The Hunt [Hardcover]

Andrew Fukuda (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 8, 2012 | Series: Hunt (Book 1)

Don’t Sweat.  Don’t Laugh.  Don’t draw attention to yourself.  And most of all, whatever you do, do not fall in love with one of them.

Gene is different from everyone else around him.  He can’t run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn’t hurt him and he doesn’t have an unquenchable lust for blood.  Gene is a human, and he knows the rules.  Keep the truth a secret.  It’s the only way to stay alive in a world of night—a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood.

When he’s chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt the last remaining humans, Gene’s carefully constructed life begins to crumble around him.  He’s thrust into the path of a girl who makes him feel things he never thought possible—and into a ruthless pack of hunters whose suspicions about his true nature are growing. Now that Gene has finally found something worth fighting for, his need to survive is stronger than ever—but is it worth the cost of his humanity?

 

 

Editorial Reviews

Review

“With razor-sharp prose, a genius plot, and a searing pace that will have you ripping through the pages, Fukuda creates a dark and savage post-apocalyptic world where humans are nearly extinct and love manages to bloom despite all the odds stacked against it. An exceptional novel—I can’t wait for the sequel!” —Alyson Noël, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Immortals Series

 “One of the most brilliant, original books I’ve read in a very long time. This is the kind of book you’ll want to stay up with all night to finish!” —Richelle Meade, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Vampire Academy series

“A book that grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go. The Hunt is both terrifying and sublime, with every page evoking that fragile, yet unyielding thing we call humanity.”— Andrea Cremer, New York Times bestselling author of the Nightshade Trilogy

“Chilling, inventive, and utterly unputdownable. Readers, proceed…if you dare. This book will bleed into your nightmares.” —Becca Fitzpatrick, New York Times bestselling author of Hush, Hush

 “In this terrifying and inventive adventure, Fukuda turns the vampire novel inside out…With an exciting premise fueled by an underlying paranoia, fear of discovery, and social claustrophobia, this thriller lives up to its potential while laying groundwork for future books.” –Publishers Weekly

 “The story is bona fide creepy, and as it builds to its cliffhanger ending (which delivers quite a good twist), readers will be torn between hoping Gene can maintain the ruse and that he will take on the bloodsuckers already. As revolutions go, this one is well worth keeping on your radar.” – Booklist

“Fukuda takes the feeling of isolation that dominates adolescence and builds a world around it in a novel where the tension rarely slackens.  He turns up the violence a notch from THE HUNGER GAMES with language that is as graphic as it is eloquent.  Readers will hanker for answers as they'll discover a kindred spirit in Gene, who so eloquently describes the feeling of being an island in the middle of a vast ocean.” –Maximum Shelf

 “I was blown away from the first chapter all the way to the end.  Fukuda did an excellent job turning the world of vampirism upside down. Wonderful descriptions, great imagination and very tight characters.  If you love vampire worlds, then read this book. You will not want to put this one down!” –Night Owl Reviews (Reviewer Top Pick)

“Utterly disturbing, dark, twisted, but incredibly fascinating at the same time. It was a ride like nothing else I’ve read before. Gene was a smart and sharp hero I loved to follow! And the ending was incredible with a cliffhanger that will leave you hanging and wanting more  - right now! If you are up for a thrilling ride then go and get The Hunt!” – Bewitched Bookworms

 “The Hunt was fast paced and awesome, propelling me forward with each new twist. It was dark, gritty, and intense. Gene was a dynamic character, while the surrounding characters were insanely creepy. They were ruthless, and it was perfect. And the ending? Just right!”— The Passionate Bookworm

“Action-packed, heart-pounding, page-flipping action. I’m thoroughly in love. The Hunt is a riveting, thrilling read — definitely one of my favorite books of 2012 so far. I can’t wait to get my hands on a sequel, even if I have to wait a year for it.” – YA Reads

“This book was hard to put down. I kept thinking about it when I wasn't reading it! I just love this new world Mr. Fukuda created.” –Milk and Cookies

“I loved every minute of The Hunt! I couldn't put it down. It's horrific, terrifying, gruesome, and inspiring. A story of survival, loss, and sacrifice that had me reading late into the night and early into the morning. If you haven't already added The Hunt to your TBR I highly recommend it.”—Paperblog

