This Isn't Going to End Well

The True Story of a Man I Thought I Knew

By: Daniel Wallace

Narrated by: Michael Crouch

In this powerful memoir, the bestselling author of Big Fish tries to come to terms with the life and death of his multi-talented longtime friend and brother-in-law, who had been his biggest hero and inspiration, in a poignant, lyrical, and moving memoir.

If we’re lucky, we all encounter at least one person whose life elevates and inspires our own. For acclaimed novelist Daniel Wallace, he had one hero and inspiration for so much of what followed: his longtime friend and brother-in-law William Nealy. Seemingly perfect, impossibly cool, William was James Dean, Clint Eastwood, and MacGyver all rolled into one, an acclaimed outdoorsman, a famous cartoonist, an accomplished author, a master of all he undertook, William was the ideal that Daniel sought to emulate.

But when William took his own life at age 48, Daniel was left first grieving, and then furious with the man who broke his and his sister’s hearts. That anger led him to commit a grievous act of his own, a betrayal that took him down a dark path into the tortured recesses of William’s past. Eventually, a new picture of William emerged, of a man with too many secrets and too much shame to bear.

This Isn’t Going to End Well is Daniel Wallace’s first foray into nonfiction. Part love story, part true crime, part a desperate search for the self and how little we really can know another, This Isn’t Going to End Well tells an intimate and moving story of what happens when we realize our heroes are human.

©2023 Daniel Wallace (P)2023 Algonquin Books

Critic reviews

“A revelatory and reflective tale about how males perceive others and how they present themselves. More than anything, I felt compassion for their vulnerability and fear, and made me realize perhaps we are not so different, men and women, after all.”—Sandra Cisneros, author of Martita, I Remember You

“In This Will Not End Well you will find the expected Daniel Wallace clarity, humor, and precision. But you will not find fiction. This is a true story about Daniel himself and his wild-man mentor and relative, William Nealy. Few writers can so seamlessly thread together love, loss, admiration, fear, pain, and hope. And this narrative is not traditional memoir-fare. It moves magically—unlike any traditional genre you’ve ever read. At times I experienced that thrill-feeling of a roller coaster dropping away from beneath me. This book is a rare gem gift from one of our very best writers.”—Clyde Edgerton, author of Raney

“Daniel Wallace has written a ghost story—not the kind you have read before. It is a haunting story about a person he loved and, at times, loathed, who influenced the author’s life in ways never to be fully known or seen—a shimmering. Wallace—whose prose is the truest kind, brave and somewhere between sharp-edged facts and magic—chooses to 'get in the cage with the tiger', in this case, his brother-in-law William Nealy. Nealy is the famed cartoonist, writer, and whitewater adventurer who lived to defy death daily, until he didn’t. Wallace takes us to the edge of what scares us, death by suicide, and miraculously (no, skillfully) writes a book on grace. This brilliantly layered book is about what calls us to write, create, dance and even destroy those we love. What began as Daniel Wallace’s story became my story, too—the writer who lives 'in that place between experience and understanding' and is compelled to touch bone regardless of the pain. I love this book. This Isn’t Going to End Well ended too soon—and like all great ghost stories I want to read it again.”—Terry Tempest Williams, author of Erosion – Essays of Undoing

This is a must read!

So well written and narrated I could not stop listening. A beautiful way to spend a Sunday.

Lovely, Deep Hearted True Story

Masterful writing. I throughly enjoyed this book. The voice of the narrator Michael Crouch was perfect for this story. Daniel Wallace, thank you for sharing your beautiful memories.

A very moving book

I enjoyed this book very much. The author is one of my favorite writers. Good book

A true story that was made to be written

I enjoyed learning about such interesting characters and the changing perspectives and feelings of the author. The narrator sounded quite depressed.

Very well written but the narrator brings it WAY down

Very well written. It’s certainly solemn and sad but also insightful. Only problem is the tone of the narrator makes the whole thing more morose than it needs to be.

Dull, dull, dull

I was hoping for beautiful writing and poignant storytelling, although the reader's near-monotone delivery might have been the reason I was barely able to finish this book.

Beautiful

This book leaves me speechless. It’s the most well written and meaningful book I’ve read in months, and maybe years.

Exceptional in every way! Just magnificent!

This is one of those stories that is best listened to rather than read. Exceptional storytelling is an art. What made this story stand out was its genuine, heartfelt intimacy. As the listener, I felt such a strong connection with the storyteller as if he trusted me with his most intimate, vulnerable, thoughts and feelings. What a privilege! Beautifully written, and narrated! Thank you so much for sharing your best.

Daniel Wallace paints pictures in the mind

I listened to this on the 3 year anniversary of a good friends suicide. While comforting may not be the right word, this book provided many truths about the effects suicide has on us, and how we build people up in our minds.
Regardless, if you liked Big Fish and Wallace’s way of writing, you will enjoy this, almost as the more “somber” or “bad ending” version of Big Fish.

The depth necessary to accept, forgive, love and heal was intense and so beautifully described.

The authors willingness to examine and evaluate his grief and deep resentment when his hero, (his brother-in-law) died by suicide, crushing her sister and all of the family.