I Hunt Killers (I Hunt Killers, #1) in Baltimore County Public Library Summer Reading BCPL SRC

Mar 05, 2014 Paula rated it liked it

Shelves: great-books-for-teens, young-adult, something-wicked

It's a pretty good book. You know what it is, it's horror for people who don't read a lot of horror. There are some nice ("nice" - maybe not the right word) horror vignettes and scenes, and the premise is terrific. But if you're not distracted by the cold dead flesh and the charismatic sociopath, you may notice that the girlfriend is there by and large to put up arguments that get shot down.

She's also there to show us that the main character is cool - she's black, and he knows not to touch her It's a pretty good book. You know what it is, it's horror for people who don't read a lot of horror. There are some nice ("nice" - maybe not the right word) horror vignettes and scenes, and the premise is terrific. But if you're not distracted by the cold dead flesh and the charismatic sociopath, you may notice that the girlfriend is there by and large to put up arguments that get shot down.

She's also there to show us that the main character is cool - she's black, and he knows not to touch her hair, and when he describes her skin he calls her "the color of... she's the color of Connie." That there IS nice. Although you see the author's hand in it - he knows that the classic use of food imagery to describe non-Caucasian skin is both trite and kind of offensive, so you see him popping in to wave a little flag: "THIS IS HOW YOU DO THIS." On the other hand, that IS a valuable public service. More authors should read that and go, "Oh, THAT is how you do that."

And you will also notice some lazy, lazy writing, if you can see past the clinical discussions of rape and torture. Grandma is made of "skin and bones and hate and crazy" (also a nice phrase) but wow, we've never seen a character like THAT before. Racist too. She's like Lafayette's mother from True Blood minus the visions. She's like every character Grace Zabriskie has ever played. And there's a ramshackle hut in the woods, and a couple of other set pieces that just make you go... *sigh*

Is it too much to ask for ONE MORE EDIT? If I had read this manuscript I would have drawn circles around these places and gone "you can do better" or "quit being lazy." The plotting here is better than average (although... but no, there's a second book, maybe there's an explanation forthcoming), the characters are... eh, they're ok. A little tweaking, a little nuance and they'd be better.

But in the small stack of boys-coming-to-grips-with-murderous-legacies books - a stack that include Dan Kraus's Scowler - I Hunt Killers seems a bit smug. "Try not to look away, ladies," it smirks. "I'm going to scare you RIGHT NOW." ...more

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Jul 31, 2012 Sherrie rated it really liked it

Shelves: thrillers-mystery, young-adult-books, family-drama, contemporary, favorites

Delightfully Twisted! This book has just been added to my list of favorites. I Hunt Killers is suspenseful and full of dark humor and psychological thrills. Jasper Dent, known to his friends as Jazz, is the only child of one of the nation's most notorious serial killers, Billy Dent. Jazz's childhood was certainly unorthodox as he was being groomed to be a sociopath and a killer. When the story begins Billy is serving life without the possibility of parole for the murders of more than 100 people. ...more

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