“An insane adventure sure to have your heart racing.” –Page Turners

“Great book. The Hunt is at once intriguing and frightening. It’s twisted and dark with just enough hope that it kept me on my toes and turning the page. I can’t wait to see what happens in the series because it should be interesting!” –I’m Loving Books

“Andrew Fukuda has given us a vampire version of THE HUNGER GAMES. . . one of the creepiest novels I have ever read. Gene is a beautiful character. Seeing his feelings really made this story for me . . . a must read.” –I Heart YA Books

 “I fell in love with this book. I'm just going to say all the huge cliché things right now, because they express my sentiments exactly... ‘I couldn't stop turning the pages,’ ‘I was up reading all night,’ ‘I didn't want the story to end’ and ‘I CANNOT WAIT TO READ THE SEQUEL!’” – Taming the Bookshelf

“Very unique. This book is a standout. Andrew Fukuda has some good and original ideas. This series will only get better with each sequel.” – Poetry to Prose

“The action never stopped!  Brilliantly written, the author weaves the story of Gene and his lonely, isolated life, and his desperate fight to blend in that is literally a fight for survival.   The book ends with an interesting puzzler, meaning much more to come in the next installment. Highly recommended.” – YA Lit Ramblings

“With a last line that will leave you stunned you will immediately want to hunt down Andrew Fukuda and demand to know what happens next. This book definitely deserves four stars!” –The Book Vortex

“An intense ride and an exciting start to a new series.” – Love YA Lit

“Violent, intense and absolutely captivating. I highly recommend this. I will definitely be reading the sequels!” –Rex Robot Reviews

“One of the best vampire books I’ve ever read! This is a breath of fresh air within the genre…. Definitely makes my best of 2012 so far list. If you’re looking for something fresh to read within the paranormal and dystopian genres, The Hunt is for you.” –Birth of a New Witch

“Fast-paced and exciting...Andrew Fukuda does a wonderful job of blending traditional vampire lore with cool and new ideas. Even if you aren’t a fan of vampire stories, you should give this a try. The Hunt is definitely unique.” – Karin’s Book Nook

“This book was fascinating. . . you’ll want to read Gene’s story.” – This Blonde Reads

“If the Hunger Games were taken over by vampires, this would be the result. A perfect blend of horror and YA fantasy, The Hunt sets a whole new bar for vampire novels. With incredible suspense, drama, ethical dilemmas, and a bit of romance – it’s completely riveting. I loved every minute of this fast-paced, thrill ride. Don’t miss this one.” –SciFiChick.com

“One heck of a rollercoaster ride.  So good!” –Good Choice Reading

“A fascinating thriller starring two fabulous protagonists...fast-paced and filled with chilling action. Fans will appreciate joining Gene as he tries to avoid becoming the prey of The Hunt.”—Alternate Worlds

“The Hunt keeps you in your seat and demands you stay there. With the constant threat of heart-pumping danger and imminent death, the characters only grow closer and stronger. Shining like a beacon of humanity in a very dark and scary world, I highly recommend this book.”—Teen Librarian’s Toolbox

“Andrew Fukuda managed to surprise me. I can't wait to see how it continues in the next book.” – Fighting Dreamer

“Fast paced, horrifying and delicious! The Hunt is a brilliant new series…steeped in horror and riddled with tension and fear that left me spent and wanting more.  I highly recommend. One of my favorite reads for 2012.” –Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

“The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda was completely out of this world!  One of the best novels I’ve had the pleasure to read in a long time.” – The Book Faery

“… the perfect blend of the Hunger Games and vampires, and that ending just begs for a sequel!” –Reading, Writing, Breathing

“A thrilling, nonstop ride that I couldn't set down. The Hunt for sure is my favorite vampire novel this year.” –Tina’s Book Reviews

“This dystopian stands out from the rest.  The reader will be thrown into the story from page one and unable to put the book down…one of the best male characters I have had the chance to read about. A refreshing change.” –Live to Read

“Excellent…fantastic and truly top-notch. I highly recommend checking The Hunt out!” –Hippies, Beauty and Books, Oh My!

“Intense, violent, and captivating…Gripping right from the very start…a refreshing approach to the already familiar vampire genre. Readers will instantly be hooked and they’ll devour it no time.” –JeanBookNerd.com

“Fukuda is a master of mental fear and he truly wrote a story that will scare you deep to your core.” –Books and Beyond

About the Author

Born in Manhattan and raised in Hong Kong, ANDREW FUKUDA currently resides on Long Island, New York. After earning a bachelor's degree in history from Cornell University, Fukuda went on to work as a criminal prosecutor in New York City. He now writes full time.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition edition (May 8, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1250005140
• ISBN-13: 978-1250005144
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (171 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,875 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Now that's a vampire book! February 5, 2012

By A. Looby VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

In an over-saturated genre, this is a breath of fresh air. The story is told from a male point of view, the vampires are the majority and they're not your "Edward-Carlisle-Damon-Stefan" type vampires. These are fierce creatures who will destroy a heper (human) in seconds. And they will not feel remorse.

There are truly gruesome scenes in the book, and there should be...vampires have been so domesticated and watered down in recent fiction. This is nothing like anything I've read in the genre. It actually makes fun of the others in a few places.

Gene is one of the last hepers on the earth, in a world dominated by vampires (people...hah!). He has been taught from birth how to blend in to their world, just to survive. He has a meticulous regimen in order to not be a meal every day at school. He's smart, but doesn't show it. He does whatever it takes to not draw attention. Except that Ashley June really has a crush on him.

He is chosen, seemingly at random, to participate in the first Heper Hunt in 10 years. And Ashley June is chosen too. They are taken for training and the hunt to the Institute where they see their first hepers (under a retractable dome) and meet some truly frightening other vampires. The action of the last half or so of the book makes it really hard to put down and stop reading.

The vampires are given interesting affectations (wrist scratching, neck snapping, drooling) that are unique and kind of funny if you try to picture it. The descriptions of meals and hunts are pretty graphic and could upset a younger reader who is sensitive. It totally sets itself up at the end for at least a sequel, if not a trilogy. I'll read those too.

49 of 59 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars This book is strange... May 9, 2012

By Steph Sinclair

Format:Hardcover

If there is anything good coming from the newer crops of dystopian fiction these days it's one thing: Evil, ravenous vampires are back. With books like The Immortal Rules and now The Hunt, YA thiller fans are sure to be pleased by this turn of events. I know I am. Unfortunately, The Hunt failed to WOW me on that factor alone.

In a nutshell, The Hunt is like an inverted Immortal Rules with a Hunger Games-esque twist. Instead of our young, male protagonist, Gene, being the only vampire among humans, he is one of the only humans living in the lion's den. In order to pull this off he must shave off all his body hair, clip his nails, polish his fake fangs, and bathe rigorously every single day. In addition to the intense grooming, he must suppress his basic human mannerisms such as laughing, sweating, singing, flinching, clearing his throat, ect. when in contact with "people." All of this is done because Gene lives in a world where he is considered a "heper," barely a step above a farm animal. In order to survive he has to hide who he truly is or risk being eaten. So when he is chosen for the Heper Hunt (think Hunger Games arena), you can only imagine his uneasiness. "Awkward" is an understatement.

The Hunt has a lot of potential because regardless of how I feel about it I can't deny that it's not creative. It features an entirely different spin on vampires that both intrigued me and weirded me out. It's also very readable and easily holds a reader's attention. I also felt myself enjoying Fukuda's prose as well, especially when Gene thought of his past memories of his family. That's the main reason why I ended up giving the book two stars instead of one. But like I said earlier, that alone won't win anyone points with me.

World Building:

*sigh* I feel like a broken record saying this, but if we are going to write a dystopian novel, please supply some background info. I don't need to know everything under the sun, but I'd at least like to know how your world ended up in its current cesspit state. Is that too much to ask? How did the vampires come to take over the world (literally)? Where did they come from? They managed to eat almost ALL the humans? Why did Gene even bother to try to blend in with vampire society? Why not run away? Have vampires taken over the entire world or did only the U.S. go to hell? Again. Is the rest of the world still partying like it's 1999? Why does Gene know so little about his world? Did the humans - excuse me, hepers - not pass any knowledge of their histories down to their children? So many question, with too few no answers.

Characters:

I think I hated almost all the characters in The Hunt, but Gene? He takes the number one spot on this here list. My biggest issue of the book resides with him because he was an idiot. A very selfish idiot. At the Heper Institute (where the hunters stayed and "trained" for the Heper Hunt) he begins to go thirsty since vampires don't need water, but there was a lake right in front of him the entire time. He talks about it and never thinks to go drink from it when the vampires are sleeping during the day. *facepalm* The plot twist - if you can even call it that - was so easy to guess, but guess who was incredibly shocked? Ding, ding, ding! Gene. And no, this was not a case in dramatic irony because everything that was revealed to the reader, Gene already knew. Hell, he's the one who narrates the story!

