followers
May 15, 2019
I did not see that one coming

This was a roller coaster with many twists around. I certainly thought it was a clever story, especially how everything started unravelling without even Johnny knowing it.

It is a story with little joy, though. Everything is so grime or hopeless, even if the ending hints at greater things to come. Ultimately, our hero loses so much, loses everything for a cause that is not really his, that he doesn't want, and that has no rewards. Sure, humanity will flourish thanks to him, but not only is this a thankless job, he wasn't even aware of it.

That aside, my only problem was with the "timing". The 20 hour ultimatum was soon forgotten, then taken seriously again some hours later, still being 20 hours, and then... errr... it must have taken him some 36 hours to get there... and he never ate or drank a single thing... Aubrey barely got a few sips of water. For all the care in the details, this was jarring, but overall I can live with it.

Johnny presents a lot of interesting ideas and views on who we are and the things we do. It's definitely not your friendly alien, but not for lack of trying. At the end, it's the lack of communication that truly is tragic here.
Profile Image for Thomas.
Author 1 book36 followers
August 23, 2020
Populated by stock characters, this feels more like the script for a 1980s action movie than a novel. We’ve got a broken ex-cop, Aubrey St. James, helping a visitor from another world, Johnny, chased by a misguided government agent, Saul of Tarsus… Saul Tarson.

It all goes like you’d expect, except near the end when it flirts with being spiritual and metaphysical in the way they tried to do on several episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. If you enjoyed that, you might enjoy this book more than I did.

It had an interesting concept, which is why I bought it. The execution just didn't work for me.
Profile Image for Nick Tiedeman.
2 reviews
February 5, 2019
Another great read from one of the best

Very well put together book. I liked the concept, I liked the characters, hell I even liked the “villain”! Hope this turns into another one of his amazing series!
Profile Image for Renny Barcelos.
Author 11 books129 followers
dnf_not-for-me_skimmed
July 26, 2018
Decided not to finish this. Life is too short and this was way too boring to care. Just another alien coming here story crowded by cardboard cut, stereotypical characters. Meh.
245 reviews3 followers
April 14, 2023
D.J. puts an interesting story out there and one that would probably track with what would actually happen if we discovered an alien being. We want to measure, study and torture this being to find its true intentions which are so far beyond our ability to understand that we decide it is hostile and we just want to kill it and cover it up. Sounds reasonable given other giant screwups that have been buried. Good story, fast paced as per D.J. usual, You will enjoy this book if you like his writing style it is worth a read.
Profile Image for Robin.
190 reviews1 follower
August 12, 2018
Really didn't like the pacing. Story and characters were bah.
Profile Image for Bill.
24 reviews
August 9, 2018
On your next visit please send less of a whiner.
325 reviews
July 27, 2018
Had potential but I was disappointed at how the story unfolded and by the character's depth. I felt I wasted my time.
Profile Image for Deacon Gray.
120 reviews
November 18, 2018
Aubrey St. James is hiding from her past. She thought she could give everything up, quit her job as a cop, move out to her father's small farm and live out her years following her fathers example. She never considered that she might suck at it. She never contemplated the struggles with raccoons eating her chickens, or the fight to keep the garden going, or that strange men with weird eyes might wash up on her river bank changing her life and the world forever.

Having emerged from a doorway through the unknown he hears a song being sung filled with joy, love, and excitment.

"Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orleans
Way back up in the woods among the evergreens
There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood
Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode
Who never ever learned to read or write so well
But he could play a guitar just like a-ringin' a bell"

Johnny is born to this plane, but it was nothing like what he expected. The people's minds are too simple, the simply act of trying to communicate with them causes death and destruction, something Johnny can't even comprehend.

"Go, Go
Go Johhny Go, Go Johnny B Goode"

Now, with his plans destroyed Johnny merely want to go home, but can he after the crimes has has commited? Will his people accept him? Will he even be able to get back to them while federal black operations agents are tracking him? With only the help of Aubrey, he will do what he can to protect her, and make his way home to his beloved, but it is a long trip and its hard not to shed blood when people are trying to kill you.



