I Hunt Killers

The idea that there are a multitude of factors that shift and influence a person’s ever-changing identity is explored at length throughout I Hunt Killers. As the son of notorious serial killer Billy Dent, Jazz worries that his father’s influence—either from genetics or the way he was raised—will make him destined to become a killer. Like many teenagers, Jazz is trying to figure himself out: what makes him tick, and what his purpose is in life. Complicating this search for identity, Jazz was literally trained to be a killer. Billy treated Jazz as his protégé and would sometimes force Jazz to participate (or bear witness to) his gruesome deeds. Thus, the trauma of Jazz’s upbringing makes it seem unavoidable that Jazz will inherit his father’s bloodlust. However, Jazz makes it his life’s mission to defy both “nature” (his father’s passed genetics) and “nurture” (the way his father raised him) by using his unique upbringing to stop crime.

There are moments throughout the novel where, from the reader’s perspective, it seems as though Jazz may actually be a killer just like his father. For instance, when Jazz is examining Fiona Goodling’s body in the morgue, without even realizing it, his hands move toward her neck in a strangling motion: “Jazz then realized that his own gloved hands—this guy isn’t an amateur.