Meet Lane, she's a normal teenager -maybe on the outside - with an unhealthy obsession with serial killers. Why? Because she might be one. She's fascinated with how they think, how they work and what makes them tick. She's got an itch - killing someone - that she's always wanted to scratch and when an opportunity presents itself you can bet she's not gonna turn it down. But when she starts investigating into "the Decapitator", a serial killer at large, she comes across secrets regarding her past. Add to that the weird text messages she's been receiving threatening her and her family? She's definitely not going to let anyone get away with that. It might be time to give into her dark side.
When I started reading this book, I had a good feeling about it because the tone was reminiscent of Dexter. Doesn't that summary send delicious chills running down your spine? It's always a good thing. But as the story progressed that good feeling started to fade, only to be replaced by a whole lot of confusion and mild annoyance. Disappointing, because I really wanted to like this book.
It's around page 58 where I finally realized that I don't understand Lane at all. She ticks all the boxes on the serial killer list - uncaring, intelligent, tortured past, clinical view of the world around her - and it would have been okay if it weren't for a case of tell instead of show. But I thought I could deal with that, sociopaths/psycopaths are an interesting breed and it's not the easiest thing to write from the perspective of one. Although I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed that Lane ended up being a vigilante instead. I think it'd be interesting to see Lane give into her urges.
So I thought that hey, maybe the plot and the story itself would make up for my issues with Lane. Guess what? I was wrong. I mean don't get me wrong, it's a good story and it has potential but the plot was chock-full of things that, in my opinion, were kind of forced. I don't get Zach and his importance to Lane, aside from being a victim, and her sort-of-but-not-really love interest. I thought she didn't care about trivial matters like love? Or how random it is that she has this friend who's a super hacker, and oh by the way they met at summer camp? What a coincidence. And the way she just randomly solves crimes in between hunting for the Decapitator. It's like Criminal Minds except she's just one girl with no team of skilled professionals to back her up.
Suffice to say, the long, winding road to the conclusion of this novel was quite confusing. I couldn't guess who the serial killer was and it did come as a surprise but I was left feeling "eh". It didn't leave that much of an impact and I was left with a feeling of dissatisfaction. Although I will admit that at one point I was suspecting everyone around her of being the Decapitator. There were so many twists and turns and loops that in the end it sort of became a whole jumbled mess of lies and convoluted half-truths and messy, bloody deaths.
If you want your serial killer fix maybe check out Barry Lyga's I Hunt Killers or you should just try watching Dexter. Or Criminal Minds. My personal favorite though is Hannibal.
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