I hunt killers

Well, that was a wild ride! I went in expecting something totally different, but I loved this book.

Jasper Dent is the son of a VERY prolific serial killer. He is alone in the word (well, except for his crazy grandmother) and trying to convince himself that he can have a normal life. Dude, you stayed in the same small town and expected people to not look at you sideways? All the while your grandma is crawling all over the floor thinking she is under attack and other crazy things. Your life will never be normal, but I'm applauding your spirit. But you do have a great BFF in Howie and a wonderful girlfriend in Connie. You are lucky in a lot of ways. And I'm hoping not nearly as messed up as you seem to think you might be. Fingers crossed!

You get to follow along with Jasper and how he puzzles out a copy-cat killer while trying to work through his messed up emotions. It's really well-written, and I loved it on audio. You should check this one out. I think you'll like it. It gets a bit dark in places, especially for a young adult book, but how else can you write about serial killers? 4 stars.

Overall Rating - 4/5 stars

Summary:

The book "I Hunt Killers" by Barry Lyga is about a teenage boy (17) named, Jasper "Jazz" Dent, who was made to be a killer. Literally, trained and brainwashed by his father from a very young age on how to be the best killer in the world. After Jazz's father, Billy Dent, gets arrested (124 victims later), Jazz grows up fighting the urge to kill people. He basically becomes the town pariah, but luckily gains one good friend named Howie and a girlfriend named Connie who he loves but feels the need to protect her from himself. Jazz tries to act like a normal teenager would, but he can't help using the morbid skills his father taught him to investigate the recent deaths. There's a new serial killer in town copying Billy's first kills. It's with those skills that Jazz ends up tracking down the killer. Or rather, the killer tracks him down.

There's so much mystery in this book that you just have to keep reading until your curiosity is satiated and even then it's still not. The cliff hanger just adds to the number of questions running through your mind. I think, for me, the most interesting part in the book was when Jazz finally went to go speak to his father after four years of avoiding doing just that. It was an intense scene where you got to see just how manipulative "Dear Old Dad" can really be, whereas prior to that part it's only alluded to with the voice of Billy in Jazz's head from a memory whispering to him to 'cut someone'.

Barry Lyga is a good story teller. He really does a good job of emphasizing throughout the book the internal war that Jazz goes through as he struggles with understanding who he is as well as his greatest fear of becoming just like his father. At times, Jazz's thoughts on becoming like Billy would get annoying, especially when his girlfriend had to continually tell him that none of what happened was his fault, but I guess it was necessary. I mean, if I were in Jazz's shoes and had a father who was a notorious serial killer I would non-stop question every action I did too. And I guess that's what made Jazz's character so fascinating. Even though he had evil thoughts about killing others he fought against his 'inner demon' and strived to use the things his father taught him to make a difference, chanting to himself all along that "people matter".

"I Hunt Killers" is a good book for anyone who likes a complicated mystery as well as when the main character himself is a part of the mystery. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who doesn't mind gory, morbid scenes and wants a book that makes you think about good and evil long after you've finished reading it.