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Title:
Grunge Series: Monster Hunter Memoirs
#1 Author: John Ringo Rating: 2 of 5
Stars Genre: Urban Fantasy Pages:
299 Words: 113K Publish: 2016
This
was a carbon copy read of my 2017 read. I enjoyed the story
tremendously but hated the main character’s philandering, his Gary
Stu’ness and his terribly horribly no-good theology.
If
I hadn’t read this trilogy before, I’d read the rest of the
trilogy by Ringo (Correia’s name is on the cover but that’s
because he edited these books to keep them inline with official MHI
history). But having read this again, I’ve decided that since I
know how the trilogy ends, I’m good with hopping off the bus now.
I’m not a fan of Ringo so I don’t feel the need to persevere on a
re-read.
I
did want to talk about the cover to end this review. It is actually a
very accurate portrayal of one of the monster hunts in the book.
There is a “new” computer company called Microtell that uses
magic to make their software work. The problem is that sometimes that
magic goes off and monsters climb out of the computer screens and eat
the techs, at which point MHI is called in to kill the monsters and
clean the situation up. I just love it when a book cover is actually
semi-accurate about the book :-)
★★☆☆☆
From
the Publisher
When
Marine Private Oliver Chadwick Gardenier is killed in the
Marine barrack bombing in Beirut, somebody who might be Saint Peter
gives him a choice: Go to Heaven, which while nice might be a little
boring, or return to Earth. The Boss has a mission for him and he's
to look for a sign. He's a Marine: He'll choose the mission.
Unfortunately,
the sign he's to look for is "57." Which, given the food
services contract in Bethesda Hospital, creates some difficulty.
Eventually, it appears that God's will is for Chad to join a group
called "Monster Hunters International" and protect people
from things that go bump in the night. From there, things trend
downhill.
Monster
Hunter Memoirs is the (mostly) true story of the life and times of
one of MHI's most effective—and flamboyant—hunters. Pro-tips for
up and coming hunters range from how to dress appropriately for
jogging (low-profile body armor and multiple weapons) to how to
develop contacts among the Japanese yakuza, to why it's not a good
idea to make billy goat jokes to trolls.
Grunge harkens
back to the Golden Days of Monster Hunting when Reagan was in office,
Ray and Susan Shackleford were top hunters and Seattle sushi was
authentic.
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Title:
Bloodlines Series: MHI #9 Author:
Larry Correia Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars Genre:
Urban Fantasy Pages: 307 Words:
118K Publish: 2021
Owen
Pitt has made it back from the Nightmare Dimension, Julie Pitt has
rescued their son and now life goes on. Only they both know Asag the
god of chaos is still out there, just waiting to destroy them in some
way. Because they aren’t damned woke pansies, they decide to get
proactive. They know that a wardstone, a creation of Isaac Newton,
will destroy such a being and they set out to find one. They do, only
to find out that a LOT of other people are also interested in it, and
not just other monster hunters either. The stone is stolen and
Stricken gets involved. He makes a deal with the MCB and Agent
Franks, only to shaft EVERYONE. So the MCB and MHI team up to, only
for Stricken to still trick them all, again. That man is pure evil.
The book ends with Pitt, Chad Gardener’s daughter and Agent Franks
working with Stricken in a Court of the Fay to prevent two other
cosmic entities from swallowing up Earth.
Oh
my goodness.
Stricken
is pure evil. Even with him knowing what he knows, somebody should
have just put a bullet through his head. You do not work with evil,
you destroy it.
The
thing I enjoyed most about this story was the supernatural bounty
hunter (the Drekavac)
hired to retrieve the wardstone when it was stolen. He was a Puritan
judge who sold his soul to the devil to do evil, for immortality. He
rides a demon horse motorcycle and uses a plasma blunderbuss. How
cool is that. He has 13 lives and each time he gets stronger. On his
12th
incarnation he was 30feet tall and shrugging off missiles. The battle
between him and MHI and Agent Franks was fantastic. It epitomized why
I enjoy the battles in MHI so much. What I enjoyed EVEN MORE was
right at the end. Stricken thinks he has blackmailed the
Drekavac into doing his will only for it to say it would rather
suffer the worst fires of hell than submit to such a person as
Stricken. It turns its back on Stricken and walks away. Not “quite”
as good as a bullet to the head, but the next best thing :-D
I
originally read this in 2022 and at the time thought MHI was just
going to keep on going. Since then Larry Correia has announced there
will be 2 or 3 more books in the main MHI series and then the story
surrounding Owen Zastava Pitt will be over. That means the main MHI
story franchise will be done with. I’m ok with that. I’d much
rather Correia end things on a high note than keep on going until it
becomes total garbage. I’m sure there will be more standalone MHI
books or trilogies, co-authored. That should keep me in the good
stuff for years to come :-D
★★★★✬
From
the Publisher
In
a business like monster hunting, it's all about setting priorities.
The
chaos god Asag has been quiet since the destruction of the City of
Monsters, but Monster Hunter International knows that he is still out
there somewhere—plotting, waiting for his chance to unravel
reality.
When
Owen and the MHI team discover that one of Isaac Newton's Ward Stones
is being auctioned off by Reptoids who live deep beneath Atlanta,
they decide to steal the magical superweapon and use it to destroy
Asag once and for all. But before the stone can be handed off, it is
stolen by a mysterious thief with ties to MHI and the Vatican's
Secret Guard.
