The Hunt

The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda is a seriously intense and mind-screwing book.

I spent a good 50 pages or so trying to decide WHAT paranormal creature I was dealing with in The Hunt. I mean, vampires – they drink blood, hang from ceilings, fear sunlight, etc. But in The Hunt, these creatures also scratched their wrists when they found something humorous and other wacky things like that and it threw me for such a loop. And hepers! Humans were called HEPERS. I just. It blew my mind.

Basically, Andrew Fukuda does an AMAZING job of world building. And story-telling. The Hunt was so intense and action-packed, and also hurrah, a male protagonist!

I really enjoyed the protagonist, Gene. In his position, I would definitely lay on the ground and say “Come and get me, vamps!” But Gene was so brave and alone and a freaking survivor. And kind of a badass.

But, other than the crazy cliff-hanger ending, there was a bit of The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda that I thought ended up being slightly predictable. Not enough to ruin the story, but it was definitely something I was aware of while reading The Hunt.

Oh, and did I mention the crazy ending? What a cliffhanger!

Guys, if you’re looking for an intense and paranormal and dystopianish book, definitely check out The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda. While The Hunt was not the perfect fit for me, Andrew Fukuda does a great job with the world-building and the storytelling.

The people in this book are not actually vampires, but, of all the paranormal creatures, that's the best available description. They cannot be in sunlight, they have fangs and long nails, and they do suck blood. However, these creatures also eat flesh, so they're not quite vampires. They have no hair on their bodies, except their heads, which seems odd. Another big difference is that they age.

He works really hard not to attract notice, following tons of strict rules, like shaving every single day to fit in with these weird vampire creatures that apparently run the world, or at least his part of it. Even with all of his preparation, it seems odd that no one's noticed him yet. Wouldn't they be able to smell him?

I really have to comment on the oddness of some of the rituals the people (aka vampire-like beings have). When they think something's funny, they scratch their wrists. At the prospect of drinking from a heper (human), they drool copiously. Gross! Weirder still, apparently rubbing an elbow into an armpit is equivalent to an intense makeout session. What the what?

The writing really impressed me. The story is told in first person by Gene. The narration is inconsistent, with Gene sometimes referring to himself as one of the people and sometimes identifying himself as a heper in his own thoughts. Rather than coming off as poor editing, this strengthens the tale. Gene has been living among them so long that he hardly knows what he is any more. At times, behaving like a person seems to come instinctively.

The Hunt calls to mind most strongly The Hunger Games, even thought the plot is quite different. The similarities between them are the lottery, although, here, winning the lottery is a lucky thing, and the battle to be number one. The Hunt, too, is a very fast read, full of action and excitement. I will definitely be looking forward to the next action-packed installment.

Also, I have to give Fukuda some serious props for his hilarious judgmental commentary of the romantic vampire novels. He's clearly laying into Twilight. Love it!