I Hunt Killers
5 out of 5 Killer Stars
"It’s
not that he’d never seen a dead body before. Or a crime scene. Jazz had been
seeing those for as long as he could remember, thanks to Dear Old Dad. For Dear
Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz had witnessed crime
scenes the way cops wished they could – from the criminal’s point of view."
I've wanted to read Barry Lyga's I Hunt Killers for quite awhile, only putting off reading it because I would have to buy it (I'm not registered at any libraries near me yet). I admit, I'm pretty stingy with my money when it comes to buying books. I've spent more than I like on books that I end up really not liking, but not wanting to get rid of them cause, well, I paid money for them so of course I'm gonna keep them. They might be moved into the corner of my closet, but they're still there. Anyways, eventually I decided to take the plunge and spent the money. I ended up buying the mass-market-paperback one by accident, and I don't really like those because the quality isn't the best (smaller pages, smaller font, thinner pages - I just don't really like them that much). Now, after finishing I Hunt Killers, I'm debating buying the original paperback to match with the rest of the series. I love the first novel so much that I went and bought the next two in the trilogy, and I am very eager to read them. Now, onto the details:
Jazz:
"The
dice had already been tossed, the cards shuffled and drawn. He was what he was,
whether he knew it yet or not. Maybe he was just a guy with a crazy dad, like
other kids with crazy dads. Or maybe he was something else."
Poor, poor Jazz; he's been screwed since birth. Having the world's most notorious serial killer for a father, who is intent on making him the perfect legacy, yeah, that's the makings for a royally messed up childhood. Billy Dent is a sociopath, and he raised his son Jazz to be just like him. Eventually though, the police caught up to Billy and he was arrested before he could finish "teaching" Jazz. And now Jazz is stuck living with his crazy, senile grandmother, always looking for ways to prove to himself that he is not his father, that he won't someday kill someone. For him, the best way to do this is to catch other serial killers, work with the man that put his father behind bars to stop a killer. Jazz has valuable information having grown up with Hand-in-Glove/Gentle Killer/The Artist aka his father. He can see a crime scene the way the police wish they could - from the killer's point of view. He has different takes on what's happening, has an idea of what's going on through the killer's head. But since Sheriff G. William, the man who caught Billy Dent (and is now very close with Jazz), doesn't want Jazz anywhere near his crime scenes, Jazz will have to rely on his best friend, Howie, to help him.
Howie:
"Howie
had become a constant in Jazz’s life, the kid he’d come to rely on to keep him
grounded and sane when the world threatened to tip him over into the
Billy-style craziness."
Being Jazz's best friend and a hemophiliac isn't the best combination, but Howie makes it work. He's the humor that balances out the darkness in this novel, the one who lightens things up a bit. After Jazz beat up some kids who were bullying Howie when they were younger, they became best friends. Howie doesn't let the fact that Jazz's father is a sociopath scare him off, and the two make a pretty good team doing illegal stuff to try and stop the new serial killer in their town, Lobo's Nod. However, not everything always works out for the two, as we learn throughout the novel. Nevertheless, Jazz and Howie have a bond of friendship that is unbreakable, and I love Howie's character not only for having funny lines, but also for reminding Jazz that he's not a serial killer, and he's not programmed to be one either.
Connie:
"Connie
was different. Connie was the one girl – woman, really – he could be himself
with. 'Being himself' meant a whole host of things – good, bad, grotesque.
Connie accepted all of them, and most important of all, he allowed her to
accept them, something he’d never done with anyone in his entire life. Did that
mean there was hope for him? Hope for something beyond what Billy Dent had
planned for him?"
Connie is Jazz's girlfriend, and like Howie, she reminds Jazz that he isn't his father, isn't destined to become a serial killer just because his father is a sociopath. She's a stable constant in his life, and even though she doesn't like Jazz looking into the new murders in Lobo's Nod, she understands his need to. No matter how many times Jazz tries to scare her off to "protect" her, Connie stays by his side because she knows that Jazz isn't his father, even if he thinks he might be. Yes, she gets frustrated with him, but she can see the good inside Jazz that he doesn't think is there. Connie provides Jazz with some normalcy in his life, an escape from his crazy upbringing, but don't make the mistake of underestimating her. Connie isn't just some girlfriend that sits on the sidelines - she's an important character in the novel, and without her, things would turn out very differently, in a not-so-good way.
Final Thoughts:
I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga is an amazing start to a fantastic series. It's got suspense, mystery and creep-factor. I am very curious to see where Jazz's life leads him; what happened to his mother, what's going to happen with his father, what repressed memories are trying to make their way to Jazz's consciousness through his dreams? I'm going to start the sequel ASAP - I need to know! Jazz's internal struggles, hearing his father's voice, are interesting, and I can't wait to see what's in store for Jazz, Connie and Howie. If you don't like some gory details, serial killer hunting, or good old-fashioned creepiness, then I Hunt Killers might not be for you, but for everyone else, don't waste another second not reading this amazing series! You won't regret it.
And always remember.....
People
matter. People are real.
