Monster Hunting 101

The Hunters, Book 1

By: Richard A Bamberg

Narrated by: Ryan Jeanmaire

Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

When Jesse's old girlfriend calls him requesting an immediate meeting late at night, he thinks of a lot of reasons she might have called. None of them are anywhere near the truth. Instead of a late night booty call, Gail brings him into a world he didn't know existed - ghouls, werewolves, and ghosts - and they all seem to be after Jesse's blood. Gail wants Jesse to put a silver bullet in her heart to keep her from becoming the monster she hunts, but there's no way Jesse is going to kill the girl he once loved. He convinces her to let him restrain her for the full moon. Luckily, a local Adult Intimacies store has all the bondage gear he needs.

Now he just has to fight off a pack of werewolves single-handedly while keeping her from ripping his own throat out.

Sex, guns, and werewolves, what could go wrong?

©2015 Richard A Bamberg (P)2017 Richard A Bamberg

Meh

I might have enjoyed this better with a different narrator. The performance just wasn't right for this book. The book wasn't really what I expected. I did like it for the most part. From a female perspective the book was a bit sexist. That was pretty annoying as well. I was underwhelmed.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

Fantastic!

Where does Monster Hunting 101 rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's pretty high on the list, really looking forward to the next one!

What did you like best about this story?

Loved the characters and the story.

What about Ryan Jeanmaire’s performance did you like?

He had a lot of emotion in his performance.

Any additional comments?

Loved this book! The narrator was excellent too. Highly recommend for fans of Supernatural. I received a free review copy of this audiobook at my request and I have voluntarily left this review.

Good characters and a fun story

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

The story, characters and plot were interesting. Gail and Jesse were enjoyable lead characters and, though the narrator did a good job of providing unique voices for each character, he just lacked...something... for me. I felt like a war veteran like Jesse needed more grit to his voice. Ryan Jeanmaire DID grow on me, a little, towards the end. So, I'll probably look for the next book in the series.

A NEW WINCHESTER... JESSE, HUNTER IN TRAINING

Any additional comments?

I was provided this audiobook through Audiobook Boom at no charge by the author in exchange for an unbiased review.

I can’t help comparing this book's adventures to SUPERNATURAL and the Winchesters. Surprize encounters with all kinds of nasties, but despite the formidable odds, Jesse and Gail prevail. I was pleased to find it skillfully written, having just enough character building and visual descriptions to carry me through the complex and entertaining journey. I liked the romantic tension and playfulness and hope the heat level will grow in subsequent books.

The narrator, Ryan Jeanmaire, has an young but engaging narrative voice. At first I didn’t think he was right for the part but as the story progressed I found my preconceived perseption of Jesse changing to match Ryan’s voice. He really did do an awesome job with inflections and word spacing.

Two Thumbs Up!

Fun and Sexy Listen

Any additional comments?

When Jesse's old girlfriend Gail calls him out of the blue, a late night hunt for ghouls and werewolves is the last thing that he's expecting. Once he's over the fact that these things do in fact exist, Jesse is enlisted to be her partner. And then there's the teensy little problem of Gail's werewolf bite. Can he defeat the creatures that seem to be coming out of the woodwork to kill Gail? Can he also prevent Gail from becoming one of them? Listen and find out!

Monster Hunting 101 was a fun listen. I liked that Gail was a very badass heroine. Jesse's solution for keeping Gail from turning into a werewolf was very, um, creative. With lots of action, sexy moments and some humor, I found the story very entertaining. Regarding the narration, I've noticed some negative reviews of this aspect. To be honest, early in the audiobook I kind of agreed that Ryan Jeanmaire might not be the right narrator for this story. However, after a few chapters, darned if he didn't grow on me! I have found this to be the case for other narrators as well. I think that listeners sometimes have preconceived notions of how a character should sound and simply don't like narrators that stray from that preconception. I enjoyed Monster Hunting 101: The Hunters, Book 1 and would recommend it.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. This review is my honest opinion.

Could have used a different narrator

Any additional comments?

I didn't have any great expectations when I downloaded this listen. I loved the cover so I thought, why not.

I liked the listen but I think it deserved a different narrator. Ryan Jeanmarie has a good voice and I will look for him in other titles, but he was not the best choice for this material. Jesse, the main male character, was a war veteran and a bit of a badass. That didn't come across in this narration. I never felt completely convinced that the character was capable of doing what he was doing. It just wasn't there in the narration.

Unfortunately, I'm one and done with this listen. The story, though good, was not that compelling and the narration, though also good, did not spark enough in me to want more.

Don't let the narration ruin it for you.

As a fan of Bamberg's "Wanderers" series, I had to give this a shot. I think this was an early attempt. He has gotten better in his story-telling. This is a GOOD story, not amazing, but very enjoyable. I can see elements that seem to fold with his other series and wonder if this might've been his warm-up.

I wasn't a fan of the narrator. I felt the production was lackluster and simply didn't do it for me...but everybody has their own tastes. Others might feel different.

Entertaining: monsters and a bit of a love story

Would you consider the audio edition of Monster Hunting 101 to be better than the print version?

I don't often listen to a book that I've already read.

What three words best describe Ryan Jeanmaire’s voice?

Ryan has a nice voice but he would do better with a different type of story and different type of leading man.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No

Any additional comments?

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Problematic for me, but mostly pretty good.

This unintentionally turned into a bit of a feminist critique of the book. I guess I can't help but see things through that lens.

Listening to this was an interesting experience. Paranormal Romance is generally considered a genre geared toward women. It does after all have the word romance in it. But Monster Hunting 101 is most definitely a PNR for men. As such, I suspect many would avoid calling it PNR at all, insisting instead on Urban Fantasy or Military Fantasy (the hero is a veteran). But let's not quibble, it has werewolves and a strong romantic subplot. It is Paranormal Romance, plain and simple. It's just written such that the male character is the focus, instead of the female one, as would normally be the case.

That's not to say that, as a woman, I didn't enjoy it. I did. But books written by and for different audiences have a different focus, different centre of attention, different tone sometimes. And MH101 has the male gaze of its protagonist, not to mention his brand of humor, and he is the moving force of the plot, while the female fades into the background. This makes it stand apart from a lot of PNR books. I enjoyed it, but it was a different experience than many will be used to and it has different strengths and weaknesses.

I liked Jesse very much. He was an admirable hero and he was funny in the face of danger, as was Gail. But I very much felt she was just there to give him someone to bounce banter off of. The world of Hunters looks to be an interesting one and I can see this series going on for a while. It has lots of potential.

On the other hand, I thought the ridiculous amount of time dedicated to the choosing and applying of bondage gear was there for little more than titillation, especially since Gail so often had to be near naked in these scenes.

Plus, I got seriously sick of him subtly propositioning her for sex. I totally understand this was how the two of them flirted and she was not feeling offended or pressured at all. The (male) author made sure to write it that way. But as a female reader, I was annoyed by it. It was ceaseless and slapped of coercion. This joking, lighthearted, nothing wrong with any individual comment (most compliments), when taken together is constant pressure. In real life, it's one of the ways "nice guys" coerce reluctant women to sleep with them. For the target of such a man's attention, it's sometimes easier to just give in and get it over with, even if you don't really want it, than put up with the continued onslaught, especially if it's a situation in which you are stuck. So, seeing Jesse do this eventually became nails on a chalkboard for me and I suspect it's one of the many real world ways some men's view of their own behavior and some women's view of the same actions differ. Maybe others won't read it this way, certainly the author didn't intend it to be, but that's where I was at the end of it.

I was also slightly annoyed that the strong, capable Gail called Jesse with a problem and then handed all control and decision-making power over to him. I mean, the D/s bondage gear as a solution was a fairly literal example of this. But ideally, who leaves the least knowledgable and experienced member of a crew in charge? But then, it too often seems natural for it to be the man, regardless of how skilled the women involved are. Don't we see that everyday? Don't get me wrong, Gail was never a push over and I loved that about her and Jesse respected and appreciated her strong personality. I very much liked that about him. But the book still made Jesse the most frequent decision-maker. He was the leader. In fact, I suspect the ending left him able to physically control certain aspects of Gail's werewolf nature. Making him literally in control of her body.

Lastly, while the writing is pretty good, outside of a few examples of the same word being used several times in close succession and sounding repetitive, the plotting has far too many coincidences in it to be believed. I could not suspend my disbelief far enough to roll with some of the happenstance in this book. Ryan Jeanmaire also did an admirable job with the narration, but I did find it a bit flat.

All in all, I had some issues with the book, but I mostly enjoyed it and would be willing to read a second one.

Note: I won an Audible copy of this book through LibraryThing. I chose to read and review it.

mediocre at best

Reading peformance was just terrible. words mispronounced and emphasis withwithin sentences way off. Story was, ok in general. relied way too much on assumption that reader would be more interested in main characters' sex lives that the actual monster Hunter story line. Got to the second to last chapter and just couldn't bring myself to finish.