Monster Hunter International

By: Larry Correia

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman

Length: 24 hrs

Publisher's summary

Five days after Owen Zastava Pitt pushed his insufferable boss out of a 14th story window, he woke up in the hospital with a scarred face, an unbelievable memory, and a job offer.

It turns out that monsters are real. All the things from myth, legend, and B-movies are out there, waiting in the shadows. Officially secret, some of them are evil, and some are just hungry. On the other side are the people who kill monsters for a living. Monster Hunter International is the premier eradication company in the business. And now Owen is their newest recruit.

It's actually a pretty sweet gig, except for one little problem. An ancient entity known as the Cursed One has returned to settle a centuries-old vendetta. Should the Cursed One succeed, it means the end of the world, and MHI is the only thing standing in his way.

With the clock ticking towards Armageddon, Owen finds himself trapped between legions of undead minions, belligerent federal agents, a cryptic ghost who has taken up residence inside his head, and the cursed family of the woman he loves. Business is good.... Welcome to Monster Hunter International.

©2009 Larry Correia (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Entertaining Dude-Lit

Originally posted at FanLit.

“Our business is monsters. And business is booming.”

Owen Zastava Pitt was just trying to be normal. He used to be a bouncer who spent his evenings participating in illegal pit fights, but he managed to earn a CPA and became a boring accountant for a big corporation — pension and dental benefits included. Being tall and weighing in at 300 lbs, he didn’t quite look like an accountant — and he still spent his weekends as a gun hobbyist — but he was making progress…. until his boss turned into a werewolf and Owen managed to defeat him and push him out a window on the 14th story of their office building.

That caught the attention of a covert freelance organization called Monster Hunters International. In contrast to the secret government organization that hunts monsters, MHI is a family business. The Shackleford family has selectively recruited and trained a group of highly skilled men and women who work in teams to rid the world of all sorts of dangerous supernatural creatures. Then they collect large bounties from a special government fund. It’s extremely lucrative, but extremely dangerous, too.

Owen’s stature, militant upbringing, gun expertise, quick wits, and tenacity are exactly what MHI is looking for. When they send Julie Shackleford to interview Owen, he can’t resist her good looks and her guns. So Owen signs up for the craziest job in the world and is soon dealing with vampires, gargoyles, ghouls, zombies, werewolves, meddling government bureaucrats, and the insects of the Deep South. He gets some help from his diverse set of MHI colleagues and the good supernaturals — head-banging orcs, trailer park elves, and the ghost of a dead Jewish man that lives in his head.

In the past the monster incidents that MHI has dealt with have seemed like random infestations, but now it’s becoming clear that there’s a coordinated attack going on. Agents of the Old Ones are searching for an ancient artifact that can stop time and open a portal to a source of infinite power. They’ve tried it before — back when the Nazis were in power — and now they’re back to try again. Fortunately, MHI is standing in their way…

Monster Hunter International, the first inLarry Correia’s MONSTER HUNTER INTERNATIONAL series is high-octane non-stop action-packed fun. Blazing assault weapons, monsters of all sorts, and plenty of blood, guts and brains. OK, honestly, this is not typically my thing — it’s really violent and gory — but after enjoying Correia’s GRIMNOIR CHRONICLES, I decided to give MONSTER HUNTER INTERNATIONAL a try, especially since I found them on sale at Audible a while back.

I felt like I was hooked up to a testosterone drip, but I cringingly admired Monster Hunter International. The plot is tight, exciting, and unpredictable. The writing — especially the dialog — is excellent. Correia’s characters are complex and engaging and the women are just as competent as the men. Best of all is Larry Correia’s dry irreverent sense of humor. I wouldn’t call Monster Hunter International a comedy, but I chuckled all the way through. It was this comic relief that made the violence tolerable for me.

MONSTER HUNTER INTERNATIONAL is a series that is even better in audio than print. Audible Frontiers produces the audio version and it’s narrated by Oliver Wyman. Keep in mind that I listen to about 150 audiobooks each year when I say that Wyman’s performance is one of the best I’ve ever heard. He handles both the male and female voices with ease and effortlessly shifts through several accents including a Southern drawl and some Eastern European dialects. His pacing and inflection is perfect. If you’re planning to try MONSTER HUNTER INTERNATIONAL please consider the audio version. You will not be disappointed.

Monster Hunter International is a little too violent and gory for me to count it as a true favorite, but it excels at what it does. It’s highly entertaining dude-lit that is well-written and humorous enough to appeal to a much wider audience.

Publisher: Five days after Owen Zastava Pitt pushed his insufferable boss out of a fourteenth story window, he woke up in the hospital with a scarred face, an unbelievable memory, and a job offer. It turns out that monsters are real. All the things from myth, legend, and B-movies are out there, waiting in the shadows. Officially secret, some of them are evil, and some are just hungry. On the other side are the people who kill monsters for a living. Monster Hunter International is the premier eradication company in the business. And now Owen is their newest recruit. It’s actually a pretty sweet gig, except for one little problem. An ancient entity known as the Cursed One has returned to settle a centuries old vendetta. Should the Cursed One succeed, it means the end of the world, and MHI is the only thing standing in his way. With the clock ticking towards Armageddon, Owen finds himself trapped between legions of undead minions, belligerent federal agents, a cryptic ghost who has taken up residence inside his head, and the cursed family of the woman he loves. Business is good… Welcome to Monster Hunter International.

