Monster Hunter Vendetta

All 3 Monster Hunter books were Awsome and I cant wait for the 4th thru.... I will be purchasing all of them as I can't imagine the story line ending or flattening out. High action, great characters and great story from the "get go" to "get done".

Originally posted at FanLit.

“When monsters have nightmares, they’re dreaming about us.” — MHI handbook

Monster Hunter Vendetta is the second installment of Larry Correia’s MONSTER HUNTER INTERNATIONAL series. In the first book, Monster Hunter International, we met Owen Zastava Pitt who used to be an accountant and gun hobbyist until his boss turned into a werewolf and Owen had to kill him. Now Owen is one of the best agents MHI has ever had.

It’s lucky that he’s so good at his job because Owen made a very dangerous enemy when he recently thwarted the Old Ones’ attempt to break into our dimension (read about this in the first book, Monster Hunter International). Now Owen is being hunted by the minions of the Old Ones, including a necromancer named The Shadow Man and the members of a death cult called the Church of the Temporary Mortal Condition. Because they’re evil, they’ll stop at nothing to get their way, including killing innocent people and targeting Owen’s family to get at him.

This time Owen and the gang are fighting — along with all the usual werewolves, vampires and zombie hordes — doppelgängers, undead elephants, zombie bears, a shoggoth, giant walking trees, gangsta gnomes (so funny!), a brain worm that eats memories, and Julie’s mother. It sounds like too much — everything but the kitchen sink, you know (though I wouldn’t be surprised to find MHI shooting animated kitchen sinks in a future installment) — but it works.

As usual, the government can’t stop themselves from meddling with MHI. They want in on the action and they know Owen is the target, so Agent Franks, one of Owen’s human nemeses, is assigned as Owen’s bodyguard. If you didn’t love Agent Franks already (and you probably didn’t), you will by the end of Monster Hunter Vendetta.

It doesn’t happen very often that the second book in a series is better than the first, but it’s true in this case. Monster Hunter Vendetta is a wild ride — to say that it’s exciting, frightening, creative, violent, bloody and funny would be too much of an understatement. It’s eye-popping, heart-pounding, and totally unputdownable. I was engrossed (and grossed out) from the first page to the last. As I mentioned in my review of the previous book, it’s too gory for me to say that I really love it — a few too many disemboweled bodies and heads bitten off for me — but I can say that I really really admire it and I almost love it. Those who go for this sort of thing are likely to consider MONSTER HUNTER INTERNATIONAL a perfect specimen of testosterone-filled dude lit. (This sounds sexist, I know, but Larry Correia could have made this series more appealing to female readers by increasing the romantic tension.)

One thing I particularly liked about Monster Hunter Vendetta is that it’s very funny. Not the wacky slapstick Three Stooges kind of funny — there’s none of that. Correia uses a delightfully morbid dry humor which works especially well with Oliver Wyman’s narration of the audio version. Though Wyman’s narration is lively, he deadpans the humorous lines perfectly. (If you’re reading MHI and haven’t tried the audio version, you’re missing out.) There are also occasional SFF allusions that made me smile.

I’m impressed with how well plotted this series has been so far. Larry Correia set up the background for Monster Hunter Vendetta back in the first book when we learn about Owen’s family, Julie’s parents, and the history of MHI. I already felt like I knew Owen’s mother, a Serbian woman who demonstrates her love by cooking for people, his father who brought up his boys to be tough survivalists, and his brother who became a heavy metal rock star. When we meet Owen’s family in Monster Hunter Vendetta we (and Owen himself) start to comprehend that his destiny has been in place since before he was even born. This plot is way bigger than we realized back in book one. I can’t wait to read on….

Accountant turned professional monster hunter, Owen Zastava Pitt, managed to stop the nefarious Old One’s invasion plans last year, but as a result made an enemy out of one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Now an evil death cult known as the Church of the Temporary Mortal Condition wants to capture Owen in order to gain the favor of the great Old Ones. The Condition is led by a fanatical necromancer known as the Shadow Man. The government wants to capture the Shadow Man and has assigned the enigmatic Agent Franks to be Owen’s full time bodyguard, which is a polite way of saying that Owen is monster bait. With supernatural assassins targeting his family, a spy in their midst, and horrific beasties lurking around every corner, Owen and the staff of Monster Hunter International don’t need to go hunting, because this time the monsters are hunting them. Fortunately, this bait is armed and very dangerous…

World's best villain.

