Kate Bond

I don’t have a ton to say about this. It’s funny and smart and scary and heartbreaking and…I don’t know. I just really enjoyed reading it.My only complaints are about the mystery surrounding the Impressionist, the serial killer Jasper is hunting. The sections from his (the killer’s) POV were both unnecessary and obviously deliberately misleading. My enjoyment of the story was not enhanced by these bits, and I wish they’d been excluded. The other thing I did not like was an unforgivably ham-fisted clue relating to The Impressionist’s eye color. I don’t know what the author was thinking, but I was actually embarrassed when I reached the conclusion of that little plot trail. Oof.But I didn’t read this book for the mystery of who the killer is; I read it for the characters. They are so beautifully complex. It was such a joy to read from Jasper’s perspective, and his friendship with Howie feels sweet and real. I loved their interactions together. And Connie, the practical young woman who is in love with Jasper, is deliciously charming in a no-nonsense way.I understand why people compare this to Dexter, but plot-wise and tonally it’s actually kind of the opposite of that property. Jasper’s father was a serial killer who, over the course of his 120-something murders, trained his son to become the perfect killing machine himself—but Jasper, unlike his father, doesn’t seem to feel compelled to rape or murder. Yes, he struggles with the ideas his father has placed in his head (particularly those relating to women—good lord), and he understands intellectually how he might do terrible things, but when it comes down to it, he doesn’t possess whatever quality it is that drives men like his father to do the things they do, and he genuinely cares for the people in his life. This distinction lends I Hunt Killers a hopefulness and light that keep it from being dragged into the depressing swamp that Dexter tends to wallow in.Trigger Warning: Brutal murders are described explicitly, and while the rapes are not described, it doesn't really matter, because you can imagine they're awful.So Little Sleeping