Monster Hunter Vendetta

Highly recommended nonstop paranormal undead action. Unapologetic firearm celebration. I'm a huge fan of the model 1911 and I own a fine colt myself. It's about time heros carried American made firearms and a real powerful cartridge. Yehaw!

If you had told me at the beginning of last year that one of the writers I would discover in 2014 wrote urban fantasy, telling stories of a heavyset man who blows away monsters with high-tech weaponry, I would have scoffed. Yeah, monster-hunting is a lot of fun and has entertained audiences at least since Gilgamesh and his pal Enkidu fought Humbaba in the Cedar Forest, but you're supposed to fight legendary beasts with your hands, enchanted weapons and other tools from an ancient or medieval armory, not with refurbished firearms.Well, thanks to Glenn Reynolds, I discovered Larry Correia. And thanks to Sarah Hoyt, I got to meet the guy. Last year, I read his first Monster Hunter book, Monster Hunter International in paperback. This evening, I finished this book, the second in the series, on kindle. And yea, it's all about a private organization, Monster Hunter International (MHI) that fights the menace of monsters with firearms.So much for Beowulf and Heracles wrestling beasts with their bare hands. Or Perseus slicing off the head of a demoness whose looks really kill with the help of a female deity and skill with a sharp sword.This book is even better than the first in the series. Or, maybe I'm just saying because I just finished it. The story is fresh in my mind. It was a delight to read. And it's got a fun little twist at the end. (Just remember Mr. Trash Bags.)Since I read my kindle at the gym, this book helped me burn a few extra calories.Not only does Correia have some great action-packed monster-killing scenes, he's got some really great quips too. They're half the fun of the book. So, if you're reading this in public, be prepared to laugh out loud (quite literally) and to have your neighbors on the cardio machines look up at the television monitors and wonder what Anderson Cooper said that was so funny.There are very few breaks in the action of this book. From fighting chupacabras in the opening of book to fending off a zombie horde once those beasts are dispatched, Correia's hero Owen Zastava Pitt leaps from one monster battle to another, with little time to probe the life lessons he learns as he blasts the evil things to bits. Perhaps the most entertaining of the battles was when he prevented Bia and Cratos from kidnapping his brother at a rock concert -- and then had to face those oversized critters not just backstage, but also on the highway.At the same time, Pitt had to submit (quite reluctantly) to federal protection, given that the crazed necromancer heading the Church of the Temporary Mortal Condition, a bizarre cult with numerous human acolytes (not to mention allied undead beasts) wishes to sacrifice Pitt to an Old One, a creature from another dimension whose plots our hero had foiled in Monster Hunter International.On the way to finding -- and facing -- this necromancer, they seek assistance from cantankerous gnomes in rooting out a spy -- and try to gain some intelligence from a rubbery troll. And they encounter a few werewolves (not all evil), a zombie elephant beast and even a shoggoth.Our hero even attempts to make alliance with a powerful vampire. This one may have been "evil incarnate," Pitt quips, "but the enemy of my enemy is my friend." One thing he will learn is that you should "never trust the undead."The book is in short a lot of fun, an ideal read if you want to add some excitement to your relaxation or a few steps to your cardio workout.And when you read this book, make sure to pay close attention to Gretchen's wedding blessing.

This deserves 5-stars on so many levels I think my brain may start to hurt if I try to list them all. The was ... fun, oh God it was fun, just like the first one.We continue the story with Owen and his crew in Mexico trying to dispose of the annoying chupacabras; little evil creatures that like to eat ... everything. Then he meets the shadow man and finds out the Old Ones are a little pissed that he thwarted their world domination plans last year (say it with me...awe...poor Old Ones - NOT!). Owen Z Pitt has an intergalactic bounty on his head and all manner of being is going to collect. He kills a swarm of undead, ends up in jail (in Mexico), has a visit from the in-laws (gotta love the inlaws), is rescued by the feds, gets his own private security detail, has his family threatened, friends threatened, Julie threatened and, well, that just isn't sitting too well with him. You'll just have to read the story to find out the why's and how's and what-not's... :)Monster Hunter Vendetta starts off with a bang in the same fun, blow up shit, kill a few zombies and meet the bad guy kinda way as #1, and it didn't slow down until the ending which was ... wow ... out of this world fantastic.I like this one more than the first one and I think it's because we get to see more of what MHI is and by that I mean how it ticks, more back stories, more connections.I laughed so hard, my husband soon laughed with me and he didn't even know why. Owen Pitt, and even the rest of the crew, have a weird and wonderful sense of humor, but I suppose when killing monsters is your calling you have to break up the tension somehow. I also cried ... hard, and had to leave the room to grab a tissue ... or two (dozen). It was a rollercoaster ride of emotion and I absolutely loved it.Bad guys died, which was good and good guys died, which was bad. Lots of monsters and undead where killed, the day was saved, all is good once again on earth. Speaking of saving the day, this ending was amazing. I mean, I knew something was going to happen to save them, but the incredible imagination of the author made that "something" not something I expected and that made it that much more fun in the end. We learned new things about familiar characters (some things that made me go "huh, is that a fact?" and then break out into a big grin because it was so fun to discover) and continued the story on some old ones.All in all this was fantastic. I highly recommend this fast, furious and fun adventure. Gosh, it was just so fun!

One thing I love about the Monster Hunter series is just how easy they are to read. They are very fast paced and full of dark humour which makes them perfect for relaxing with, as you don't need to spend any time remembering plot elements or decoding the meaning of certain sentences.The monsters themselves are done brilliantly in both books, including many details from different myths - something I found particularly satisfying as it strays away from many typical Hollywood monster tropes. This book definitely has much more of a Lovecraftian feel to it, incorporating some of his monsters and some associated beings, but this just makes things all the more interesting.This book reveals much about the characters we are introduced to in the first, which is definitely a welcome addition - you begin to gain a sense of understanding with these characters as you see them grow and develop in the space between and within the novels.My one gripe is that, for me, this book doesn't quite reach the heights of the first - it might just be a little too fast paced for my liking. Whereas the first slowly built up to a dramatic climax, the main character is already an established force going on a sort of manhunt in this title. Whereas this would normally be expected in a series, the climax this time was over far too quickly and I found myself a little dissatisfied, compared to the 250-page monstrosity of suicide mission in the first where the villains provided an extreme challenge to finally defeat, which was definitely one of the most intense passages I have read in a while.All in all, a solid output - Welcome to Monster Hunter International.

3.5 stars or an Amazon 4 star.Had this in my to-read for a while after I read the first one. Interesting take and I guess I enjoyed this book a little more than the last one because now I was used to the characters.The book was also a little bit more "believable"... insofar as a MHI book is believable.Fun characters, and I particularly liked the exploration of Agent Franks.If you're on a train journey this is a great book.Gavin

The empathetic nature of even the meanest of characters unveiled throughout the book in a way that doesn't for a second suspend ones belief in them as killing machines, to name but one of the great devices used by the author gives anyone reading a yearning for more involvement in each of their stories. Alongside a great tale, brilliantly done. The one criticism being a couple too many false endings for my liking.

Very good story but not as great as the first I really enjoyed this but it went into a bit too much depth and had lost some of the magic of the first book I will continue to read this series as I think it's brilliant.

Am now on book 3 of this series and loving them. Stories are great and well written. The characters are developing really well the further into the series I get. Really enjoying the series and looking forward to more