Review: I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

Title: I Hunt Killers
Author: Barry Lyga
Genre: YA, horror-mystery-suspense-thriller
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release Date: April 3, 2012
ISBN-10: 0316125849
ISBN-13: 978-0316125840
Author’s Website
Source: ARC provided by The Midnight Garden
Goodreads   Amazon

What if the world's worst serial killer...was your dad?

Jasper (Jazz) Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say.

But he's also the son of the world's most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could--from the criminal's point of view.

And now bodies are piling up in Lobo's Nod.

In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret--could he be more like his father than anyone knows?(Goodreads)

Review

Let me start this review by saying I have been fascinated by serial killers ever since watching Silence of the Lambs with my dad at eleven years old. Even though I have always wanted to know more what sets serial killers apart from the rest of the population, serial killers are probably one of my greatest fears. So when I got the chance to read an I Hunt Killers ARC, I jumped on it!

I Hunt Killers was a totally different take on anything I had read before. Jazz has been raised by his father Billy, (an infamous serial killer) until a few years ago when he finally got caught. Jazz helped his dad with the “family business” as his father was training him to take over some day. I was amazed at how real Barry Lyga made each of his characters, down to the finest of quirks. Jazz struggled with people being real to him. Jazz chants “People matter. People are real.” to himself as a reminder to not let those around him become objects, as his father has trained him to think of them. I loved Jazz’s character! I could not get enough of him. As I read I was entranced with finding out just how far he would go to get what he wanted and at the same time cheering for him to not cross that line.

Jazz spent a chunk of the day fantasizing about ways to kill his grandmother, plotting them and planning them in the most excruciating, gruesome detail his imagination would allow. It turned out  his imagination allowed quite a bit.

He spent the rest of the day convincing himself—over and over—not to do it.

I loved how Barry Lyga impressed instead of forced the question: Is it how we are raised that makes us a certain way? Or are we born the way we are?

…Billy had told Jazz a lot about his victims. Those stories became twisted bedtime yarns told to Jazz each night: The Sad Story of the Girl Who Tried to Get Away. The Guy Who Stopped Too Soon. The Woman with the Knife Who Didn’t Use It. These tales and more—over a hundred of them—jam-packed Jazz’s childhood brain like a sick volume of fairy tales.

In Jazz’s case would it be both?

Jazz had a small circle of people that he actually cared a good deal about. I really enjoyed reading the relationship between Jazz and his girlfriend Connie . Connie does not take any crap from him and when he tries to get all serial killer scary on her…Connie totally shuts him down and lets him know she is not scared of him. The other main person in Jazz’s world is his best friend Howie. Howie was such an awesome best friend!!! Howie has a blood disorder that makes everything a hazard to him. Even with his disorder he is almost always up for whatever Jazz wants to do. And Howie is just plain funny!

“What happened?” Jazz asked

“Medicine cabinets are dangerous” Howie said. “Those doors, man. They’ll just spring on you like a ninja. Mark my words: Be carful in the bathroom or you could end up like me.”

See what I mean- HILARIOUS!

I want so bad to get spoilery right here and tell you all kinds of things…But this book is too great to pass up so you will just have to go read it. I am so excited about the fact that there are going to be two more books about these characters! I can’t wait to read the next one. GO GET THIS BOOK TODAY AND READ IT! Yep, it’s that awesome:) Now if you will excuse me, I am off to stalk Barry Lyga find more of Barry Lyga’s books.

Happy reading,

 

Loved it! I want to know about everything this author writes.

Recommended For

Older teen and up: Umm this is about serial killers. There is gore, violence, and language.