This is a prequel to “The Hunger Games” that focuses on Coriolanus Snow, the young man who would grow up to become the tyrannical president of the nation of Panem. Readers of “The Hunger Games” know that Snow is that trilogy’s villain. He isn’t likeable there and he’s not likable here. But this book provides insight into how Coriolanus became the cold, ruthless leader of Panem and how deadly the Gamemakers wanted to make the Games.