Title: I Hunt Killers (Jasper Dent #1)
Author: Barry LygaPublisher: Little, Brown and Company
Publication Date: April 3rd, 2012
Page Count: 361
Genre: mystery/suspense/thriller
Audience: young adult
Source: library
Rating: 4 I would take this book to dinner, followed by a nice relaxing counseling session
Goodreads Summary:
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?
My thoughts: I've wanted to read this book since I first heard about it. Law and Order: Special Victims Unit is one of my favorite shows and I've always been curious about crime scene shows and about the psychology behind serial killers. This book was way creepier than I anticipated! You really get into Jazz's head (love his name, by the way) and he has some serious moments where you wonder if he's going to snap and kill someone next. Jazz is a very screwed up teenage boy and his voice comes through very authentically (despite the unique is-this-poor-teenage-boy-a-lunatic-in-disguise thing). The background story is all here so it's clear to the reader how Jazz got to this point. I found myself simultaneously pitying him for a horrifying childhood and being terrified that maybe he is no better than his father.
The most horrorifying aspects of Jazz's story are not the gruesome crime scenes (though the fact that I was not more disturbed by these just goes to show you how desensitized our culture is to violence), and believe me, they are gruesome, so if you can't handle crime scene stuff on t.v., probably give this one a skip...Where was I? Horrorifying...yes, the most horrorifying (I'm aware I made up that word, by the way. One of my many talents) aspect of the book is Jazz's fragile psyche and the fact that he's not even sure whether he's a killer or not. I can't imagine having gone through his childhood and having to war with yourself, and to remind yourself that killing is wrong. That Jazz soldiers on through all of his doubts and misgivings and fear...he is a very strong and determined character.
This book is much more than a slasher thriller. So much more! Yes, those aspects are there, but Jazz's character is the shining star of I Hunt Killers. I cannot wait for the next book in the Jasper Dent series!
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