The Hunt Club: A Novel

Huger Dillard #1

by Bret Lott

It started with a body, the head of it pretty much gone, the hands skinned. We found it the Saturday after Thanksgiving, out to Hungry Neck Hunt Club. Uncle Leland owns the Hunt Club, which might make him sound important, or rich. But he's not.

Huger Dillard is no ordinary fifteen-year-old from the Lowcountry of South Carolina. He may not have a father to help him grow up, but day-to-day guiding of his blind Uncle Leland--Unc, for short--and weekends spent at the Hunt Club have made him an expert on the habits of deer, the pompous attorneys and doctors of nearby Charleston, and the ways of the world. But with Unc's discovery of a mutilated body, Huger suddenly learns that he is expert at nothing--least of all his own life. Everything he knows and everyone he loves--Unc, his mother, his foundering teenage romance--is at risk, and Huger must use every ounce of resourcefulness and bravery to stay alive and protect what he believes in. Yet, when he finally discovers precisely what happened that Saturday morning, there is still one more secret to uncover, this one too dark, too deep, for him to even imagine.

From Bret Lott, the critically acclaimed author the Los Angeles Times called "one of the most im-portant and imaginative writers in America today," The Hunt Club is a novel of deft pacing and remark-able detail, and a sultry evocation of a land and culture that has existed for generations but soon may be lost forever.


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Southern, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, Historical Fiction, Adult Fiction

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Bret Lott is the bestselling author of fourteen books, most recently the nonfiction collection Letters and Life: On Being a Writer, On Being a Christian (Crossway 2013) and the novel Dead Low Tide (Random House 2012). Other books include the story collection The Difference Between Women and Men, the nonfiction book Before We Get Started: A Practical Memoir of the Writer’s Life, and the novels Jewel, an Oprah Book Club pick, and A Song I Knew by Heart. His work has appeared in, among other places, The Yale Review, The New York Times, The Georgia Review and in dozens of anthologies.

Born in Los Angeles, he received his BA in English from Cal State Long Beach in 1981, and his MFA in fiction from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1984, where he studied under James Baldwin. From 1986 to 2004 he was writer-in-residence and professor of English at The College of Charleston, leaving to take the position of editor and director of the journal The Southern Review at Louisiana State University. Three years later, in the fall of 2007, he returned to The College of Charleston and the job he most loves: teaching.

His honors include being named Fulbright Senior American Scholar and writer-in-residence to Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv, speaking on Flannery O’Connor at The White House, and having served as a member of the National Council on the Arts from 2006 to 2012. Currently he is nonfiction editor of the journal Crazyhorse. He and his wife, Melanie, live in South Carolina.

Reviews

[Will Byrnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bret Lott - image from Cultivated Podcast.com

Set in the land around Charleston, South Carolina, this tale, not written by Pat Conroy, tells of a young (15) lad, Huger, and his blind uncle, Leland. “Unc” is the owner of a significant tract of land, used for generations as a hunt club, a place where the wealthy of Charleston, those who live ”South of Broad,” come to drive pickups into the woods and shoot at animals that have been scared up by the locals. Think Dick Cheney and crew driving from stop to stop to jump out of their cars to take aim at quail. But it’s tough to maintain an old tradition when a body turns up minus its head and the skin on his hands.

There are several mysteries to be figured out here. Why was the topless fellow killed? And by whom? Who is it who is trying to get Leland to sell his land? Why did Huger’s father leave? What is the real story behind the fire that took Leland’s wife and his eyesight?

The Hunt Club is a fast, engaging read, with nicely drawn primary characters and a passel of baddies in sundry shades of greed, from base acquisitiveness to sociopathic predation. Lott has a bit of fun, as well, identifying all the characters by the cars they drive. Don’t expect great literature here. But The Hunt Club is a pleasant way to pass a few hours.


Lott on Facebook

Lott has written fourteen books, and is a Professor of Creative Writing at the College of Charleston, directing the MFA program there

[Wenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

It has been a long, long time since I've read something this riddled with plot holes. It's often ridiculous and contains a lot of actions taken by the characters that are described in great detail but lack any logic to them.

For instance, there's a very long and intense car chase that simply doesn't get explained. As you're experiencing it from the POV of fifteen-year-old main character Huger Dillard, at first not knowing the how or even why is part of the tension buildup. But now, after finishing the book, I still don't have a clue. This happens a lot.

It's like an action movie that got carried away saying, 'you know what else would be cool?!' And, bam, there you have not one but two massive criminal plots happening in parallel, confusing both characters and readers. The compulsory budding relationship. New knowledge flips personal life upside down. A shocking twist at the end. Evil genius talking things over absurdly long before killing, so that our hero may save the day.

