Librarian Review:

In the grand tradition of loveable serial killers (Dexter springs to mind) here we have Kit who is a hit woman of sorts. She has taken up her mothers profession as a hired killer, who kills people that others want dead. The twist being that the reason's for murdering them is all highly personal and completely anonymous. Kit receives letters and monies behind a tile in a woman's washroom at a cafe and from there she decides who will be her victim and who is not worthy of her killing them.

But life is not as easy as Kit would like it and she makes an indelible mistake and kills a high school classmate which quickly starts her world unravelling as she could be identified as the killer. The plot for this book is quite good and it works very well as an allegory for teenage life and coming of age. My big problem with this book is that I really did not care about Kit at all. I thought she was so one dimensional and totally lacking in any humane qualities, which is a shame as she is supposed to be in a moral/ethical quandary about what it is she does for a living. Kit's duality is interesting in the same way that Laura Palmer (of Twin Peaks fame) was, (in the sense that they both seemed to be living the perfect double life) but Kit falls flat as I really did not care about her as a character, nor did I care all that much about the people she was killing.

"Dear Killer" is a book that seems like a good idea, the plot is enough to make you want to pick it up and read it, but alas – the book did not have enough "heart" to make me want to keep turning the pages. I only finished the book to write this review.

-Cameron

Youth Review:

Dear Killer is a book about Kit, a 15-year old serial killer. It was alright, though it seemed like a muddled down thriller for kids. The premise of a 15-year old serial killer is a good concept, but isn't executed too well, with the book standing somewhere between a coming-of-age/break-free-from-oppression (like every other young adult book out right now), and a murderer thriller, where you've got some scary serial killer out on the loose. This book falls a little flat on both ends, with the killer aspect not being embellished enough, through interesting passages concerning inner turmoil, or this persona Kit makes named Diana, who she seems to be embracing, and struggling with, as well as a bit of a cliché feel that comes with the whole questioning her mother, falling for a guy, typical and forgettable moments in this book as well. The book as I mentioned earlier is also more like muddled-down thriller. When the describe Kit's killings, they're never especially long, nor does the author choose to go into great detail over the death. For example, her last killing of the book is nothing more than her walking up to her target, saying "I'm Diana", then walking away from the victim's house, where the body has somehow gotten into the closet, not very detailed for a book about murder. On the plus side though, this book is paced well, with it slowing down only in the middle, and having some interesting insights(though not many). Overall, this book felt like a book made to be a sort of psychological-murder thriller type book, but heavily watered down for "squeamish readers", with a break-free-from-oppression structure thrown into it to make it feel like every other book possible in young-adult fiction(the only others being supernatural love triangles), making the book feel muddled down. Overall, this book is the first I've seen in a sort of serial-killer teenager setting, though ultimately falls flat, with an aftertaste making it feel like every other book possible directed at teens. Read it if you want, it's not especially long, or boring, but there's better things out there

-Derek