Jessica G. (jaguerns) -
Helpful Score: 6
WOW. No, seriously...WOW! This book was really good.
John Wayne Cleaver tries hard to be a typical teenager but he is not. A diagnosed sociopath, he creates specific rules to keep the dark side of himself -- the monster -- secured behind a wall of normalcy. Don't follow someone. Don't pay too much attention to their habits. Don't harm others.
Then a real monster comes to town; a serial killer who stalks the streets of their little community, brutally killing grown men. In the killer's methods, John sees more of himself than in his high school classrooms. Can his knowledge of serial killers help John protect his neighbors? Or will he need to release his own monster to do battle?
Written for young adults, the book has a tendency to talk down to the reader but I think that played in well with the main character. John really is smarter than everyone else. And I loved the sci-fi twist it took. Totally did not see that one coming.
John Wayne Cleaver tries hard to be a typical teenager but he is not. A diagnosed sociopath, he creates specific rules to keep the dark side of himself -- the monster -- secured behind a wall of normalcy. Don't follow someone. Don't pay too much attention to their habits. Don't harm others.
Then a real monster comes to town; a serial killer who stalks the streets of their little community, brutally killing grown men. In the killer's methods, John sees more of himself than in his high school classrooms. Can his knowledge of serial killers help John protect his neighbors? Or will he need to release his own monster to do battle?
Written for young adults, the book has a tendency to talk down to the reader but I think that played in well with the main character. John really is smarter than everyone else. And I loved the sci-fi twist it took. Totally did not see that one coming.
Jordan D. (jddennis) - reviewed I Am Not A Serial Killer (John Cleaver, Bk 1) on + 12 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
John Cleaver has a very simple goal in life: avoid becoming a serial killer. To make sure this mission is accomplished, he's set up some very definite boundaries for himself. When others tick him off, he compliments them to help control his anger. He makes sure that he doesn't pay too much attention to anyone in particular. After all, that kind of obsession could easily lead him down darker paths He spends time helping his mom at the family-run business... which just happens to be a mortuary. And he spends a lot of quality time with his psychologist, discussing the motivations of serial killers he finds so fascinating, such Dahmer, Bundy, and Gacey. And as the story opens, he's doing okay at maintaining the status quo. The monster is on a leash, and he hopes to keep it that way. After all, John tells himself, I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER.
Unfortunately for John, something macabre disturbs the tranquility of the little town where he's living. As he begins his freshman year of high school, people begin to die in grisly ways. The corpses have body parts missing. A kidney here, lungs there... but the pattern doesn't make sense. John's interest is piqued so he begins investigating, hoping to find out who is the serial killer.
I really liked I AM NOT A SERIAL killer. Dan Wells adopts a very breezy narrative style. It's a quick read that's very entertaining. It's an interesting tight rope act, too. Because of John's youth and perspective, the book has been categorized by some as a young adult novel. It most likely is appropriate for that age, but it isn't dumbed down to meet that target demographic. There's a lot of scenes that occur in the funeral home, and it's pretty obvious that the author has done a lot of research on the subject of mortuary science.
Probably in a year, I'll remember how disciplined a person John is. He recognizes the dark tendencies within him are not normal, so he tries incredibly hard to make sure that he avoids them as much as possible. There's been a lot of comparisons between John and Dexter Morgan, the serial killer vigilante created by Jeff Lindsay. Throughout the novel, John is NOT actively looking to murder people. Where Dexter accepted the dark urges and has found a way to channel them in what he considers a constructive way, John believes that he must deny these urges. The author, Dan Wells, has been contracted for two more books in the series, so it will be interesting to see how John develops in MR. MONSTER and I DON'T WANT TO KILL YOU.
As a final note -- I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER has a very pervasive supernatural aspect that begins fairly early in the story. If you are not a fan of your murder getting mixed with things that go "bump" in the night, I'd stay away. I'd recommend I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER for fans of horror, The X-Files, and urban fantasy.
Unfortunately for John, something macabre disturbs the tranquility of the little town where he's living. As he begins his freshman year of high school, people begin to die in grisly ways. The corpses have body parts missing. A kidney here, lungs there... but the pattern doesn't make sense. John's interest is piqued so he begins investigating, hoping to find out who is the serial killer.
I really liked I AM NOT A SERIAL killer. Dan Wells adopts a very breezy narrative style. It's a quick read that's very entertaining. It's an interesting tight rope act, too. Because of John's youth and perspective, the book has been categorized by some as a young adult novel. It most likely is appropriate for that age, but it isn't dumbed down to meet that target demographic. There's a lot of scenes that occur in the funeral home, and it's pretty obvious that the author has done a lot of research on the subject of mortuary science.
Probably in a year, I'll remember how disciplined a person John is. He recognizes the dark tendencies within him are not normal, so he tries incredibly hard to make sure that he avoids them as much as possible. There's been a lot of comparisons between John and Dexter Morgan, the serial killer vigilante created by Jeff Lindsay. Throughout the novel, John is NOT actively looking to murder people. Where Dexter accepted the dark urges and has found a way to channel them in what he considers a constructive way, John believes that he must deny these urges. The author, Dan Wells, has been contracted for two more books in the series, so it will be interesting to see how John develops in MR. MONSTER and I DON'T WANT TO KILL YOU.
As a final note -- I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER has a very pervasive supernatural aspect that begins fairly early in the story. If you are not a fan of your murder getting mixed with things that go "bump" in the night, I'd stay away. I'd recommend I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER for fans of horror, The X-Files, and urban fantasy.
Heather F. (AZmom875) -
Helpful Score: 3
I really enjoyed the character John Wayne Cleaver. He is not a serial killer. But he feels he has a monster inside and he is destined to be a killer. So he has rules. These rules stop the monster and keep other safe. But now there is a serial killer loose in Clayton County. Is he the killer? Could it be someone he knows? Is he hallucinating? Is he blacking out and committing these crimes? I couldnt wait to find out. But until we do we find John methodically trying putting together the pieces of the puzzle together and stop the killer. He has the help of his therapist to sort out the human nature of emotions and those outside of the realm of norm. It is mildy gruesome. Lots of blood. Not a cozy.
Guess what there are 2 more books.
Guess what there are 2 more books.
Vicki S. (curledupwithabook) -
Helpful Score: 2
If you liked reading the Dexter series (about the lovable serial killer), then I believe you'll enjoy this book. Initially, I thought it borrowed too heavily from that series, but it veered unexpectedly down a wildly different path and, suddenly, I was reading science fiction! I'd give away too much if I were to explain that statement, so let me just say that the main character is a teenage boy who knows he has the propensity to become a serial killer. He lives by certain self-imposed rules in order to ensure that this side of him does not gain control of his mind. Meanwhile, there is a real-life serial killer loose on the streets of his own home town! He becomes intensely interested in the case and begins to investigate on his own. The investigation is made easier for him due to the fact that his family owns the only funeral home in town, so he has access to what's left of the victims. Ultimately, he discovers, on his own, the identity of the serial killer and that's when the author takes us on a wild ride that's entertaining and pretty creepy to boot.
It's a quick and satisfying little treat that I feel good about recommending.
It's a quick and satisfying little treat that I feel good about recommending.
SUSAN S. (susieqmillsacoustics) -
Helpful Score: 2
I was hesitant about this book in the beginning because it was pretty detailed on gruesome details of dead bodies in a mortuary and I can be somewhat squeamish, but it was very well done and turned out to be a clever story. It became a page turner more and more and was scary and hard to put down in the end. It does venture into the supernatural, so it is not just a serial killer tale. Well done all the way around.
