Tuesday 6 April 2010

Mr Monster by Dan Wells

Review copy: Headline. Published 4 March 2010
From Goodreads: From the author of I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER...John Wayne Cleaver has always known he has a dark side but he's fought hard to oppress it and live a normal life -- separating John from Mr Monster to survive. But after confronting and destroying the vicious killer that was terrorizing his town, his inner monster is getting stronger and harder to contain. And now more bodies are being discovered...With the police failing to catch Clayton County's second serial killer John is going to have to use his secret knowledge of the first demon-killer to trap the second...but will he be able to avoid suspicion falling on him, and, in the face of extreme horrors, will he be able to restrain Mr Monster?

For some reason the first book in this series completely passed me by so I am really pleased I was given the opportunity to review Mr Monster. I really loved it and think it’s fast become one of my favourite YA horror books.

Dan Wells has a charming style of writing and I found myself completely immersed in John’s story from the first few pages. It felt completely original and unlike anything I had read before. I found it easy to follow even though I hadn’t read the first book (‘I am NOT a Serial Killer’) so you can easily read this as a standalone if you wish but I felt like kicking myself for not reading the other one first. I enjoyed this one so much I really wish I had started at the beginning.

Described in the press release as a cross between ‘Dexter and The X-files’ I found myself comparing it more to the show ‘Supernatural' – perhaps because I associate The X-files more with aliens and this story is demon based but also because it has a more young and fresh feel. I have also got to admit I had the ‘Supernatural’ tag line ‘Scary just go sexy’ going through my mind the whole time I was reading it – although in the case of John Cleaver perhaps it should be ‘sexy just got scary’!

Despite the fact he is a sociopath I found myself really liking John Cleaver, which considering the type of thoughts he has on a day to day basis, was somewhat disturbing. But I really did and I think this is testament to how good a writer Wells is. I actually enjoyed spending time with John and look forward to future instalments.

The story itself is really, really good. It’s also rather scary for a YA novel. Actually I’d compare it to many of the adult horror stories that are available – it is rather dark and there were moments when I actually had to put the book down. Definitely creepy - it also felt very believable and Wells doesn’t shy away from some of the more ‘horrific’ aspects of the story –and it is so much better because of it.

Slightly disturbing but also rather awesome! I can’t wait to read more books by this author. I will have to go back to the beginning and read I am NOT a Serial Killer’ in my wait for the next book featuring John Cleaver.

4 comments:

So Many Books, So Little Time said...

This sounds so fantastic! I think I'm going to get my hands on the first one so I can start from the beginning, though.

Luisa at Chicklish said...

Interesting review - thank you! I can't make up my mind whether this would be too scary for me or not!

Lauren said...

Disturbing, creepy and awesome in one book? I like. :D

I haven't really noticed this one much before, but I'm quite interested now. I might check out the first book a bit more.

Unknown said...

Uh-Uh. No way. Not in a million years. I am soooo not reading this. It sounds like my worst nightmare. You are one braver reader Sammee. I admire your gutsyness. :-)

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