But that's not even the half of that. I could deal with a slow main character, but what I couldn't deal with was his "I'm better than these dirty hepers!" attitude. When Gene first arrives to the Heper institute and finds out the heper can talk, read, write, comprehend things, he is blown away. Shocked! This does not compute. I just wanted to yell at him, "YOU ARE A HEPER! If you can bloody do it, uh duh, so can they, genius." But it gets worse. Gene knows the hepers will be hunted, but they don't. Does he tell them? Attempt to help his people? NO. He just goes on business as usual, thinking that once the hepers are sent out to their deaths he can sneak away. That made me so angry. These are your people - perhaps the last humans alive - and you are going to sit and let them be eaten without doing anything about it? No, instead, you drink their water, eat their food and work their deaths into your escape plan. Cast him out of the human race. He is not one of us.

I mean, what did he expect he would do after the Heper Hunt? Go on living in his fake life where he could die at any moment? Who would want that kind of life? That makes not sense. If the world happens to end with vampires devouring humans and I'm left with an idiot like Gene, I'm tripping him as I run from the vamps. And don't get me started on Ashley June. She was just as bad as Gene and can die in a fire for all I care.

Believability:

The Hunt reminds me a lot of another book I've read called Glimmerglass. Not because they are similar in plot or anything, but because the reader must abandon a certain amount of logic and "just go with it." If anyone is familiar with me, they will know that it takes a lot for a book to convince me to "just go with it."

A list of things Fukuda expected me to buy:

-Vampires only eat bloody meat and can't stomach other foods except for ice cream. Wait, what?

-Gene never got sick from eating raw, bloody meat.

-Gene has learned to suppress basic human instincts like smiling, laughing, coughing, squinting, flinching? How the hell is that possible? So what happens when Gene gets sick? He stays home? And what would be his excuse for not being in school? The vampires don't appear to fall ill in this world.

-Sex by armpits? I'm sorry, that one, while creative, was a little too hard to swallow. Or were they making out?

"Before she could regain her footing, I shoved my elbow into the socket of her armpit. The way I had read about in books, seen in movies. I had her. Her body tensed in anticipation as my elbow locked into her armpit. And just like that, her body lost all tension and softened. I swiveled my elbow in long, luxurious circles, and her body moved in rhythm. Salivary wetness slivered between and around her snarling teeth. I concentrated hard after that, keeping up with appearances, making sure that the snarls came out in the right fevered pitch, that my body oscillated with enough passion and frenzy."

-Vampires couldn't tell Gene was a heper just because he shaved all his body hair off. Really? He still had hair on his head. Does that somehow smell different than facial, leg and arm hair? If they could smell the hepers in the dome even when they weren't sweaty, then they should have been able to always smell Gene in school.

The Ending:

It left me dangling of the edge of a cliff with three words.
*tries to repress a very human sigh* *doesn't work* *LE SIGH*
I'm sure there are a lot of people who will love The Hunt. It's different, interesting, creative and action packed. And while it didn't really work out for me here, I'm tempted to check out book two to see where the story goes. But as I say in the rest of my two star reviews, the next book can hang out on my "You're on Probation" shelf.

ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley. Thank you!

More reviews and other fantastical things at my blog Cuddlebuggery Book Blog.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Few issues but couldn't put down July 25, 2012

By brandileigh2003

Format:Hardcover

Well, this is def an interesting take on vampires, elbow sex, wrist scratching and all. It is so creepy the way the remaining humans (hepers) are treated it gave me goosebumps. There were a few issues I had with the plot (how are vamps made in this world if a bite kills hepers/humans) but they may be resolved in the next book. Issues aside, I couldn't put this book down.
Gene, the main character is a human pretending to be a vampire. I don't see how he could pull it off-no facial hair, no expressions, no smell, no laughing, being able to see perfectly at night, etc. but it did make for some edge of your seat situations.
There is some very unexpected romance, but it just added to the appeal and mystery of what will happen next, and how they will get there.
I enjoyed being in Gene's head, he had a voice that pulled me in, and it was refreshing to read from a male point of view.
This is fully violent, totally consuming, and there are plenty of twists and lots of action that kept me glued from start to surprising finish.