HIT, by Delilah S. Dawson

I’ve featured Delilah twice before, with her excellent Blud series and her YA book Servants of the Storm. So when I found out about her newest YA novel, HIT, I got super excited. See for yourself:

NO ONE READS THE FINE PRINT.

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.

Delilah was also willing to share 5 books she’d recommend to readers.
Take it away, Delilah!

5 Books I’d Recommend (Besides my own, of course)

1. Maplecroft by Cherie Priest
Cherie sums it up as “Lizzie Borden fighting Cthulhu.” This book swept me away with gothic historical fiction… plus horror. And now we know what really happened with that axe.

Why HIT fans might dig it: It’s about a normal woman swept up by violence she doesn’t want and can’t stop… but who manages to survive.

2. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke
Two children live alone in an old house on the beach, and everything is normal until… a strange boy named River shows up. I loved the atmosphere of the story, and how it had a new sort of magic I wasn’t expecting. There’s a sequel, too.

Why HIT fans might dig it: You think you’ve got your life figured out… but then a boy shows up. Also, parents are nowhere to be found.

3. The Archived by Victoria Schwab
In Mac’s world, the souls of the dead must be captured and safely stored in books. But that doesn’t always go the way you want it to.

Why HIT fans might dig it: My Patsy and Victoria’s Mac are scrappers, fighters who sometimes run at the violence instead of away from it if it’s part of their job. They also miss their fathers horribly.

4. Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
Austin and his best friend Robby are just hanging around… when the apocalypse is released in the form of giant mantises. This book reads like Vonnegut killing John Green with a tire iron.

Why HIT fans might dig it: If you want to see the first day of the end of the world, keep reading.

5. Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
What are the chances that you’ll defy the odds and find your match in an insane way? Lily leaves a book of challenges on the shelf, and Dash jut so happens to pick it up. Is that a disaster–or a blessing?

Why HIT fans might dig it: Similarly, what are the chances that Patsy would meet a guy wearing her favorite band’s t-shirt on the same day she commits her first murder? I like the idea that random happenings can bring unexpected possibilities.

HIT, by Delilah S. Dawson

Leave a Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply