I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER by Dan Wells

This is the first of a trilogy and those who get caught up in it will want to read the next two. Mr. Monster and I don't Want to Kill You.

John Wayne is named for the movie star not the infamous killer clown Gacy. He lives with his mom above a mortuary. He helps his mom and aunt prepare bodies for burial and describes too much of the process for my taste. He senses that he may be a killer in training since he is extremely fascinated by serial killers and by the mortuary work. His psychiatrist has diagnosed him as having a sociopathic personality. Most of the kids at school view him and his obsessions as too creepy and leave him alone. A mutilated body is found in an alley and John Wayne is determined to solve the crime even as more mutilated bodies pile up, each missing a single different body part and each graphically described. Everyone is terrified, including reporters and the police since one reporter and some law enforcement officers are among the dead. When John Wayne does eventually solve the crime he keeps the resolution secret from his town and family. He has unleashed the killer in himself and no one would believe the truth anyway. By the way, he is right, he is not a serial killer. He is something much much worse. How bad and where the story is going You and I will have to find out in later books - wew!
jdw 12/11