Book Review: I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga (Horror-tober)

If I could stick with a theme for a whole month it would definitely be Spooky October or something. Horror-tober! And this book would fit right in. But let’s not get carried away. You know as well as I do I will forget any plan to focus on scary/ horror books this month. My attention span just isn’t that long. But, here’s a review anyway!

The 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?

What I Had to Say About it:

This is the story of teen, Jasper. He’s smart and attractive and has developed the knack for blending in and standing out as the situation calls. He learned his “people skills” from his father, one of the most notorious serial killers. Since his dad’s been locked up, Jasper's  been dodging the media and trying to be a normal boy while taking care of his grandmother, who is in the throes of dementia. The problem is, whereas some people have random thoughts about their childhood filled with their mother’s Hamburger Helper, Jazz’s inner parental voice reminds him how to cut people’s legs off without leaving finger prints. As you might imagine, this unsettles Jasper who is convinced that his neighbors are just waiting for him to go round the bend.

FanArt by MynaOphelia

So, I really loved this story and the cast of characters. Jazz’s best friend is an appropriately anxious hemophiliac and his girlfriend is a black chick with rules about touching her hair. There’s some interesting stuff about the “race thing” that I think adds to the story and makes Jazz and Connie seem like "real" people. Is it enough for a WNDB sticker? No. But the character is a good one.

Which makes the stuff he’s thinking about all the more gruesome and gut- wrenching. Jazz could probably tell you how to literally wrench guts, but I’m speaking figuratively here. He’s seen things, yall. Which makes him the perfect person to help the small – town cops catch the copy- cat killer who’s leaving bodies around town. Of course, who the hell wants a kid with a bloody past traipsing through their crime scenes, right? No one. But Jazz is determined to make sure no one thinks he's following in his daddy's footsteps. Plus, the police are doing it wrong and maybe losing a little bit of their minds!

I would give this book 4.5 stars if not for Jazz’s final tattoo. It’s just dumb.

Check out this creepy- ass photo and the book preview video (linked).

And looky here! It's a trilogy. Totally worth checking out the second one, but this story is at high risk for "same old same old" syndrome, I can tell.