BOOK RECOMMENDATION: I'm not a serial killer by Dan Wells

This is one of those novels I can re-read without much bother; it's just that good. I thought I would write a small review of it for today.

 The story follows 15-year-old John Wayne Cleaver, a diagnosed sociopath who lives in an apartment above a morgue which is owned by his mother. He lives by a set of rules designed to keep his murder-orientated qualities under control so he doesn't kill anyone. This is going well for him until a serial killer arrives in his quiet town and he becomes obsessed with him/her. When trying to find out who the murderer is, John stumbles across something that may mean that the serial killer is more of a monster.

 When I am writing anything with a slight horror edge, I can often cite this novel as an inspiration.It is gripping and tackles utterly gory content in an objective way. All this could be down to the first person narrative by sociopath John; he is a rather fantastic protagonist. John has a particularly strange relationship with his 'friend' and you can imagine all of the characters clearly. I loved that John was a sociopath which may come as a surprise; he has a very unusual view of the world which is something that is refreshing to read.

 Due to John's emotional indifference on certain subjects, such as death, it caused any scenes with a strong emotional atmosphere to feel unusual but also left you glad to see John showing some emotion. I liked this character also due to his human vulnerability as a lot of novels that involve a conflicted protagonist tend to point towards making the character non-human (especially in horror/ sci fi) i.e. vampires, werewolves and demons. I can also admire his determination to find the killer as well as to stick to his rules. He does sometimes stray from the path but I have to say no one has a brilliant mistake-free life.

 Overall I would recommend this novel and I give it a 10/10 as it has really helped me with my writing and has shown me an unusual protagonist whom I love to read about. This is the first of the trilogy, with Mr Monster and I don't want to kill you being the next two in the trilogy.