I want to read that...

Partials by Dan Wells

From Goodreads: The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the population. Reduced to tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is still imminent, but worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a decade. Our time is running out.

Kira, a sixteen-year-old medic in training, is on the front lines of this battle, seeing RM ravage the community while mandatory pregnancy laws threaten to launch what’s left of humanity into civil war, and she’s not content to stand by and watch. But as she makes a desperate decision to save the last of her race, she will discover that the survival of humans and Partials alike rests in her attempts to uncover the connections between them—connections that humanity has forgotten, or perhaps never even knew were there.

Dan Wells, acclaimed author of I Am Not a Serial Killer, takes readers on a pulse-pounding journey into a world where the very concept of what it means to be human is in question—one where our humanity is both our greatest liability and our only hope for survival.

I loved Mr Monster by Dan Wells so I am really looking forward to this one. It sounds AWESOME! It's published February 2012 (US) and March 2012 (UK)

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.