I don't want to kill you. BOOK BOMB!

It is that time again! 

In the past, I would just review books here that I thought were great for one reason or another, but I figured, what the heck, if I’m going to review them, and some of you are going to buy them, let’s do it in a way that helps the author out.

A Book Bomb is where you get a bunch of people to go buy a worthy book at the same time on Amazon. This pushes that book up through the rankings so that more people notice it.  In the past the Monster Hunter Nation has bumped Sarah Hoyt’s Darkship Thieves and John Brown’s Servant of a Dark God way way up in the ratings, even getting them onto multiple Amazon top seller lists.

Amazon works on this weird, hourly update, rolling average system. Basically, the more books sold, over the shorter the amount of time,  the higher it rates, the most top 100 lists it shows up on.

This month’s Book Bomb is for I Don’t Want To Kill You by Dan Wells.

http://www.amazon.com/I-Dont-Want-Kill-You/dp/0765328445/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301582618&sr=8-1

It came out yesterday, and right now it is ranked at:

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,729 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

I want to see what we can do to that number today.

IDWTKY is the 3rd book in the John Wayne Cleaver series. I’ve reviewed the first two books, and each one has been better than the prior. That’s saying something, because the first book was great too. So I suppose in a way I’m going to plug the whole series here. (let’s see if we can jump a whole series up. MHN hasn’t done that before.)

Book 1:  I Am Not A Serial Killer  http://www.amazon.com/Serial-Killer-John-Cleaver-Books/dp/0765327821/ref=pd_sim_b_2  Currently #10,529

Book 2: Mr. Monster http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Monster-John-Cleaver-Books/dp/0765327902/ref=pd_sim_b_1   Currently #10,736

This book is excellent. Dan is a friend of mine, and gave me a copy of the ARC awhile back. I read this entire book during a couple of flights and a very long layover. There is a twist, it is a very good twist, and when I got to said twist, I said out loud, on an airplane, “Dan Wells is a son of a bitch!”  It scared the guy next to me.

Let me tell you why I like these books. If I were to try to summarize them, think Young Dexter vs. Demons. Yes. and that is cool.

John is teenage sociopath, fascinated by serial killers and death. He works in the family mortuary. He is socially awkward, has a very limited understanding of human emotions, and is one step away from snapping and doing something awful… Which makes him a very interesting character. It sounds like you wouldn’t like him, but quite the contrary, John is fun. He’s actually really likable and as the series goes on, you find yourself rooting for this kid. Not just against the real bad guys, but against his own darker self. Dan Wells walked a fine line here and totally pulled it off. John Cleaver is dangerous, no doubt, but that’s why we like him.  

The kid has a list of rules that he has to obey, consisting of things like “If I start thinking about hurting someone, I will compliment them instead.” So when John is starting to daydream about stabbing somebody, he’ll say “Hey, I really like your shirt.” My favorite however, is that he must refer to people as he or she, instead of it.

In IANASK, a killer comes to John’s small North Dakota town. John decides that since he’s the expert, he’s going to find the killer. (in truth, it is an excuse for John to experience the thrill of the “hunt” in an acceptable way).

In Mr. Monster, John faces a new foe, and it pushes him closer to the edge. Plus, this book has probably one of the best wrap up endings that I’ve ever read. Period. The last line was so good that I really wish that I’d have thought of it myself to stick into one of my own books.

In IDWTKY, it gets really dark. The villain in this one is the most nefarious one of the bunch. John is also more seasoned and mature (and dangerous).  I was very surprised some of the places Dan took this one. This is the last book of the trilogy, but Dan has said that he’d like to revisit this world again in the future. (in fact, the way it ended, MH fans will almost be expecting Agent Franks to show up).  If Dan does write more books set in this universe, I will totally buy them.

Let me just say up front that there is a supernatural element in these books. Obviously, since you’re on the Monster Hunter Nation, I’m assuming you’re okay with that. J If you look at the negative reviews on Amazon, they are from people who got mad that there were demons. Screw those people. (my favorite bad review of Dan’s however, is the lady that was mad that there was so much stuff about serial killers, in a book that had serial killer in the title… Amazon reviews, gotta love them).  These are not blow-the-monster-up sort of books. Dan’s a much more psychological writer than I am, however, I loved all three, and am really happy to recommend them.

I’ll be updating throughout the day to see if we can boost him any.

EDIT: For the record, Dan’s brother Rob is also a good writer. He has a book called Variant coming out from Harper soon. I read the ARC last night in one sitting. I’ll be Book Bombing that one also. It starts out and you think that it is a sort of modernized Lord of the Flies set in a boarding school, but then it gets weird.

EDIT 2: 12:30 MST Up a bit already and into the top 100 in Horror: 

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,949 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Plus, IANASK is up #8,827 and Mr. Monster is up to #5,805.

EDIT 3:  #1,787, #4,573, and #5,975

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14 thoughts on “I don't want to kill you. BOOK BOMB!”

  1. I bought I Am Not a Serial Killer but my girlfriend borrowed it before I could ever read it. Then we broke up. I guess it’s time to pony up and purchase again. Rob’s book Variant sounds really interesting too.

  2. Ok, I bought one of each. And then, because one of them was a 4 for 3 promotion, I had to find three more books to buy, too. Damn you, Amazon! 😉

    1. I know right? Freaking Amazon! Offering awesome deals and making me spend all my money. I just rebought IANASK for $4 and with Amazon Prime I get free two-day shipping. Ridiculous.

  3. I went to buy the first one on Kindle (in the UK).
    Sadly its very nearly double the paperback price, and set by the publisher – so I wont be buying it.
    Tell your friend the author to get a better publisher, he has just lost sales of at least the first book, and probably all 3!

    1. Tor is weird how they set their eBook prices. As far as better publisher though, I think Dan is with the biggest publisher in the business. I don’t think he’s going to ditch them. :p

  4. Well, I read Mr. Monster yesterday and finished I Don’t Want to Kill You just know, and I’m still bellowing, “Dan Wells is a sonofabitch!”

    These are very good books. I couldn’t put them down.

  5. I received I Am Not A Serial Killer, and I Don’t Want To Kill You, yesterday from Amazon, I started reading I Am Not A Serial Killer about 9:00 last night, and I finished it before going to work this morning. The tracking for my other package that has Mr. Murder in it says delivery on the 9th. I don’t want to wait 3 more days, it’s like someone at Amazon wants me to be productive at work for the rest of the week.

  6. Just bought Wells’ “I Am Not A Serial Killer” today. If I like it, I’ll pick up the other two.

    I’ll be reading it right after I finish David Weber’s “A Mighty Fortress” – I started off my much-deserved vacation by re-reading Weber’s Safehold series, of which AMF is the latest – and Jonathan Maberry’s “The King of Plagues.”

  7. Another sale or 3 lost.

    I’m a Kindle user and paying 30% more than paperback just stops me from buying it.

    I can’t support the publisher as much as I would like to support the Author. I’ll pay $15.00 (rarely) for an e-arc to get an early fix instead of waiting 3 months and pay $6.00. I won’t pay 9.99 when the paperback is 6.99.

  8. thanks for the heads up on this series. About midway through, and enjoying, the first one. If I were to compare it to anything, I would say it reminds me a bit of the old Hardy Boy books I read as a kid, so long as you’re ok with them being crazed sociopaths with great (dark) sense of humor. lol

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