I know I’ve found a good book when I’m two thirds of the way through the book and I don’t know who I want to win. Dan Well’s I Am Not A Serial Killer is an excellent read, made all the better by a protagonist who might just be your next door neighbour.

Yes that neighbour. The one who collects knives.

I Am Not A Serial Killer is told from the point of view of fifteen year old John Wayne Cleaver as he attempts to navigate a new high school, the mysteries of the opposite sex and family difficulties. Big deal, you might say, why don’t I just rent High School Musical instead? The thing is John Wayne Cleaver is a sociopath. Intelligent, obsessive and almost completely without empathy, John would like to see what your made of.

Preferably by spreading your guts out on a table.

It’s an unusual choice for a protagonist, but John is surprisingly easy to like despite his tendency to make macabre jokes and lack of social skills. I am Not A Serial Killer gives John an interesting problem. Sure he’s a sociopath, but what if there was something else out there that was even worse. What would he do then?

Like the last two books I’ve reviewed, I read through I Am Not A Serial Killer in one sitting. I got the book this morning and, ignoring all the other stuff I should be doing, finished it about ten minutes ago. While John Wayne Cleaver is an excellent protagonist, his opponent is both horrifying and sympathetic at the same time. I could have rooted for the bad guy despite every evil act he commits.

While this is a Young Adults book, it’s definitely for teenagers and up, there is a lot of violence. Dan Wells never wallows in the blood unnecessarily; every drop of plasma serves its purpose, there are just as many deaths as you’d expect from a serial killer book (with a few extras thrown in for good measure).

If you know your serial killers, there are some extra nods and references strewn throughout the book that you might get a kick out of. I got my copy of I Am Not A Serial Killer from bookdepository.co.uk and I found out that there is an American version on its way soon. You can find Dan Wells at his website Fearful Symetery and giving out great writing advice as part of the Writing Excuses Team.