Also, not all books necessarily have to be 'woke', but come on, all women are pretty and basically cooking or crying the entire book. Subtle and not so subtle racism is also included.

Now I feel I'm being generous with two stars, but Bret Lott is actually not a bad writer. He sure needs help plotting and some more insight into the female mind, but his sentences flow nicely and it's no chore to finish. Still, best avoided until he at least gets a better editor.

[Alex Yu · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Hunt Club by Bret Lott is a beautifully-written novel that follows a young boy’s journey into adulthood. Bret Lott has successfully combined both a very thrilling and exciting plotline with deep questions and issues that the protagonist, Huger Dillard, learns of throughout his journey.

Huger is a 15-year-old boy who learns many things about the nature of the world and the secrets, lies and bad intentions that it’s overfilled with, through a trilling and fast-paced chase through Hungry Neck, a large piece of land near Charleston, North Carolina, with, as Mr. Lott writes, “wetlands in black pools littered with leaves” and “thick black wall[s:]of pine and oak and birch”. The story starts off with a very vivid scene of the dead body of Charles Middleton Simons, with “the head of it pretty much gone [and:] the hands skinned”, as Mr. Lott writes. The situation quickly spirals out of control as Huger and his “Unc” discover that the whole ordeal may not just be about something as simple as murder.

The great thing about the story is that we can follow Huger’s change as a person from the kid who thinks that, as written by Mr. Lott, “there’s nothing much [he’s:] scared of” to a responsible and new person who “saw things” and “knew the difference between sin and love [and that:] both could be one and the same”. We can easily relate to the young boy’s emotions and feelings as we follow his path to growing independence.

Mr. Lott also raises interesting questions and ideas in his novel. Questions like “Who will watch the watchers?” and ideas regarding the blur between love and sin makes us think about our own lives and how, perhaps, those who we love and care about may also be hiding something as deep and as dark as a bottomless ocean trench.
Overall, The Hunt Club is such a fantastic read not only because of the pace, as fast as a horse galloping through the midnight woods, but also because of the deep elements addressed in the storyline and the intriguing language used by Mr. Lott to describe the beautiful scenery and settings.

However, I must say, be warned. There’s no going back after page one, as both Huger and the reader will be pulled and dragged deeper and deeper into the dark, shadowed forests of Hungry Neck...

[Barbara Burd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently attended a reading by Bret Lott and one of the books he chose was The Hunt Club, saying that he chose this in honor of librarians because the book has been challenged and librarians are the stalwarts of freedom to read. I'm not a big mystery reader, but I had read Lott's more familiar book Jewel several years ago and really enjoyed his lyrical style of writing. Living in South Carolina, I am familiar with the Charleston area and this added significantly to my enjoyment of the book. Also, as a recent transplant from the north, I am interested in the history and especially the stories of the rice plantations and the Gullah culture. Lott's impressive understanding of this unique culture adds immensely to the story.
The book starts with a murder and rapidly moves through a fantastical story of greed, corruption, adultery, suicide, and other "sins" transposed against love, commitment, and dedication to family. At times I felt like I was on a wild ride across the landscape of Charleston and it's environs.
Lott writes beautifully and this is the greatest strength of the book. For those of us who appreciate the fluidity of the written word, this book offers much. His language is precise and deliberate--there are no superfluous passages; all have meaning. I was impressed by how Lott conveyed the culture of Charleston, especially the disparities between the classes, which was even more pronounced than the differences between the races. His writing is finely nuanced and for those like myself who are intrigued by the history and culture of the area, this book provides insight and understanding.
This book is a good read for mystery fans, for those interested in Southern culture, and for those who just want a good read to carry to the beach or take out on the patio on lazy southern afternoons.
I imagine it would also appeal to young adults, who would identify with the protagonist in this coming of age novel.

[Erin Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a true southern suspense novel. And I loved it.

The epigraph at the start of the novel:
“The sins of some men are obvious,
Reaching the place of judgment ahead of them;
The sins of others trail behind them.”
1 Timothy 5:24

What follows is a story of what might happen in the hearts of men who believe there is no God and, thus, no judgment. This story is rife with themes of sin, race, love, grace, humility, and forgiveness.

Any synopsis I give might spoil the plot, but I’ll give it a go. Fifteen-year-old Huger (pronounced YOU-gee) Dillard is the right hand man to his uncle (Unc), who was blinded by tragic fire, as he runs their family’s Hunt Club. This vast, South Carolina land is their life, and they’ve made a living taking rich, white doctors out on seasonal hunting trips. Until one morning, shocking evidence of a murder is discovered on their land, which sends Hugee and Unc off into a spiral of unexpected events to save the land … and the family.