It's
a race against time, the Secret Guard, a spectral bounty hunter, and
a whole bunch of monsters to acquire the Ward Stone and use it
against Asag. For as dangerous as the chaos god is, there is
something much older—and infinitely more evil—awakening deep in
the jungles of South America.
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Title:
Monster Hunter Guardian Series: MHI
#8 Author: Larry Correia & Sarah Hoyt Rating:
4 of 5 Stars Genre: Urban Fantasy Pages:
313 Words: 119K Publish: 2019
I
re-read this and THEN read my review from 2020 (link at the end of
the post).
The
only thing I would really change this time around is that I didn’t
notice the “emotional” side of things like I did then. No idea
why, but I never even noticed it and hadn’t remembered that aspect
at all until I re-read my old review.
A
marathon of a story about a mother saving her kidnapped son first
from a demon who wants to auction him off to other demons and then
second, from her own mother who is a superpowerful vampire. The
action is almost non-stop and I loved it.
When
I read this in 2020 I gave serious though to searching out Sarah
Hoyt’s other works and seeing how her stuff compared to this
collaboration. Unfortunately, most of her stuff seemed to be ongoing,
abandoned or, according to reviews, “have that romance vibe”.
Yeah, no thanks to all three of those. So I never investigated any
more of her works and I’m still ok with that decision five years
later.
★★★★☆
From
MHI.Fandom.com & Bookstooge
While
Owen and the other Monster Hunters are off in Russia fighting the big
baddies, Julie (Own’s wife and former Shackleford) is in charge of
running the skeleton crew of MHI. She’s also taking care of her
dying grandfather and her newborn son.
She
has a recruitment possibility but it goes sideways and turns out to
be just a lure so a malevolent being can kill her grandfather and
kidnap her son. Brother Death then contacts Julie and says he’ll
trade her son for a powerful artifact he knows Julie is guarding,
even though she told MHI it was destroyed. She reluctantly agrees but
creates a backup plan to recover the item and her son if Brother
Death double crosses her. He does. Julie ends up in Germany alone and
with almost no weapons. She tracks down the group of cultists who
took possession of the artifact only to find out that the kidnapping
of her son and artifact were unrelated. In the process of recovering
the artifact, Julie breaks about a bajillion german laws and the
german version of MCB makes MCB look like a kind and benevolent
grandfather.
Julie
goes on the run. With the help of Management (the last dragon in
existence), she finds a man who is a European Monster Advocate. She
needs his help to track down a monster known for kidnapping children,
who will hopefully then lead her to Brother Death. Turns out the
Monster Advocate was killed years ago and his body taken over by the
child killer monster. Julie kills it and lets Management into its
computer system. This gets her an invite to an auction that Mr Death
is holding, with her son being the main item on the agenda.
Julie
heads out with a lawyer from Management. At the auction she becomes
aware that her mother is there and wants Julie’s son to raise as
her own (Julie’s mom is a nutjob of a super vampire). The auction
goes bad and Julie shoots her way out. She rescues her son only to
see him taken from her by her mother. With the lawyer’s help she
escapes Brother Death.
Julie
tracks her mom down and calls all the dregs of MHI to assault the
mansion, along with the local branch of government monster hunters.
They succeed against all odds and Julie has her son back. She also
finds out that MHI is back from the Island.
With
help from Owen and some of the other MHI Crew Julie finds out Brother
Death’s real name and uses that to kill him. During all of this her
Guardian marks have grown and she finds out that as the marks grow,
her humanity will shrink until she ceases to be human. At which point
she will become a monster herself.
This
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Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted
Permission
Title:
Monster Hunter Files Series: MHI #7 Author:
Larry Correia Rating: 4 of 5 Stars Genre:
Urban Fantasy Pages: 300 Words:
117K Publish: 2017
When
I originally read this back in ‘17, I gave it 4stars. I was hoping
that maybe I could inch this up a halfstar, but sadly, the Jane
Yellowrock story ("She
Bitch, Killer of Kits") still kept that from happening, again.
I just dislike Jane Yellowrock, period. I did skip the John Ringo
story, as it was just a chapter from the final Monster
Hunter Memoirs book
and I’ve since read that trilogy.
When
I went to read this, this time, I saw Schmidt’s name on the cover
and thought “huh, that name sounds familiar”. Turns out he had
compiled and edited a couple of Predator collections that I had read,
namely Eyes
of the Demon and
If
It Bleeds. Eyes
was just a horrible collection of modern writers who didn’t know
diddly squat about the Predators and Schmidt should have been ashamed
of himself for allowing such a collection. That is the reason he’s
not getting a spot in the “Authors” part of the info block from
me this time around. He’s a dink.
And
on to the positive.
I
think that A Knight of the Enchanted Forest was once again my
favorite story. I never thought about dipping pepperoni pizza in
ranch dressing before this story and to be honest, while it does
sound yummy (in an excess kind of way), I still haven’t worked up
the courage to actually try it. Maybe 2025 will be the year!
(actually, make that exclamation point a question mark, I’m still
not brave enough)
Mr
Natural by Jody Nye was the story about a group of hippies who raised
a demon that enhanced nature, but at the cost of human sacrifice.
