I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells

Reviewed by Lori
I Am Not A Serial Killer

Title: I Am Not a Serial Killer

Series:  John Cleaver (Vol. 1)

Author: Dan Wells

Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 52522

Description: John Wayne Cleaver keeps his obsession with serial killers in check by a set of rigid rules  that he lives by, hoping to prevent himself from committing murder, but when a body turns up behind a laundromat, John must confront a danger outside himself.

Rubric Rating: Level 1: Leave It

Why I Read It: I'm a fan of mystery novels and this cover was intriguing.

Lori's Notes: This book started out really well for me.  The story would have been fantastic and would have earned a level 3 if it hadn't strayed out of the realm of realism.  John Wayne is obsessed with serial killers and thinks he could be one.   He lives in a mortuary with his mother and helps out in preparing the bodies for the funerals.  The family is dysfunctional and I actually liked the dispassion of emotion from John.  He is amazingly cool and calculating.  If not for the rules he sets up for himself he could probably be a real terror but he has a fantastic amount of self-awareness.  When murders start to occur in his town John is obsessed with discovering the murderer.  So far so good...but then it switches gear and the story moves from the possible to the supernatural.   I would have really enjoyed the story if the killer had been an actual person, but having a demon commit the crimes completely jarred me out of my reading experience.  There was a lot of potential for this story - if you like murder mysteries - and you don't mind suspending your disbelief - you might want to give it a try.  Otherwise, give it a pass.

Recommended Readers: Grade 9 and Up.
Anyone interested in Supernatural stories and mysteries.

Themes:  Murder, Sleuthing, Serial Killers, Lack of Emotions, Dysfunctional Families, Friendship, The Supernatural, Self-awareness, good and evil.
Cross-Genre Links: 
TV Show: Dexter
Movie: Summer of Sam (1999)
Music: Somebody's Watching Me by Rockwell

 Related Reading: 
Graphic Novel: My Friend Dahmer (Cat #: 70763)
Non-Fiction: Serial Killers (Cat #: 40640)
Novel: I Hunt Killers (Cat #: 60472)


 Possible Discussion or Essay Topics:
  • What are John's "rules" and do you think he will be able to live by them?
  • Why is John obsessed with serial killers?  
  • Are all obsessions bad? Give examples.
  • John has been exposed to a lot of death working in the funeral home, do you think that this has desensitized him?
  • At the end of the book we see that the demon does not want his wife knowing about his true identity -  Does this make him more or less human than John?  (Which character shows more "traditional" human emotion?)

Other Titles in the John Cleaver Series: 



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