(If you like Cormac McCarty, Ron Rash, or Tom Franklin, you should read Bret Lott.)

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! Couldn’t put it down. If you like twists and/or surprises, this story has plenty.

[Jowell L. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bret Lott’s The Hunt Club writes about Huger Dillard, a fifteen year old boy, and his development from childhood to facing the darkness of the outside world. The mystery begins as a mutilated body is discovered in Huger’s Uncle’s hunting club. They are then off to search for the criminal and the notions behind their actions. Sound interesting? Well, it doesn’t last long. After one or two pages of somewhat engaging story-telling, the novel completely loses its momentum as the sluggish process of finding the murderer becomes a pathway of boredom.

In scenarios where there are supposedly exciting car rides or a chase on just two feet, the descriptions of the setting were excessively detailed and unnecessary to the plot, causing the tension to die down. For example, during a car chase scene, the car stops to describe that “Across from us was a Piggly Wiggly, and a Phar-Mor Drugs, and a Piece Goods store, a video store, a dry cleaner’s.” The entire book is packed with these needless details and is incredibly distracting to the plot itself. By the end of each chapter, you realize how tedious it was to read because if it was cut down to the parts that actually contributed to the plot, it would be half a page long.

I do, though, appreciate how Lott attempted to clearly depict the thought process of Huger, since it was written in first person. Therefore, the wording of his thoughts was in one word sentences like they were coming straight from his mind, like “But here. Here there were books. Everywhere.” Also, there would be arbitrary flashbacks as Huger recalls something from the past, similar to how everyday people suddenly remember past occurrences. This way, the reader can relate to the emotions felt by Huger. However, this, again, often diverts our attention away from the plotline, so I personally found it counter effective.

Overall, I still believe that after the introduction, it took all the way to the ending for the novel to become at least half-way suspenseful. Everything, between the first encounter with the mystery and solving it, was bland and slow. It was like having a killer chase a victim into a dark alley, but then having to stop and chit-chat for a couple hours until he finally knifes the guy. The entire way through, I just wanted to skip to the end. In short, The Hunt Club is 10 pages of a decent story and 228 pages of banal filler.

[Brendan L · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Hunt Club. The protagonist is on a mystery hunt, finds out her mother has been abducted discovered and illegal business in their own backyard. General plot of the story. The plot at the beginning started off great with the mystery of a dead member of the Hungry Neck Hunt Club. After a while, the plot twists between who is the villain and the motives for the characters get scrambled and become very dull.

The Novel starts with the mystery of a murdered husband a great start to a mystery book albeit very generic in a way. This leads into him and his “Unc” (***SPOILER***: turns out not to be his uncle) to find out the truth to who killed this man. This leads into another close person’s life at risk. After this chase, the villain reveals their plan. At first, seemed like a good plot twist of the good cop turning out to be the villain of the story. Disappointingly, Lott overused this technique and it became obvious on what would happen next.

In addition to the same plot techniques, the characters’ names were indifferent and hard to recall, Reynold, Ravenel, Thigpen, Simons, and Dillard, all rednecks through the novel description which there was no description aside from “doctors, lawyers and such”. Near the end, it became difficult to recall the differences between these characters and even with the actions they have done. Huger (“Pronounced “YOU-gee””) was the protagonist at the age of 15. ***SPOILERS***Finding out the truth about his real father and the ending was quite disappointing since it took so many years before he found out about this dark family secret. ***END SPOILERS***

On the search to find people, Bret Lott had described the roads, stores, and intersections Hugher and Unc travelled on in great detail. This in my opinion, made me lose focus on the actual plot of the story and focus on the imagery created instead of the actions of the characters.

Overall, not such a good read after the halfway point with disappointing and obvious plot turns and twists. Haven’t read many books and this book requires a great amount of focus just to understand.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mixed feelings about this one-- There were parts that pulled me right in, but then I'd find myself getting distracted by the location- instead of my beloved lowcountry enhancing the novel for me, I found myself trying to think of exactly where the author was describing, or trying to figure out if an intersection or street or storefront really existed. Very disconcerting. And the whole business with the medical university bothered me-- maybe because I worked for 20 years at The Medical University, and this was a bit too dark and sinister for most of the folks I knew. At times the plot got a bit convoluted too, or it could have just been that the heat of a Charleston summer dulled my brain.

But all in all, a nice way to spend a day reading, even if I wondered why Huger took so long to figure out the deep, dark secret of his family. But then again, he was only 15 and I have 35 years of cynicism on him!

