Same Book, Second Look - The Trap by Andrew Fukuda

 

Published: November 25th, 2013

Publisher: St Martin's Griffin

Pages: 322

Copy: Library

Summary: Goodreads

From author Andrew Fukuda comes The Trap, the explosive finale to The Hunt trilogy—perfect for fans of The Hunger Games!

After barely escaping the Mission alive, Gene and Sissy face an impossible task: staying alive long enough to stop an entire world bent on their destruction. Bound on a train heading into the unknown with the surviving Mission girls, Gene, Sissy, David, and Epap must stick together and use everything they have to protect each other and their only hope: the cure that will turn the blood-thirsty creatures around them into humans again. Now that they know how to reverse the virus, Gene and Sissy have one final chance to save those they love and create a better life for themselves. But as they struggle to get there, Gene's mission sets him on a crash course with Ashley June, his first love . . . and his deadliest enemy.

Well after my minor disappointment with The Prey, I am very pleased to report that I loved The Trap.  Mr. Fukuda seemed to have regained that break-neck feeling that was so present in The Hunt but that I felt was missing in The Prey.

This time around I was able to empathise with Gene and Sissy - in fact, they kind of got under my skin, in that I was almost there with them.  I was hiding in rail carriages, stuck in enclaves and riding in elevators, all the while holding my breath and hoping that I wouldn't get caught.  Only one thing didn't sit right with me and that was the whole heper smell idea.  I didn't quite believe that the hepers could have got away with living amongst the vampires without being found out.  There is a scene where Gene and Sissy are trying to remove all trace of their personal odour from themselves, and I couldn't help thinking that the process in itself would make them smell differently from the vamps. Could be just me over-analyzing though and I managed to accept it as a given.

This is a wonderful trilogy, best read one after the other, so if by chance you haven't discovered it yet, set aside some time and immerse yourself in this fascinating world where we are the minority and vampires rule.  Oh, and be prepared to have your ideas turned upside down at the end.  Gripping and exciting this is one vampire story you have to try.

The Trap by Andrew Fukuda

Published: November 2013

Publisher: St Martin's Griffin

Pages: 320

Copy Provided by: Bought

Summary: Goodreads

Summary:

After barely escaping the Mission alive, Gene and Sissy face an impossible task: staying alive long enough to stop an entire world bent on their destruction. Bound on a train heading into the unknown with the surviving Mission girls, Gene, Sissy, David, and Epap must stick together and use everything they have to protect each other and their only hope: the cure that will turn the blood-thirsty creatures around them into humans again. Now that they know how to reverse the virus, Gene and Sissy have one final chance to save those they love and create a better life for themselves. But as they struggle to get there, Gene's mission sets him on a crash course with Ashley June, his first love . . . and his deadliest enemy.

Review:

FINALLY!!  Book #3...the final installment of The Hunt!  I was so excited to read this and devoured it in just a couple days (that is a miracle for someone who doesn't have much time).  The entire series is fast paced and thrilling and doesn't seem to ever slow down.  The Trap is no exception.  

STOP READING HERE IF YOU HAVEN'T READ BOOK 1 AND 2.  THERE ARE SPOILERS!!

So here it is - Gene, Sissy, David and Epap have made it onto the train with other Mission occupants and are headed to the city.  Some will survive and some won't.  It will be a horrifying experience and nothing is as it seems.  Will they finally have the reunion with Gene's father that they have been craving?  How many other humans are out there?  Can they free them all?  Or is the human population quickly becoming extinct?  Will Gene and Sissy be able to reverse the virus and change everyone back?  We finally have the answers to all of these questions...and I gotta tell you, blood will be shed.  Characters will die and nothing is as it appears.  

As much as I loved this series (and I really did), the conclusion did not hold me as the rest of the series did.  I was expecting an explosion of understanding and all I thought was - that's it?  It's over?  It was an interesting way to wrap things up but didn't have the same "omph" as the momentum from the rest of the series.  Sorry, don't mean to burst any bubbles.  Still a recommended read but the ending didn't have the impact I was hoping for.   My conclusion - Come along for the ride.  Immerse yourself in the story and be open to the ending.

This would be an excellent "guys" read but also has appeal to girls as there is a minor love triangle throughout the series.  If you enjoyed the Hunger Games and Twilight, you will enjoy The Trap.  Be prepared for some gruesome descriptive scenes with vampires and their ummm...bodily fluids.  There seemed to be excessive oozing in this last book.  :)

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! 

The Prey by Andrew Fukada

Published: January 2012

Publisher: St Martin's Press

Pages: 304

Copy Provided by: Bought

Summary: by Goodreads

Summary:

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.

Review:

Fukada continues his fast-paced thriller with the same intensity as book #1 The Hunt.  The book literally begins right where things stopped last book on the river with vamps in hot pursuit.  Their desire to devour these hepers is so creepy!  The extreme lengths they go to in order to beat the sun is startlingly cunning and extreme.  

One of the things that I found so interesting about The Prey is how Fukada incorporated a bit of Chinese history into his story.   Being an East Asian Studies student, I learned much about the ancient art of foot binding.  It sounds very similar to what was done to the women living in this civilization.  Tiny feet were beautified and large feet were considered manly and ugly.  He doesn't go into a lot of detail but the pregnant women in this society certainly had the same characteristics of women in ancient China.  A small foot was revered (also called a lotus foot) but debilitating to a woman.  It would prevent much hard labour and could also prevent a young woman from running away from her husband.  

There were so many twists and unexpected turns in this novel that I cannot divulge them all.  I often feel like I'm reading "outside of the box" with this author because just when you think you know what is going on, he throws you for a loop and takes you in another direction.   That Andrew Fukada is a tricky game changer....but always entertaining.  

Prey was so intense that it only took me a short time to devour.  It definitely did not have second book boredom and the ending will leave you wanting more answers.  Move this one to the top of your TBR list. I LOVED it!

p.s.

At one point in time, Gene uses a hang glider as wings to escape a group of vampires in hot pursuit.  Oh the irony of a dark bat-shaped creature escaping a bunch of blood suckers through the air!  

Don't forget to enter our Spring Cleaning giveaway!  We are giving away 4 great reads!

Same Book, Second Look - The Hunt by Andrew Fukada

Published: May 2012

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Pages: 293

Copy Provided by: Bought

Summary: Goodreads

Summary:

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?

Review:
(feeling a little bold today so I've added some subheadings...)

Third Time's a Charm!
So Curlypow was the first to review The Hunt.  You can read what she thought here.  Next, Special K did a review.  You can read her thoughts here.   I had heard so many great things about this title that I thought I should bump it up my TBR list.  After I downloaded the first few chapters on my reader, I was hooked!  The Hunt is a fast-moving thrillride if you like a Dystopian world that has been overtaken by vampires. 

Moo says you
There are several things I want to discuss in this review.  As much as I enjoyed this book, humans were constantly referred to as Hepers.  Which sounds awfully close to the word - Heffer (a cow).  My mind continued to automatically correct the world Heper to Heffer throughout the book.  Similar to a mental spellcheck.  It was rather distressing.  The theme of domesticating humans as food continued throughout the story as Fukada progressed by talking about the Dome and incorporating it into the Hunt.  Andrew, did you mean to play this little mind game/association on us readers?  If so, brilliant!  if not, here's that ISU idea people!

What's in a name?
Something that was incredibly odd (also brought up by Curlypow) was that the characters did not have actual "names".  Gene referred to them by giving nicknames to qualities that stood out such as Crimson Lips, Phys Ed and Ashley June (the vamp he is crushing on).  This method was brilliant and I actually did not notice the lack of name reference until about 1/3 of the way through the book.

When the Prey becomes the Predator
So Gene (we don't actually learn his first name until part way through the story) is a human trying to live hidden in a world of vamps.  The thing is, he lives among them and has a very strategic routine to blend in.  His rigorous training to avoid detection was stunning.  I found myself feeling sorry for him and his lack of actual human interaction.  Imagine trying to be something you are not for your entire lifetime!  The idea of the hunted hiding among a sea of predators....just when you thought your life couldn't get any more dismal.

Like living under a microscope
Some of the Hepers lived under a dome and were supplied with basic necessities and a few luxuries as well. It was an interesting concept because the vamps would monitor and learn from them.

Mr. Fukada gave me as a reader, a lot of food for thought.  There were so many interesting aspects to this story that had me question a lot about the way we live as a community.  That being said, there were also many holes in this story but I was able to overlook them due to the great storyline.  I would whole-heartedly recommend The Hunt.  I would even recommend it as an ISU title due to the themes you could pull from the vampire community and relate to culture today.

Macmillan Audio has graciously given us a link to a clip from the book - http://media.us.macmillan.com/video/olmk/macmillanaudio/TheHunt.mp3.  Listen to it and then let me know what you think.  Hooked yet?





Same Book, Second Look - The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda

 

Today Special K is giving us her take on a book that I reviewed a short while ago.

 

Published: May 8 2012
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Pages: 304
Copy: Library
Summary: Goodreads

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?


