Sunday Rave....ehm...Review

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I am not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells

I don't remember why exactly I ordered this book, but fact is I did and it arrived in a big Amazon box on Friday. I love getting Amazon stuff - it always feels a bit like Christmas (never mind the paying for it yourself part). 

So, Friday afternoon the postman rang the doorbell and there it was, the package, containing things such as No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Chris Baty and Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them (P.S.) by Francine Prose. And one smallish book of unassuming appearance entitled I Am Not A Serial Killer. At first I couldn't remember even ordering it, but what the hey? A book's a book and I must have liked the sound of it or it wouldn't be in my package, would it? I put it aside and resolved to read it later. 

Saturday morning came along, and I packed my handbag, ready for a morning of coffeeshop goodness. I meant to read Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print by Renni Browne and Dave King whilst slurping my Venti Dirty Soy Chai Latte at the local you-know-what, getting into the right mindset for an afternoon of writerly goodness. 

Turns out that at first glance, said book has a very similar cover to I Am Not a Serial Killer. I opened my handbag at the coffee shop to find the wrong book had come along. 

Right. Never mind, I figured, reading fiction is good if you want to be a writer. 

Now when I read the blurb for this book, I thought I was facing a story much like a young Darkly Dreaming Dexter (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) by Jeff Lindsay (probably known to you via the Dexter: The First Season TV Series featuring the wonderful Michael Hall) (do go read the books, thought, they're so much better).

The Blurb: 

Fear the darkness within...

John Wayne Cleaver is dangerous, and he knows it. He's spent his life doing his best not to live up to his potential.

He's obsessed with serial killers but really doesn't want to become one. So for his own sake, and the safety of those around him, he lives by rigid rules he's written for himself, practicing normal life as if it were a private religion that could save him from damnation.

Dead bodies are normal to John. He likes them, actually. They don't demand or expect the empathy he's unable to offer. Perhaps that's what gives him the objectivity to recognize that there's something different about the body the police have just found behind the Wash-n-Dry Laundromat - and to appreciate what that difference means.

Now, for the first time, John has to confront a danger outside himself, a threat he can't control, a menace to everything and everyone he would love, if only he could.  

So you see what I mean? Young potential serial killer trying to be as normal as he can stumbles over actual serial killer and decides to do something about it? Dexter, only younger. 

I was wrong, though. This is not Dexter. John Wayne Cleaver is just as enthralling a character, yes, but this is no mere...well, no mere thriller. 

I started reading this book at 11am and by the time I looked up my Chai had gone cold, my back was killing me (great coffee but the seats? Not ideal), my eyes had gone dry and it was 3pm. I also had three missed calls on my mobile. 

I don't think I've touched quite so engrossing a book yet this year. Young John, who's first-person narrative is, in turn, gross, sickly fascinating and so very teenage typical (I think most teenagers have, at times, issues with empathy)(most of them nowhere near John's problems, of course, but still), is impossible to ignore. I couldn't put the book down until I was done with it (thankfully it only has 271 pages so it was a survivable readathon). 

I don't want to spoil it for you, so I won't go into the plot, but do let me tell you that there's a serious twist in there that really, truly startled me. I was so not expecting what John finds out. 

Dan Wells' debut novel is the first of a trilogy, and let me tell you I couldn't be happier. I really want to know what happens to John - the storyline in the first book comes to a satisfying end, yes, but leaves John's future somewhat open... Can't wait for the next book to arrive...Mr. Monster (John Cleaver) should be in my hands by the end of September! 

YAY! 

Here's a teaser, in case you're not interested yet: 

"The thing about boxes," I said, "is that you can open them up. Even though they're completely boring on the outside, there might be something interesting inside. So while you're saying all of these stupid, boring things, I'm imagining what it would be like to cut you open and see what you've got in there."

p. 79, I am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells