I Hunt Killers (I Hunt Killers, #1) in YA and Beyond

Dec 13, 2013 Janina rated it liked it

Ratings: 3.5 stars
Reading audio books really help me in trying to get out of a reading slump. That's why I decided to pick up I Hunt Killers on audio from my library. I felt it was a good book, but I feel like I missed out on a lot of the story because I just wasn't in a reading mood and I was losing focus and not paying attention to the narrator a lot of the times in the beginning. It took me about 3/9 parts to finally start getting into the story, understanding the characters, and liking the s Ratings: 3.5 stars
Reading audio books really help me in trying to get out of a reading slump. That's why I decided to pick up I Hunt Killers on audio from my library. I felt it was a good book, but I feel like I missed out on a lot of the story because I just wasn't in a reading mood and I was losing focus and not paying attention to the narrator a lot of the times in the beginning. It took me about 3/9 parts to finally start getting into the story, understanding the characters, and liking the story as a whole. When I finally started listening to the story fully, I started to really enjoy it. I found Jasper Dent to be an interesting character. His way of thinking was unusual and might be considered weird by many people. I didn't know if I wanted to sympathize with Jasper in the beginning because I didn't know if he would become the bad person that every thought he would be. Being the son of a serial killer was hard on Jasper and it messed with his mind. His father was freaking psychotic, a serial killer! He murdered, raped and just violated over a hundred women and liked to tell Jasper about what he did. What? So you can just imagine how that started to affect Jasper.

But as the book continued, I really started rooting for Jazz. I wanted him to come out on top and be a good person and not follow into his Dad's footsteps. But what I liked most about the book was the mystery of the new serial killer in town who is copying the murders of his father. Jazz is very persuasive in a way when it comes to getting what he wants and he also very smart. Jazz and his friend Howie, who I adored, were trying to help the police into figuring out the who might be behind the murders. Even though you see Jazz being a strong character, he also has a very frail mind because of everything that he's been through. I liked that he had some great character development. You could see the change in him by the end of the story :) Howie and Connie, Jazz best friend and girlfriend, were an added benefit to the story. I think they make the story better to helped to show that Jazz does have a heart and can cares about other people. Overall, the story was really good and I definitely want to continue with the next book in the series. I would recommend this to those of you who enjoy mystery and crime books. ...more

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Sep 29, 2012 Nikki rated it it was amazing

See this review and more posted at my blog Take Me Away...

If I could, I would have my review say this and this only:
"Read this f&%$%$g book! NOW!"
But since I know you all are expecting a real review, here goes....
Jazz is a teen who learned a lot from his dad. Normally people would say that's a good thing. But when you're dad is known for being the most infamous serial killer with his body count up to triple digits.... Not so much. Especially when murders begin happening in the same town tha See this review and more posted at my blog Take Me Away...

If I could, I would have my review say this and this only:
"Read this f&%$%$g book! NOW!"
But since I know you all are expecting a real review, here goes....
Jazz is a teen who learned a lot from his dad. Normally people would say that's a good thing. But when you're dad is known for being the most infamous serial killer with his body count up to triple digits.... Not so much. Especially when murders begin happening in the same town that you live in.
But instead of doing things like his father, Jazz chooses to use his knowledge and do things that will help the police. Or at least help them to think its not him committing those crimes. He becomes obsessed with it and makes it his duty to catch the killer.
I was not surprised at all that I liked this book. If you know me, I am a HUGE fan of Criminal Minds and I felt like this was Criminal Minds in a book. And just like with the show, at the end of this book, I found myself thinking 'How in the hell did Lyga come up with all this information?!" Kind of scared me, but it definitely did not stop me from finishing the book.
Another thing I loved about this book was the characters. Jazz was very conflicted and it showed. He was fighting his demons the entire story and chilling as it was, I loved it. I also loved Howie. He was like the opposite of Jazz but that's why I felt like they were so good together. Realistically I felt like they would be real best friends because they're so different from each other; they balance each other out. And he was so funny. His sarcastic nature and funny one liners made him the comedic relief of this dark and creepy book. And last but not least, there was Connie. I loved her because she was so realistic as well. She was so believable and you could tell that she loved Jazz.
The only thing that kind of irked me, was the fact that I got who the killer was a loooonnnnnggg time before the book told me. Don't get me wrong, the book isn't at all predictable, its just as stated earlier, I watch Criminal Minds and CSI: Miami, Vegas, and New York "religiously" so I knew the signs to look for. I kind of brought it on myself. But it kind of redeemed itself with the end. I was definitely NOT expecting the end. Gahh I can't explain how great it is without giving it away, so I'll leave it at that.
What scared me the most about this book was the detail of the crimes though. With my reader's imagination, I was able to visualize everything going on in the book as I read it. There were certain parts of the book that made me put it down. Like my teaser I posted on Tuesday.... (See that post HERE) *Shudders* And that was only on page 82! I think what scared me about visualizing everything, was knowing that there are really people out there like that out in the world. That are into killing people and all that jazz. (no pun intended...)
With this book, Barry Lyga shows his true genius with this creepy thriller. This is one book you will not want to put down. Not only because its so amazing, but because not knowing will gnaw at you until you find out "whodunit." ...more

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Jun 01, 2012 Jolene Haley rated it it was amazing

I was beyond hypnotized with this novel, and honestly, I was devastated to finish it! Part of me wanted to read as slow as possible so that it didn’t have to end. The other half of me didn’t want to sleep so that I could find out the end; something that had occupied my mind since I walked out of the bookstore with it. It’s awesome to read such a dark and entertaining, not to mention funny, YA novel. There definitely needs to be more of them out there.

Barry Lyga is a wizard. I was completely tran ...more

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