I Am Not a Serial Killer

February 1, 2010
Fans of Jeff Lindsay's Dexter series and its TV spinoff will welcome Wells's gripping debut, the first in a projected trilogy featuring 15-year-old sociopath John Wayne Cleaver. Cleaver lives in Clayton, a small town in the heart of Middle America, where he assists his mother with the family mortuary and seeks to keep his demons at bay through sessions with a psychotherapist and rigid adherence to a set of boundaries. Obsessed with serial killers, Cleaver lives in fear that the monster inside him will break out and act on his violent fantasies. When the eviscerated remains of a local man turn up behind a Laundromat, the first of several murders in which the killer butchers his prey and takes body parts as trophies, Cleaver turns detective. Wells does a good job entering the mind of his unlikely protagonist, but a surprising revelation about the Clayton killer's identity may turn off thriller readers who prefer not to mix genres.

April 1, 2010
John Wayne Cleaver is an extremely self-aware young man who has spent most of his adolescence fighting a predilection for violence toward others. Like Dexter Morgan, Jeff Lindsay's serial killer protagonist (e.g., "Dexter by Design"), to whom he'll at least initially be compared, John knows what he is, or at least what he could become, which is why he lives by strict self-imposed rules. When mutilated bodies start to turn up around town, however, John realizes that he may be able to use his tendencies to solve the crime himself. What starts out as a typical serial-killer scenario, though, takes a much darker turn with Wells, one that makes this debut stand out. John not only works to track down the killer but to take matters into his own hands to protect those close to him. VERDICT Though it will appeal to Dexter fans, Wells's story stands well on its own. Great pacing, a likable character, and a combination of horror and supernatural elements make this title in a new trilogy appealing.Craig Shufelt, Fort McMurray P.L., Alta.

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