The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda

It has been a long time since I read a book in one night, but Fukuda's "The Hunt" kept me reading into the early hours of the morning, and I didn't resent a single second.
In post-apocalyptic America there are very few humans left and Gene is one of them. He hides openly among the vampires who rule the planet, and with the early help of his father has developed an incredible regime to avoid detection. His routine and survival is threatened however, when he unluckily wins a lottery that places him in a once-in-a-lifetime coveted position as one of the "hunters" of the last remaining hepers (humans). His plan to break his leg just before the hunt doesn't work, and he is forced to train with a bloodthirsty crowd who are growing increasingly suspicious of him.
Readers will love:
The vampires whose characteristics are fresh and intriguing
The fast non-stop action of the story
The twists (and there are a couple)
The (dare I say it?) Hunger Games-like feel when Gene is being pursued and the romance, which I'm not going to tell you about.

Yes, there are a few questions that a critical reader will ask, and a few places where the ability to suspend your disbelief gets stretched a little thin, but overall, I think this is going to be a real winner with my middle school readers. My gut instinct says it will only take one or two signouts before this book is a smoking hot commodity in my library.   :-)  It's been a while since I felt so certain about a book, and the really surprising thing is that I really, REALLY thought I could not stand yet another book with vampires! I was wrong ... so wrong. Sadly, this is book one but happily, book two is supposed to be out very soon. I'll be in that line-up for sure.

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