55.
Author(s): Dan Wells
Title: I Don't Want To Kill You
Publication: Paperback
Pages: 320
Genre: Horror
Acquisition:
Date Completed: July 17, 2011
Rating: *****

*May contain SPOILERS for EARLIER BOOKS*

I Don't Want to Kill You is the third in Wells' planned trilogy featuring teenage sociopath John Cleaver. After defeating two demons who have littered his small town with bodies, John decides to move from the defensive to the offensive, and uses one demon's contacts to invite a third - Nobody - to face him. This is where Mr. Monster ends, and I Don't Want to Kill You picks up with a cautious John watching for the first signs that Nobody has arrived. Ultimately, John faces enemies he never expects, gains support from an unlikely source, and faces a kind of loss that shakes his understanding of himself.

As a whole, I Don't Want to Kill You is a gripping and compelling episode in the John Cleaver trilogy, and proves to be a satisfying conclusion (if indeed it is the end...). Wells finds a much more comfortable balance with supernatural elements, leaving the narrative much less jarring and allowing for a more comfortable suspension of disbelief.

However (and these books always seem to come with a "however" for me), the character shift in the end once again rings of cheap pandering. To have such a dramatic shift in character at the conclusion of a series feels incredibly disingenuous, and leaves me with a feeling of great disappointment at the end of what would otherwise be a near-perfect conclusion.

2.
Author(s): Dan Wells
Title: Mr. Monster
Publication: Paperback
Pages: 287
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Acquisition: Christmas Gift
Date Completed: January 4, 2011
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

John killed a man, but his mother is the only one who knows. Following the sudden disappearance of the Clayton Killer the community is trying to put itself back together, and John and his small broken family are trying to find a balance that will let them live in relative peace.

Two things work to disrupt that peace: Agent Forman of the FBI, who's still around ... and the appearance of the mutilated body of a young woman. Once again the town is terrorized by violence it can't understand, and John finds himself struggling with his intentions as he's drawn to the case by ever fiber of his being.

Mr. Monster is another fantastic thriller; readers are treated to further development of the character of John, the self-acknowledged teenage sociopath, and watch with anticipation as he struggles with the desires of Mr. Monster, and the rules that he has cluttering his mirror. While I felt like the concluding elements of the first novel were a bit of a cheap device to put a bow on the story, similar elements are utilized much more effectively in the current novel, nicely blending the fantastic and the realistic. Readers who enjoyed I am not a Serial Killer will very likely enjoy Mr. Monster.

48.
Author: Dan Wells
Title: I am Not a Serial Killer
Publication: Paperback
Pages: 272 pages
Genre: Young Adult Horror
Acquisition: Recommended by drneutron on LibraryThing
Date Completed: June 13, 2010
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

John Wayne is a fifteen-year-old boy who lives with his single mother above the mortuary she owns with her twin sister. He's also a sociopath determined to prevent himself from becoming a serial killer, even as he explores his fascination with the phenomena. But when a series of violent murders occur in his previously quiet town, John finds himself drawn to the crimes, and realizes that he is the only one in town with the insight to stop the serial killer in their midst.

I Am Not a Serial Killer is a grisly and captivating narrative, and Wells adopts an interesting perspective to explore the darker side of human desire. I was a little disappointed with one aspect of the novel: I would have found the story more compelling if the narrative stayed focused on realism versus the fantastic. Still, I would recommend I am Not a Serial Killer to adults and teens who enjoy mysteries, the macabre, and perhaps a fascination with the scariest monsters that exist: serial killers.