My newest favorite sociopath, John Wayne Cleaver is back again, and none too soon. I was starting to have to make a list of my own rules for appropriate behavior, just to deal with the waiting on the second one!

John Cleaver is a teenager diagnosed with....issues...that are usually noticed in serial killers. Triad of behaviors: bed wetting, fire setting, cruelty to animals? Check. Dysfunctional family home life: well, single mom with a family run mortuary service that our hero works part time in, plus dad who ran off for greener pastures a while back. Check! Lack of empathy: John claims to have this, though his actions speak otherwise....

John previously defended his town from a demonic, murderous creature in his first foray, I Am Not A Serial Killer. He's still being questioned by the FBI about his version of the events of that night.

He's dealing with the personal consequences of that night, as well. His mother now knows more about his inner life than she ever did before-and is exerting control over him, which is chafing at him as it will with any teenager. He's extremely interested in the lovely girl next door, too...just not quite in the way she thinks he is. She's thinking about crushing on the cute guy who drives her to school, he's pondering torture methods.

And then more bodies start appearing.

I hated putting this book down to go to sleep, and only the prospect of call center tech support on less than 5 hours made me do it. I was already at less than 6, thanks Dan Wells! I love the shirt you are wearing, by the way, it looks great!

(John's rules are rubbing off on me, I keep complimenting the customers who call in on how nice their email addresses are. )