Project Cain
Fans of Barry Lyga’s I Hunt Killers (2012) know the travails of being the son of a serial killer. But what if you were the exact clone of a killer? That’s the horrific truth revealed to 16-year-old Jeff, who was created as a genetic replica of Jeffrey Dahmer. Worse: there’s a whole lab filled with young clones: Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, and more. Even worse: six of them have escaped for the ultimate road-trip killing spree. Enter ex–Delta Force soldier Castillo, who is hired to roundup the teen psychos and takes Jeff along, at first because of Jeff’s insight into the situation, but later because Castillo starts to like the kid, regardless of his DNA. It’s a hell of an idea, though it’s less splashy than you’d expect, delivered in a numb, mostly dialogue-free narration that focuses on Jeff’s inner torment regarding what kind of man he is becoming. Info dumps on various killers (often with mug shots) are clunky but grimly fascinating. An adult companion novel, Cain’s Blood (p.00), tells the same tale (more fully) from Castillo’s viewpoint. Grades 9-12. --Daniel Kraus