Profile Image for N.V. Cefalo.
162 reviews5 followers
August 14, 2018
3.7 Stars

An interesting twist on the alien visitor story. I find myself neither loving nor hating this story, so it's a mixed feeling of how I felt about it. At times it was really good and at other times it dragged and I felt it was predictable and boring. Even though it dragged, it was a very short story, all happening over the span of 4-5 days.

I did have a problem with a goof in the story - at one point, Aubrey and Johnny leave a car behind. The car was hot-wired, but Aubrey takes the keys out of the car. I found this to be a glaring goof that should have been proofread and removed. I also had a problem with the way that the audio jumped from person to person without a break in the sentence structure. Im sure that's not how it was written, but the audio presentation of it made it jump rapidly, and it was jarring at times to not have some sort of break or chapter break to separate the story out.

Not a bad read, and considering how the story ended, I would be interested in reading more if there is a second book.
Profile Image for Donna.
1,554 reviews38 followers
August 24, 2018
This was a bit heartbreaking in that Johnny was just trying to get home. He had to get home in a certain time period or he could not. And a lot of things transpired during his journey.
I have always loved D.J. Molles and will read more by him.
2 reviews
January 5, 2019
Excellent

DJ Molles does it again. An excellent plot and tightly written. He’s getting better with every book. This is a must read.
Profile Image for Gilbert Stack.
Author 96 books78 followers
May 10, 2025
This novel reminds me of an adult version of Alexander Key's The Forgotten Door with a touch of his Escape from Witch Mountain thrown in.

Johnny is sort of human, but with abilities that earth-humans don’t have. He’s something of an enigma, having “introduced” himself to this planet by killing six sheriff's deputies. Shortly thereafter we find him in confinement in a secret government site together with a woman who helped him and when she found him injured. To encourage Johnny to talk to them, the government decides to waterboard the woman—not Johnny—hoping he will care for her. She's not even accused of a crime so far as I can tell. It's just that the government knows that something like UFOs has been happening and they want information. Later they torture her again to put pressure on Johnny, the human who is not.

And that's really what starts to make Johnny an interesting enigma. He really doesn't want the woman hurt. And there is something strange going on in his head. He wants out of confinement and since the government doesn’t want to release him, he decides to do whatever it takes to get out.

A lot of the novel revolves around Johnny and the woman on the road trying to get to the door (i.e. Forgotten Door) that will bring Johnny back to wherever he came from. Along the way, we realize that much of his ability is telepathic and that if he isn't careful, his use of his power overloads human brains and kills them. But if he just uses a small amount he can reassure a small child and things like that. The woman also becomes very violent as they proceed, making horrible threats against innocent people. And, of course, the government is coming after them—secretly but with the help of police agencies who don't know what's going on.

All the threads of the novel are set to collide at this mysterious door to elsewhere and it was a well thought out ending to an intriguing novel.
15 reviews1 follower
December 2, 2019
The story of a mind-reading alien (Johnny--name taken from Johnny be good song) who visits America to make contact and teach them how to harness their dormant mind-connection/telepathy skills and avoid the "chaos" that is almost certain to happen when all of humanity unlocks these skills. Upon arriving in Oklahoma, Johnny accidentally kills some police and gets captured by DHS operatives on the property of a former cop (Aubrey) who had befriended Johnny. The two are taken to a black site but escape thanks to Johnny's ability to manipulate individuals' minds. Johnny is shot during the escape, but he has miraculous healing abilities that manifest during what one might call true power naps. Johnny and Aubrey make there way back to Oklahoma, where a door back to Johnny's home is due to open in a matter of days. There is a tense cat and mouse chase (Saul Tarson is the main "cat" from DHS). Along the way, Johnny and Aubrey encounter a young latchkey girl (Alicia) in a trailer park and a bum (Bluebird/Frank) in an empty freight train car. Both Alicia and Frank are persuaded to help. Shortly before arriving at the gate, Aubrey is captured by Saul. During brutal interrogation session, Saul and Aubrey discover their hidden telepathic powers, as do several of the guards and scientists at the black site. Johnny makes it to the door on time, but his home world rejects him because of his human taint. Johnny's true love comes through the door to be with Johnny. Saul kills Johnny and Johnny's true love. Aubrey kills Saul, who doesn't want to live with his new found abilities. He suggests Aubrey should kill herself too to keep the rest of humanity from learning about the telepathy skills, but Aubrey lets herself be captured by another group of DHS operatives instead.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Leo.
415 reviews7 followers
November 12, 2019
What if Childhood's End had been more darker?