Ok monster story to pass the time.

This came up as an Audible recommendation because I've listened to a bunch of fantasy and sci-fi books. I would say it was just "ok".
The whole 'giant of a man who's a lovable oaf/teddy bear who can rip your head off/immediately falls in love with the hottest girl in the whole book and acts sheepishly awkward around her at every interaction but isn't afraid of vampires or other monsters' got pretty old pretty fast. I found myself rolling my eyes and sighing out loud in every scene with those two characters. I even made gagging sounds a few times.
The monster action and fight scenes were interesting, but I found the narrator to be at little too melodramatic and slow for my taste.

Not too bad.

Two things I disliked about the book. First is that monsters are suppose to be a big secret but about half the world seems to know. Second, I am so tired of the standard fare of monsters, vamps, werewolves, ghouls, etc. I really wish more authors that could be more creative.

Other than that once I got started into the book it was not bad at all. I like the fact the book keeps a pretty fast pace. I did not care the for last battle though, the fight dragged for more than two hours and could have been a little more condensed. Sometimes the book could be a little predictable. The narrator very is good, but, for me, there was just that spark missing that really makes an audio book shine. His voice is clear and understandable and he does a pretty good with female voices. Looking forward to the rest in the series.

If you like this book I recommend the Joe Ledger series or if you like a like more fantasy mixed into your military battles try the Black Company. If you're more into urban fantasy with a little more magic and less guns try Dresden files or Iron Druid.

Monster Cleche's International

An ok read that use's every "monster" cleche' in the book. (pun intended)
This is a good pass the time book, but if your looking for something original and new keep looking.

Excellent Story, Excellent Character Development!

Would you listen to Monster Hunter International again? Why?

This was a great book, very accurate in the details, especially of the firearms and weaponry. The story is quick, gripping, funny, and very well written. I would put Correia in the same class with Butcher, Eddings, Salvatore, and a few others in his ability to get you involved with the characters and the story.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Monster Hunter International?

Owen's original scuffle with the werewolf was exciting and entertaining.

Have you listened to any of Oliver Wyman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I haven't heard any of Wyman's other narrations, but he did one of the best jobs of any performer for an audiobook that I have ever listened to. Very good with the many different character voices and interactions. Great story teller.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed all of the way through this book. I didn't just chuckle, but several times this book elicited a belly laugh.

Any additional comments?

Great audiobook all the way around.

Lots of action. Doesn't take itself too seriously

I've become a fan of Larry Correia. With the Hard Magic books, Into the Storm, and now the Monster Hunter books, he's shown to me to be a versatile and entertaining author. Creative with his different interpretations of fantasy themes, and skilled at developing characters and balancing the human drama amidst the spectacle.

More guns than you can shake a ... well, gun at!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

My friends enjoy reading action with fantasy and a lot of gratuitous violence.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I liked the main character, Owen, but I think my favorite was Earl. No-nonsense and stops an argument with a well placed look rather than fist.

What about Oliver Wyman’s performance did you like?

He did a great job with the voices and the dialog flowed very fluidly.

Any additional comments?

Overall, an AWESOME thing to listen to while stuck in traffic! The gratuitous (and detailed to the level of the serial numbers of the guns) violence really helped diffuse the traffic tension!

Disappointed

Would you try another book from Larry Correia and/or Oliver Wyman?

Yes, but hesitantly for Correia. Wyman is pretty good.

What could Larry Correia have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Employed a good editor and eased up on the adjectives.

What aspect of Oliver Wyman’s performance would you have changed?

Some pronunciation is off. Otherwise pretty good performance.

Did Monster Hunter International inspire you to do anything?

Bang my head against the wall over the dialogue.

Any additional comments?

After finishing the grimnoir series I went into these books with enthusiasm only to be disappointed by the writing. Could have been so much better.

Kept me interested

The narration was really good. The story was well written and interesting. I look forward to the next installment of the series

Decent not great

I don't think this story was pitched to me.

I had trouble believing the love interests would ever fall for her first boyfriend, or that the first boyfriend would ever be hired by MHU. Plus too many people were incompetent who should be competent, which totally made the world unbelievable for me.

I would say this book is very trope-y, (not that thats a bad thing), and simply uses the urban-fantasy/high-fantasy tropes as a vehicle for talking about killing vampires with high-caliber weaponry.

I didn't feel as if the magic system had any depth, which is to say that the author didn't explain why there were werewolves, vamps and demons. This brought me out of things.

Finally, I would have liked more character development out of the main character. I didn't get the sense that he had a perspective shift between the first page and the last page, or even a hero's journey 'comes-full-circle' type of thing. Also, he was supposed to be really smart but I never saw him use his brains to outwit his evil-monster enemies. Not that I objected to solving your problems with guns, but the author deliberately said the main character was smart so I was confused when he didn't out-cunning the evil monsters.

All of this said, I did like their character development for the main villain. It made him really cool.