"I am everyone's assassin."
Katherine Ewell's YA novel Dear Killer gives readers a front-row seat to the mind of a professional serial killer. Seventeen-year-old Kit Ward has been the Perfect Killer since she was twelve, when she took over her mother's secret mailbox and started killing on a regular basis. Her mother, a former serial killer herself, brought her up as a moral nihilist and trained her to execute her assignments perfectly and without evidence. All one has to do is leave a letter addressed "Dear Killer" in a restroom cubby, and, for a fee, Kit will kill the requested target. She's the most famous murderer since Jack the Ripper, and with absolutely no evidence to lead back to her, she is set to keep going until she has a child of her own. But when she befriends both her next target and the man in charge of her investigation, Kit may find that even killers can be caught.
Kit is a brilliant protagonist. From the very first page, when she outlines the first of her five unbreakable rules--nothing is right, nothing is wrong--we are pulled into her world with breathtaking force. From there we are introduced to her mailbox, where people leave requests for others' deaths and a monetary donation; her mother, a charming woman with insatiable bloodlust; her school; and her next target: someone she knows, whom she decides to befriend before murdering. But the most fascinating thing about Kit is the motive behind her actions. Though she never admits it, the Perfect Killer is bored. She craves attention, and what better way to satisfy that urge without getting caught than to take bigger risks? This leads to mistake after mistake, problem after problem, and Kit's struggle to deal with the mess she has made is both intriguing and satisfying.
The characters in Dear Killer are a mixed bag. Mrs. Ward is a sociopath who is terrifying in her wealthy mediocrity. Mr. Ward is usually absent, interested in little beyond his working life. Maggie, Kit's only friend, is a bubbly teenager with plenty of spirit, which is smothered almost entirely by a mentally unstable classmate. When Kit decides to take matters into her own hands, the result is more than chaos--it is the complete destabilization of her moral foundation. Watching her battle her doubts and guilt is wonderful, as is the new, improved version of herself that emerges. Meanwhile, some of her supporting cast are a little two-dimensional, though Maggie, especially, is very likable.
Plot-wise, Ewell's debut is brilliant. Her protagonist makes bad decisions thanks to worse motives, or so it seems. In reality, Kit is slowly becoming someone she isn't sure she likes--someone who has a moral compass, however skewed it may be. What makes her sympathetic is the small moments when she has the courage to question her place in the world, to wonder if she is truly doing the right thing. While there are a few plot holes, the overall story is cohesive and flows naturally.
Kit is not a good person. She just isn't. And the murders she commits are not always acted for the best reasons, though she tries to justify them by extensively researching the people she is hired to kill. Some of her killings are relatively clean, while others are definitely not for the faint of heart; many are violent, but those sensitive to gore shouldn't be much affected. Language is another problem. Characters utilize a number of offensive expletives, though they use them sparingly. The only "romance" is a childlike crush Kit has on a twenty-some man, which she knows is ridiculous even as she entertains it.
I would recommend this book to older teens and young adults looking for a serial killer whose normally stable life is thrown into chaos. Although Kit is not a pleasant character, her mind is almost addicting in its closeness to her fight for moral understanding. As things get worse, the Perfect Killer must come to terms with who she is and who she wants to be while simultaneously maintaining an insider's eye on Scotland Yard. While not for readers with weak stomachs, Katherine Ewell's Dear Killer is a wonderful novel written with a magnificent voice, and deserves five gold stars.
The characters in Dear Killer are a mixed bag. Mrs. Ward is a sociopath who is terrifying in her wealthy mediocrity. Mr. Ward is usually absent, interested in little beyond his working life. Maggie, Kit's only friend, is a bubbly teenager with plenty of spirit, which is smothered almost entirely by a mentally unstable classmate. When Kit decides to take matters into her own hands, the result is more than chaos--it is the complete destabilization of her moral foundation. Watching her battle her doubts and guilt is wonderful, as is the new, improved version of herself that emerges. Meanwhile, some of her supporting cast are a little two-dimensional, though Maggie, especially, is very likable.
Plot-wise, Ewell's debut is brilliant. Her protagonist makes bad decisions thanks to worse motives, or so it seems. In reality, Kit is slowly becoming someone she isn't sure she likes--someone who has a moral compass, however skewed it may be. What makes her sympathetic is the small moments when she has the courage to question her place in the world, to wonder if she is truly doing the right thing. While there are a few plot holes, the overall story is cohesive and flows naturally.
Kit is not a good person. She just isn't. And the murders she commits are not always acted for the best reasons, though she tries to justify them by extensively researching the people she is hired to kill. Some of her killings are relatively clean, while others are definitely not for the faint of heart; many are violent, but those sensitive to gore shouldn't be much affected. Language is another problem. Characters utilize a number of offensive expletives, though they use them sparingly. The only "romance" is a childlike crush Kit has on a twenty-some man, which she knows is ridiculous even as she entertains it.
I would recommend this book to older teens and young adults looking for a serial killer whose normally stable life is thrown into chaos. Although Kit is not a pleasant character, her mind is almost addicting in its closeness to her fight for moral understanding. As things get worse, the Perfect Killer must come to terms with who she is and who she wants to be while simultaneously maintaining an insider's eye on Scotland Yard. While not for readers with weak stomachs, Katherine Ewell's Dear Killer is a wonderful novel written with a magnificent voice, and deserves five gold stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment