Book Review: I Hunt Killers

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?

I Hunt Killers is a wild, wild ride. I devoured this book in no time because I didn't want to put it down.

Jasper "Jazz" Dent is handsome and charming. He know hows to manipulate people to get what he wants, how to spot the weakest person in a crowd and how to blend in. After all, his father is the world's worst serial killer.

The story begins four years after Jasper's father, Billy Dent, has been caught and sent away to prison when Jasper's sleepy little town is shaken once again by a new series of murders. Intrigued by the crime scene, Jasper inserts himself in the investigation and uses the years of knowledge Billy Dent bestowed upon him throughout Jasper's childhood to help capture the killer.

I have to say I was thoroughly impressed with this novel. For as dark and gory as it was with a good mystery, it also had it's light, funny moments.

For me, the characters really made the story.

Jasper is a conflicted teenager. His father groomed him to follow in his footsteps, and Jasper is haunted by the past as well as fears for who he may become in the future. Despite his issues, Jasper is likable. I think his narrative really worked well for the story. His offhand musings and clinical remarks were both eerie and easing.

His girlfriend, Connie, and best friend, Howie, were a good counter to Jasper's sometimes dark and brooding moods. His grandmother was crazy, alternating between hilarious and horrible. The sheriff, G. William, seemed like a competent officer of the law as well as very caring and almost fatherly when it came to Jasper. Also, Jasper's father was also very present throughout the story both in Jasper's mind and memory, and he was absolutely terrifying.

The hunt for the killer was, as I said earlier, a wild ride. I had my suspicions pretty early on, but, despite guessing right, the ending had a great twist that left me longing for an immediate sequel.