I Hunt Killers

Title: I Hunt Killers
Author: Barry Lyga
Pub: 2012; Little Brown & Company
Pages: 361
Genre: Young Adult, Horror, Series, Suspense

I FREAKIN' LOVED THIS BOOK.  

Seriously.  It was amazing and got me all creeped out in this most-excellent-stephen-king-meets-criminal-minds sorta way.

I want everyone to read this book.  Well, everyone who is slightly warped and okay with criminal profiling and sociopathic behavior etcetera etcetera.

Jazz is seventeen years old and lives with his going-nuts grandma in a sleepy small town in nowheresville.  It would be all lame and normal except Jazz's father is in prison.  Yup.  He's the notorious serial killer, Billy Dent, known for killing over 100 women.  And even more perverse?  Billy raised Jazz to think like a serial killer, prepped him to follow in his footsteps.  Jazz grew up keeping his dad's trophies organized and the details of the murderous acts filed away in his mind for safe keeping.  Plus Billy made a point of bestowing words of wisdom, such as: the easiest way to remove evidence of a body (cut it up? use chemicals?); the importance of paying attention to that last breath, and slicing a body is just like slicing chicken.  Um, ew.

Jazz wakes up every morning reminding himself that people are real; they feel things.

This novel is a brilliant look at a nearing adult fighting against his nature AND nurture.  He's a pro at manipulation.  He was trained by the best.  He constantly hears dear ole dad's voice in his head and he has to hush his nightmares that are part memories part fears.

And as if that wouldn't be enough to write about THE IMPRESSIONIST shows up.  A new serial killer paying  homage to Billy and Jazz is determined to figure out who the killer is even if the town thinks he might be the prime suspect.

Also.  He has help.  This wonderful side-kick best friend, Howie, who is classic nerd with a hemophilia issue.  Perhaps not the best man to go into fighting crime with, but he's uber loyal and has a crazy cool sarcastic sense of humor.  Oh and then there's Connie, Jazz's girlfriend.  She's a hit or miss with me.  I mean, she's definitely well written.  Her need to show Jazz that he's not his father is SO typical of a teenage girl right?  But, you know, even though I'm sure I would totally have been Connie in the same situation, it sorta irks me knowing that and wishing that instead I'd have been more you have issues so deal with them and come to me when you're over it you freak, which she kinda does, but not really.

I got this book from the library but desperately want to go out and purchase my own copy and reread it.  Especially because it's a - wait for it....wait for it - part in a SERIES.  (Betcha didn't see that one coming, huh?)  Don't let that sway you though.  Run out and buy this book!

The Girl She Used To Be

Title: The Girl She Used to Be
Author: David Cristofano
Pub: 2009; Grand Central Pub
Pages: 256
Genre: Romance, Suspense, Contemporary

The Girl She Used to Be is one of those books that end up on my shelves and I'm not quite sure how (I of course blame other bloggers).  I grabbed it randomly when I put together a stack of books I'd like to get through this summer.  Admittedly, the premise is not a book that I normally would have gone for.

Our main gal, Melody, has been in the witness protection program since she was six years old.  Her folks stumbled upon a mafia killing and that was that.  Since that moment, Melody's life has been tumultuous to put it lightly.  She has been shifted and moved around and given multiple personae since that fateful morning.  After all, convincing a six year old that she is no longer 'Melody' is difficult to do, and once you're in the program, if you're identity is revealed, it's time to create a new one.

When we first meet Melody, she is in her young adulthood and bored with her mundane life.  Her parents were murdered by the mafia family, so she has little faith in the program.  Plus, because she feels that the program took away her life, she acts fairly whimsical and calls upon them to create a new identity when she can't handle the normalcy of her current lie.

Melody is a tragic character.  Immediately we understand her despair.  Unable to begin any long term relationships for fear of causing turmoil in another life because of her fate, she is constantly an observer of the lives and families surrounding her.  What heartfelt scene is when she is hanging out in the local Hallmark following the patrons and their card choices just to get an idea of what it would be like to have those connections.

Melody no longer has her regular Program official, and instead, gets a newer younger version.  They quickly form an odd relationship as he escorts her to the place of her new identity.  Then, one night in the secluded hotel room a man breaks in and calls Melody by her real name.  She soon discovers that Jonathan is the son of the Mafia father-figure that is perusing her.  He wants her to come with him and confront his family. 

Melody is tired of running and agrees to go with Jonathan.  They end up building this amazing relationship on these horrible circumstances and the days leading up to meeting the mafia family are romantic and cleverly mushy.

As I was saying, what an odd story.  But man did I love it.  I read this book in one day, and only a couple of sittings.  (I had to do life-in-the-way sorta things).  Of course, the whole time I realized how far-fetched the story was.  Surely something like this wouldn't happen in real life.  But even though it was unrealistic, it was written so well that I bought it nonetheless.

I love how the theme of identity was questioned.  Melody spent her whole life not having an identity, not ever really know who she was and Jonathan spent his life living an identity created by his family and not the one that he desired.  Obviously that's the bond that brought them together.  It was impossible not to root for their love, even though the whole time you suspect it will end badly.