My Sister, the Serial Killer

The story is not merely a thriller about a serial killer, although murder does happen. I saw it also as a family drama with extremes of abuse, infidelity, and sibling rivalry. There's even a coma relationship, making it almost soapy, if the writing wasn't so fine tuned.

I believe the reader is supposed to find that the serial killer in question was “made” not born. Both sisters are victims of an oppressively patriarchal environment, an abusive father, and a weak mother who shuts down (with help from Mr. tranquilizer) when things become too much. In other words, you kind of feel bad for the sisters despite the fact that what they're doing is very wrong. (Moral ambiguity as another reviewer said.)

For such a short and deceptively simple book, there's a lot going on in these pages.