Book Review: The Serial Killers Club by Jeff Povey

By Sandy Amazeen Jun 25, 2006, 18:41 GMT

In this fresh debut novel, a man finds himself among an exclusive club of serial killers, whom he must stop at any cost--even if it means losing membership privileges . . . permanently. ...more

Our narrator was an ordinary enough man up until the night a madman sought to remove his heart with a large knife. In a strange twist, the intended victim manages to vanquish his would-be killer. Learning the man’s identity after going his wallet, our hero discovers he has bested the Grandson-of-Barney who liked to keep newspaper clippings of his exploits. In addition to the carefully saved media clippings, was a strange message from a personals ad signed by Errol Flynn.  From then on, life is never quite the same for the man who joins the Serial Killers Club and now goes by the name of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

Douglas is not really a serial killer yet he loves the company and camaraderie of the Club and won’t give it up no matter what. As members discuss their latest activities, non-killer Douglas is placed at a disadvantage. The only remedy is to kill off the other Club members as they become suspicious of him, which makes him a serial killer of serial killers. This activity naturally enough, draws the FBI’s attention where agents are divided between simply letting Douglas do what he does best, thus quietly eliminating serial killers and those agents who believe he should be arrested no matter who the victims are.

Federal agent Kennet Wade shows up and gives Douglas two months to “complete” his work, killing all the Club members or face incarceration. The problem with trying to kill off the members one by one, aside from the obvious fact that some of them are going to start putting things together is that Douglas really loves the Club. It is a place where, for the first time in his life he finds friends, acceptance and maybe the beginnings of love so he has no intention of meeting agent Wade’s demands.

This is one of the funniest; gently tongue in cheek “whodunits” to cross my desk this year. Action packed with surprises, a plethora of unsavory characters and no one is quite what they appear to be. Isn’t that just what you would expect from a group of serial killers?