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.

pretty good

it's not master literature. But it is fun and it is enjoyable. definitely something for gun lovers and it is definitely something for those who enjoy a good monster story. the narrator is ok. But his performance is not exactly the best out there. overall I enjoyed the story, and I think that it will be enjoyable to people of Science Fiction and horror

Good series beginning

Owen Pitt becomes a member of Monster Hunter International, when his life is threatened by a werewolf and The Old Ones want to end the earth as we know it.
The story gives us a whole lot of background about what Monster Hunter International is and the training of new recruits. Luckily, by the end of the book we've grown accustomed to the troop and want to hear more from them.
Enjoyed listening to this one, but prefered the Grimnoir Chronicles series, partly due to the excellent narration.

Entertaining, but I didn't love the performance

This is an entertaining book. Urban fantasy used to be called horror, and while not horror, this book is more of an action-adventure novel than a silly vampire-romance fluff that is so prevalent these days. The story is longer than I would have thought it would be, and the action is well described. The characters are interesting and distinct. There is a enough humor that you know the book doesn't take itself too serioiusly. My only beef with the story is that the bad guys - the monsters - are very two-dimensional. Their motivations are simple, either a "Hulk Smash!" kind of mentality or a "Give me the power to rule the world!" You'd think that creatures that live for centuries would be more complex than that, but they aren't (with one exception).

Oliver Wyman's performance threw me off. He did a great job with the various character voices. Women are always a challenge for men to do, and he does okay even though the female characters sound the same. The men's voices were easy to tell apart, with various accents and such.

But the non-dialogue narration voice was annoying. It was like listening to The Matrix's Agent Smith narrate a story -- and I mean the character Agent Smith, not the actor Hugo Weaving. Wyman stretched out every third or fourth word/syllable, which was grating and really slowed down the story. I had a hard time getting past that. I definitely would have preferred a more straightforward narration, and I think it would have shortened the recording.

I'll probably just read the next books in the series myself.

A fun read...with some drawbacks

Pros:
It's a good story. It's good writing. It can be corny and even stupid, but obviously (looking at my scores), I genuinely enjoyed it. And when it comes down to it, that's what really matters. I wanted to keep listening, I ran through it in two or three days.

Cons:
The narrator sucks at doing women's voices. He can do two tones: angry, and meek. And they all sound too similar to some of the less-masculine males, like Trip.
The author/protagonist is a gun nut. If you aren't it can get boring and sorta freaky hearing him describing guns forever and as better than porn, etc. (not exaggerating either)
The author is also a right-wing libertarian who hates the government and it is a constant throughout the book. He also worships the South.
Also, for me at least, when I found out that the protagonist was basically just the author, except in better shape and fighting monsters, a lot of scenes just came off as some sort of odd ego-stroking fantasy.
Now for my biggest pet peeve which showed up consistently for the second half of the book: the "professional" monster hunters are ridiculously bad at fighting (master) vampires. The shoot them endlessly, despite shooting (with non-extreme guns) having absolutely no effect and it being utterly apparent (in the description we get). It drove me nuts after a while. Even for the newbies who hadn't fought them before which gave them an excuse, after a while they had been fighting them, and they should be figuring this s--t out. They repeatedly talk about how important staking is, yet they only stake ONE vampire. What? And they constantly unload heavy weaponry, putting the vampires down for a few seconds, and then just stop and watch them heal. RUN UP AND STAKE IT OR CUT ITS HEAD OFF D=
Anyway, lotsa minor issues, and a few rather major ones, but for a first book I was very impressed. If like monsters, action, explosions, and some laughs, put down the credit and grab it.

Monsters and Heroes! Fun, lighthearted read!

Any additional comments?

This is one of those series that I picked up as lighthearted fun and a good distraction from the drudgery of everyday life. Not at all cerebral, this is a fun story about a company of mercenary monster hunters. The author packs an awful lot of mythology and lore into one story. The series delivers a little bit of comedy, action and mystery in these books. In the first in the series, we meet Owen Pitt, an accountant/UFC pit fighter, who was attacked by a werewolf and lived to tell the story. In the hospital, he is visited by a strange man who wants to hire him as an official Monster Hunter because, obviously, he must be pretty tough to survive a werewolf attack. Owen eventually agrees and we are launched into the improbable world of monsters, Monster Hunters For Hire, and government cover ups. Monster Hunters International is a fun story and enjoyable read if you love monsters, creatures and heroes.

For the not so beautiful hunters

Exciting, fun and humorous. It keeps you wanting more and rooting for Owen all the way.

Unexpected entertainment

If you could sum up Monster Hunter International in three words, what would they be?

Good old enjoyment

What did you like best about this story?

it is a different point of view on the genre

What about Oliver Wyman’s performance did you like?

consistency in diction and reading ability

Best series ever!

This is my favourite series of any books, even more than Harry Potter, Jim Butcher books and The Name of the Wind! (I know crazy!) it's so well written and such a fun world to get wrapped up in. Sure the writer Larry Correia is a little obsessed with his guns but it actually fits well with the story and the characters so it's not overwhelming it just makes the world more detailed. Oh and Oliver Wyman is the best reader ever and this is his best series. I just can't say enough good things about it.

M.H.I.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

This was a good story, but not for me. It was like a boy's grown-up fantasy. Regular guy gets to fight monsters AND get the girl.

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

Um, nothing really. There's a lot of muscle flexing and weaponry. Not really a "girl's story" It had some fun moments, but.....

Which character – as performed by Oliver Wyman – was your favorite?

The main character was pretty cool. Very "aw shucks" type, and kinda sexy, in an understated way.

Did Monster Hunter International inspire you to do anything?

Yes, get a "chic-lit" book. haha

Any additional comments?

This was a good story, for the right audience. Lots of action, monsters and fun!!!

5 stars all the way.

The book has great pace with no bla bla filler that describes every little detail, character interplay is interesting so you come to care for the characters & it has some interesting twists on familiar monsters like undead.

Performance is good with different accents, inflections, ect: so you can easly tell characters apart..

It's about monster hunters, in our world.