[review] I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells (2010)

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book, book review, demon, horror, killers, killing, lying, paranormal, psychotic, serial killers, sociopath, teenager

I Am Not a Serial Killer (2010)
by Dan Wells
Paperback Edition
Publication Date: March 30th, 2010
Publisher: Tor Books
Buy a copy via Amazon.
Synopsis from Amazon.
Goodreads.

John Wayne Cleaver is dangerous, and he knows it.

Obsessed with serial killers, he never wants to be one. Yet terrible impulses constantly tempt him.Having grown up helping his mom at the family mortuary, dead bodies are no big deal to John. He likes them, actually. They don’t ask for the empathy he’s unable to offer. Perhaps that’s what gives him the clarity to recognize that something is frighteningly different about the freshest body on the slab.
For the first time, John must confront a danger outside his own mind, a threat he cannot control, a menace to everything and everyone he would love, if only he could.

My Thoughts:
Since I enjoyed Dan Wells’s 2012 foray into Young Adult, Partials, I decided to go back and read his other work: The John Cleaver trilogy. The idea of getting into a mind of sociopath intrigued me; I expected a thought-provoking, character-driven novel with an complex, yet also unreliable narrator. I went in with high expectations, but although it was an exciting read filled with suspense, the John Cleaver’s character was too forced–nor did the plot twist that almost ruined the story. However, I still found the story enjoyable–a very easy read. I didn’t like John very much nor could I grasp his thinking, but I’ll let it go–he is a sociopath after all.

I’m Not Sure If I Would Classify It As An Adult Novel:
If it were up to me, this novel would be classified as Young Adult. Well to be fair, it was originally pitched as a YA novel, so maybe that’s why I didn’t get the adult vibe from it. Or because the protagonist was a high school freshman. Perhaps it was the horror, “gore” aspect that kept it from being in YA–but it really wasn’t that horrific. I’m the girl who got scared with that hanging man song from Suzanne Collin’s Mockingjay, but this novel…didn’t faze me at all. So even if you are a YA lover, don’t let the adult classification deter you.

[Waiting On Wednesday #5] The Hollow City by Dan Wells (2012)

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book, books, horror, meme, mystery, psychology, psychotic, schizophrenic, suspense, TBR, thriller, upboming books

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

The Hollow City (2012)
by Dan Wells (blog.)
Publication Date: July 3, 2012
Publisher: Macmillian: Tor Books.

preorder a copy via Amazon.
check out the book at Goodreads.

Michael Shipman is paranoid schizophrenic; he suffers from hallucinations, delusions, and complex fantasies of persecution and horror. That’s bad enough. But what can he do if some of the monsters he sees turn out to be real?
Who can you trust if you can’t even trust yourself? The Hollow City is a mesmerizing journey into madness, where the greatest enemy of all is your own mind.
-description from Macmillian.

My Thoughts:
I originally had another book (coincidently, another Macmillian book) I was planning to feature for this week’s Waiting On Wednesday since I already posted about Dan Well’s Isolation on last, last week’s WOW and it felt like I was violating my imaginary rule of “don’t post too much about one author, it will bore your readers.” I ended up shifting the book I planned to post this week over to next week because if I waited another week, this book would already be released, and that can’t happen–it would ruin my plans of being a hipster. And I ignored my imaginary rule because I don’t have readers anyway.
So what made me reschedule my post? Dan Wells’ podcast, Writing Excuses did. That podcast is oddly addicting…even if I have no plans to become a novelist. I happened to be listening to the episode about Pitching last week, when Wells presented his one-line pitch for The Hollow City: “the story a guy with schizophrenia who realizes that some of the monsters he sees are real.” And that sold me.

So in adherence to my imaginary rule, I will put myself on a Dan Wells posting ban until…well, the release of Isolation probably.

Do you have a book that is making you count down to its release date? Leave a comment, I would love to know.