The Hunt Club [Paperback]

Bret Lott (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Harper; 2nd edition (1998)
• ASIN: B001JZ2VWK
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Bret Lott is the author of thirteen books, most recently the novel Dead Low Tide(Random House 2008); other books include the story collection The Difference Between Women and Men, the nonfiction book Before We Get Started: A Practical Memoir of the Writer's Life, and the bestselling novels Jewel, an Oprah Book Club pick, and A Song I Knew by Heart. His work has appeared in, among other places, The Yale Review, The New York Times, The Georgia Review and in dozens of anthologies. Born in Los Angeles, he received his BA in English from Cal State Long Beach in 1981, and his MFA in fiction from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1984, where he studied under James Baldwin. From 1986 to 2004 he was writer-in-residence and professor of English at The College of Charleston, leaving to take the position of editor and director of the journal The Southern Review at Louisiana State University. Three years later, in the fall of 2007, he returned to The College of Charleston and the job he most loves: teaching. His honors include having been named Fulbright Senior American Scholar and writer-in-residence to Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv, Israel; having spoken on Flannery O'Connor at The White House; and being appointed a member of the National Council on the Arts. He and his wife, Melanie, and live in Hanahan, South Carolina.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent, fast-reading mystery, August 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Hunt Club (Paperback)

I've read all of Bret Lott's books and it's always fun to see somebody stretch their wings. This is, to my knowledge, Lott's first whodunit and I was on the edge of my proverbial seat.

Now, I'll admit I don't read a lot of mysteries. But Lott's interesting speech pattern for the book's hero, Huger Dillard, was so unique, it was like you were reading the transcript of a tape recording and when I did have to put the book down I felt like I was being cheated. There's a movie here, you can just feel it.

Unlike some of the people who have reviewed this book on this website, I didn't see the end coming for a minute. But then again, maybe that's because I don't read mysteries much.

This book just proves what I've known for a while now--Bret Lott is a hell of a good writer and I would say that even if I hadn't known the guy since high school.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Rather disappointing, April 18, 2000

By 

N. CHRISTY - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Hunt Club (Paperback)

Having read several good reviews from various critics, I lookedforward to this book's paperback release for some time. Unfortunately,while Lott seems to be have an adequate grasp of the language, hisstorytelling skills just do not rise to the same level.

A whodunit of sorts is marred by an overly tedious narrative and far-too-convenient plot twists that ultimately lead to a flat climax. Furthermore, the story is tied up just a tad too neatly--when the person........... You've no doubt seen any number of cheesy James Bond villains do the exact same thing ("Since I am going to kill you very soon, Mr. Bond, it doesn't matter if I let you in on my little secret, does it?"). Ugh. Take a pass on this one--it's not worth the effort. END

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Home sweet Home, or is it?, January 3, 2001

By 

Matt Hecht (California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hunt Club (Paperback)

Brett Lott's The Hunt Club is a wonderful mystery filled with murder, lies and cover-ups. Starting with page one you are presented with lies that you will not learn of until well into the book. The plot is so thick you could cut it with a knife; mysteries build on top of mysteries. Just when you think you have it figured out, the next page will prove you wrong. This is not your average murder mystery. It starts out with what may appear as just a murder and a possible cover-up. Then soon turns into a world of lies and confusion, that one boy must discover to save his precious land, Hungry Neck. It starts with a piece of land, covered in swamps and growth totaling 2,200 acres. Basically nothing anybody would want, except for Huger Dillard (pronounced "YOU-gee") and his family. One day as Huger drove the members of the Hunt Club to go hunting, he stumbled upon a dead body. The corpse with little of a head, and the hands are skinned. There laid Charles Middleton Simons, a member of the Hungry Neck Hunt Club; and then on starts the twisting and turning of the truth. The more he learns about the death of Simons the more he learns that this might not just be about a murder. Huger learns after much investigation with Unc that greedy doctors, also members of the Hunt Club, are behind this. The people who loved to hunt the land every Sunday, are now trying to get Unc to sell his land for their profit. However this is Huger's land and there is no way they are going to take it away from him, or so he thinks. Huger and his family gets drawn deeper and deeper into this mess and find themselves right in the middle. The doctors weren't the ones setting all this up, it now gets even more dangerous as the police get in the scheme. But the question is, can the police be trusted? It seems that everyone they looked to as a friend will betray them all in the name of selfishness. The plot only starts to unwind, when your typical villain decides to unveil his masterful plan right before he kills them. The end is shockingly good, you're heart will drop to your stomach. Will they survive?