After the Red Rain

An intriguing new take on the teen teen post-apocalyptic/dystopian genre from bestselling YA author, Barry Lyga (and Peter Facinelli and Robert DeFranco). Cool concept but not earth shattering, I'm wondering if there will be more in this series, the ending certainly leaves room for that! Basically the premise of this story is that Earth is almost dead. Concrete and death are everywhere, the air is mostly unsafe and the only green thing that grows is death. Nobody alive remember what the world used to be like. They are content to live in the ruins and live off off genetically modified "rations." Deedra never questions anything, she just goes with the flow and works hard, without causing trouble. That is until she meets Rose. Rose, crosses the dangerous and toxic river from another territory and is unlike anything Deedra has ever encountered before. He KNOWS things and turns her small isolated world upside down. Until.... duh duh duh, shit happens. Cool book and I would be up for reading a sequel maybe. It didn't rock my socks but it was a fast read.

Game

GAHH!! Amazing!!! I loved the first Jasper Dent book (I Hunt Killers) so I assumed I would like the sequel. Wrong! I LOVED LOVED LOVED it! It may even be better than the first one. Seriously so good.

This time around the story follows not only Jazz, but his hot black girlfriend Connie and his best friend, Howie. The three of them all have adventures of their own to deal with it, adventures that are more connected then they realize.

Jazz shoots off to New York where the NYPD have asked for his expertise on the serial murderer, the hat-dog killer (i'll admit at first I was skeptical that NYPD would ask for a teenager for help but as the story went on it did seem plausible). Jazz uses all the knowledge his dad (the worst serial murderer of all time) imparted on him to help out as much as he can. Back in his home town, Howie and his aunt look after Jazz's seriously crazy grandma and Connie starts to get weird texts asking if she wants to join the game.

This book is so fast paced and amazing that you don't even realize it's over 500 pages. You fly through it and wish there was more at the end. Seriously must read. I am eagerly eagerly awaiting the next book in the series. This is hands down one of the best books I've read this year. A real nail biter that leaves you wanting more. Barry Lyga really does his homework and the details, the graphic crime scenes, intricate plot lines, and super amazing characters makes it hard to believe that this book is for young adults.

Boy Toy

Barry Lyga did it again. Simply marvelous! I've never seen an author capture young adult literature nearly so well as Lyga does (I read "I Hunt Killers" a month back, look for my review, it's equally amazing!). One of my professors told me that I absolutely, positively, HAD to read this book. I am soo glad I did.

This young adult novel follows eighteen year old Josh as he tries to come to terms with his shameful past. As a twelve year old he had a relationship with his middle school teacher, the fall out that followed Josh still has him confused. His teacher Eve was arrested and Josh became a social pariah, thankfully his best friend Zik never left his side. He wants to get close to his old friend Rachel again, but he is too ashamed of his past to try and attempt. Josh is so sure that everyone is silently judging him and he is counting down the days til he can get out of town and go to college. He has Zik, baseball (he's kind of amazing at it), and numbers (literal math whiz) to try and take his mind off matters but he can't stop thinking back to the "affair" he had with Eve. How long can he blame himself?

Trust me you will want to read this novel. The concept sounds grim but it is utterly fantastic to watch Josh learn and grow from his unfortunate past. It  is super compelling and nearly impossible to put down. Truly one of the best young adult books on the market. Read it!!!! I dare you!!

Bloody Good Read!

Holy shit. I haven't had a book punch me in the gut like this in a long time. Sweet Jesus this was a great read, and probably has one of the best endings I've read in quite a long time.

"I Hunt Killers" follows Jazz as he tries to come to terms with his haunted past and be a normal teenager. You see, Jazz isn't a normal kid, his dad was a notorious serial killer (124 murders! notorious is an understatement!) and Jazz grew up with a sociopath that taught him how to best severe off limbs, dissolve bodies, manipulate people, and think like a killer. Even though his crazy father, Billy Dent, was caught and imprisoned for life when he was 12, Jazz still can't come to terms. He's 17 and incredibly guilty that he didn't stop his father as a child and he's incredibly scared that he's really a killer at heart because he can't stop thinking about the messed up things his father taught him. Thankfully, he has an amazing best friend, Howie, who stood by him even when the world hated/shunned him because of who his father was. He also has a supportive girlfriend who puts up with his neurotic tendencies and a crazy senile grandma that he takes care of. As if trying to be a normal kid isn't hard enough there is a murder in toen and Jazz immediately recognizes the signs and tells the sheriff that it's a serial killer. The sheriff doesn't believe him so Jazz and Howie do some sleuthing and find some clues that the police miss. They still don't believe Jazz, so he becomes obsessed with finding the killer himself, soon enough there are a string of other murders and Jazz becomes central to the investigation when he figures out the pattern. Finally, Jazz can put his messed up killer mind to use for good, but as he does old memories begin to surface and it nearly tears him apart.

Overall the book is fantastic! It hooks you right from the beginning and you learn more about serial murderers and methods of killing than you ever wanted to know, but it's fascinating in a creepy way. This book is a must read and it's nearly impossible to put down. The ending alone is worth reading for, holy crap you don't see it coming. There better be a sequel!!