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.

Man with gun kills things really, really efficient

Besides having several twists in the horror and beautiful imagery, the attention to detail is amazing. I'm a sucker for worlds with a catalog of information you need to remember. That's why I liked The Dresden Files as I had to remember beasties and their alignments. Great book and I cant wait to delve into more of the stories.

it's like a mix between underworld and blade

if you're expecting something deep this isn't for you if you want something that's entertaining and funny and reminds you of the '90s movies that's a little cheesy this is it I legit thought the character might die it kept me on the edge of my seat because I was excited to see what was going to happen that's a good book

Outstanding story

This was a recommendation from a friend. I will now recommend it to you. This is a must for any fantasy fans out there.

THE BEGINNING OF A GREAT SERIES

GREAT WORLD BUILDING AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. AWESOME ATTENTION TO DETAIL AND EXCELLENT PACING. WONDERFUL NARRATION.

really like the book

it's a good read if you like supernatural you'll enjoy this book! got the 2ed one already ill keep at them!

Had some good moments

Right from the start I was put off. This accountant gets attacked by his boss, who is a werewolf. The accountant pulls out a gun he keeps strapped to his ankle. Later they explain why an accountant would have an ankle gun, but it was too little too late.

Every single military cliche you have ever heard is in this long long book. There were moments when I laughed and I liked the take on Elves and on Orcs. It was no where near as good as Jonathan Maberry or Dean Koontz. You want monster's try Koontz's Frankenstein series. You want tough guy and Zombies try Maberry's Patient Zero.

Oliver Wyman did ok, but I have never a big fan of his and I wondered if the story would have sounded better from Ray Porter or Wil Wheaton.

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.