Book Review: The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda

The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda
#1 in The Hunt series
Release Date: May 8, 2012
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 293
Received: ARC from publisher, via NetGalley
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Summary

From Goodreads:

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?

Review

This book is fabulous!

Ok, maybe fabulous is a word with a little too much sparkle connotation, because these vampires? So do NOT sparkle! They don't sip your jugular with chic poise. They don't talk about breaking with tradition to be a human's one and only. They don't even engage in sarcastic flirt-banter.

No, when these vampires scent human blood, they pretty much turn into a cross between zombies, piranhas, and me at an all you can eat pastry buffet. But with all the delicate finesse of medieval torture methods (drawing and quartering, anyone?).

Which is all to say that "fabulous" doesn't exactly covey the right message. But, hey, I like gore (unless it's in a movie because then I'm too squeamish to watch), and Andrew Fukuda definitely delivered on the ick factor.

Plus, it was nice to read a book about dangerous vampires when the vampires are, you know, actually dangerous for a change.

"For fans of The Hunger Games"

Oh barf, did I just go there? Look, I know it's a pretty lame marketing gimmick to pull the whole "THE NEXT HARRY POTTER!" or "FOR FANS OF TWILIGHT!" because, really, they're usually pretty big stretches, but I can't help myself this time.

I mentioned this already in my mailbox, but it bears repeating: If I am Legend had a sequel and that sequel had a baby with The Hunger Games the result of that glorious union would be The Hunt.

The I am Legend parts

Gene is a human trying to dupe everyone into believing he's a vampire in a world where humans are thought to be extinct (because the vampires ate them all). In some ways, the vampires do look like humans. But in more ways than not, they're totally different (and I'm not just referring to the maniacal feeding frenzies).

Oh Edward, let's make out!

All of this made me think of I am Legend (the great book, NOT the comparatively crappy Will Smith movie or the good but very different from the book Charlton Heston movie, or the other one I disliked so much I won't even mention).

It made me wonder what life might have been like for Robert Neville (I am Legend) if he had went the incognito route instead of the bunker route. I was fascinated with the mental exercise of imagining this life Gene was leading and all of the painstaking steps he needed to take in order to blend not just physiologically, but also culturally.

The Hunger Games parts

I'm such an impatient reader, and really, not much happens at all for a good long while. Normally I'd be complaining right now about how I had to wait almost 200 pages before the action even kicks in and the hunt itself doesn't even start until after page 220. In a book that's only 293 pages long, normally I'd be pissed, or at least totally bored.

But I wasn't either. I was enthralled.

It's like how in The Hunger Games where you have to read through pages and pages and pages before the games even begin. But instead of being boring series stretching filler, the pages are actually filled with really fascinating stuff.

The Hunt is like that. Plus, there's the actual, you know, HUNT, which is also similar to the idea of the games, but twisted. I can't say much more without giving stuff away, but think more along the mutt dogs end of things and a whole lot less sweet Peeta moments (there really is only the very tiny beginnings of romance, even though the blurb makes it seem like it's more of a focus).

It's not scary like ghosts scary, but it's SCARY

The whole beginning let me get into Gene's head and really appreciate how utterly horrifying life must be like for him. I don't think I could have done what he did. I had thought Cormac McCarthy's The Road was the ultimate literary example of Hell on Earth, but Gene's life in The Hunt might take the title.

Yep, bleaker than that.

At first the vampires seemed pretty similar to humans, but the more time I spent as a fly on the wall in Gene's world, the more I realized how very different they are. The stroke of genius is that Andrew Fukuda didn't just focus on the big differences (like the whole devouring humans thing—though he does describe their blood lust in terrifying, disgusting, awesome detail).

Just as much time is spent developing the little things like tiny behavioral tics, social mores, and emotional expression. He makes his vampires very similar to humans, but then skews them so they're all slightly off. It was...unsettling.

As much as I love it when an author throws me into the action right away, I think that would have cheapened The Hunt. It would have been just another action book about battling evil paranormals, and while that's nice, it doesn't exactly set itself apart as something more. It also wouldn't have been anywhere close to scary, and The Hunt? SO FREAKING SCARY!

Have you ever watched a scary movie where you know something terrifying is about to happen but the director drags it out with the creepy music and the made-you-looks but you just know it's all winding up for something so frightening you're going to sleep with the lights on for the next week? And the longer it takes for the Big Event to happen, the more wound up and tense you get? And you're practically peeing your pants in fear from all that build up and anticipation even though nothing all that scary has even happened yet?

Yep, that's pretty much what I had going on with The Hunt.

THAT'S how it ends?!?!

Look, I knew there was a cliffhanger when I started this. And I knew, based on how things were shaping up and how few pages were left, that I would be left hanging at a pretty exciting point.

But I was so NOT prepared for what actually happened. It wasn't like I got left hanging in the middle of a bunch of action. It wasn't even like that Vampire Diaries episode where one of my favorite characters was shot and then the episode ENDED RIGHT THERE.

No, this was all that, plus a HUGE BOMB WAS DROPPED and then the book ended! No character reaction, nothing. Just BOMB, The End!

I never appreciated how much closure that scream actually gives.

But, ack, I don't know, it was so good and such a perfect point to end things because it was like that last final kick in the gut that really punctuated how emotionally gripping and awesome The Hunt really is, but, but, oh man, how can you do this to me Andrew Fukuda?!?!

Why no Special Shelf?

The Hunt is also like The Hunger Games in that it is very much part one of a story. Because of that, I'm holding off Special Shelf judgment until I read the entire story arc. If the rest of the series stays a the level of this first installment, though, then this will totally be a Special Shelf series.

Bottom line

This is the kind of serious YA that I could totally hand to an adult reader and not get "the weird look" (and, I WILL be handing this to a few of my adult library patrons who like The Hunger Games).

I don't exactly want to hug this book or sleep with it under my pillow at night, but that's mostly because it's a creepy, scary read and so not quite the hug-inducing type. But, I will be buying a copy for myself and ordering another for my library.

I am most definitely continuing on with the series, but not only because of the killer cliffhanger (you didn't have to manipulate me like that Andrew Fukuda! I was already obsessively seeking out sequel info by chapter two). The sequel promises all sorts of gory, pulse-pounding action, and I am ALWAYS on board for that!

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 

Do you have any questions about The Hunt that I haven't addressed?
Feel free to ask in the comments!

The Hunt releases today, so NO MORE WAITING!
Add it on Goodreads
Buy it on Amazon

Tweet