This is a light, breezy mystery novel, written from the perspective of a not-so-bright serial killer imposter who inadvertently becomes a killer of serial killers. You will not get attached to any of the characters and this is not a character study of depravity or look at any sort of cultural issues. This is a somewhat silly whodunnit that I would recommend if you need that kind of junk food reading snack in your larger reading pantry- the marshmallow fluff of mystery novels if you will.
The plot is straightforward: our first person protagonist, Dougie, is a misfit loner with an erroneously high opinion of his intelligence and skills with the ladies. Dougie inadvertently foils his would-be killer, only to discover that the assassin was in fact a serial killer and had been invited to a group dinner for like-minded serial killers (a serial killer club). With no fanfare and little in the way of life attachments, Dougie’s curiosity gets the better of him and he heads off to Chicago to seek companionship with the worst type of people. After Dougie is forced to kill several of his newfound friends when they find out that he is not really the serial killer he said he was, Dougie is approached by a federal agent, who pressures him to finish off his remaining ‘friends’. This sets the stage for the rest of the book’s plot- will Dougie kill all the serial killers? Is there another serial killer that is doing the same thing, and coming for Dougie? Who will be the last serial killer standing?
I’ve seen some GoodReads reviews that hated on Dougie for his narcistic ways, but I thought that was maybe the best part of the book- Povey has created a character that is a little bit dumb but a whole lot confident, which leads to a number of awkward and ridiculous scenarios. Dougie is a role model for no one, and his failures in the dating world especially are an amusing lesson in what not to do.
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