The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda
May 8, 2012 by St. Martins Griffin
Hardcover, 293 Pages
Review Copy
There's something not right with the folks in Gene's community. While like other people, they go to school, do their homework and goof around, they also have this irksome habit of scratching their wrists, popping their necks, mating with their elbows and of course a little thing that involves eating humans.
Vampires make up the vast majority of the living..er nonliving society in The Hunt. Almost all the humans have become extinct and the vampires live off animal blood and raw meat, forever squelching the blood thirst that with even the mention of a human makes them frenzy with desire. Most carry on just like normal humans would, they attend school, eat three meals a day, have jobs and go home to sleep...upside down hanging from the ceiling during the daylight hours. Needless to say, these vampires are scary, their evil and have no shred of human emotion. Not one of them would save you, date you or even care if you were a child....the objective is to eat humans and its a violent bloody death, granted while most of the humans have been eaten, one is always on the look out for a survivor.
Gene, a human living among the vampires was trained by his father and knows how to blend in. His mind has been so trained to think, feel and pretend vampire actions, that he flies easily under the radar. Obviously there are some dangerous and scary close calls, but our smart, loner protagonist fools them all night in, night out. Things become a challenge however when the government decides to announce they are holding captive humans awaiting a much overdo game called The Hunt, where a special selected group of teens from the school will get to participate in hunting down the released humans and having a glorious feast. Gene along with a few others get their numbers pulled and its off to training and heper hunting. What the vampires don't know is that the vampire game masters have upped the ante and have trained the humans with weapons, good nutrition and survival skills. They don't just want a feeding frenzy, they want sport, fun and gruesome murders.
Once the group gets to the training center, things really start looking bleak for our hero Gene. There is no source of water and dehydration and body odor kick in faster than he could imagine. Other vampires even though they see the Dome and know humans, aka the hepers are in it, cant stop picking up the smell of a fresh human. Crazy with lust and the frenzy that begs to take over them, they don't realize the smell is coming from their own classmate and each day that Gene doesn't find a source to clean himself brings him that much closer to discovery. The Hunt may start sooner then they all realize and how can one boy stand up to them all?
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Fukuda's writing was a thrilling, nonstop ride that I couldn't set down. Compared to his debut Crossing, this author proves again that he has beautiful talent to make you love an outsider. From the suspenseful plot to the killer cliffhanger, The Hunt for sure is my favorite vampire novel this year.
Rating
Recommended to mature teens (15 and up) and contains: Violence, deaths{murder-vampires killing humans} some gross things like bodily functions and mild romance.
5/5- YA-Vampires-Paranormal
Thanks to Andrew Fukuda and St. Martins for Review Copy
The Hunt is available on Audiobook, check out this five minute clip brought to you by MacMillan!
http://media.us.macmillan.com/video/olmk/macmillanaudio/TheHunt.mp3
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ReplyDeleteSounds goooood!
ReplyDeleteI thought this book was great too! Lovely review, Tina. You covered all the things I was thinking too.
ReplyDeleteWow, a 5/5?! Clearly I need to read this IMMEDIATELY! The "disgusting parts" have me a bit worried as I'm super squeamish, but this one sounds way too good to miss just because I'm a wuss:) Fabulous review Tina!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read this - it sounds so good!
ReplyDeleteDon't die of heart failure but I have read this one! I agree it was a thrill ride and I totally agree with everything you said.
ReplyDelete@Steve- Thanks
ReplyDelete@Juju- IT WAS!!!
@Kara- thanks, glad you liked it
@Jenny- Yes a 5!! I give those out carefully, so you know I LOVED it...the disqusting parts are more the whole BO, drooling, spit, body functions, how they eat...that type of stuff.
@Kate- I hope you love it...;)
@Felicia- I will try and contain myself by not passing out!! We read the same book...WHEW HEW!! So glad you liked it...;)
wow I need to read this book. Great review
ReplyDeleteReally? I mean, Really?
ReplyDeleteGAH! I just read a review for this one over on Felicia's blog and so I have to repeat myself because now I feel like an idiot. I started this book a while back but put it down because I lost interest. It just didn't seem 'real' to me. Looks like I made a big mistake. I hate when that happens. *sighs*
I've skimmed past this book tons of times and just stopped to read your review. I'm so intrigued by this now !
ReplyDeleteThe Hunt isn't your gorgeous, sparkling vampires. Andrew Fukuda has definitely given us a vampire version hunger game with these blood-sucking, flesh-eating vampires. The Hunt is eerie, weird (good weird) and one of the creepiest novels I have ever read. Fukuda has created an unusually weird way of kissing and laughing when it comes to these vampires, it definitely freaks me out. The Hunt is an awesome novel and Fukuda has packed it to the max with action, and I love action. Gene is another reason I love The Hunt. Gene is a beautiful character, I love that The Hunt is told from a guy's POV seeing Gene's feelings really made this story for me. As you can see from all the "loves" in this review, I really enjoyed The Hunt. Andrew Fukuda has written an awesome, creepy story, and these vampires will definitely not have you gushing over them.
ReplyDelete