The Hunt Review

“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?”

I have to say that I loved the sound of The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda when I first heard about it but it took me several pages to get into it.  Thankfully, once I had settled into Andrew’s writing style, the characters and the world building, I really enjoyed it.  Enough to still be thinking about it days after reading and enough to buy a finished copy for my collection which I think proves to you how much I liked it.

Often in books, we read about vampires hiding among humans so I love the idea that Andrew flips this on its head and it is now the humans that are hiding amongst vampires.  Interestingly enough the’ V’ word is never once mentioned in the book but it’s obvious from the description of fangs, sleeping upside down and blood lust for humans or ‘Hepers’ as they are referred to that, that’s what we’re dealing with.  Personally, I think that perhaps Andrew did not want the reader to bring their preconceived ideas about vampires to the table as he has he tried to put his own individual stamp on the supernatural creatures with quirky behavioural traits like scratching wrists when something is funny for example.  

One of the good things about the vampires in The Hunt is that they are not hot, romantic or sexy in ANY SHAPE OR FORM.  They are monsters with a blood lust unrivalled by any other vampire I’ve read about, mostly because we’re led to believe that Hepers are in short supply and have been hunted almost to the point of extinction.  I should say at this point that for those of you who are thinking that this book is too scary for you, I don’t read scary books and I loved this one so give it a chance!

With regards to the characters, I’ll be honest and say that I wanted more romance but I understand why this couldn’t happen.  Gene is stilted emotionally from trying to blend in with the bad guys so it was very hard for him to express himself, especially without getting caught and one little slip equals game over.   The things Gene has to do to blend in makes you question whether he really has a life at all but his strong survival instinct wins out.  At least for now.

As you can imagine, The Hunt is one big ball of tension that doesn’t stop building all the way through the book.  I got to the point where I couldn’t put the book down and the ending will have you blowing out a huge breath from your pursed lips.  Andrew set up the next book VERY WELL and I can’t wait to see what happens next.  Seriously.

The Hunt was an excellent dystopian novel and a fantastic read that I Cannot. Stop. Thinking. About.   I dare you to immerse yourself in the world of The Hunt where no-one is safe and there's everything to play for.

The Hunt is published on 10th May, 2012 in the UK and 8th May, 2012 in the US. To find out more about Andrew Fukuda and his books, please click here to visit his website.   I am happy to report that I am taking part in The Hunt UK Blog Tour and so I would love it if you came back tomorrow to check out Gene’s Top Ten Tips for Survival.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for sending me an ARC.