As far as I can tell the criticism and praise for I Am Not a Serial Killer splits along two lines. I think that both sides have valid points.
On the plus side there is the voice and character of John Wayne Cleaver. It’s part high school Dexter part too-smart-for-his-own-good teenager. His surety of voice comes through, like the person we all knew in high school who had enough perspective to not get caught up in all the bullshit and had a line on everybody. You warm to him and you like him – even as it’s revealed that he’s obsessed with serial killers and believes himself to be one – it somehow manages to add to the charm. And it’s all attributable to the voice.
The book walks a fine line of allowing different interpretations of the character and the story (to a point). On one hand this book could be about a teen so surrounded by death (and missing a father) who conjures a rich life for himself and the rules that allow him to have control over it. On the other hand you can take everything he says at face value – that he really is a sociopath, that he really is a serial killer to be. These facets of possibility allow the depth of the character to come through.
On the negative side there is a major twist that comes part way through the book that leaves some readers feeling out in the cold. I won’t say what it is but it’s easy to see why some readers don’t like it. I was confused for a bit too, expecting the twist that came part way through to be further revealed as something grounded in reality but interpreted as something different by Cleaver. Instead the twist was played straight which marks a, shall we say, decidedly supernatural turn for the book.
Bottom line is that I Am Not a Serial Killer is a flat out blast to read.
