Boy oh boy did a lot happen in the penultimate chapter of Trigger Warning last week. Matthias Foster was killed by Jake! Natalie was arrested and thus unable to continue her compelling romance with Jake! Pierce leaves his study group behind! Montambault, uh, moves to France! Yeah!
But the biggest twist of all is finding out that the other random hero in this story, Dog, is actually Jake’s uncle???? UNCLE BARRY! DUN DUN DUN!!!!
Trigger Warning Chapter 44:
Jake ain’t buying Dog’s reveal. Uncle Barry is dead! But this man in front of him is clearly alive OR IS HE?? What if, and hear me out, Dog is Uncle Barry’s ghost. It all makes sense now.
“He was killed in an explosion, along with his wife,” Jake insisted. “It was some sort of mob-related thing. My mother told me about it.”
“And as far as Donna ever knew, that was the truth. Only a handful of people, including the president at the time, ever knew it wasn’t true. That’s the way it had to play out.”
Johnstone, William W.. Trigger Warning (p. 372). Pinnacle Books. Kindle Edition.
I am deeply disappointed to learn that he is not in fact a ghost but survived the explosion. Jake points out that this man looks nothing like the photos of Uncle Barry, which Rivera/Rivers/Dog/Uncle Barry quickly explains is because the explosion fucked up his face and he had to have reconstructive surgery.
We are abruptly introduced to another character, Uncle Paul, who seems to be an off-screen and allegedly dead villain who “died in that insane asylum where he belonged.” WOW THAT IS BRUTAL! What insane asylum?? Why did he belong there?? WHO IS UNCLE PAUL?!
“I’m not sure he’s the only one who belongs in an asylum.”
The man who claimed to be Barry Rivers chuckled.
Johnstone, William W.. Trigger Warning (p. 373). Pinnacle Books. Kindle Edition.
Jake, now is not the time!
Dog/Barry points out a random bench and suggests they sit so he can tell his tale. This is exactly the kind of thrilling conclusion I expected from Trigger Warning: more exposition!
So for the next half hour, Jake sat there mostly in silence, asking a question only now and then, as the man told him about being funded and equipped by the government to become a sort of one-man strike force free to travel the country and right wrongs wherever he found them.
Johnstone, William W.. Trigger Warning (p. 373). Pinnacle Books. Kindle Edition.
Action-packed as fuck! Hell ya!
Also, I love that this guy is kind of a modern-day Witcher except with even less direction and the complete support of the government? He’s just wandering the world looking for opportunities that he perceives as unjust and is government-sanctioned to right these wrongs that he’s identified. Seriously, this dude even has Geralt’s equivalent of his horse Roach:
Taking advantage of his background as a trucker, “Barry Rivera”—his new identity following the supposed death of the old one—had used a specially equipped Kenworth in his justice journey. An eighteen-wheel avenger, someone had dubbed him when the rumors began to rise of a mysterious trucker who dealt death to all sorts of evil people. Others called him the Rig Warrior.
Johnstone, William W.. Trigger Warning (p. 373). Pinnacle Books. Kindle Edition.
All that needs to happen next is that this tough guy adopts a young daughter who he trains and protects while they’re on the road together.
Anytime someone asked Barry who he was, though, his answer was the same.
“Call me Dog. Just Dog.”
Johnstone, William W.. Trigger Warning (p. 374). Pinnacle Books. Kindle Edition.
NO EXPLANATION NEEDED, I GUESS! To the reader, I mean. Unless I missed this.
At this point, Jake tells us the story has “the unmistakable ring of truth”. *Quickly re-reads the information we’ve been given* ah yes, of course, it must be the part about how he rides around in his eighteen-wheeler carrying out acts of secret government-approved justice that seemed completely credible.
“That went on for years,” Barry said. Already, Jake couldn’t think of him by any other name.
Johnstone, William W.. Trigger Warning (p. 374). Pinnacle Books. Kindle Edition.
Bro, he just told you he goes by Dog.
“Lots of years. So much blood that sometimes it seemed like I was wading in it up to my neck. Only real friend I had was Dog. The real Dog. Big, mean-tempered critter who wound up one of the best friends I ever had. Things were never quite the same after he passed.
Johnstone, William W.. Trigger Warning (p. 374). Pinnacle Books. Kindle Edition.
Oh my god Dog had a plot!dog of course!!! And then he became the plot!dog in plot!dog’s honor. It all makes sense now.
So after the original plot!dog died, Barry “Plot Dog” Rivers went to hide in the woods alone. This has the unmistakable air of truth to it because when my rabbits pass, I too will retreat to the woods to live a life of isolation.
Found a place in Arkansas, way back in the woods, on top of a mountain, so isolated nobody could ever find me. That’s what I thought, anyway.” Barry shrugged. “But trouble always has a way of finding a man, and I got dragged back into the game.
Johnstone, William W.. Trigger Warning (p. 374). Pinnacle Books. Kindle Edition.
Well, that was fast.
Barry says he kept tabs on his family over the years and basically spied on Jake. Aw? He tells Jake how incredible he is, how he’s a real MAN who lives by a MORAL CODE and takes ACTION.
After this speech, Jake realizes that Barry is the one who took out Foster’s men elsewhere on campus. Le gasp!
Barry proposes that Jake come train with him and eventually take over the work he’s been doing for the government. Jake readily agrees and instantly begins asking what his code name will be.
“Dog, that’s your code name, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Do I get a code name?”
Johnstone, William W.. Trigger Warning (p. 378). Pinnacle Books. Kindle Edition.
Hold up. I just realized something. He started calling himself “Dog” while his dog was still alive and not in his honor after he passed…So this means every time people wondered about where his code name came from it was literally, “I am a dog owner. Just call me Dog.” Amazing. Absolutely amazing.
EDIT: Okay, wait. Matthew has pointed out to me that…that Dog might be a person??? And not a dog?? I can’t stop laughing. I thought he had a dog named Dog and I’m still not sure he didn’t. “Big, mean-tempered critter.” Also the page immediately following the end of the story is a pic of William W. Johnstone and two dogs. YOU BE THE JUDGE!
And well, that’s it! That’s the end! There is an “About the Author’s” section at the end, which I might have to discuss with Matthew, but that would be for another day, friends. Thanks for reading this garbage fire of a book with us! Hope you’re all staying safe out there <3
If you enjoyed today’s post, please consider joining our Patreon, where for a mere $1 a month you can come hang out with us in our Discord! Or if you want to make a one-time donation, you can buy us a cup of coffee on Ko-fi: