Game: The Sequel to "I Hunt Killers" Paperback – Bargain Price, June 17, 2014

If you are raised by a serial killer, taught his ways, and everything you learned as a child had something to do with maiming and dismembering, do you think there would be a chance you could turn out normal? For Jasper Dent, that is the question that haunts every thought in his head and every decision he makes. Game by Barry Lyga is the chilling sequel to I Hunt Killers where the Dent family has even more to worry about than a psychopathic father.Jasper (Jazz) can't help blame himself for the deaths of the guards when his father, Billy Dent, the most notorious serial killer you can imagine, escaped from jail. He didn't know that moving his grandmother's birdbath for Billy would set off a chain reaction that sprung his father from jail. Now Billy is on the loose. But when an NYC officer comes to Lobo's Nod to find Jazz, there is more to worry about than just Billy. New York is being terrorized by a serial killer that is so scattered in his method, the police are finding it impossible to get any leads on him. The Hat-Dog killer's only calling card is he etches either a Hat or a Dog into his victims when he leaves their bodies to be found, but there is no rhyme or reason for who gets which tag. And no victimology fits any one hunting pattern. This killer is a mystery, but even worse, he is brutal. His victims know the face of true evil.Jazz is reluctant at first to get involved. After the Impressionist stalked him in an effort to become the next Billy Dent, Jazz has absolutely no interest in putting the ones he loves in danger. But when he looks at the evidence, he realizes his unique knowledge might be the thing to catch Hat-Dog. Being inside a serial killer's brain isn't easy, but if Jazz can use it to catch another killer, he is willing to take that risk. Unfortunately, all that time in the head of a killer brings Jazz's own concerns and thoughts to the undeniable surface. The closer he gets to the surface, the more Jazz worries about his own proclivities. And this killer isn't easy to crack. But there is more than what is on the surface that should scare Jazz- Billy is still out there.This series is simply phenomenal. It is gruesome, exciting, and heart-wrenching. The serial killers themselves are a Mind Hunter's dream and nightmare all rolled into one. You can't believe how Jazz comes to the conclusions he does, but then again, you can't imagine being the son of a serial killer. And that is the true heart of this story. Jazz. He is so tormented by his father that even getting physically intimate with the girl he loves is terrifying, because serial killers almost always have a sexual need that motivates their killing. Getting in the head of this boy is so fascinating and heartbreaking, it makes you wish you could save him from himself. He wants so badly to be a good person, but the ghosts of his father's lessons huants him more than the actual killers themselves.But there is something to be said for an amazing support network. And Jazz certainly has one. Between his girlfriend Connie and his hemophiliac (and consequently very delicate) best friend Howie, Jazz has people who love him and will do anything to help and protect him. Of course that love leads to even more danger, but the idea that they would do anything for Jazz is really incredible. They even carry their own demons regarding Jazz's family (Howie beats himself up about how he could spend so much time with Jazz and NOT know the truth about Billy), but that makes them even more amazing. They know everything, but they still love Jazz enough to do anything for him. It is Connie and Howie who make Jazz human, and you can't help but love them for it.This is a great story for anyone who likes murder mysteries, is a fan of "Dexter", or just loves a good story, because you would be crazy if you didn't think Lyga could write. Man, that boy can write! Barry Lyga knows characters, he can write a plot that keeps you guessing until the last possible second, and he never ceases to shock you (which is pretty hard considering the books are about gruesome serial killers). This is a great series for an older reader who needs something to grab their attention and HOLD it! But the way it ends? Oh lord. How could you do this to me Mr. Lyga? I am dying over here!!

Holy. Crud. What just happened? I feel like I just stepped out of a horror movie. OH WAIT. I kinda did, but it was a BOOK, not a movie. Dear lawd, what an insane ride of awesome this book was. It was 10 times more gruesome and intense than I Hunt Killers, with double the nail-biting moments. I cannot express how friggin great Barry Lyga is at writing a serial killer. It is both ridiculously eerie and insanely awesome. Mad skillz, yo.So this installment in the series has Jazz still questioning his grip on humanity. He's still struggling with the fact that he is the son of Billy Dent, serial killer extraordinaire, and that Billy has molded him throughout childhood to be his prodigy. Billy is in Jazz's head constantly, which, let's face it, is enough to drive anyone bat-s*** crazy. But now, new thoughts are crowding in, as Jazz is having intense dreams with nondescript sexual innuendo. These sexual urges are bothering him in his waking hours, as well, because the line between sex and killing is a murky one. It is a line that Jazz is desperately afraid to cross. It doesn't make it any easier that he is an adolescent male with a beautiful, spunky girlfriend who is more than ready to love him long time.Jazz's grandma, the spawn creator of Billy himself, is off the chain. Well, more so than the last book, which is hard to believe. She has truly lost the last marble in her schizophrenic head. It's so bad that Jazz is afraid to leave her alone. He does not want social services involved again, especially after what happened with the last social worker. He is 17 and would like to spend his last year of adolescence out of a foster care situation. When Jazz is asked to come in on a case in NYC (yea, how realistic is this?), he calls on good ol boy, Howie, to come care for his grandmother. Howie is a GEM. I have no words for the awesome this character is. He is the comic relief in a series full of gore, crime and creepy ass situations.. I ADORE HIM.Meanwhile, Connie is doing some sleuthing of her own, trying so hard to assist Jazz in this "game" he has found himself caught up in. She was acting like a typical teenager, feeling invincible and brave. I wanted to shaker her numerous times but I honestly couldn't find it in myself to be angry at her for her decisions. She loves Jazz and wants to help. And she's a teenager. It's just part of the ole developmental nature of her age to be a flaming idiot. And of course, Dear Old Dad is always part of the scheme, regardless if he's just in Jazz's head or his neighborhood. Conversations with Billy are creeeeeeeeeepy to the max.The ending! *flails* Did anyone see that coming? AND WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT CHARACTER? Or should I say, CHARACTERS???? A cliffhanger from the bowels of Hell, people.

3.5 StarsI'd like to start this review by stating that 'Game', the second entry in the Jasper Dent series, is a good book. I read it in two sittings and was never bored. I also have to point out though, that it just really isn't up to the standard of 'I Hunt Killers', which was disappointing.This entry picks up not long after the events of the first novel, with Japer Dent in his home town and Billy Dent on the loose after escaping from prison. I won't go into spoilers but just like the last book, a new serial killer is introduced in New York that could possibly somehow be connected to Billy, resulting in the FBI/NYPD asking for Jasper's help in getting inside this new killer's head.I think my main gripe with the story was that Jasper actually being in New York for the majority of the novel, it introduced too many new characters in the new police department meaning that we missed out on the bond and relationship between Jasper and the Sherif. The story of the killings also, despite being quite clever, gets pretty convoluted and more 'out there' as the story goes on, turning Billy into a campy villain instead of the evil serial killer from the first book.The biggest complaint though is with the side characters. I liked Connie and Howie in the previous book, and the crime solving dynamic they had, but in this entry, with Jasper off in New York, there chapters feel a little tacked on. They also feel a little weakly written in their chapters with Howie simply being obsessed with sex non stop, and Connie making one idiotic (and I mean IDIOTIC) decision after another.Overall, like I said this was a good book, and I will definitely be picking up the next in the series but the greatness of the first book hasn't repeated itself here.

Book as described. Fun to read. Book arrived on time also.

This is the sequel to I Hunt Killers which was a amazing book aswell. This book picks up several months after the events of the first, it comes with a more elaborate killer and you wont see the pattern until the book tells you. The writer is incredibly talented and i cant wait until the third book.

Super tolles Buch, ich habe in einer Buchhandlung diesen Teil auf Deutsch gekauft, unwissend das es Teil 2 einer Trilogie ist.Danach habe ich hier 1-3 auf Englisch bestellt, weil Teil 3 noch nicht in Deutsch veröffentlicht war.Von Seite 1 bis zur letzten Spannung, Abwechslung und tolle Wendungen.Ich persönlich finde es nicht zu brutal oder blutig, ich finde es ist realistisch und angemessen geschrieben, jedoch nicht auf slasher Niveau. Die etwas brutaleren Stellen helfen sich in den Hauptakteur besser hineinzufinden, wieso er jetzt handelt wie er es tut aufgrund seiner Kindheit. Ich habe alle 3 Teile abends nach der Arbeit verschlugen innerhalb von einer Woche. Hohes Suchtrisiko also.Auch das Ende der Trilogie finde ich sehr gelungen. Also 5 Sterne und beide Daumen hoch !

Cover and pages were intact No damage at all.