Dear Killer

Written by Katherine Ewell

Narrated by Heather Wilds

Full of ""can't look away"" moments, Dear Killer is a psychological thriller perfect for fans of gritty realistic fiction such as Dan Wells's I Am Not a Serial Killer and Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why, as well as television's Dexter.

Rule One—Nothing is right, nothing is wrong. Kit looks like your average seventeen-year-old high school student, but she has a secret—she's London's notorious ""Perfect Killer."" She chooses who to murder based on letters left in a secret mailbox, and she's good—no, perfect—at what she does.

Her moral nihilism—the fact that she doesn't believe in right and wrong—makes being a serial killer a whole lot easier . . . until she breaks her own rules by befriending someone she's supposed to murder, as well as the detective in charge of the Perfect Killer case.

As New York Times bestselling author of the Gone series Michael Grant says, Dear Killer is ""shocking, mesmerizing, and very smart.""

• Language: English
• Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
• Release date: Apr 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9780062302090

Katherine Ewell

Katherine Ewell wrote Dear Killer when she was seventeen years old. She was one of fifty finalists out of 5,000 entries in the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest and has attended the invitational Iowa Young Writers' Studio. In addition, she has the distinction of being named a California Arts Scholar and has been awarded the California Governor's Medallion for artistically talented youth. Dear Killer is her first novel.

Reviews for Dear Killer

[Ana Beatriz Ferrs · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked this book a lot, is really interesting,,, but the end, I still don't quite get it... Usually you think one thing that happens in this kind of plot, or even character... But anyways, really good book, well written, I really liked.

[Beth Bogaert · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

2.5 stars.


This book was... something? I saw what Ewell was trying to do, but ultimately didn't.

Kit, a teenaged serial killer and her mother's protege, might have been an interesting vehicle to examine human morality but... she wasn't. She was a compilation of irritating character traits, none of which were in any way realistic. Her personality shifts don't track for a self-proclaimed psychopath and comes off as trite given the reasons they happen. As a character study, it was ambitious... and it, unfortunately, fell flat.

Outside of that, everything else was average for me. The writing was okay, though the periodic repetition of words was a bit grating. The character interactions were clipped and a bit lackluster, seemingly meant to prop up Kit's journey. None of the other characters even have personality. The story unfolded slowly, not doing the plot a service by being so.

[bookbrig-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This is a very weird book. Not much happens in the story. The main character is a serial killer, trained by her mother from a young age, which is such an interesting premise. But all that actually happens as far as plot/action is that she kills lots of people. And then is occasionally regretful but usually self-satisfied. The end.

I was so hopeful that there would be something at the end that would make reading the rest of the book worth it, because why should I care about this character? She's interesting on the surface, but not very unique and she doesn't ever share any motivations for her actions beyond a vague nihilism. She's the narrator, but I felt like I didn't actually get to know her well at all. And the other characters felt distant, somewhat poorly drawn. Not much happens in the story as far as plot. There isn't a satisfying resolution on any level, unless the allusions to her Diana were supposed to denote some form of mental illness that she then "overcomes." And if that's the case, it's a cheap and problematic storyline.

Honestly, it just wasn't my cup of tea at all, and I have no idea who I could recommend it to.

[stormydawnc · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thought this one sounded interesting but it blew me away! I'm just speechless & my head is spinning. Lots of depth about humanity & evil & morality that I did not expect. Such a hard, hard read & not sure if my weak stomach will ever be able to read it again, but WOW.

[rayneofdarkness · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I can't quite put my finger on it - I wanted to like this book, love it actually the premise seemed great and awesome and I had high hopes but after getting into it I just slugged through to finish it and wasn't impressed with the ending, it almost made me want to throw the book but deep down I knew it would be like that. Not saying it's a terrible book but wasn't a fan of it.

[mountie9_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Random Thoughts Not sure how I really feel about this one as it disturbed me on so many levels, especially after the murder of five college students that just happened here in Calgary Would however lead to some fascinating discussions about topics such as nature vs. nurture, evil, morality, nihalism See some real promise in the authors writing and she has plenty of time as I just noticed she is only 18 yrs old - good on ya, I was working for Zellers in a polyester wraparound dress at that age Disturbed that a mother would teach a child to be a killer A lot of things didn't make sense to me, and I really didn't buy Kit as a "perfect killer" based on her inner monologue and actions I'm glad it ended the way it did Didn't feel a connection to any of the characters Good opening chapter, but than goes downhill Kit is annoying and her inner dialogue is juvenile Dumbest police department ever Heard that is is supposed to be like Dexter, I soo don't think so. Dexter only kills bad people first off, and well Dexter has a brain Memorable Quote"I'm a higher power," I said, "because the people need something to be afraid of. They need a monster under their stairs." 2 Dewey's I received this as part of the insiders program at Indigo and am in no way compensated or asked to review on this blog or sell copies (and right now they are probably disappointed they did as this one just bothered me)

