Before the Hunt

by Barry Lyga

You are seventeen years old and your father is a serial killer.These are the stories that made you.Set in the years before the groundbreaking, bestselling I Hunt Killers trilogy, Before the Hunt collects the prequels that build on the mythology of the series. From the story of how Jasper Dent came to be known as "Jazz" to the day Billy was arrested and beyond, this anthology is a must-have for any I Hunt Killers fan!

• Career Day
• Neutral Mask
• Blood Boy
• Lucky Day
• Down Time
• Six Ways to Kill Your Grandmother
• Ugly J and the Beautiful Day

274 pages, Paperback

Published March 4, 2025

About the author

Barry Lyga is a recovering comic book geek. According to Kirkus, he's also a "YA rebel-author." Somehow, the two just don't seem to go together to him.

When he was a kid, everyone told him that comic books were garbage and would rot his brain, but he had the last laugh. Raised on a steady diet of comics, he worked in the comic book industry for ten years, but now writes full-time because, well, wouldn't you?

The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy & Goth Girl is his first novel. Unsoul'd is his latest. There are a whole bunch in between, featuring everything from the aftermath of child abuse to pre-teens with superpowers to serial killers. He clearly does not know how to stick to one subject.

Reviews

[Mlpmom (Book Reviewer)]

So much fun to be back in this world, even for a little bit!

[Olga Rudnitska]

Повна збірка новел до серії "I hunt Killers"

Знайомство з мамою буде феєричне

[Oblivionsdream]

I first discovered I Hunt Killers back when I was in high school and this series has continued to both haunt me and live in my head rent free for the past decade since. I honestly never would have expected to be re-emerged into one of my favorite series in 2025 through a prequel book but here we are. If for some reason you have not already read this series but are reading this turn back and go read the first book because it is just utterly incredible and gripping and I could not recommend it enough. If you have read it then you already know what to expect from this series and Before the Hunt does not disappoint. Being a collection comprised mostly of previously released short stories I had already read most of the stories included but they were just as good upon a re-read and the new one gave a fascinating insight on one of the most interesting characters of the series. I honestly just so thoroughly enjoyed revisiting the characters after so long and this is obviously a must read for any fan.

[Britt C]

this was a great read !!
it was nice to see other perspectives on what was going on in lobos nod !
this is my favorite book series and I am happy to have the prequels in on physical collection :)

[♡]

i genuinely apologise for the person i will become once i get my hands on a physical copy of this book

[♡]

𝓘𝓯 𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓪𝓲𝓭, 𝓱𝓮𝓵𝓹 𝓶𝓮 𝓴𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓲𝓭𝓮𝓷𝓽. 𝓘'𝓭 𝓼𝓪𝔂 𝓱𝓮 𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓭𝓼 𝓶𝓮𝓭𝓲𝓬𝓲𝓷𝓮. 𝓢𝓲𝓬𝓴 𝓸𝓯 𝓼𝓬𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓵𝓮𝓽 𝓾𝓼 𝓲𝓷, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓻𝓮𝓼 𝓰𝓸𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓱𝓲𝓶. 𝓐𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓱𝓮 𝓲𝓷𝓿𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓲𝓷, 𝓰𝓸𝓮𝓼 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓱𝓮𝓵𝓵


p.s. please give me the next book 🙏🏻 please

OMG!! this was soooo good, its great to have the little side stories especially when Billy was arrested or when he was off prospecting. I can't believe it took me a year to take it off my bookshelf but I guess I just had to reread the whole series! I will recommend this to anybody who listens 💕 i even made a Spotify Playlist that matches the series, it really helps the mood

[Chloe Frizzle]

Don't read this before the original trilogy! It spoils it.

The best stories:
Career Day
Neutral Mask
6 ways to kill your grandmother
Lucky Day

[Blake]

I’ve been a fan of this series for over a decade now, and this one is no exception. Every story felt very distinct but still in the same universe. You could tell exactly whose POV you were in. Now having finished it, I’m wanting even MORE backstory. Call it morbid curiosity, but I want an entire Billy Dent series.

[Steven]

I love backstories

[Clint Read-Brittian]

This was cute. I gave all of the Short Stories a 4 stars except gave the last one a 5 star!

[Kit]

I absolutely love this book. I was immediately thrown right back into Jazz's world and, let's all be honest, it was rough. These books, the entire series, mess with your head in a way that you don't often see and the prequel continued that tradition. I had to set the book down between stories and regroup, because each one revealed something we didn't previously know and it made me re-evaluate things I read YEARS ago. I'm going to leave it at that, because anything more would be wading dangerously close to spoiler territory. This book was excellent and I can't wait to see where Lyga goes next (if anywhere) with these characters.

[Barbara]

Thank Barry Lyga you for your generosity. Not only did he send me the book I won, but included the other books in the series. I should have thanked him much sooner, but I made the mistake of starting to read and it took me on an enjoyable journey. The character development in these books is amazing.
You become so well acquainted with the good and the bad. Jazz, Connie and Howie take you along on quite a ride in these books. Having the most .prolific serial killer in history as a father doesn't make Jazz's life easy. Connie and Howie are friends he is lucky to have. Grandma is a hoot. .I enjoyed these books so much. My only regret is the fact that I finished reading them.

[Yami]

I have been reading this very slowly, like one story per week, but finished the last three on one go,
some stories here I do NOT want to read them again, cos I didn't like them, they are too gruesome and with much profanity that I didn't appreciate ( the reason for less stars)
those where
Downtime
and ugly J (esp ugly J, I simply HATE HER)

I liked Lucky day as a story, .. but I had to cross out some of the Misotheist words said by the Sheriff cos I dont to read those words again . .
on the other hand , I truly liked the ones with Jasper, the six ways to kill your grandmother one, made me feel truly sorry for him. the poor kid

[Karen]

I Hunt Killers trilogy is my all time favorite trilogy. So I was really excited for this prequel book since I had not read any of the prequels before. This was a great way to read all the prequels together, plus be able to read the new unreleased prequel included in this prequel book. I love everything about this trilogy from the characters to the plot. So it was great to be able to revisit these characters and learn more of their back stories

[Ashley]

Lyga brings us a new set of viewpoints in Before the Hunt, a selection of short stories set in the I Hunt Killers universe, where we get to tag along with not only Jasper, but Connie, Howie and even Billy. This was a fun way to see different perspectives either before or after Billy's arrest.

[Fab]

Can't believe I finally know what G. stands for