The villain in this story is great. He's cunning and powerful and, most importantly, understandable. He's a fantastic example of a man driven to evil, rather than being evil for evil's sake. His motives are clear and his means are ruthless, he was a fantastic character.

This one continues the excellent quality of the first Monster Hunter book, with Oliver bringing Owen to life.

Sometimes, the end justifies the means... but an automatic shotgun always means the end to something.

This is a great sequel to a fun first book. I look forward to the next book in the series.

Correia is a little weak on the female characters but I think that may be part of his charm. He may identifiy so much with Owen, or Owen with him, that he has a hard time putting the mechanics of the male/female romantic relationship into words.

I don't think it matters much as the story moves along at such a heady clip that there may not be time for such fripperies, anyway.

I don't know much about guns (though I have one and there are more around) other than the point and shoot aspect which seems to me the critical bit but I still love the professional talk about the weapons buried in the books. My husband does understand all the nomenclature did understand and probably walked away with an even better appreciation. I was gratified that he is laughing at all the points I did.

Corriea has the gift of a very pleasant writing voice, sort of invites you to keep listening, invites you to sympathize with the characters - and, invariably, I do.

I enjoyed every minute of listening to this book. The writer is sometimes violent yet funny. Like Harry Dresden of the Dresden files, the character is sarcastic, flawed and definitely an anti-hero. The narrator Oliver Wyman is amazing, really. His voice intonations and characters are funny, dramatic and truly believable. He really actuates the book. The first book is a warm up to this one. I say, go for it. If you like vampires, werewolves and other demons, you'll enjoy this true action adventure.

no sophomore slump here! vendetta brings back all of your favorite monster hunters from mhi to face off against a mysterious necromancer even master vampire susan shaklefield is afraid of.

owen, of course, keeps getting himself in trouble b/c of his big mouth. he's a mix of mike talbot (zombie fallout) and joe ledger. owen's a loveable, self-deprecating dolt that knows how to kick some serious a$$. although, him getting his a$$ kicked is still pretty regular.

owen's journey as the prophesized one takes an interesting turn as his family is dragged into the fight. so what does the bulls eye on his forehead get him? franks as a babysitter. franks is a great character even though he works for the gov't's monster control board. franks' reveal is a great twist. yup, i was wrong.

past events mentioned in the first book are brought to life as what has happened in the past affects what mhi is going through now. in particular, what really happened that night years ago when ray opened the portal during the big shacklefield party. vendetta answers a lot of questions left from mhi.

larry correia does a great job of coming up with new types of monsters and villains. man sure does his research! another reviewer stated that correia's villains are like matryoshka dolls- there's always a bigger baddie behind the current baddie. i don't see it that way. i see it as competing powerful factions, each vying for their opportunity to destroy the world. NOTE: you may not understand this until the end of the book.

speaking of the end, what a great ending. correia's battle scenes are epic and always have consequences. even though, i didn't enjoy vendetta as much as the first, the ending definitely made up for it. think lotr return of the king.

I really loved the action and story of this book. The narrator is great. You really feel like you know Owen Pitt.

Owen Pitt, he is just a down to earth guy. I also found myself liking Franks in this book.

Definetly laugh

Can't wait to read the next book.

I couldn't wait to get into this book after I finished listening to Monster Hunters International. Larry truly has brought this new world alive with his great imagination. The characters were great and I loved the twists of your conventional fantasy figures. Listening to Oliver was incredible, he really brought the characters alive. His ability to give each their own distinctive voice brought everything alive. Way to go Larry and Oliver.

This is hard to say as there are some many that I really liked from Skippy to G-Gnome and all the hunters in between. I would have to say G-Gnome though he wasn't a hugh part he certainly made me laugh.

His great portrayal of each character. His voice talent gave each their own personality.

If it wasn't for the pesky need to sleep and work I would have easily listened to this is one sitting.

A solid follow up to book 1 that continues to build and move this series forward. Excellent story with some new and interesting characters. A lot of fun to listen too with another perfect performance by Oliver Wyman.

Yes it is a long and fun book I could listen to it over and over again

The underlord

Absolutley he was great!

Laugh