This was an interesting story, not necessarily new unique in its concept, but still a decent attempt at it. Long-short, a benevolent alien comes to Earth, wants to help humanity reach the next step in our evolutionary track, only to have The Man bring him down. Basically, Childhood's End, but darker.
The book kept me entertained, but only just. The main issue I had with the book was the pacing. there's was a lot of interspective going on with several characters, with internal dialogues that loop back in itself. This is a normal process in people going over things as they mull it over in their mind.

There's a sharp distinction between actually analyzing a problem, and reading about character doing it; effectively repeating dialogue already mentioned multiple times. This constant repeating of ones inner thought made sections of the book hard to go through. It also made the pacing of the book slow down considerably. Towards the end, I learned to spot out these passages in the book, and just skipped ahead.

Overuse of similes early on in the book and repeating dialogue throughout, made this story feel like a first draft. Despite this, I still liked the book. Story & writing style could have been more polished, but overall the book kept me entertain from beging to end.

This is also the first book I read by DJ Molles, and I may or may not pick up another one of his novels.
Profile Image for Mekerei.
1,030 reviews5 followers
August 1, 2018
"Aubrey St. James is in trouble. She's locked in a cell at a government black site. She doesn't know where that site is or how the hell she got there. But she knows that it has something to do with the stranger she rescued from the river. Someone - or something - called Johnny.

Saul Tarson knows that the thing he's locked up is dangerous, because it left a trail of six dead cops in its wake, all killed in a way that defies explanation. It is Saul's sworn duty to get to the truth about Johnny before more people die - a lot more.

All Johnny wants is to return home. But he has a mission to fulfill first. And what he does in the next 20 hours will either save mankind - or bring it to its knees."

This description drew me in and made me want to read it. Unfortunately it was only available as an Audible Audiobook. I decided to give it a try.

It wasn't what I expected, it more about the mind and how we think. There's action, intrigue and dama. The narration was well paced and kept me listening and the story gave me pause for though.

Three and a half stars.
Profile Image for Vijai.
228 reviews66 followers
October 23, 2018
So, before Mr. Molles's fans roast me for this review, I will have them know that I liked his "The remaining" series and having read all the books in the series I rated him a very high four(cumulative).

This book, however, was a snooze fest. Lovey dovey mushy stuff all over - my-true-love-waits for me on the other side of the universe level lovey dovey thing. Three quarters of the book spent with the two protagonists and some poor sod in a train somewhere gets pulled into their alien shenanigans within like an hour of meeting them, what?

Mr. Molles - Bro, get away from that agent/ editor/ friend/ fan who is making you do this. Get back to your badass writing of backstabbing, cruel, unreliable characters like in the remaining series which is where you shine. Leave this romantic shit to the other authors. You are better than this.
Profile Image for Wild.
56 reviews1 follower
February 4, 2020
Johnny was sent on a mission of good intentions. However, due the usual "fear what you don't know or understand" reaction that the first contact humans had, the mission quickly gets tainted & complicated, when they threatened Johnny & locked him away once captured.

As the story continues, the reactions of the authorities chasing him get more reactive & paranoid, once he escapes & his focus changes from his original mission to getting back to where he came from at all costs. The problem is that cost only fully becomes apparent in the twist at the very end, which leads to a sad & unexpected ending.

