I Don't Want to Kill You [Paperback]

Dan Wells (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 29, 2011

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.

In I Am Not a Serial Killer we watched a budding sociopath break every rule he had to save his town from evil. In Mr. Monster we held our breath as he fought madly with himself, struggling to stay in control. Now John Wayne Cleaver has mastered his twisted talents and embraced his role as a killer of killers.  I Don't Want to Kill You brings his story to a thundering climax of suspicion, mayhem, and death.

It’s time to punish the guilty.

And in a town full of secrets, everyone is guilty of something.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Fans of Jeff Lindsay’s Dexter series will welcome Wells’s gripping debut.”---Publishers Weekly on I Am Not a Serial Killer

“Wells’s debut is an unabashedly gory gem. This deft mix of several genres features a completely believable teenage sociopath (with a heart of gold), dark humor, a riveting mystery, and enough description of embalming to make any teen squeamish, even if they won’t admit it. Buy multiples where it won’t be banned.”---Kirkus Reviews (starred review) on I Am Not a Serial Killer

About the Author

Dan Wells is the author of I Am Not a Serial Killer and Mr. Monster. He lives in Orem, Utah, with his wife, Dawn, and four young children.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; First Edition edition (March 29, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765328445
• ISBN-13: 978-0765328441
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #188,296 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dan Wells is the author of several novels for adults, including I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER, MR. MONSTER, and I DON'T WANT TO KILL YOU. PARTIALS is his first book for young adults. He lives in Utah with his wife and children. You can visit him online at www.fearfulsymmetry.net

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars What an awesome conclusion! March 31, 2011

By Steven Diamond

Format:Paperback

The following review was posted on Elitist Book Reviews. For more reviews, go check us out!

***The Review***

One of the lessons we have learned during our time reading and reviewing novels is that it is hard just to get a book published. Making that first novel solid? Even harder. But you know what's even MORE difficult than that? Writing a series where every novel gets better and better.

Dan Wells' horror series staring John Cleaver--a teenager who has all the early tendencies of a serial killer--comes to a conclusion (just for now hopefully) with I DON'T WANT TO KILL YOU. The novel is fantastic, even better than last year's terrific MR. MONSTER.

So what makes this novel so good? We'll start with the character, John Wayne Cleaver. If you've read the previous two novels in the series (which hopefully you have, otherwise why the heck are you even reading this review?), you know that John is an odd sort of fellow. He obsesses over serial killers; their methods, their psychology and their motives. John also worries that he will become one, so he sets rules for himself. He also works (secretly from his classmates at school and the rest of the town) in the family mortuary. The great thing about John is that for every instance where he scares the reader with his macabre thoughts and actions, he also makes the reader laugh. The balance here is perfect, and even better than the previous novels. At the same time, however, Wells has made this character grow. Remember, the events of the three novels all take place collectively over a very short amount of time. John has seen and experienced a lot since he first faced off against the killer from I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER, and it shows in I DON'T WANT TO KILL YOU.... There are moments where the realizations of what he has done both harden and simultaneously soften John. It is such an interesting and unique dynamic that we couldn't help but love completely.

I DON'T WANT TO KILL you follows John as he attempts to track another killer in town. This time though, the Killer is in town because John issued a challenge. He also finds himself in a relationship of sorts. Nothing having to do with emotions is ever clear-cut with John, and Wells' writing really showed just how out of his element John really is when "dating."

The pacing of the novel is smooth as butter 99% of the time. Wells' writing is perfectly accessible while not feeling dumbed-down. We've read this novel twice now, and it was just as good, and fast-paced the second time as it was the first. Don't expect to set the novel down once you get going. Give yourself a few free hours and down it one sitting--it's what we do.

There are a few things we do feel like we should mention. First, it would have been nice to have been reminded of John's physical appearance. It's super minor, but would have been helpful all the same. There was really only one moment where the pacing, story and dialogue lagged. There is a moment later in the novel where John is talking on the phone to a Pastor. You'll know it when you get to it, but for us it was really flat compared to the rest of the novel. Essentially the dialogue is wooden, and the Pastor acts like he's under a compulsion spell. It's a small section that is over quick, but it could have used a revision.

One of the main things that certain people complained about with Dan's last novel, MR MONSTER, was about the continued supernatural angle. They complained that John was never really facing off against true humans, and that he only killed so-called "demons." I DON'T WANT TO KILL YOU follows the same method. There is a strong supernatural element. Deal with it. It's what sets this series apart from simply being "Young Dexter." There are some fantastic lines towards the end of this novel where Wells sets this series apart, and makes it far better than the Jeff Lindsay series it is inevitably compared to.

I DON'T WANT TO KILL YOU is a terrifying and absolutely thrilling novel. John Cleaver is a believable teenager who readers instantly love, and who's story readers will be sad to see come to an end (for now). This novel--and this series--is one of the best we have read, and is a must read for EVERYONE. Easily one of the best novels of the year.

Recommended Age: 14 and up.
Language: Like two words.
Violence: Yeppers. Dan deals with suicides, murders and monsters. He also has his requisite embalming scenes.
Sex: Nope. Read more ›

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book Of The Series April 2, 2011

By J. Caldwell

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm not going to tell you what the book[s] are about, because anyone reading this likely already knows.

I stumbled across the first book in this series I Am Not A Serial Killer (John Cleaver Books) while wasting time in a book store. It looked interesting enough, so I bought it. I didn't expect the twist, and didn't care for it at first, but was in love with the book by the end. I immediately pre-ordered Mr. Monster (John Cleaver Books) and finally I Don't Want To Kill You. Each book is better than the last, with this one leaving me wanting more. I simply could not put any of them down.

I suggest ordering all three together, because you aren't going to want to wait between books. Let's hope the series doesn't end with this one.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars super demonic serial killer thriller April 1, 2011

By Harriet Klausner #1 HALL OF FAME

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

In Clayton, sixteen-year-old social outcast John Wayne Cleaver works at his mother's mortuary, but knows that is not what makes him different from his peers. John understands he has the classic profile of a serial killer. To keep his Mr. Monster side under control, John developed a rigid set of rules that he strictly adheres to.

Ironically it is Mr. Monster that enables John to protect the townsfolk who stay away from him as if he has the plague. He killed two ancient monsters (see Mr. Monster) and knows at least one more evil predator exists from the phone he took from one of the dead malevolence. Now he is trying to trick the third monster a Demon coming in sixty three days and counting to kill it; the first death being a priest the demon beheaded. However, his biggest problem is adapting to his feelings for his only friend Brooke beyond her lying still on his mom's work table.

Talk about coming a long way from the doubting teen psychopath of I Am Not A Serial Killer, John has become a full fledged monster hunter albeit still somewhat a psychopath but Brooke has him reconsidering his assessment of himself. The story line is fast-paced and loaded with non stop action, but contains plenty of angst as the hero discovers he has a heart; he knows he has guts. This is a super demonic serial killer thriller.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Different and exciting July 2, 2011

By Glennie

Format:Paperback

There is a a trilogy of these books, and all are very well written and exciting, with an antihero I have never read about
Before......he is mesmerizing.....and you are rooting for him all the way through the book. It is a whole new way of looking
At a "hero"....is he a good guy or a bad guy? Fascinating reading, I highly recommend the whole trilogy.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This. Was. Awesome!! June 25, 2011

By James Duckett TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

The first two books in the John Cleaver series were pretty good. In the first we deal with a demon and then a different demon in the second one. How creative can Dan Wells get with demons? I actually wondered if he could surprise me in this book.

Not only did he surprise me, but he waaaaay exceeded my expectations. If you loved the first two books, you are going to cry over this one. It is AMAZING and touches you at an emotional level he never did in the first two books. Dan Wells' writing seems to improve and get better with each book, and John Cleaver becomes more the person we would like to see him become.

This one ends indicating that more is to happen, just as the second book ended, and I'm excited to see the new direction this series will take with the developments of this book. If a book four is coming, I can't wait for it.

If you loved the first two books, get this without hesitation. If you liked them or were kind of iffy on them, then I'd recommend giving this a chance. It is quite easily and hands down the best of the series thus far. If you couldn't stand the first two books, I question why you are even considering this one.