"I am NOT a Serial Killer" by Dan Wells

 "I am NOT Serial Killer" has been on our library shelves for a few years now, and at the urging of my younger sister and a fellow librarian, I finally moved it to the top of my TBR list.

If you are looking for a dark murder mystery with supernatural vibes, then look no farther!

If you are a fan of the TV show "Dexter",

Or "Criminal Minds",

Or if you are a fan of Barry Lyga's "I Hunt Killers" trilogy,

Then, I strongly recommend "I Am NOT a Serial Killer".

The Book: 

John Wayne Cleaver is a 15 year old teenager.

He is obsessed with learning about serial killers. Reading about them, building profiles on them, writing reports about them, etc. 

He works in a morgue with his mother, his aunt, and his older sister.  He helps embalm the dead before burial.

Oh, and he is a clinically diagnosed sociopath.

John knows he is different than other people. Emotions, attachments and basic empathy are not something he possesses, and from his obsessive study of serial killers, he knows that he has all the major markers of a budding serial killer.

He is fascinated by the dead.

He likes to watch people and stalk them.

He has dark fantasies that would horrifying his family if they knew.

But John also knows that these behaviors are wrong. He knows it is wrong to stalk people, he knows it is wrong to fantasize about death even if he feels nothing. 

So John has rules for himself to prevent himself from going down this path. He is determined to NOT become a serial killer.

However, when a serial killer comes to town and starts murdering the residents of Clayton County, John finds himself tempted in a way he has never been before. 

As the bodies start to pile up, John decides that he is going to let his own monster out and end the serial killer before someone else dies. 

But what John discovers is darker and more horrifying than anything he could have imagined, and now that his own monster has been let out, there is no going back. 

Overall, this was a pretty dark story, which makes sense as the narrator is a sociopath, but the story itself was fast paced and highly engaging.  There were several pulse pounding moments that had goosebumps spring up on my arms and chills running down my back. This was NOT a boring mystery.

MILD SPOILER

I must admit that there were times that I felt more sympathy for the "bad guy" than I did for John. John is a hard character to root for as there is nothing more driving him than his own dark needs and a basic knowledge of right and wrong. The "Bad Guy" in this story had motivations that I could understand even if they made him a monster. 

Read the book and you will know what I am talking about. 

Overall, I would give this book 4.5 stars.

There are 2 other books in the series, but I will be taking a break from this series for now. I think I am going to go find a nice fluffy comedy to read next. 

"Kingdom of the Wicked" by Kerri Maniscalco

 Witches, Prophecies, Curses, Steamy Demon Princes, and a compelling mystery trying to find out who is responsible for witches having their hearts ripped out?

I am IN!

This week I found "The Kingdom of the Wicked" by Kerri Maniscalco. I will admit that I didn't actually "read" this one, I listened to it on Audible (the narrator is AMAZING by the way). I typically listen to audiobooks while I am doing chores around the house, i.e. laundry, dishes, cleaning, etc. and I was actually looking for more things that needed to get done around the house just so I could keep listening!

"Kingdom of the Wicked" is a dark tale about twin witches Vittoria and Emilia. When Vittoria is brutally murdered, Emilia starts down a dark path as she begins using the dark arts in her quest for vengeance. Her inexperience with the dark arts leads her to be inadvertently bound to a Prince of Hell, Wrath. While witches and demons are natural enemies, they find themselves aligned with the common goal of discovering the being that is possible for ripping witches' hearts out. As Emilia spirals down her dark path, she finds herself drawn to Wrath and battles her desire for the prince with the knowledge that Princes of Hell can't be trusted. 

The story did start off a bit slow, but I was okay with that as I really enjoyed getting to know twin sisters Vittoria and Emelia and learning a little bit about their life before the action started. The food descriptions had me frequently raiding the pantry in search of something that sounded half as good.

 

Once the murders began, the story really takes off. I love all the scenes with Wrath, although I did find him pretty tame for a Prince of Hell.

“He was death and rage and fire and anyone stupid enough to forget that would be consumed by his inferno.”

 (I would LOVE some fan art of Prince Wrath if anyone has seen any 😍 )

There were times that Emelia would do something or say something that had me shaking my head or grabbing my hair in frustration, but I loved her growth over the course of the novel and the hints of the person she is becoming.  And I am pretty sure the person she is becoming in NOT a good person... and I love it! It is a nice change to see such a "good girl" head down a dark path because of tragedy instead of a flawed person finding redemption and hope. 

“There are victors and victims. Decide who you want to be. Or the choice will be made for you, witch. And I doubt you’ll like it.”

I will admit I was able to guess who was killing the witches pretty early on, but that didn't diminish how much I enjoyed the story. The ending KILLED me and I am kicking myself now for not waiting until the next book was released before starting this series. 

While this story did wrap up the major plot line for this novel, there are still so many questions left unanswered that I am dying to get answers to. I will definitely be purchasing a hardback copy of this book for my bookshelf and I will be pre-ordering Book 2.