Review – Hit (Hit, Book 1) by Delilah S. Dawson (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Dystopia/Thriller
Length: 336 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: April 14, 2015
ISBN-13: 978-1481423397
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Hit series
Source: Gift
Rating: 4/5 stars

“The good news is that the USA is finally out of debt. The bad news is that we were bought out by Valor National Bank, and debtors are the new big game, thanks to a tricky little clause hidden deep in the fine print of a credit card application. Now, after a swift and silent takeover that leaves 9-1-1 calls going through to Valor voicemail, they’re unleashing a wave of anarchy across the country.

Patsy didn’t have much of a choice. When the suits showed up at her house threatening to kill her mother then and there for outstanding debt unless Patsy agreed to be an indentured assassin, what was she supposed to do? Let her own mother die?

Patsy is forced to take on a five-day mission to complete a hit list of ten names. Each name on Patsy’s list has only three choices: pay the debt on the spot, agree to work as a bounty hunter, or die. And Patsy has to kill them personally, or else her mom takes a bullet of her own.

Since yarn bombing is the only rebellion in Patsy’s past, she’s horrified and overwhelmed, especially as she realizes that most of the ten people on her list aren’t strangers. Things get even more complicated when a moment of mercy lands her with a sidekick: a hot rich kid named Wyatt whose brother is the last name on Patsy’s list. The two share an intense chemistry even as every tick of the clock draws them closer to an impossible choice.”

I have had this book to read for awhile now. Previous to this I read Dawson’s Blud series (which I liked) and her other YA book, Servants of the Storm (which I loved). This book is really unlike any of her previous stories; it is more of an action thriller and doesn’t have any supernatural or fantasy elements to it. The 2nd book is called Stike and is already out; I believe this is planned to be a trilogy.

The premise of this book is a bit hard to swallow. Basically a bank buys out the government and makes everyone’s loans due immediately. You get two options: pay off the loan or become an assassin for the credit company and hunt down other loan owners. While unrealistic and a hard to find believable, it ends up being kind of an interesting idea. I love how this change in order quickly tumbles society into chaos.

Despite the fact that I found the premise to be fairly unbelievable, this ended up being a fast-paced and engaging read. Each chapter is named after the person Patsy has to hunt down next and you can’t help but be pulled into each person’s story as you wonder what they owe money for and if they will chose to live or die.

Of course there is a larger story that ties the whole book together as Patsy tries to figure out who and what is behind Valor National Bank. This larger story combined with the smaller stories of the people Patsy hunts and made this a book that was impossible for me to put down.

I also love how this book explored how different people react to this incredibly improbable situation; it’s very intriguing from a psychological point of view and I was surprised at how much this book made me consider our society as a whole.

Overall I enjoyed it and will probably read the next book in the series just because I am incredibly curious to see what happens. I would recommend to those who enjoy action-packed thrillers that have a bit of a dystopian twist to them.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge