Joy Ride

After reading so many unique takes on psychos recently, it is somewhat jarring to read about a more average variety of serial killer psycho. In Jack Ketchum’s novel, Joyride, Wayne Lock is a realistic psycho in that he hits all the marks for the kind of killer police encounter on a regular basis. He’s a loner, unable to connect with others, and infatuated with killing. I wouldn’t count him among the Lecter types in regards to intelligence or the Sculptor for murderous creativity. He’s your average psychopath that gets the final push he needs to go on a killing spree. Sadly, I found the overall book mirrored the character – violent but average.

This ride starts with Lee and Carole, who feel there is no way out from the continued abuse of Carole’s ex except to murder him. Unfortunately, Wayne is watching and decides that if they can do it, he can finally break through his hesitation and commit murder too. He forces the couple on a road trip killing spree. I’ve been rolling this book over in my head for several days trying to figure out why it came off as merely an ok book for me. It’s a quick, easy read, the characters aren’t entirely flat, and the plot was well executed. All the pieces fit into place and yet I felt resoundingly meh about it.

I felt Wayne was a solid psycho, even with the overly done cliché background of childhood abuse and Mommy issues. His sexual excitement regarding killing is disturbing, especially considering this is a fairly accurate representation of many real life rape and murder serial killers. Yet, I wouldn’t say he scared me. I think that perhaps Lee and Carole cooled off the fear for me. I didn’t feel they had a genuinely loving relationship, in fact it felt like killing Carole’s ex was an attempt at mending their broken love affair. If Carole was as wealthy as the book made her sound, why didn’t they simply move away or go on  long vacation to get away from the ex? They seemed like rich snobs that blocked out any real emotion with alcohol. I had a hard time really feeling for them. The detective had more of a sympathetic view of Carole than I did. Since I didn’t like them, I wasn’t terrified for them while Wayne waved a gun in their faces.

The plot is a straightforward journey, without any real twists and turns. I didn’t get any shocking surprises that shook me up and drove me to care. It’s set up early on how the book will end. That’s not to say the plot is bad, just expected. If I were reading this simply to occupy a lazy day, I probably wouldn’t take issue with it. Personally, I enjoy reading books that take me off the standard course and veer off to someplace I wouldn’t have guessed it was headed.

There were several points that I just felt were conveniently built in to serve the story. For example, Carole reminds the detective of his recent ex, whom he’s not completely over yet, who was also abused by her former husband. This makes the cop emotional invested in the case. That felt contrived to me to give him a reason to be in the story above just doing his job. I get it; the plot has to move forward so things have to fall together. However, much of it felt forced in this book.

Overall, this isn’t a bad book. If you are looking for some reading that doesn’t require you to focus much on it, this will satisfy. If you’re craving a book that is more the average, possibly leave this one for another evening.