Game (I Hunt Killers, #2)

by Barry Lyga

[Melanie]

Review originally posted at BooksOfMyHeart.net.

In this second book about Jasper Dent, Jazz is fresh off his victory in helping to solve the killings in his hometown of Lobo’s Nod. Now the NYPD has shown up at his door and want his help in solving another serial killer case in New York City.

This is another good addition to the series. I continue to love Jazz, Connie and Howie. They are fun characters. I liked seeing Jazz out of his comfort zone. Not only being in the large city of New York, but also with Connie. Jazz has some real problems with the idea of having sex. I’m sure knowing your father is a rapist and murder can do that to a young boy, especially when your father was training you to be his protege. So far, Jazz has been able to avoid sex. Connie is tired of waiting though and staying in a hotel in NYC gives her the opening she’s looking for. Or so she hoped. I’m mean really, do you really want to see a kid like Jazz thinking about sex after spending the day looking at serial killer evidence? (I will say there is no sex in this book, but it is discussed)

There is also some time Connie and Howie are doing some investigation of their own in Lobo’s Nod (Connie doesn’t spend the entire time with Jazz in NYC). New information about Jazz come to light and Connie and Howie have to figure out what to do with this new information they have.

Jazz also gets to meet his aunt for the first time. He calls her to ask her to stay with his grandmother who has dementia, while he’s in NYC. His aunt makes quite the impression on young Howie.

This is another great suspense story for young adults. While, I didn’t know exactly who the killer was, I did figure out some parts prior to the characters. I loved watching Jazz go through all the pieces. They do seem to come pretty easy to Jazz. You do have to have a little bit of suspension of disbelief in the fact the amount of information sharing that the cops do with a teenage boy. That is something I mentioned about the first book, but it is even more true here. Is the NYPD really going to look up some boy from a small town to help them solve a serial killer case? Probably not. But if you can let that fact go and just immerse yourself into the story, it is a lot of fun.

Game does end on a bit of cliffhanger. I plan to tackle book three very soon. I can’t wait to see where Jazz, Connie and Howie end up. To know what will happen with Jazz’s father, Billy Dent. I also need to learn the secrets of Billy Dent’s sister.

Narration
Charlie Thurston continues to do a great job with the narration of this story. He does voices of women and men really well. I think he does a wonderful job of bringing out the tension in the scenes. One thing that really stood out for me in this book is voicing Jazz’s grandmother. When she sees her daughter for the first time in many years, it really brings out the child in her. I thought Thurston did a great job with that scene. I will be sure to pick up the next book on audio as well.