FROM THE PUBLISHER
Huger Dillard is no ordinary 15-year-old from the Low Country of South Carolina. He may not have a father to help him grow up, but day-to-day guiding of his blind Uncle Leland - Unc, for short - and weekends spent at the Hunt Club have made him an expert on the habits of deer, the pompous attorneys and doctors of nearby Charleston, and the ways of the world. But with Unc's discovery of a mutilated body, Huger suddenly learns that he is expert at nothing - least of all his own life. Everything he knows and every-one he loves - Unc, his mother, his foundering teenage romance - is at risk, and Huger must use every ounce of resourcefulness and bravery to stay alive and protect what he believes in. Yet, when he finally discovers precisely what happened that Saturday morning, there is still one more secret to uncover, this one too dark, too deep, for him to even imagine.

[wally · Rating 3 out of 5]

finished this one this morning, 7:34, sept 24th 2016 good story three stars i liked it. though some of the story-line did not make sense...the whys and there wherefores the so forths and the so ons. overall, enjoyed the writing. but ultimately i began to question, would this happen? why did that happen? what is the motivation, other than greed? does greed explain it all? how'd thigpen know that? how could he know that? that sort of thing. i imagine if you read along, as i did, clueless, since that seems to be the intent, as clueless as you-gee, you can enjoy the story. don't question things too heavily and when all is said and done, so be it. onward and upward.

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t know why I kept reading this book, but now that I’ve finished it maybe someone else won’t have to? Hated the names; found the great mystery not very compelling; didn’t buy the greedy motive unveiled at the end that even the characters themselves describe as “too predictable.” I really only liked the scene where two characters suddenly kiss to throw off anyone possibly in pursuit, because it was such a surprise.

[Sophie Reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a thriller this was really not very compelling, too many lengthy descriptions, so many of them I actually skimmed! The story is sooo far-fetched. Not believable. There is a car chase that is very cinematic and that’s pretty much what made reading this book worthwhile. I bought it having recently been to Charleston, and loved it, hoping to be transported back there. But it turned out to be a real big MEH for me.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written. The characters and story captured me. This was partially because it takes place in Charleston and incorporated recent local history into the plot. The descriptions of living in the low country back woods rang true. I read it because it was on a list of books that parents wanted banned from the local schools.

[Susan Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

My bookshop snuck this Advanced Reading Copy to me because it's set in the town where my folks live - Charleston, S.C. There is a murder but this is much more a coming of age kind of story than a mystery. The story is very true to its Southern roots and the Charleston references were really interesting to me.

[S D · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not a bad book, but it loses the interest sparked by the premise, replacing it with something more cookie-cutter than I would have liked. Fans of James Paterson would like this, if they want to read something with a little more meat. The prose is lyrical. The plot tries to be, but it's a song I won't listen to more than once.

[Gregory · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose to read this book because of the recognizable setting and location. Overall, it was not a bad story, but the author does tend to go on and on in his descriptions, particularly with the main character’s thoughts. There were plenty of plot twists to keep me engaged, although the climax at the end was a bit anti-climactic.

[Paul J. Schwake · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not worth the time

Too many words saying very little.
Thin plot.
Hard to keep track of.
I wasted three days reading this.
Not really believable.
Do people down there really talk like that?

[Nefty123 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't expect this. I will be checking for other books of this author.

[Brian Tucker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Setting was 5. Plot was 3. Dialogue was 3. Largely due to the meandering nature of the fiction. Wanted to like it more. Finished it though.

[Andy Plonka · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a character study than a mystery, it indicates the importance of family.

[Julieb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good beach read--edge of my seat!!

[Debby Gwyllt-smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

That’s it...no more Brett Lott books for me. It moved at a snails pace. Thought I was going to rip my hair out with how overly descriptive the book was. Glad when it finally came to an end.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one read kind of like a movie script...for a really bad movie.

[Pam Oconnor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a page turner for sure. Kept us guessing till the end.

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Great story.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very engrossing drama that touches upon family ties and the yawning gap between the haves and have nots. Couldn't put it down.

[Mzmags · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you choose to read this book, be prepared. I literally could not put it down.

[Lori Hanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It had a suspenseful story but was a very slow read. Much too wordy.

[Finn Williamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it in 3 hours

[Lindsay Gamster · Rating 5 out of 5]

How is this book rated so low? I loved it. I would argue that this crossed genres of literary fiction/YA/coming of age/mystery. Beautifully worded, excellent characters with relatable flaws and fears and hopes and dreams and an intricately woven mystery. I will be reading more of this author.