I Hunt Killers

Starred review from February 20, 2012
Lyga continues to shift genres, delivering a superb mystery/thriller that explores what it’s like to have a monster for a father. Seventeen-year-old Jazz’s father, Billy Dent, was a prolific and brilliant serial killer who did his best to educate his son in the ways of murder. With Billy in prison for life, Jazz longs to overcome the stigma of his family history, but when a new serial killer strikes his small town, he is drawn into the investigation. Along with his hemophiliac best friend, Howie, and his girlfriend, Connie, Jazz applies the gruesome knowledge his father passed along in an attempt to discover the killer and overcome his fear that he might become a murderer himself. Lyga (Boy Toy) delivers a taut, gory tale that can easily stand on its own as an adult thriller, with a large group of suspects and plenty of red herrings. But it’s Jazz’s internal conflict about his exposure to his father’s evil that adds extra dimension and makes the book shine. Additional books are planned, and TV rights have sold to Warner Bros. Ages 15–up. Agent: Kathleen Anderson, Anderson Literary Management.

April 1, 2012

Gr 9 Up-Jasper's father, now in prison, is the world's most notorious serial killer, and he raised his son to follow in his footsteps. Now Jazz (who never turned his father in) can't be sure that he isn't a sociopath, too. He tries to find redemption by convincing the local sheriff that a recent murder is the work of a new serial killer-one who seems to be an admirer of his father and patterns his methods after him. Jazz proves himself right and is able to use his knowledge of his father's way of thinking to track down the murderer. The teen has disturbing thoughts about women, thinking that they are "simultaneously special and useless" and has to consistently remind himself that "People matter. People are real." He can be a difficult protagonist to relate to, but many teens, particularly boys, will be drawn to this title for the suspense, the violence, the brutality, and the gore. Fans of Dexter or Dan Wells's I Am Not a Serial Killer (Tor, 2010) will likely find themselves hooked on this new series.-Hayden Bass, Seattle Public Library, WA

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2012
When your father is the most notorious serial killer of the 21st century, having a normal life is a struggle. So is not following in his footsteps. After witnessing many of the crime scenes of his father's 123 official kills in ways the police wish they could, 17-year-old Jasper "Jazz" Dent is glad his father's in prison. Life with crazy Gramma, who raised "Dear Old Dad," is hard enough, and now it's in jeopardy thanks to Jazz's social worker. When police discover a body in a field near town, Jazz becomes certain it's a new serial killer. In spite of the objections of Lobo's Nod Sheriff G. William Tanner, Jazz and his best friend, hemophiliac Howie, run their own investigation and uncover a pattern as bodies quickly pile up. Can Jazz help the cops find this new monster without becoming a suspect himself? YA rebel-author Lyga switches from goths and superheroes to serial killers and sociopaths with this grisly teen thriller. Jazz's heightened self-consciousness is both believable and entirely in tune with regular teens. Readers of Dan Wells' John Wayne Cleaver novels (I Am Not a Serial Killer, 2010, etc.) will find echoes of them here, though the writing is not as tight and the creep factor is lower. Also, the certain-sequel open ending is a bit of a letdown. Still there is much to satisfy the blood-and-gore lust of older teen CSI and serial-killer fans. (Thriller. 15 & up)

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February 1, 2012
Grades 9-12 The Artist, Green Jack, Gentle Killer, Hand-in-Glove, Satan's Eyeall nicknames for Billy Dent, the killer who murdered 123 people before being incarcerated. For 17-year-old Jazz, the memories of his father's butcherous routine may be four years old, but they're all too fresh: his small-town community continues to treat him with suspicion at every turn. Then the murders begin again in the same order and fashion as Billy Dent's, and the town sheriff has no choice but to bring in Jazz to help find the new killer. Lyga has fashioned the kind of gripping, gory psycho-thriller usually relegated to adult fiction, one that fears neither viscera nor deviant sexual behavior nor the darkest of human impulses. It is rare when a YA novel dares to dwell upon the moral ambivalence of its protagonist, but Jazz is just thata hero who constantly yearns to succumb to his killer instincts. Before the teasing finale, Lyga gifts readers with a Hannibal Lecterlike prison showdown between Jazz and Billy. Safe bet that the sequel will offer more of these satisfying tte--ttes. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Warner Brothers has already snapped up TV rights to this big new series, which should compel the publisher to further crank up its already significant promotional plans and author tours.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

May 1, 2012
Seventeen-year-old Jasper "Jazz" Dent's life changed irrevocably four years ago when his father was convicted of over one hundred and twenty murders. "For Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round"; Billy taught Jazz tricks of the serial killer trade throughout his childhood. But when another killer strikes, Jazz hopes desperately that preventing more murders will prove to his small town (and himself) that he's not destined to follow in his father's bloody footsteps. He runs his own investigation alongside the official one and pieces together a pattern: the killer is doing a Billy Dent "impression" by re-creating his murders down to minute details. Though the characters are underdeveloped, Lyga explores compelling questions of nature, nurture, and free will in Jazz, who has more heart and conscience than he thinks. A wisecracking best friend, a compassionate girlfriend, and a father figure provided by the local sheriff anchor him and occasionally offer advice on "being human" to counterbalance Billy's macabre life lessons in violence and manipulation. The biggest strength of this taut thriller is the engrossing mystery of the Impressionist's identity -- and what Jazz will do when he finds him. katie bircher

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2012
Four years ago, Jazz's father was convicted of over one hundred and twenty murders. Now Jazz hopes to stop whoever is re-creating those murders. Lyga explores compelling questions of nature, nurture, and free will in Jazz, who has more heart and conscience than he thinks. The biggest strength of this taut thriller is the engrossing mystery of the killer's identity--and what Jazz will do when he finds him.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)