What an amazing read! Once in a great while a book comes along that actually lives up to the hype on the cover. This one claims to be "unputdownable" and it really was! It is a young adult horror novel but anyone will find the main character undeniably fascinating. Creepy, yes, but fascinating nonetheless. Since it is a young adult genre, even the violence is tame enough for those with a gentler disposition. I knew I would love this book regardless of it's merits since I met Dan Wells and got some great critique and mentoring from him at my writer's boot camp. It was even better than I had anticipated and made the hardback purchase for ass-kissing-with-the-author-so-he'd-share-his-secrets well worth it.
The main character is a 15-year old sociopath who's family owns a mortuary. He is fascinated with serial killers and because he is in therapy and knows he has issues he has constructed a whole lot of rules to keep from turning into a serial killer himself. When there is a real serial killer who comes to town and begins terrorizing the inhabitants, he must use his knowledge of the serial killers he has studied to try and figure out who is behind the killings. You don't know whether to love or hate him as he plays both protagonist and antagonist at times. The twists and turns and glimpses into a sociopath's mind keep you turning the pages so quickly that it is over before you could think twice about putting it down. I highly recommend this book to anyone - even the young adults it was marketed for.
The best part of this book for me personally was the fact it has proven, even though I have become an author turned crazy nit-picking reader, that good fiction can still be found and enjoyed. It is just sometimes harder to find...and comes packaged in the strangest of covers. This book also marks the first non-book club read for me this year. How utterly pathetic on so many levels...
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