[titania86_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Kit is a teenage serial killer. People send her letters and money to kill random people in their lives for whatever petty reason they think of. She then judges if they are worth the risk and, if they are, carries out the murder flawlessly, leaving the letter at the scene. Of course she also goes to school like normal kids, but she makes an effort to skate through the middle, not attracting attention. Unfortunately, one of her letters targets a classmate of hers, making it hard to carry out without suspicion. In preparation, she befriends her future victim. Encouraged by her mother who trained her to become a serial killer, Kit also befriends the young man in charge of investigating her murders and genuinely likes him. Will Kit continue to murder indiscriminately or will her new friendships change her perspective?I'm always a sucker for books about serial killers. Dear Killer seemed like it would actually be about a sociopathic killer. So often the killer claiming to be a sociopath cares deeply for their friends and/or family, making them not a sociopath. They tend to be hard to relate to and this makes them human even if it contradicts who they are supposed to be. Anyway, Kit is all about moral nihilism: nothing is right and nothing is wrong. She carries out the murders in the letters without judgment. It's just not enough for her and she starts to question the dogma that her mother instilled her with. I found Kit interesting for about the first half of the novel. I liked her growing up and figuring out the world for herself instead of internalizing someone else's beliefs. Despite the numerous problems I had with the novel, the writing kept me reading and made it easy to finish in about a day.I have so many problems with the novel. Too many things push my suspension of disbelief beyond its limits. Kit started killing as young as 9 and never left a shred of evidence at any of her crime scenes. Seeing the huge mistakes she makes over the course of the novel makes that unbelievable to me and there is no way she is truly a perfect killer. She brilliantly kills not one, but two students from her school and was very near when their bodies were discovered. That's just way too coincidental and of course she would be under suspicion. Kits acting is awful and she thinks she's convincing everyone that she's super normal, but it comes off horribly. It also doesn't help when Kit very publicly attacked and threatened a boy not one week before she killed him. Also, the fact that she gets hundreds of letters and so many people know where to contact her, but the police don't. Are they just really incompetent? Also, the book takes place in England, but I don't get the feeling of being anywhere but the US. The language didn't reflect it and neither did the descriptions of the setting. Only the mentions of Scotland Yard reminded me where it was set.Overall, I was disappointed with Dear Killer. I had to do way to many mental gymnastics to find the story remotely plausible. I grew tired of Kit and her weird reasoning for things and numerous mistakes throughout the novel. I would read another book by Katherine Ewell, but not another Perfect Killer novel if there is one.

[darkfaerietales_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: Very unique book that explores the ins and outs of the mind of a serial killer. This was so different from anything else I have ever read and it literally leaves you speechless.Opening Sentence: Rule one.The Review:What is moral nihilism? The philosophical definition is that nothing is inherently wrong and nothing is inherently right, because morality is only a set of rules created by society and not based on any greater truth. Take for example when someone murders another person they may believe that it is neither right nor wrong, but society has deemed it wrong, so it is a moral nihilism. Welcome to the disturbing awesomeness that is Dear Killer!Kit has been a serial killer since the age of nine years old, but she knew at a much younger age that this was her life calling. Her mother was also a serial killer, and she wanted to pass on her legacy since she can no longer do it herself. She taught Kit everything she knows and now at the age of seventeen Kit has become the most famous serial killer in London since Jack the Ripper. She has a calling card she leaves at each of her murders and that is the letter. She has a secret mailbox that people leave requests in and after she fulfills their requests she leaves the letter they wrote her. She is known as the perfect killer and the police are nowhere near finding her. Then a letter arrives that could change everything. She has finally been asked to murder someone she knows and Kit doesn’t know if she can maintain the belief that there is no right or wrong.Kit was such a fascinating character and being inside her head was a whole new experience for me. Her way of thinking was always very calculated and at times, I thought she was totally psychotic. But there were other times that she seemed like a completely normal person and that killing people was no big deal. I actually really liked Kit even though it was slightly disturbing to be inside her head, I found it interesting and very eye opening. She’s not really a character you connect with easily but as the book progressed I found that I came to understand her. I honestly really liked her as a whole and thought that she was written perfectly!I am so torn about what I think about this book. It is just one of those books that really makes your head spin and brings out all these weird feelings. I will admit that it did drag pretty bad in the middle and I thought that it was a little too long. But this is one of those books that really makes you think and there is a lot of moral grey area covered in it. I read a lot of reviews that stated they were disappointed because the book was so unrealistic, and to be honest there were very unrealistic parts, but I was expecting that when I started reading it. This is a work of fiction that explores the mind of an unfeeling serial killer that finally starts to see the consequences of her decisions and I thought it was totally fascinating. There were some cliché moments that made me roll my eyes but overall I thought that this was a very unique and interesting read. This would be the perfect book for a book club because there are so many things you can discuss about it. I commend Ewell for coming up with such a wonderful idea and I look forward to reading more from her in the future. I would recommend this to anyone that is looking for a unique young adult book that will leave you thinking about it long after you finish it!Notable Scene:She started to move away from her knees to look up at me; she wanted to look me in the eyes. But this was already taking too long.I stepped forward and swung my knee upward in to her nose before she had a chance to see my face. She really was a pretty thing. All elegance and sharp beauty.I heard and felt the bone splinter against my lower thigh. She opened her mouth to scream, but I kept driving upward with my leg and the shattered bone plunged upward into her brain and she was dead.She fell forward onto the black carpet, her pink fluffy bathrobe making her look like some sort of grotesque flower. Quick and silent and simple. I crouched down and turned her over. Wet blood, the color of cherry cough medicine, dripped from her mutilated face. Her eyes were open. I left them that way and made sure not to get any blood on myself. Bloodstains were hard to wash out, and I already had one on my knee. I would have to get rid of these jeans.Carefully, making sure not to touch anything else, I slid one hand out of my glove and checked her pulse and breathing. Both were gone. I slid my hand back into the glove, pulled a damp sponge out of my coat pocket, and carefully scrubbed away the print. I put the sponge back in my pocket.I reached into my jeans pocket and pulled out the letter.I stood up and looked down at her. Looked at her ruined face and bloodshot eyes and that pretty hair.FTC Advisory: Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins provided me with a copy of Dear Killer. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.