Same Book, Second Look - The Prey by Andrew Fukuda

Published: January 2013

Publisher: St Martin's Press

Pages: 322

Copy: Library

Summary: Goodreads

For Gene and the remaining humans—or hepers—death is just a heartbeat away. On the run and hunted by society, they must find a way to survive in The Vast... and avoid the hungry predators tracking them in the dark. But they’re not the only things following Gene. He’s haunted by the girl he left behind and his burgeoning feelings for Sissy, the human girl at his side.

When they discover a refuge of exiled humans living high in the mountains, Gene and his friends think they’re finally safe. Led by a group of intensely secretive elders, the civilisation begins to raise more questions than answers. A strict code of behaviour is the rule, harsh punishments are meted out, young men are nowhere to be found—and Gene begins to wonder if the world they’ve entered is just as evil as the one they left behind. As life at the refuge grows more perilous, he and Sissy only grow closer. In an increasingly violent world, all they have is each other... if they can only stay alive.

I figured that since the third book in this series is due out fairly soon that I had better catch up with #2.  I had thoroughly enjoyed The Hunt, and I have no idea why it took me so long to read this one - I've had it home at least twice before and I don't remember reading it, but here's the thing - I think I may have read it before.  Mind you, I'm not certain about that.  It seemed really familiar though. I don't remember reading it, and I certainly didn't remember what was going to happen in the story, but I kept thinking ' this reminds me of something'.  It's the cabin in the woods and the hang glider that really struck a chord.  How many books do you know of with those elements?  Even when I had finished it I didn't remember the story from a previous reading, but that hang glider sure was bugging me.  Ah well.

As it was, I thoroughly enjoyed The Prey, although this time around the story was quite different.  We were seeing the other side of the equation, and the vampires don't play a huge part other than at the beginning and the end.  It felt like taking an apocalyptic novel and turning it into a dystopian, which is somewhat fascinating.    The evil this time around is a bunch of creepy old men who just made the hair on the back of my neck rise.  Don't want to spoil the story though.  Gene and the others have to navigate some strange waters, both literally and metaphorically and there is some nice positive character growth that I enjoyed.  Gene's light-bulb moment comes towards the end and I found his reasoning to be fascinating.  Very cleverly done Mr. Fukuda. 

All in all, I enjoyed 'The Prey', and I'm definitely going to read 'The Trap' but I still think I may have read it before.  Not sure exactly what that says about the book, or me for that matter.  They do say that the memory is the first thing to go!