MONSTER HUNTER INTERNATIONAL
Larry Correia
Baen Books
Science Fiction/Horror
ISBN: 9781439132852
Some books are written to educate, inform and enlighten. They can be dry, slow reads. Others are written to make you laugh, to horrify, or simply to let you lose yourself in another world/life for a while. And even those are not on level playing fields. You can always find an argument about what book is more an example of what "literature" is and what deserves to fall into a lower class of entertainment.
Larry Correia's debut, MONSTER HUNTER INTERNATIONAL, makes no bones about what it is, which is a no-holds-barred all-out page turner that is part science fiction, part horror, and an absolute blast to read. It's filled with action, horror and humor that, occasionally, makes you laugh out loud.
Things in MONSTER HUNTER INTERNATIONAL begin immediately. Our hero, Owen Zastava Pitt, is your typical boring accountant in Texas. Boring until the night his boss --- who is, in fact, a werewolf --- tries to devour him in the office. Owen gets mangled pretty good but manages to shove the guy out a window. Waking up from his ordeal, Owen is in a hospital being watched over by FBI agents. Should he begin to show signs of changing into a werewolf, they were there to kill him. He also gets a visit from Earl Harbinger, a man who will come to change Owen's life.
Earl, along with Julie Shackleford, introduces Owen to Monster Hunter International, a specially trained, government-approved covert military group established to rid the world of the menace of the undead and creepy monsters in general. They recruit him, train him, and soon he and his companions are blasting their way through every creature in sight.
Correia is an accomplished gun man, and his knowledge of firearms is apparent right from the get-go. That knowledge serves MONSTER HUNTER INTERNATIONAL well, and he does a splendid job of explaining weaponry without getting bogged down in technical jargon that could confuse a reader. There's lots of flash and bang and boom in the book, but it is all in its place and does not overshadow the story or the characters.
And that is one of the gifts Correia brings. His characters are wholly believable in this world he has created. Nothing truly seems so over the top as to lurch you from this very solid story. It may get a tad long in spots, but he never wavers and stays the course well, and it brings back nostalgic memories of late night Elvira-hosted movie events, where B-movie monsters rule the day. They may be a little laughable in our day and age, but they touch the more adventurous and fun-loving sides of those who watch.
MONSTER HUNTER INTERNATIONAL certainly will not be nominated for any awards with regard to its presentation as classic literature. It's far from it, but that does not speak ill of the book or its quality. Instead, it should be embraced in the very spirit it was intended to inspire: fun.
--- Reviewed by Stephen Hubbard
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