Title: Blood of My Blood
Author: Barry Lyga
Genre: YA/NA murder mystery/thriller
Book Blurb:
Jazz Dent has been shot and left to die in New York City. His girlfriend Connie is in the clutches of Jazz's serial killer father, Billy. And his best friend Howie is bleeding to death on the floor of Jazz's own home in tiny Lobo's Nod. Somehow, these three must rise above the horrors their lives have become and find a way to come together in pursuit of Billy. But then Jazz crosses a line he's never crossed before, and soon the entire country is wondering: "Like father, like son?" Who is the true monster?The chase is on, and beyond Billy there lurks something much, much worse. Prepare to meet...the Crow King
Review:
Nobody writes like Barry Lyga. Nobody. Only Lyga could write a book that chills me to my bones. Only Lyga could write such a twisted and convoluted novel and still have it make sense. This stunning conclusion to the I Hunt Killers trilogy is no doubt, one of the most unexpected and freaking incredible reads ever.
How to begin? I guess I'll start with the plot--I'm not going to spend much time on the plot as I don't want to spoil anything though. Okay, first of all....this plot was creepy in a totally twisted way that had me ripping through the pages fast as blazes. I did not see any of the plot twists. In short, I loved it (though some of the stuff that happens is *slightly* disturbing, it makes for a more gripping read.) But honestly, the conclusion of Blood of My Blood slammed into me like a brick wall and I spent the following two hours upon completing the novel in a stupor. I even had to go for an hour run to clear my head and even then my mind kept on going back to the book.
Okay. Characters. How do you do it, Mr. Lyga? 
How do you create such vivid characters? How do you breathe life into characters that seem to leap off the pages? Jazz (aka Jasper), Billy, Howie, Connie...Alright...*takes a deep breath to gather my thoughts* Let us start with Billy, shall we? Billy Dent, Jazz's father also known as Dear Old Dad (or DOD, as I have dubbed him in my mind) is one hell of a guy. I hate hate hate hate his guts. How can a man be so...evil-twisted-disturbing-heartless-murderous??? BUT wait...that's not all...how does a man who seems only capable of bringing misery upon others also have layers--as it turns out, Billy is a complicated character. It's because of his twisted logic that makes Billy such a dangerous person. (This doesn't stop me from loathing him, though, but it certainly makes the novel much more intense.) And also, although Billy is painted as a heartless serial killer, he's also a father...the question is, what will he do with a son who refuses to follow his footsteps? Billy's unpredictable behavior (well, unpredictable to me as a reader but somewhat predictable to Jazz as he has a fair idea of what goes on inside Billy's mind--which is why I love reading from Jazz's POV--oh yeah, did I mention that the novel is told from different POV's?) is what makes him a respectable/intriguing villain (but he's not the *true* villain, as it will soon be revealed at the end of the book. But I'm not going to say anymore regarding the *real* bad guy in this book--gotta read the book to find out!)
Howie and Connie I'm kind of going to lump into one paragraph. They're some of the most interesting sidekicks. Howie has hemophilia. So yeah, kind of ironic (is that the right word?) that Jazz, whose father is a freaking serial killer, has a hemophiliac best friend. Needless to say, this complicates things for Howie somewhat, but his wisecrack and loyalty truly makes him an awesome friend. And then there's Connie. Life hasn't been kind to Connie, being an African American living in a rather racist town. She barely escapes from Billy's clutches and spends a good amount of the book in the hospital, but she still plays a pivotal role in the novel with supporting Jazz and piecing together the clues to solve the Great Mystery of Who is the Crow King.
And then....*drum roll please*
How do you create such vivid characters? How do you breathe life into characters that seem to leap off the pages? Jazz (aka Jasper), Billy, Howie, Connie...Alright...*takes a deep breath to gather my thoughts* Let us start with Billy, shall we? Billy Dent, Jazz's father also known as Dear Old Dad (or DOD, as I have dubbed him in my mind) is one hell of a guy. I hate hate hate hate his guts. How can a man be so...evil-twisted-disturbing-heartless-murderous??? BUT wait...that's not all...how does a man who seems only capable of bringing misery upon others also have layers--as it turns out, Billy is a complicated character. It's because of his twisted logic that makes Billy such a dangerous person. (This doesn't stop me from loathing him, though, but it certainly makes the novel much more intense.) And also, although Billy is painted as a heartless serial killer, he's also a father...the question is, what will he do with a son who refuses to follow his footsteps? Billy's unpredictable behavior (well, unpredictable to me as a reader but somewhat predictable to Jazz as he has a fair idea of what goes on inside Billy's mind--which is why I love reading from Jazz's POV--oh yeah, did I mention that the novel is told from different POV's?) is what makes him a respectable/intriguing villain (but he's not the *true* villain, as it will soon be revealed at the end of the book. But I'm not going to say anymore regarding the *real* bad guy in this book--gotta read the book to find out!)
Howie and Connie I'm kind of going to lump into one paragraph. They're some of the most interesting sidekicks. Howie has hemophilia. So yeah, kind of ironic (is that the right word?) that Jazz, whose father is a freaking serial killer, has a hemophiliac best friend. Needless to say, this complicates things for Howie somewhat, but his wisecrack and loyalty truly makes him an awesome friend. And then there's Connie. Life hasn't been kind to Connie, being an African American living in a rather racist town. She barely escapes from Billy's clutches and spends a good amount of the book in the hospital, but she still plays a pivotal role in the novel with supporting Jazz and piecing together the clues to solve the Great Mystery of Who is the Crow King.
And then....*drum roll please*
Jazz. Love that nickname but that's besides the point. Jazz walks a fine line--he's always afraid he'll accidentally cross over and end up like his father, a fear that has haunted him for a long time. To make things worse, disturbing memories of his past (lessons from Dear Old Dad) have been resurfacing and he's determined to get the bottom of all this. When he goes on a hunt (after escaping his arrest, mind you) for his father who supposedly is holding his mom hostage, Jazz crosses boundaries he wished he never had to. I don't know how Lyga manages to push the envelope with Jazz, making him blur the line between right and wrong and still have me/readers root for Jazz. Throughout the whole book I was rooting for Jazz to stay strong and don't let Billy into his head. As Jazz once said (here I'm paraphrasing), "Once [Billy] gets into your head, you've lost and he has won." In other words, game over.
So yeah, I loved how there were many different types of conflicts going on:
Man vs Man (Jazz vs Billy)
Man vs Society (Jazz vs World who Thinks He's a Dangerous Criminal)
Man vs Self (Jazz vs Billy's upbringing/voice in his head)
If you haven't read the first book in this series, I strongly suggest you do so now if you want a book that will raise the hair on your arms and give you goosebumps. Warning: THIS SERIES IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. Seriously. Even though this book is categorizes as YA, I personally think it could also be marked as NA. But, if you're not afraid of psycho killers and a screwed up family and is prepared to be blown away by the most Awesome and Terrifying murder mystery ever, please do read the I Hunt Killers series.
Rating:
