Game by Barry Lyga
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: April 16, 2013
Date Read: August 9, 2014
I received an advance reader
edition of this book from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers via Net
Galley for the purpose of providing an honest review.
4 Stars
I must admit that I am a bit conflicted regarding rating this book. I ended up deciding on my rating based on these points:
Did I enjoy the process of reading this book? I did enjoy reading this book. I liked the characters, the mystery was complex, and there where moments that I could not wait to see what happened next.
Did I enjoy this book as much as the first book in the series? I liked I Hunt Killers a lot. I enjoyed this book but not nearly as much. This book read much more like an adult mystery and lacked the intensity of the psychological aspects of the first book.
Did this book tell a complete story? NOOO! And I am really not happy about it! When I finished this book, I told my family that the book did not end it just stopped. I am not a fan of cliffhangers. I do enjoy reading a lot of series and I expect there to be some unresolved issues that will be picked up in the next book but I expect to see some resolution to the basic story in a book. This is really the reason that I am conflicted in terms of rating this book.
Will I continue to read this series? Yes. I feel like I at least need to read the next one simply to find out what happens. If the next book in the series ends without any resolution, I may not continue beyond
I ended up going with a rating of 4 because while I HATED the cliffhanger ending, I enjoyed reading the book. The cliffhanger in this book makes me a little upset that I was approved for galley copies of the first and second book in the series but not the third. What is going on with that?
Jazz is asked to go to New York to offer some insight into the Dog Hat killer by Detective Hughes. After looking over all of the files and visiting the crime scenes, Jazz does have a few ideas. It turns out that Detective Hughes acted alone in bringing Jazz to New York and he is quickly sent back to Lobo’s Nod. Everything changes when the Hat Dog killer leaves a message directly for Jazz. Jazz soon begins to wonder if his father, who escaped from prison in the last book, may be involved in the murders. Meanwhile, Connie is receiving some strange messages that may put her in danger.
All of the characters that I liked from the first book were back for this second book in the series. While Howie plays an important part in this book, I miss the interactions between Jazz in Howie in this book because they are apart for much of the story. Jazz still worries that he may not be exactly normal but his internal dialog did not shine quite as much for me in this book as it did in the first.
I would recommend this book to others but only with a warning that it ends without any resolution. The next book in the series is being released soon so at least I will not have to wait to long to find out what happens to everyone. I think this book would be best suited for adults and older teen audiences. There is a lot of description of the crimes that may be too much for some younger teens.