Yes this book doesn't have a happy ending, like some readers tend to like, no matter what, however, I felt this story & it's ending was very appropriate, relivant & realistic to how the majority of us would & do react in stories of this genre.

I enjoyed it. Those that give it a chance for what it is, will too, I'm sure.
2 reviews
January 29, 2020
D.J. Molles is truly a gifted author. Throughout this book he developed the plot beautifully and is truly a master at his craft. Johnny is about how the human race would probably react if we encountered an extraterrestrial being. The main character Aubrey is locked in a cell in a government facility and this "being" that calls itself Johnny says they need to help eachother. The entire story is filled with action and mystery, keeping the reader intrigued and turning pages until the very last one. The duo runs from the athorities, and sometimes even eachother, both just wanting life to return back to normal. Truly another great work by D.J. Molles. I would reccomend this to anyone who would like a little bit of action, or a change from the daily classics in literature. My only complaint about the story is that I feel like it may have been rushed into publication, seemingly lacking in some parts that could have been expanded upon. Other than that, however, truly a great novel.
Profile Image for Kelly Smelcer.
406 reviews
January 29, 2025
Different but very good

I'm a huge fan of DJ Molles, so I picked up this book. It's completely different than his other works, but it's really good. A being comes to Earth that can read minds, in a sense. He takes on the name of Johnny since it was the name of a song playing when he inhabited the mind of a man named Charlie. In his attempt to save humanity from The Chaos, he meets a woman named Aubrey. With her help, they try to get him back to The Door where he came from and can return to his existence. Things don't go as planned.
Profile Image for Soo.
2,928 reviews346 followers
August 17, 2018
Mini-Review:

The intro was good but then it goes into a spiral of internal struggles. The start of the book and the way the book ends up going later are very different in tone and point. The book would have been better if the author had decided on one or the other. Too much internal blah blah blah is done without any story movement. It bogged down the middle of the book. The story had promise but it didn't deliver. A story about an alien learning about humans. That's about it.
Profile Image for Robert M..
Author 3 books
August 26, 2018
I'm a huge fan of the author, but this was just weird. I didn't feel invested in a single character. There were no real explanations about the other world/dimension or how they even discovered we existed. It took FOREVER to really get going and even then it was fits and starts. This would have been better as a short story. I think the average DJ Molle fan won't enjoy this too much, but maybe it'll attract others. I'll still read anything the guy writes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Shelley Barr.
44 reviews5 followers
February 8, 2019
I read this book in 2 days. This was the first book, outside of the Lee Harden books I decided to read. I can be narrow minded sometimes, with that said, I’m happy I opened myself up to try something different from this author. I found this story so charming and even innocent in some places, with the character Johnny. I thought it had so many layers, it was a love story, war, peace, aliens? I’ve never read anything like it.
1 review
February 18, 2019
Awful.

This author drags ... everything .... out .... to .... the ..... point ..... of ..... tears .....

Seriously. Listened to only 20% on audible and couldn't take it anymore. Don't get me wrong, the story line is interesting, but the writing style is the worst I've ever listened to.

Reminds me of something Plato said "Wise men speak because they have something to say, fools because they have to say something".
Profile Image for Mitch.
26 reviews1 follower
June 20, 2019
DJ Molles is the gift that keeps on giving. Such a big fan of his work. I didn't read the preview for this so I didn't know what to expect and was mightily surprised. A gripping thriller throughout which kept me turning the page to find out what happened next. I hope there is more to come as I thoroughly enjoyed this. If your reading this review right now...what are you waiting for, just get it and read it, you won't be disappointed.
Profile Image for Elise Skidmore.
Author 11 books8 followers
August 6, 2019
I downloaded this audiobook because it sounded like something a bit different and might be interesting; it was also on sale so I figured why not try it. I'm very glad I did. It jumps right into the story at the start and the whole book only covers a couple of days, so it's fairly fast-paced. I don't want to say a lot about the story because you need to let it unfold, but Johnny is an alien who is just trying to get home.
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