Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - I Am Not a Serial Killer

Here’s a fair warning (and light enough that it isn’t necessarily a spoiler): there’s supernatural elements. The book caught me off guard with them but I stayed and found it a good read. Now that might not be everyone’s jive so keep it in mind.

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auliarach's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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sexualedward's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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monniebiloney's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Its been a while since I've finished this book (I had to get the last couple of books in the series via Inter-island Library loan) and to this day, I vividly remember the Climax of this book. It was so good. "Its My Turn"

All the books in the John Cleaver series are amazing, and THEY ALL HAVE ENDINGS. basically, the author knows how to write a well-contained book. The books don't end on cliffhangers, everything in the book is resolved in the book it is brought up. The MC hunts 'serial killers', so as long as 'serial killers' exist, the books can go on.

I don't know if this book counts as a horror or not, cuz you don't feel fear when reading these books. They are thrillers.

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elly29's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This is certainly an interesting premise: a sociopath who fights against his desire to become a serial killer, and who instead uses his knowledge to solve a string of murders.

This felt like a first novel, definitely. I listened to the version John Allen Nelson narrates. (Apparently, Kirby Heyborne's version is supposed to be really good.) I was turned off in the first few chapters, because Nelson's narration was gratingly similar to Will Wheaton's narration of "Ready Player One," which I loathed (I also loathed the writing). The books have in common a whiny, angry, angsty teenage boy who hates the world around him. And, they also have some mary-sue levels of self-control and self-discipline.

But, things took a turn, and here be spoilers.

I didn't realize that this book had

an element or fantasy to it, ie the murderer is a demon

. So, that was a fun surprise. Shame on me for going purely on my friend's recommendation and not reading the synopsis. Had the book not had some level of the fantastical to it, I think I would've liked it a lot less. I could chew on something other than the main character's one-dimensionality.

I think a book like this is important in that it really gets inside the head of a sociopath (and perhaps if one is a sociopath, it signals what one should not do, such as not stalk the girl you have a crush on). Again, interesting premise. Rather creepy.

Oh, and an early scene describes in-detail the process of embalming in a mortuary. I had to skip over a lot of that.

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