That was the story that I talked about shooting hippies and commies
and ended up getting in trouble in a group over on Librarything about
it. Ahhh, good memories, that’s what that is :-)
"Huffman
Strikes Back" was a surprise, in a good way. Of course, it was
coauthored by The Dink, so I’m giving ALL the credit to the
co-author, Julie Frost. This story was about the brother of the
werewolf that Owen Zastava Pitt (the main character in the MHI
series) threw out of a skyscraper in the first book. Huffman was just
as insane and twisted as his brother. He was also just as petty and
small minded. It was good to see him get his!
Another
good re-read in the MHI universe and I am happy to report that the
series is holding strong. Onward!
★★★★☆
Publishers
Blurb and Table of Contents
For
well over a century, Monster Hunter International has kept
the world safe from supernatural threats small and large—and in
some cases very, very large. Now, join us as MHI opens
their archives for the first time. From experienced Hunters on their
toughest cases, to total newbies' initial encounters with the
supernatural, The Monster Hunter Files reveals the secret
history of the world's most elite monster fighting force.
Discover
what happened when Agent Franks took on the Nazis in World
War Two. Uncover how the Vatican’s Combat Exorcists deal with Old
Ones in Mexico. And find out exactly what takes place in a turf
war between trailer park elves and gnomes. From the
most powerful of mystical beings to MHI’s humble janitor, see the
world of professional monster hunting like never before.
Introduction
by Albert Lee
"Thistle"
by Larry Correia
"Small
Problems" by Jim Butcher
"Darkness
Under the Mountain" by Mike Kupari
"A
Knight of the Enchanted Forest" by Jessica Day George
"The
Manticore Sanction" by John C. Wright
"The
Dead Yard" by Maurice Broaddus
"The
Bride" by Brad R. Torgersen
"She
Bitch, Killer of Kits" by Faith Hunter
"Mr.
Natural" by Jody Lynn Nye
"Sons
of the Father" by Quincey J. Allen
"The
Troll Factory" by Alex Shvartsman
"Keep
Kaiju Weird" by Kim May
"The
Gift" by Steve Diamond
"The
Case of the Ghastly Spectre" by John Ringo
"Huffman
Strikes Back" by Bryan Thomas Schmidt and Julie
Frost
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Title:
Monster Hunter Siege Series: MHI #6 Author:
Larry Correia Rating: 4 of 5 Stars Genre:
Urban Fantasy Pages: 348 Words:
137K Publish: 2017
A
couple of books ago (Alpha)
we were introduced to a character named Jason Lococo. He was a big
ol’ brute who had a heart of gold and helped the boss of Monster
Hunter International stop a werewolf invasion from taking over the
United States. He got sucked into the Nightmare Dimension in Legion
and was making the main character, Own Pitt, feel really guilty. So
Owen sets off to rescue him and some other survivors. It snowballs
into a massive multi-Hunter Company taskforce and they basically
attack a Russian island with US military level power. Then Owen has
to go through the gate to the Nightmare Dimension and save everyone.
He has to fight off a High Hunt and he does so with Lococo’s help.
He rescues the other guys and Lococo disappears. Only in the end to
find out that Lococo was just a meat suit for a super demon named
Asag who wants to destroy our world and that Asag needed a meat suit
to get back to our dimension. Just like the Smoke Monster in LOST.
So
this whole book was a longcon game by Asag, who was manipulating Owen
the entire time. How cool is that?
All
the fighting monsters was cool too. But I liked getting to the end
and realizing that Owen, the Chosen One, was fooled like everyone
else. I love this series but I don’t love Owen. Almost everybody
else I enjoy reading about. But Owen, while I don’t hate him, I
don’t actively enjoy him as a character at all. It’s too bad,
since he IS the main character, hahahahaa.
Reading
this MHI series months apart (as opposed to the years between initial
releases) makes the overall big picture storyline much clearer. I can
put pieces together now that I didn’t even realize were pieces back
on my first read. I like that, a lot. It’s fun, it’s engaging and
it is good writing. Also makes me realize that I could never BE a
series writer. Not that I want to be an author mind you (I’d rather
poke your eyes out than become an author), but knowing I don’t have
that skillset is reassuring. No accidentally becoming an author for
me! (crisis averted)
★★★★☆
From
MHI.Fandom.com & Bookstooge
GO
BIG OR GO HOME
When Monster
Hunter International's top hunter, Owen Zastava Pitt, was
given a tip about some hunters who had gone missing in action, he
didn’t realize their rescue mission would snowball into the single
biggest operation in MHI's history. Their men are being held prisoner
in a horrific nightmare dimension, and the only way to reach them is
through the radioactive ruins of a monster-infested war zone.
As
if that wasn't bad enough, it's also the home base of the powerful
creature behind the devastating attacks on the Last
Dragon and Copper Lake. It turns out ancient gods of chaos
really hate trespassers. But this god picked a fight with the wrong
crew, and now MHI wants payback. Calling on their allies, a massive
expedition is formed, and with the odds stacked against them, a
legion of hunters goes to war.
It's
D-Day at the City of Monsters.
Pitt
rescues the survivors and even makes it back himself, against all
odds. But just like in LOST, Asag needed a dead meat suit to escape
the Nightmare Dimension and now he’s in our world, free to cause
chaos and destruction to his heart’s content.
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review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained
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copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions.
Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted
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Title:
Monster Hunter Nemesis Series: MHI #5 Author:
Larry Correia Rating: 4 of 5 Stars Genre:
Urban Fantasy Pages: 336 Words:
133K
I
made the mistake of reading my review from 2014. Boy, everything I
was going to say now, I said it a decade ago.
