I Don't Want to Kill You

I Don't Want to Kill You
By Dan Wells
Tor, 2011. 320 pgs. Fiction.

Dan Wells introduced us to John Wayne Cleaver in the chilling novels I Am Not a Serial Killer and Mr. Monster. In I Don't Want to Kill You, Cleaver faces his toughest challenge yet. John Wayne Cleaver has called a demon---literally called it on the phone---and challenged it to a fight. He’s faced two monsters already, barely escaping with his life, and now he’s done running; he’s taking the fight to them. As he wades through the town’s darkest secrets, searching for any sign of who the demon might be, one thing becomes all too clear: in a game of cat and mouse with a supernatural killer, you are always the mouse.

I’ve never been a big fan of the horror genre until I read Dan Wells’ books. His latest is the third in the trilogy that began with I Am Not a Serial Killer, so don’t read this book until you have read the first two. I thought this was a great finish to a great series. There were plenty of surprises to keep me guessing, but the strength of these books is not just in the action but also in the characterization. I’ve enjoyed watching John Wayne Cleaver change throughout each book as a result of the situations he finds himself in (even if sometimes the action is so gory I feel like I’m reading with my eyes half open because I don’t want to look).

JC