I Hunt Killers

It's probably true that most teenagers, at some point, wish they could be born to different parents--parents who are cooler or less strict or less demanding or just... different. But few teens have as much reason to feel that way as Jasper(Jazz) Dent. His mom disappeared years ago, and he barely remembers her. But he wishes he could forget his dad, the notorious serial killer Billy Dent, who killed more than 100 people before getting caught. Before Jazz was old enough to know better, Billy (who Jazz calls, with more than a little irony, "Dear Old Dad") attempted to teach Jazz the tricks of the trade. And this didn't just include such practicalities as how to torture small animals or dispose of a dead body, either. Dear Old Dad schooled Jazz on how to think of people---especially women---as things rather than human beings, on how to kill without remorse, how to justify rape and torture and murder, and more. In short, on how to become a monster. Just like Dear Old Dad. Now that Billy is in high- security prison, though, Jazz is trying his best to have a normal high school life. Sure, he lives with his grandmother, who's rapidly becoming not only senile but also cruel in her old age. And he has to endure the distain and pity of half the residents of the small town of Lobo's Nod. But he also has a best friend he would die for, and a girlfriend who's so smart, strong and sexy that he can't quite believe he really derserves her. But when a dead body turns up in a field near Lobo's Nod, a naked woman with two of her fingers removed ( the middle one left behind in an obvious gesture by the killer toward the police), Jazz starts experiencing those same old feelings. His dad is still locked up---for good, he hopes---but this has all the calling cards of another serial killer. Can Jazz help investigate the murderer ? Could the things he learned from Dear Old Dad actually help him hunt---rather than become---a killer.