I’m on a roll! I’ve had a zombie book that isn’t a “zombie book” (Rot and Ruin), a werewolf book that isn’t a “werewolf book” (Hemlock) and now…a vampire book that isn’t a “vampire book”!

The Hunt is wonderfully original – and leaves you with questions and hungering for the answers – how did the ‘people’ (re: the vampire-like characters) come to be? Is this set before our time? Long after (yes…that would make it a dystopia!)? Or is this something parallel, something separate? Where are we? Earth? Some strange and distant planet? And just how do you pronounce ‘heper’? (Hee-per? Heh-per?) [I settled on heh-per].

None of these are answered. And it’s still fabulous. We follow our main character – whose designation changes based on where he is – through his life of fakery. He lives among the people, but is not one of them. Instead he is a heper, and if he makes just once involuntary human move (a bodily function that should be there, a show of emotion on a face) he is done for. You would think this would either make for a lot of inner turmoil, or a very flat character- but Fukuda moves to neither extreme, and we get a wonderfully well-rounded character.

But let’s get onto what everyone is thinking – it’s The Hunger Games with vampires. Well, yes…sort of. There are some tweaks and changes – the game itself is fairly similar, but the story follows a very different aspect, due to the situation of our main character. But Fukuda does something wonderful, and he nods to his predecessor, and lets us know where things are going to be different:

He suddenly stops moving as if remembering something; he looks at both of us sternly. “Only know this: I want a clear winner. It’s always better that way. No ties. The public does not like ambiguity. If it comes down to just the two of you…well…there can only be one. You will know what to do. Correct?”

Neither Ashley June nor I answer. (The Hunt, pg. 137)

Gee – wonder where that came from? Anyone remember a book with an ending like that? And there’s another nod to another predecessor:

After all, if the roles were reversed and it was people who became extinct, people theories would likely be rife with exaggerations and distortions: […] benign beings who could coexist peacefully alongside hepers, somehow restrain themselves from ripping hepers to ribbons and sucking down their blood; they’d all invariably be incredibly good-looking with perfect hair. There’d probably be some outright confabulations as well: their ability to swim with dizzying speed under water; and ludicrous and laughable notions about people-heper romances. (The Hunt, pg. 87-88)

I laughed for a good couple minutes over that one. Anyone remember a vampire with perfect hair?

Fukuda’s writing style is that excellent blend of description and narrative (which is important to the story – I won’t explain why, you’ll need to read it!), and his characters have few moments where they make decisions I seriously question. Plus he has his nods to the reader as I point out above, which make you feel better about reading yet another iteration of Twilight or The Hunger Games – because although this has its basis in both (sort-of…The Hunger Games more so than Twilight), he puts an original style and orientation on it that makes it unique and fresh.

A great read – maybe even one I add to my own shelf, which is a high honour these days (I’m running out of shelf space, so my quality control standards have gone up). Look for the sequel The Prey, January 2013.

The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda

Published: May 8th, 2012

Publisher: St Martin's Griffin

Pages: 296

Copy: Library

Summary: Goodreads

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?

The Hunt is a vampire book with a difference.  Most books claim that, but this time it is actually true.  In fact I don't recall actually seeing the word vampire anywhere, (I could be wrong there, but I don't think so).  Humanity is all but extinct, in this unspecified, dystopian future, and the vampires are the
dominant species. They are not 'regular' vampires, but nasty dirty creatures who need blood cups under their chins when they eat, and sleep holding onto handles in the ceiling - lovely nod to the old bat analogies.  The descriptions of the involuntary drooling are downright disgusting, but they treat it so nonchalantly.

'Two rows in front of me, Phys Ed's head suddenly twitches violently backward.  A short line of saliva flies off his fangs and swings upward, splatting across his face diagonally.  He shakes his head. "Pardon me," he murmers' (P88)

The main protagonist is not actually given a name until about half way through the book, when he remembers his original 'designation' - Gene.  Gene himself refers to other characters in the book by his own made-up designations like 'Crimson Lips'; Phy Ed; Abs and Ashley June.  And of course, she is the only other character of immediate significance with a name!

It is very interesting that when Gene meets the captive Hepers, or humans, he actually feels supeior to them, and doesn't consider himself on their level, but much higher.  Although he is a human himself, because he has been 'passing for so long,  he looks at the other hepers with disdain. It's kind of creepy actually.  There is a thread of tension that runs throughout the book and the sense of unease and impending discovery is very insidious and never really lifts.

The Hunt is a tense, action filled drama, that will have your heart pounding, but don't expect the usual vampire romance - you won't find it, anywhere.