Blood of My Blood

Jazz Dent continues to hunt serial killers, and this time the hunt is all in the family. Jazz, son of notorious killer Billy Dent, Connie, Jazz's girlfriend, and Howie, his hemophiliac best friend, were all in peril at the end of the previous hunt (Game, 2013). Jazz wakes up with a bullet in his leg at the scene of a deadly shootout with half of the serial-killer duo Hat-Dog. Connie wakes up a captive of Billy, and Howie wakes up in a hospital room waiting for his overprotective parents. Each must escape and work together when they can to find and stop Billy while trying to discover Jazz's Aunt Sam's part in Billy's reign of terror. Can they do so and avoid the cops in New York City and the small town of Lobo's Nod? Will Jazz be the next serial-killer Crow King-or will he die at Billy's hand? And can Jazz find and save his mother? Lyga's gruesome and at-times overwrought conclusion to his I Hunt Killers trilogy telegraphs its big, secret twist far too early. Though Jazz, Connie and Howie are realistic teens, few of the supporting cast act like real people. An incest subplot adds to the ick factor. This conclusion does not stand alone, and it may make readers question their commitment to the trilogy as a whole. (Thriller. 14 & up) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from November 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-Jasper "Jazz" Dent is locked in a storage locker with two dead bodies, trying to nurse his own bullet wound in the dim light of a fading cellphone. Picking up (without pause) from the cliff-hanger ending in Game (2013), Lyga's series about the 17-year-old who was first introduced in I Hunt Killers (2012) as the son of escaped killer Billy Dent continues as he tries to aid the police in his father's recapture. Unaware that his girlfriend Connie has been lured by Billy to a Brooklyn tenement house and imprisoned with Jazz's mother, and that his hemophiliac friend, Howie, has been attacked, Jazz faces his demons alone-including repressed memories with sexual undertones, and the creepy voice of Billy educating his son on the acumen required to be a good serial killer (appearing in italics). The worrisome genetic factor plagues Jazz yet propels him in the right direction to foil some copycat killers and elude authorities long enough to solve his own life's mysteries. Obstructing the law, the teen follows clues that take him back home to Lobo's Nod for the chilling climax and surprise ending, despite red herrings thrown in the readers' path at every turn. Connie and Howie continue to play major roles in this episode, often providing their own points of view, as do officers Hughes and Tanner as bumbling but likable authorities. As a trilogy wrap-up, this gory winner with raw appeal requires having read the first two titles.-Vicki Reutter, State University of New York at Cortland

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 1, 2014
Grades 10-1 *Starred Review* Lyga's burial of the I Hunt Killers trilogy cements it as one of the most ambitious thriller series in YA history, and the absolute best cliff from which teen readers can dive into the grueling world of adult crime procedurals. Given the violence of Game (2013), it's no shocker that Jazz, Connie, and Howie begin laid up in the hospital. But there's no rest for the wicked: in short orderthis novel's time frame is brutally truncatedJazz busts out, determined to do away with, once and for all, his serial killer pop, Billy Dent. First, though, he will need to divine the truth behind the Crows, which appears to be a cult of murderers in thrall to the elder Dent. As Jazz's every evasive move against encroaching cops becomes more morally questionable, the central conflictcan he use his dad's sociopathic tricks without sliding into sociopathy himself?is writ large. You can't stop reading, though; as before, Lyga's strength is a plot that rockets with blood-slicked assurance and with the intercut speed (and splatter) of Thomas Harris' The Silence of the Lambs (1988). Will Jazz end up a Crow or just another prospect ? Here's hoping the Edgar Awards retroactively present Lyga a trio of statuettes for his chilling three-book answer. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Strong reviews, Hollywood interest, and Lyga's ever-growing fan base should keep this splashy series capper on the front pages for some time.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2015
This trilogy-ender begins with a bang. Jasper "Jazz" Dent (son of infamous serial killer Billy Dent), his best friend Howie, and his girlfriend Connie have been investigating a "game" played by serial killers that resulted in a double-digit body count. Now the friends are separated, with each in danger and in pain: Jazz has been shot and is trapped in a storage unit; hemophiliac Howie is in the ER; and Connie is being held captive by Billy himself. Though Jazz is clearly the protagonist, the breakneck-paced, omniscient narrative follows each of the three teens as they fight to reunite and take down Billy. Along the way, Jazz and readers uncover more gruesome secrets about Jazz's family and learn just how dark Jazz's Billy-influenced heart may be. The previous two books raised tantalizing questions -- what is the identity of Billy's partner-in-crime, Ugly J? What happened to Jazz's mother? What will Jazz do when he catches up with Billy? -- and Lyga delivers with a vengeance. Not for the faint of heart. katie bircher

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)