REVIEW: MR. MONSTER BY DAN WELLS

Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Tor Books; First Edition edition (September 28, 2010)
Series: #2 in the John Clayton Series

I killed a demon. I don’t know if it was really, technically a demon, but I do know that he was some kind of monster, with fangs and claws and the whole bit, and he killed a lot of people. So I killed him. I think it was the right thing to do. At least the killing stopped.

Well, it stopped for a while.

No one in Clayton is safe unless John can vanquish two nightmarish adversaries: the unknown demon he must hunt and the inner demon he can never escape.

In this sequel to his brilliant debut, Dan Wells ups the ante with a thriller that is just as gripping and even more intense. He apologizes in advance for the nightmares.

I'm going to start out with the one tiny thing I didn't like about this novel - just so I can get it out of the way - which was the fact that John acted WAY too old for his age. He's supposed to be 15, but sometimes he just thinks and speaks like a 30 year old.

Other than that, I found this book to be great! I enjoyed reading about the embalming process and how it connects John and his mother. I especially loved the relationship between the two of them. She knows that her son is a potential killer (and a literal sociopath), but she loves him anyway, and takes care of him anyway. What a great character!

I also enjoyed the suspense and horror in this novel. The torture methods were written perfectly - so that you could easily envision it, but you didn't lose your lunch at the same time. Even the author's way of making you care about each character (no matter how small their part) was amazing. You even cared about one character that never even spoke!

When I first read this, I didn't know it was part of a series. I will go back now and read the first one. But even if you don't want to, this book is great as a stand-
alone. Read it and LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!!!

4 out of 5 stars (because I also don't like the title)