Book Review: The Hunt

Title: The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda

Release Date: May 8, 2012
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Pages: 293 pages
Genre: Dystopia, Horror
Source: Publisher in exchange for an honest review

Goodreads Summary: Don’t Sweat. Don’t Laugh. Don’t draw attention to yourself. And most of all, whatever you do, do not fall in love with one of them.

Gene is different from everyone else around him. He can’t run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn’t hurt him and he doesn’t have an unquenchable lust for blood. Gene is a human, and he knows the rules. Keep the truth a secret. It’s the only way to stay alive in a world of night—a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood.

When he’s chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt the last remaining humans, Gene’s carefully constructed life begins to crumble around him. He’s thrust into the path of a girl who makes him feel things he never thought possible—and into a ruthless pack of hunters whose suspicions about his true nature are growing. Now that Gene has finally found something worth fighting for, his need to survive is stronger than ever—but is it worth the cost of his humanity?

While I know that unputdownable is not a real word, it pretty much describes The Hunt. This book is compulsively readable from the very first page and never slows down. There are so many things to love about The Hunt, I will mention a few of them here:

World building: In this dystopian future, vampires rule the world and consider themselves people. Humans, or hepers, are a vampire delicacy and are thought to be extinct except for a few that the government keeps in a facility to study. While some of the vampires mannerisms and lifestyle are familiar (sleeping during the day and awake at night, super fast and strong), Fukuda introduces some charcteristics that are completely different from what readers are familiar with and takes the time to really highlight their behavior (drooling and salivating excessively, scratching their wrists instead of laughing, making out by rubbing their elbows into each other’s armpits). These strange behaviors are one of the reasons that this book is so unique.

Well developed characters: Gene is smart and strong but in his need to stay under the radar and blend in with the vamps, he under achieves in school. His real genius is living among the predators without being detected and it is really interesting to see the lengths he goes through to stay safe. While I liked Gene a lot, the most intriguing character is Ashley June, the gorgeous and popular vampire girl at Gene’s school that he has always been attracted to but smart enough to know to stay away from.

The vampires: These vampires are the most vicious I have ever seen, working themselves into a slobbering frenzy at the mere mention of human flesh and blood. Yes guys, they eat flesh too and they attack like crazed animals in the wild. These are the scariest vamps I have ever read about.

The suspense!: I cannot emphasize how much of a nail biting, edge of your seat read this is. I’m a squeamish reader and honestly, I was creeped out, grossed out and yet I could not put The Hunt down because I HAD to know what happened next. Despite my squeamishness, I raced through the book and am so ready for more!

If you like horror, adventure, suspense, tons of action or just highly original and entertaining books, The Hunt is for you. There are some fantastic plot twists and a killer of a cliffhanger ending. I highly recommend it and cannot wait to read the sequel. Tomorrow, I will feature an interview with Andrew Fukuda and host a giveaway of The Hunt!

Content: Kissing and violence.

My Rating: Really Good!