The
only difference is that I gave a bit more weight to the theological
side of things and thus removed yet another half star. God is
presented as the Ruler of just our universe and just one amongst the
multiverse, which while perfectly fine within Mormon theology goes
directly against what the Bible says. Which is one more reason
Mormonism is accounted a cult instead of just another denomination.
A
good time reading and lots of fun. I think most people would just
read this and enjoy it. I recommend you try that.
★★★★☆
From
MHI.Fandom.com & Bookstooge
Agent Franks of
the U.S. Monster Control Bureau is a man of many
parts—parts from other people, that is. Franks is nearly seven feet
tall and all muscle. He's nearly indestructible. Plus he’s animated
by a powerful alchemical substance and inhabited by a
super-intelligent spirit more ancient than humanity itself.
Good
thing he’s on our side. More or less.
Sworn
to serve and protect the United States of America from all monsters
by one of the country’s founding fathers, Franks has only one
condition to the agreement: no matter what the government learns of
him, no matter what is discovered concerning his odd physiology or
the alchemy behind the elixir that made him, the government is never,
ever allowed to try and make more like him. Such is absolutely
forbidden and should the powers-that-be do so, then the agreement is
null and void.
Project
Nemesis: in a secret location, using sophisticated technology and
advanced genetic engineering, the director of the very agency Franks
works for is making more like him. And the director is not content
with making one. Nope, he’s making thirteen.
Now
all bets are off, and Hell hath no fury like a monster betrayed.
Particularly if that monster happens to be an undying killing machine
capable of taking out vampires and werewolves with one hand tied
behind his back.
Agent
Franks is center stage in a Special Task Force Unicorn vendetta.
Franks is on the run while he must clear his name, destroy a whole
set of bodies based upon him AND prevent an invasion of the original
fallen angels.
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Title:
Monster Hunter Legion Series: MHI #4 Author:
Larry Correia Rating: 5 of 5 Stars Genre:
Urban Fantasy Pages: 361 Words:
139K
Aaaaaaand
we’re back to Owen Z Pitt, sigh. I’d really prefer somebody else
be the main character, but I know that isn’t the case for the
series over all and so I just need to accept it. But I won’t,
because that’s how I roll.
I
sure have forgotten a LOT of this story in the last 12-13 years. I
vaguely remembered it taking place in Las Vegas, Special Task Force
Unicorn manipulating everyone and the dragon. This time around, the
references that are made about Project Nemesis make total sense
instead of being a big fat mystery like on my original read. I
actually found knowing to make for a more enriching read. Which is
yet another reason why RE-READING is so important!
Thankfully,
there is enough gun toting action to keep any MHI fan happy. And we
get real good look at STFU and just how despicable they are. They
make for a wonderful bad guy/s and are just despicable enough that
they make even the Government MCB (Monster Control Bureau) people
look like angels. It’s awesome!
I
just had fun reading this, even with “Z” being front and center.
We also get a good look at other Monster Hunter companies and how
they operate and under what parameters. We’ve only seen monster
hunting through the lens of MHI and it’s good to reminded that
while they are considered some of the best, they are not the only
game in town. It helps us as readers not to get tunnel vision.
If
you like big guns, good good guys and evil evil monsters, then this
is the series for you. I recommend it without hesitation with those
caveats.
★★★★★
From
MHI.Fandom.com
When
hunters from around the world gather in Las Vegas for a conference, a
creature left over from a World War Two weapons experiment wakes up
and goes on a rampage across the desert. A not-so-friendly wager
between the rival companies turns into a race to see who can bag the
mysterious creature first.
Only
there is far more to this particular case than meets the eye, and as
Hunters fall prey to their worst nightmares, Owen Zastava
Pitt and the staff of Monster Hunter International have
to stop an ancient god from turning Sin City into a literal hell on
earth.
Plot
When
the International Conference of Monster Hunting Professionals is
targeted by a nightmare demon, MHI and the other hunters at the ICMHP
conference must work together to protect the innocents trapped in
the Last Dragon Casino while Owen Pitt takes on
the Nachtmar.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Monster Hunter Alpha Series: MHI #3 Author: Larry Correia Rating: 5 of 5 Stars Genre: Urban Fantasy Pages: 402 Words: 148K
When I originally read this back in 2012, I remember loving it. Nothing changed in the intervening 12 years 😀
This was non-stop werewolf action. The main badguy werewolf ends up with a magic doohickey that allows him to become a 20foot tall werewolf. How awesome is that? It’s pretty awesome, that’s how awesome it is. Throw in the snow shredder scene (where Earl and one of the Good Town Folk literally harvest a crop of werewolves with it) and man, this was just awesome. Are you getting the idea that maybe I really liked this book? Good. Because I did!
For those of you who might not know what a snow shredder is, I’m including a picture so you can visualize it chewing through a whole pack of evil, insane and psychopathic werewolves.
I had forgotten this is where we are introduced to the werewolf who is supposedly now the love of Earl’s life. I can’t remember if she makes any more appearances after she’s whisked away by Special Task Force Unicorn at the end of this book. Another reason to do re-reads.
Anyway, I had a lot of fun reading this and it was even better than my previous read and everything here only firmed up my resolve to keep up this re-read. The series is fun monster killing and I thoroughly enjoy it from beginning to end.
★★★★★
From MHI.Fandom.com
Synopsis – click to open
Earl Harbinger may be the leader of Monster Hunter International, but he’s also got a secret. Nearly a century ago, Earl was cursed to be a werewolf. When Earl receives word that one of his oldest foes, a legendarily vicious werewolf that worked for the KGB, has mysteriously appeared in the remote woods of Michigan, he decides to take care of some unfinished business. But another force is working to bring about the creation of a whole new species of werewolf. When darkness falls, the final hunt begins, and the only thing standing in their way is a handful of locals, a lot of firepower, and Earl Harbinger’s stubborn refusal to roll over and play dead.
Plot
Earl Harbinger lost some of his memories during his encounter with the demon he nicknamed “Rocky” at the end of Monster Hunter Vendetta so he started writing them down in the form of journals in order to learn the extent of his loss. This book contains the third of the journals which focuses on his experiences as a werewolf. We also learn more about how the Alpha is designated and what it means to be the Alpha werewolf. Monster Hunter Alpha opens with Earl going off on his own to take care of personal business with Earl’s backstory interspersed.
Earl meets with an old handler from his time in Vietnam and learns of the presence of an old enemy, Nikolai Petrov, in Northern Michigan. It turns out that Nikolai is not the only issue in Copper Lake, MI however. There is another person who is angling to be the Alpha and he has some extra help in the form of a magic amulet and then some.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Monster Hunter Vendetta Series: MHI #2 Author: Larry Correia Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars Genre: Urban Fantasy Pages: 412 Words: 169K
I read my review from 2012 before starting to write this one. Honestly, I felt almost exactly the same as 12 years ago. Ballz to the Wallz action that never let up and shooting and blowing stuff up that just didn’t quit. It was exactly what I wanted this time around from this read. I did laugh at my old review saying how I was looking forward to the wrap up of this “trilogy”. Ahhh, to still think that authors have moral rectitude.
This had a TON of cosmic horror elements in it. I didn’t pick up on them last time because I was of the uninitiated, but now that I have taken the first steps towards becoming the Chartreuse Emperor, I understand. But unlike the Harrison Peel books, which tried to BE cosmic horror and still have a surviving hero, MHI (Monster Hunter International) simply takes the pieces that it wants and does its own Urban Fantasy thing. I think it works out great because I get a Hero and some terrible things but they are able to co-exist without me spluttering and ranting like I did with that goober Harrison Peel. For goodness, I get a story where some gun junkie accountant goes to the Other Side, along with Frankenstein (Agent Franks) and they kill an equal of Cthulhu with a magic stone. It. Was. Awesome! So while it had the elements of Cosmic Horror (Shoggoths anyone?) Correia was able to stay this side of that line quite admirably.
On the negative side, and I suspect I’ll be dealing with this in each book, and it will be why these won’t go above 4.5stars, I also saw a lot more Mormon philosophy behind the story. I didn’t know about that stuff when I originally read this book and not knowing didn’t detract from the story. But now that I do know, and since I disagree with it just like I would with a story based on Islamic or Hindu theology, I can’t unsee it, as it were. False religions aren’t something to treat lightly.
Overall, I am once again quite pleased with how this re-read went. It has all the action and guns and horrible bad guys that my little heart could ask for and that just makes me happy.
★★★★✬
From MHI.Fandom.com
Synopsis – click to open
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…
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Dragon’s Den Series: The Metaframe War #3 Author: Graeme Rodaughan Rating: 2 of 5 Stars Genre: Urban Fantasy Pages: 219 Words: 85K
This is where I DNF the series and add Rodaughan to my list of Authors to Avoid
This read exactly like some mindless action video game, with “missions” and “side missions” that don’t make ANY sense if you give them more than a cursory examination.
In the previous book the Leader of the Order of Thoth (one faction of super humans who are fighting against the Vampires) was kidnapped by the Vampires and this book was all about the main characters trying to rescue him.
Once again, the author just doesn’t know how to write effective, mature leaders. The guy who Anton (the main character, The Chosen One) is following is as effective a leader as one of the Minions from the Despicable Me movies.
The Minion in the middle is the “Leader”…
He doesn’t lead, he doesn’t plan, he doesn’t do anything other than say obvious things like “Ok, we have to rescue the boss” or “Ok, we have to attack the vampires”. When Anton goes off the rails, he doesn’t corral him in any way. At the end, when his wife dies, he just gives up and Anton takes over as leader. We’re not talking about some jamoke with an office job here. This is supposed to be a guy who has successfully fought vampires for possibly decades. And he is a complete and utter joke.
In this same area, the other leaders are as much a joke as he is. There is a military guy working for the Vampires who totally gets outsmarted by Anton, in a helicopter duel. Then the kidnapped leader, while being corrupt, is also monumentally stupid and every decision he makes is bad. And finally, a group of Super Assassins from the Red Empire (another faction of super humans fighting the Vampires) are led by a guy who decides that keeping his word to a Vampire General is the thing to do even when she turns him and his entire team into vampires. They literally become the thing they were created to destroy and they don’t instantly kill each other in a death pact? That’s stupid. That’s beyond stupid, it’s 100% asinine.
Now we come to the biggest reason that I am stopping the series. Anton Slayde, the main character. He’s reckless, impulsive, anti-authority, selfish, self-centered, ignorant (which I can forgive, because ALL teenagers are ignorant, it’s why they have to be taught) but worst of all, he’s stupid. He’s beyond even asinine stupid. I’m debating whether it’s worth it to list all the things that led me to that conclusion.
1) His best friend is captured while allowing the rest of the group to escape the clutches of Shadowstone (the human military wing of the Vampires). So Anton insists on rescuing him with no real plan and puts everyone in jeopardy all over again.
2) His “plan” to rescue his friend involves hijacking a super tank and driving around the compound shooting stuff while looking for his friend, forcing the group to back him up or risking him being captured as well.
3) When that rescue doesn’t happen, he decides he still needs to rescue the guy, this time from an armored convoy that has four military equipped helicopters attached to it. He jumps out of the tank and onto the prison truck, once again forcing his team mates to follow or risk him being captured too.
4) All of this happens WHILE the leader of the Order is captured and being interrogated by Vampires. What’s the best way for a Vampire to interrogate a human? To turn him into a vampire of course, which then means his loyalty is now to the Vampires. Does Anton consider ANY of that, at all? Nope. Operational security, secrets, codes, it can all go take a flying leap because Anton has to rescue his friend, WHO VOLUNTEERED KNOWING THIS COULD HAPPEN IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!!
5) Anton’s real goal is to kill the Vampire, General Armitage because she killed his parents. He can barely face a regular vampire, but fully expects to just waltz in and kill the most talented Vampire ever? He’s seen her in one fight, where she killed his mentor, who was about 100 times a better fighter than Anton. He has no idea of her style of fighting, her weaknesses or disposition. He knows nothing but is convinced by Plot Armor that he will be The Chosen One, to kill her.
6) I’m getting myself worked up, so I’m just going to stop.
I have a strict “No Stupid People” policy when it comes to the characters I read. I don’t mind if a minor side character is stupid, that just makes them fodder and I’m ok with fodder in my books. But for the main character to be like this, that’s only ok for 12-15 year olds. Anton is not in that age bracket.
The series has been toe’ing that Line of Stupid ever since book one, but it crossed it completely in this book. So I am done. I simply don’t care how the story ends because Plot Armor will overcome everything and I won’t read more Stupid.
★★☆☆☆
From the Publisher
Synopsis – click to open
IT’S A TRAP! – Anton Slayne knows it’s a trap. One laid for him by his most powerful opponent – Chloe Armitage, rogue general of the Vampire Dominion. The chase is on. Agents of the Red Empire and the Vampire Dominion have abducted Ramin Kain, the Head of the Order of Thoth. Anton and the Mirovar force team are the only ones in a position to act. They know Ramin is bait, but have to rescue him before he’s forced to reveal everything he knows to the Order’s sworn enemies. Will Anton and his friends in the Mirovar force team rescue Ramin Kain, or will Chloe Armitage discover the secrets of the Order of Thoth, destroy the Mirovar force team, and enslave Anton to her will?
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Monster Hunter International Series: MHI #1 Author: Larry Correia Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars Genre: Urban Fantasy Pages: 477 Words: 194K
What a difference 12 years makes! When I read this back in ‘12, I gave a lengthy (for me, back then) review detailing all of my issues with the book. Not big issues, but things that stood out to me. I read that review AFTER re-reading this and had myself a good laugh.
So, characterization. Still pretty shallow. After some of the cardboard I’ve read since 2012 however, my sensitivity is greater and this book benefited from it. No one else really has a voice besides Z (Owen Z Pitt, the main character), but that’s ok. We’re getting introduced to everyone and so much happens so fast that I didn’t miss characterization this time around. Most of the time I don’t anyway. I’m not a namby pamby mama’s boy after all.
This was originally self-published on a forum for gun fans and thus the writing isn’t up to the level of Rex Stout or Patricia McKillip. But once again, I’ve read A LOT MORE drek in the last 12 years and so that bar has really sunk. Correia sailed right over it without breaking a sweat here. Honestly, if I hadn’t mentioned the writing in my original review, I’d not have mentioned here at all.
Gun porn. This is where I laughed my head off. Oh, how I have changed so much in this regards, so, so much. This time around, I wouldn’t have qualified this as gun porn at all. Mainly because I knew what he was actually talking about when he started talking gun and bullet specifications. I knew the brands, I knew calibres, I knew the difference between a single stack and a double stack magazine. This time around, this was just a gun guy talking guns and apparently, I am now a gun guy too. Not at his level mind you, but enough that I wasn’t bored. I suspect for most of you, you’d qualify this as gun porn, hahahahaa.
Bad guys, so many bad guys. It was awesome! And they weren’t pansey-ass bad guys who fell over when you made fun of their outfits and hurt their feelings. These were rip your face off, beat you until all your bones are broken and THEN kill you kind of bad guys. What makes it so much better though is that the good guys still kill them in droves. Yes, it was indeed awesome.
When this was originally, published, it was supposed to be a trilogy and that was it. I had no plans to ever re-read this “trilogy”. But here we are now. There are 8 or 9 books in the main MHI series, with several spin off series and a collection of short stories (I believe). We’re talking 12+ books, probably close to 15. AND I’m re-reading this. My poor mid-30’s self just had no idea what the future held, that’s for sure. Hopefully that will help me to not make Nostradamical Predictions and end up with egg all over my face.
The reason this didn’t get 5stars from me is because of the theological content. You just have to “believe” and “have faith” and that’s good enough. The Bible, the Koran and the Kama Sutra will all work if you just believe in them enough. I’d have been ok if Correia had just side stepped the issue altogether.
I loved this re-read though, thoroughly enjoyed it to the max. I am especially looking forward to the rest of the series now.
★★★★✬
From MHI.Fandom.com
Synopsis – Click to Open
After learning of a monster by the name of Lord Machado was planning on using an ancient artifact to open a portal to the Old Ones to summon the Dread Overlord, MHI launched a massive attack at Desoya Caverns to battle Lord Machado and his minions and to stop the portal from being opened. This event caused the death of the most MHI employees in one day, other than the Christmas Party. It also resulted in the collection of the largest PUFF bounty in company history after Owen Pitt successfully defeated Lord Machado and Koriniha, the true mastermind behind everything
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Pound of Flesh Series: Arcane Casebook #10 Author: Dan Willis Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars Genre: Urban Fantasy Pages: 312 Words: 100K
I was looking, it’s been over a year and a half since I read the last Arcane Casebook, Hidden Voices. This is why I don’t usually read a series as it is being written. But in a few select cases, I let that rule slide. The Arcane Casebook is one of those series.
In this story, Alex is dealing with the fallout from the previous book. He had become addicted to a drug that enhanced his abilities but with the usual costs of a drug. This time, he had to be cutoff from using ANY magic or else his own system might kill him. Which means that by the books end, he was forced to rely on help from others and to begin thinking on his feet again. It was a return to form from the first book where Alex was a very weak runewright. I liked it.
The multiple mysteries were entertaining too. My only issue was at the 70% mark I suddenly realized how everything tied together. It didn’t ruin the book for me, but it definitely took the edge off of the thrill. I suspect mystery readers will piece things together much faster than me.
With this entry I am now content to read the next book whenever it becomes available. I’m in no rush nor do I feel a burning desire to HAVE to have the next book. That’s a good feeling to be content.
★★★✬☆
From the Publisher
Synopsis – Click to Open
One of the first things a private detective learns is that people have secrets, and people with important secrets attract trouble.
When a young woman is brutally murdered in a back alley, the police quickly turn to Alex Lockerby to help them. Hampered by the fallout from his own secrets, Alex goes to work, only to find that the victim in this case had secrets of her own, starting with her identity.
As Alex tries to trace the origins of the mysterious murder victim, a woman comes to his office, begging Alex’s help because she believes the new house she’s purchased is haunted. When Alex investigates the house, he finds that even it holds a secret, one that someone is willing to kill to keep.
With political pressure mounting to solve the murder of the nameless woman, and the tabloids blaming the police for the lack of progress, Alex finds himself caught in a web of secrets, lies, and murder that he might not be able to escape from. Can Alex bring a violent maniac to justice while, at the same time, stopping a methodical killer determined to bury the past forever?
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: A Traitor’s War Series: The Metaframe War #2 Author: Graeme Rodaughan Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Genre: Urban Fantasy Pages: 247 Words: 97K
Anton goes through a training montage with his new buddies, Vampire General Armitage continues her machinations and the secret hidden servant of the Red Empire (humans who fight vampires, but don’t care about collateral damage) is conflicted when they find out that the Red Empire has allied with the Vampire Dominion to take down the Order of Thoth (the group Anton kind of belongs to now).
Decent, but with some real issues. The leader of the group that Anton is now in appears to take such a hands off approach to being a leader that all he does is fight and tell others to fight. There was no “strategy” or tactics or anything. He really didn’t display any leadership qualities and his choices could have some really bad consequences, IF the leaders of the Red Empire and the Vampire Dominion weren’t just as clueless as him. It’s definitely the author not having any idea of how to write a leader. For him, the main character should be the leader and that is Anton, except Anton can’t be the leader because he’s too inexperienced and doesn’t know enough. It wasn’t bad writing, but it WAS poor writing. There were also some egregious “he said, she said, he did, she did” kind of scenarios that took me right out of the story.
Now, with all that complaining, I still enjoyed the story. I think the bones are decent. However, as I wrote in the comments in the first book (A Subtle Agency) if Rodaughan hasn’t improve beyond this level by the next book, I’m probably going to dnf the series. These books seem like the quality that you’d find in the Kindle Unlimited program. Indie authors who are trying to improve but aren’t keeping it to themselves when they should be.
I didn’t waste my time but neither did I feel like I had read something exceptional or even pretty good. It was decent and that was it. Sometimes that IS enough and sometimes it just isn’t. I guess I’ll be finding out which it is in the next book.
★★★☆☆
From the Publisher
After the desperate battle on the Boston docks, Anton Slayne finds refuge amongst the vampire hunters of the Order of Thoth. Anton discovers the Order of Thoth harbors a traitor who could get his new friends killed. While a secret alliance between the Red Empire, and rogue vampire general, Chloe Armitage, threatens to do the same. With threats both within and without – will Anton’s new powers be enough to save his friends, or will his circling enemies destroy everyone he loves?
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: A Subtle Agency Series: The Metaframe War #1 Author: Graeme Rodaughan Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Genre: Urban Fantasy Pages: 212 Words: 84K
When I featured this series in a Shelf Control post, I was under the impression that the final book was coming out this year. I later found out it had been released at the end of ‘23. That decided me right away and I added the series to my kindle to read. Waiting seven years for the series to be written was long enough in my opinion.
