Book Review: I Don't Want to Kill You by Dan Wells

True to the form of his past two books, Dan Wells kept me on the edge of my seat with his new novel, I Don't Want to Kill You. John Wayne Cleaver, the pchycotic, messed teenager that you can't help but root for, again goes up against a demon knowing he must rid the world of this menace before it kills more people. But this time, instead of John stumbling upon the demons, he has invited one to come find him.

Dan has a way of drawing the reader in, keeping them turning the page and presenting an ending that ties up the story neatly and in a satisfying way. The more I have studied story and plot, the more I realize that Dan has utilized Larry Brooks' six core competencies to the fullest. In fact Dan had taught them once in a workshop I had attended at LTUE sometime ago, but they didn't really click with me until I recently read Larry Brooks' Story Engineering. Now, as I recognize competencies in Dan's keep-me-reading books, and I am currently trying to impliment them in my writing, I see how powerful of a tool they are. Good, entertaining writing is no accident. I takes effort and skill, and Dan has accomplished this once again in the book.

Though this book and it's prequels are classified in the horror genre, they are still mild enough, I feel, to be appropriate for teen readers--which is his target audience. My 15 year old daughter has read all of the books in this series and loved them. I would heartily recommend this book to those of you who like action with a mix of mystery and suspense.