Ever since Hannibal Lector flirted with Clarice Starling by telling her about his favorite recipes, it seems like every other thriller features some kind of deranged but brilliant serial killer. It's gotten beyond boring, but occasionally some writer will manage to come up with a fresh perspective on the genre. Jeff Lindsay's Dexter series put a unique twist on the notion of the serial killer. (Or at least he did until he wrote the utterly crappy Dexter in the Dark.) Now Dan Wells is taking a new approach to the concept. 
 John Wayne Cleaver is a teen-age boy who lives with his mother at the funeral home she runs with her twin sister. John has had a history of bed wetting, killing small animals and starting fires, and he's very fond of helping prepare the dead bodies for funerals. He's also obsessed with serial killers, and his reading about them has made him realize that he's already showing all the classic signs of becoming one. 
 John sets strict rules for himself to keep from becoming a killer, but he's still considered an outcast and a freak by his classmates. He also has to see a therapist who he tells about his efforts to not engage in mass murder. However, when a string of grisly murders occur that terrify the town, John can barely contain his excitement that a serial killer is operating nearby. However, John will find out that this killer is worse than even his deranged mind can imagine. 
 The first third of his book had me completely intrigued. I loved the notion of someone fighting against their own inclinations. John has so fully accepted the idea that he is a serial killer, that he never stops to question why he'd work so hard to avoid becoming one if he truly is a sociopath. 
 However, the book takes a wild turn that I didn't really enjoy. Plus, I could never get entirely over the similarities to the Dexter series. 
 It's a quick read and the first in a planned trilogy. It was good enough I'll check out the second volume, but I was far more interested in John's psychology than the plot.