A serial killer comes of age during a vacation with his mother and step-father in Acapulco.

Fracassi injects new life into the tired “birth of a serial killer” premise by transporting the location to a tropical resort. I appreciated this aspect, but—much like Rob Zombie’s Halloween—humanizing the monster robs him of some edge.

Still, credit Fracassi with a terrific opening line:

Adolf’s father melted the day after he became a man.

That’s how you hook a reader.