‘I Am Not a Serial Killer’ by Dan Wells

Fifteen-year-old John Wayne Cleaver believes fate wants him to be a serial killer. He’s obsessed with the subject, researching their backgrounds, patterns and crimes.

Beyond that, he thinks his name, though he was named after John Wayne the movie star and not the killer Gacy, cements his destiny. Not to mention having a father named Sam — making him the Son of Sam.

John lives with his mom in their family-owned mortuary, where he can indulge his curiosity about the dead. Despite his fascinations, John doesn’t want to become a serial killer. He recognizes that he has some of the early hallmarks associated with sociopaths: bed-wetting, pyromania, animal cruelty, lack of empathy. He puts in place several rules to keep himself in check.

“Serial killers are usually — virtually always, in fact — slaves to their own compulsions. They kill because they have to, and they can’t stop themselves. I don’t want to get to that point, so I set up rules about smaller things — like how I like to watch people, but I don’t let myself watch one person for too long. If I do, I force myself to ignore that person for a whole week, and not even think about it.”

He also won’t allow himself to have any contact with animals, and when he begins to have violent thoughts toward someone he says something nice instead.

But when a serial killer surfaces in John’s town, keeping his rules in place becomes a challenge. The monster in his mind begins to rattle its cage as John becomes more and more obsessed. He’s determined to find and stop the killer, but to do that, he knows, he’ll have to unleash his own inner demon.

“I Am Not a Serial Killer,” the first in a trilogy by Dan Wells, starts off strong as John’s psyche is revealed. At first blush the story seems to be a character study of a serial killer, one that would follow his escalation as he matures. But that’s not what happens. Wells throws in a supernatural twist that many readers might find jarring. Those readers thinking they’re holding a thriller or horror story might be disappointed with a book that is more young adult and paranormal.

That said, there are plenty of places Wells can take John in this trilogy. And once his monster breaks out of its cage, it should prove hard to lock it up again.