Meg's 5th Read: I Am Not a Serial Killer, by Dan Wells

Oh, where to begin.

Let's see... I first heard about this book on a blog that was listing its pick for the best fiction by LDS authors in 2010. I read the synopses given and added several of them to my to-read list, and then promptly forgot all about them. A while back, when I was picking my next selection via Goodreads and random.org, this one came up. I picked it up from the library, and it wasn't until I read the author bio and saw that Dan Wells lives in Orem that I remembered where I had heard of this book. That said, the fact that the author is LDS is the only Mormon thing about this book. (Which is probably a good thing, because LDS-themed fiction isn't really my favorite. I have read some that I really enjoyed, but I don't usually go out of my way to read books from that genre.)

The basic plot of this young adult book (which is the first in a trilogy) involves a young man, John Wayne Cleaver, who has been clinically diagnosed with sociopathy. In addition to that, he has a fascination bordering on obsession with serial killers. I don't need to spell out for you what kind of combination that is. Fortunately, John also has a strong desire to keep himself from becoming the type of monster it seems he is fated to be. This strong desire has led him to set up strict rules for himself about his interactions with other people and his daily behavior. Sticking to these rules is essential.

John lives in a small town, Clayton, with his mother, who happens to run the town's mortuary along with her twin sister. When a serial killer strikes Clayton, it's no surprise that John's interest is piqued-- perhaps to an unhealthy extent. John ultimately figures out who the killer is, and knows that he is in a unique position to be able to stop him... but also knows that he needs to do so without unleashing the monster within. Succeeding on both accounts turns out to be a lot more difficult than John anticipates.

So... what do I rate this book? This is where it gets difficult. I literally bounced back and forth between liking and hating it, pretty much every chapter. I guess I'll start with what I didn't like.

First, I knocked one star off after the fourth or fifth time I saw a grammatical error. There weren't TONS of mistakes, but seriously, where was the copy editor? I think I am more particular than the average reader, but then again, I think all of the readers of this blog would have been just as annoyed as I was to see the kinds of minor errors that made it to print. Moving on...

A second star gets knocked off because, while I have to give the author credit for tackling the task of writing from the perspective of a 15-year-old sociopath, there were just too many times when it felt forced and I didn't believe it. I think that a lot of that came from the inexperience of the author. This is his first book, after all. I got the feeling that this same story, written by someone with a bit more experience, would have been flawless in this respect. Sorry, Mr. Wells. I anticipate your future books to be even better though, so I don't feel too bad for saying this.

Finally, I think I have to knock one more star off just because of all the times that I almost stopped reading it. This happened for several reasons. One, it is a bit dark in some places. Remember, you are reading the thoughts of a teenager who is obsessed with death... and not just death, murder. At some points I just thought to myself, OK, I'm over it. And to be honest, I think the main reason I picked it back up again after one of those moments is that I wanted to be able to give it an honest review on this blog. :)

Another reason that I almost gave up on it is that Wells brings a supernatural element into the story that (1) I wasn't expecting AT ALL, and (2) I wasn't a big fan of. By the end, I had to admit that it was an OK choice on his part, but I still wasn't super happy about it.

On the other hand, I obviously kept reading, and here are my reasons for doing so. One is that it does have some good humor in it. I chuckled inside my head quite a few times-- especially at some choice dialog between John and his nerdy friend, Max. Additionally, once the action really got going, I definitely got sucked in and had to know how it ended. There were some really tense moments. Wells definitely did a good job with those.

So, all in all, it was an entertaining read. I think, looking back, that I have to say my "like" for the book outweighs my dislike. I didn't love it, and it wasn't so blah that I'd take it or leave it, so it gets three stars from me.

If you are interested, here's what another reviewer had to say, from FantasyBookCritic.blogspot.com: 

"Part serial killer thriller and part supernatural horror with black humor, coming-of-age and teen angst mixed in, “I Am Not A Serial Killer” is like a cross between Dexter, Jeepers Creepers, and a YA dramedy..."

INFO:
Title: I Am Not a Serial Killer
Author: Dan Wells
Published: 2010
272 pages