Review by Booklist Review
The Artist, Green Jack, Gentle Killer, Hand-in-Glove, Satan's Eye all nicknames for Billy Dent, the killer who murdered 123 people before being incarcerated. For 17-year-old Jazz, the memories of his father's butcherous routine may be four years old, but they're all too fresh: his small-town community continues to treat him with suspicion at every turn. Then the murders begin again in the same order and fashion as Billy Dent's, and the town sheriff has no choice but to bring in Jazz to help find the new killer. Lyga has fashioned the kind of gripping, gory psycho-thriller usually relegated to adult fiction, one that fears neither viscera nor deviant sexual behavior nor the darkest of human impulses. It is rare when a YA novel dares to dwell upon the moral ambivalence of its protagonist, but Jazz is just that a hero who constantly yearns to succumb to his killer instincts. Before the teasing finale, Lyga gifts readers with a Hannibal Lecter-like prison showdown between Jazz and Billy. Safe bet that the sequel will offer more of these satisfying tete-a-tetes. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Warner Brothers has already snapped up TV rights to this big new series, which should compel the publisher to further crank up its already significant promotional plans and author tours.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Lyga continues to shift genres, delivering a superb mystery/thriller that explores what it's like to have a monster for a father. Seventeen-year-old Jazz's father, Billy Dent, was a prolific and brilliant serial killer who did his best to educate his son in the ways of murder. With Billy in prison for life, Jazz longs to overcome the stigma of his family history, but when a new serial killer strikes his small town, he is drawn into the investigation. Along with his hemophiliac best friend, Howie, and his girlfriend, Connie, Jazz applies the gruesome knowledge his father passed along in an attempt to discover the killer and overcome his fear that he might become a murderer himself. Lyga (Boy Toy) delivers a taut, gory tale that can easily stand on its own as an adult thriller, with a large group of suspects and plenty of red herrings. But it's Jazz's internal conflict about his exposure to his father's evil that adds extra dimension and makes the book shine. Additional books are planned, and TV rights have sold to Warner Bros. Ages 15-up. Agent: Kathleen Anderson, Anderson Literary Management. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 10 Up-Jazz Dent's father, Billy, is a serial killer. When most kids his age were learning to ride a bike, Jazz was learning that cutting people is like "cutting chicken." Billy, aka the Artist, killed 124 people, all the while giving Jazz tips and insight into planning the perfect kills. When his dad is sent to prison, Jazz tries to live a normal life. He succeeds for four years, and then bodies are found and the killer seems to be mimicking Billy's crimes. As the body count rises, Jazz, in an effort to help the police, taps into his ability to think like a serial killer, while still clinging to his sanity and humanity. Barry Lyga provides gruesome details of the murders, even giving the point of view of one of the victims as she is tortured. Charlie Thurston's creepy tone for the serial killers is sure to give nightmares, while his ability to capture Jazz's emotional struggles helps listeners connect with the boy. Jazz's humor and his relationships with his girlfriend, his best friend, and Chief Tanner are what humanize him. The graphic elements, particularly the killing tips, make this more appropriate for very mature, older teens. For fans of true crime books and forensic TV shows.-Sarah Flood, Breckinridge County Public Library, Hardinsburg, KY (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Seventeen-year-old Jasper "Jazz" Dents life changed irrevocably four years ago when his father was convicted of over one hundred and twenty murders. "For Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round"; Billy taught Jazz tricks of the serial killer trade throughout his childhood. But when another killer strikes, Jazz hopes desperately that preventing more murders will prove to his small town (and himself) that hes not destined to follow in his fathers bloody footsteps. He runs his own investigation alongside the official one and pieces together a pattern: the killer is doing a Billy Dent "impression" by re-creating his murders down to minute details. Though the characters are underdeveloped, Lyga explores compelling questions of nature, nurture, and free will in Jazz, who has more heart and conscience than he thinks. A wisecracking best friend, a compassionate girlfriend, and a father figure provided by the local sheriff anchor him and occasionally offer advice on "being human" to counterbalance Billys macabre life lessons in violence and manipulation. The biggest strength of this taut thriller is the engrossing mystery of the Impressionists identity -- and what Jazz will do when he finds him. katie bircher (c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
I Am Not a Serial Killer, 2010, etc.) will find echoes of them here, though the writing is not as tight and the creep factor is lower. Also, the certain-sequel open ending is a bit of a letdown. Still there is much to satisfy the blood-and-gore lust of older teen CSI and serial-killer fans. (Thriller. 15 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