Unfortunately, for me, it didn’t start out so well. I featured a quote in a Currently Reading post and it was pretty much the epitome of an indie urban fantasy and it encapsulated every single reason why I tend to avoid UF as a genre. Thankfully, for the book and author, things did improve after that disastrous start, but it never truly recovered in my mind.
The writing was decent, nothing bad stood out, no egregious grammatical errors or butchering of the English language. At the same time, it wasn’t very good writing either. It didn’t flow. It was choppy. There were quite a few instances of “He said, she said, he did, she did” kind of writing. Rodaughan came across as an author who was working hard to do the right thing, but was someone who didn’t have an instinctual grasp of the art of writing. “General Chloe Armitage” made a lot of appearances, with that title attached every time.
The ideas presented were what saved this book. Things start off in Ancient Egypt, with two brothers. The wife of one of them has just died and he is using the power of the Metaframe Engine to bring her back to life. His brother is trying to stop him. She is revived, as a vampire and thus the race of vampires is born and the hidden course of history is set. The surviving brother starts a hidden group bent on fighting the vampires to keep humanity free. That group, over the years, has schismed into two groups, one that wants to fight the vampires and protect humanity and the other, which just wants to fight the vampires. Oh, the vampires secretly rule the world too. We get to follow a possible “Chosen One” on his “Coming of Age Journey”. All tropes that I really enjoy.
I definitely plan on continuing the series and hope that as the years passed for the author, that his skill increased. I guess I’ll be finding out in the coming months 😀
★★★☆☆
From the Publisher
Synopsis – Click to Open
ACTION STATIONS! A Thrilling Suspense-Filled Fantasy Action Adventure in a complete series of seven books.
Hunters and vampires are fighting a secret war for control of the fabric of reality. Whoever acquires mastery of the reality shifting powers of the Metaframe will become the new gods of the universe.
“Imagine if you could change the rules of the game, what rules would you choose?”
Witness to a brutal murder, eighteen year old Anton Slayne is inducted by the mysterious Mr Wu into the secret society of vampire hunters, the Order of Thoth. He soon discovers that vicious local gangsters, determined Boston Police Detectives, and relentless Shadowstone operatives pale into insignificance as he is drawn into the machinations of the enigmatic vampire general, Chloe Armitage.
Heir to a legacy of extraordinary powers, Anton joins a team of hunters, but that is no guarantee of survival against the most powerful vampires in the world, especially when they’re equipped with the latest available technology and super weapons.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Shadow of Anubis Series: The Arcane Irregulars #2 Author: Dan Willis Rating: 4 of 5 Stars Genre: Urban Fantasy Pages: 256 Words: 83K
I read the first book in this spinoff series, The Curse of the Phoenix, back in June of ‘22. It does not seem that long to me. But that’s why I keep records.
The original series, The Arcane Casebook, follows one Alex Lockerby, a magical detective who solves several mysteries each book that end up all tying together. In this Arcane Irregular series, we follow a series of people connected to Alex who solve various magical mysteries that are NOT related. That difference really threw me for a loop in the first book, as I kept waiting for Willis (the author) to tie everything into a nice neat bow. Thankfully, this time around I didn’t expect that and he didn’t disappoint. We’re both happy now.
Having a variety of mysteries to solve from a variety of viewpoints can be a hard thing to pull off. In fact, I’d usually bet against an author being able to pull such a thing off. But Willis manages it quite well. The switches between the various characters was done smoothly and I never felt a jarring change. He also introduced each change at a good point, so I wasn’t thinking “why can’t I stay reading THIS part?” My only issue is that Danny Pak feels shortchanged in this novel. I don’t feel that Willis has a good grasp of him as a person and so he’s almost a caricature or an idea of a person. The reason I mention that is because I did not feel that way about Agent Aissa. She had her own real voice and felt very distinct and separate and not just an Alex Lockerby clone with a name change (which can be the case in too many cases for indie authors). Despite what I said in Curse of the Phoenix about Willis seeming to have plateaued in skill, I have to admit I was wrong. Shadow of Anubis feels like a much better book and I hope that trend continues. And that wraps up my various thoughts on the book itself.
To end this review, I have to talk about the cover. I always have to talk about the covers that Willis uses in these Arcane series. They’re gorgeous! In this one, we see Agent Aissa on the left, Dr Bell (the real life Sherlock Holmes) in the center and the resurrected high priestess Sherry Knox on the right. I’m including a large version here just because it’s a very strong contender for Cover Love winner at the end of the month.
★★★★☆
From the Publisher
Click to Open
It’s been a year since the events of the Jade Phoenix, but its legacy is still being felt. When a magical assassin makes his presence felt in the city, Lieutenant Danny Pak has to bring in Dr. Ignatius Bell to help him track down a terrifying killer, preferably before the tabloids find out about him.
Meanwhile, FBI Agent Aissa Mendes gets her first solo case, the murder of a foreign national. At first the case seems fairly straightforward, but the deeper she digs, the more she uncovers, including a dark secret from the city’s past. Eventually, her pursuit of truth brings international scrutiny on Aissa that could end her career before it gets started.
With her boss, Alex Lockerby, mysteriously out of commission, Sherry Knox finds herself trying to keep the detective agency afloat with only Alex’s apprentice Mike Fitzgerald to help. She is keeping things together, at least until her cards show her a horrifying vision, predicting that one skeleton in her closet isn’t willing to stay buried.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Blitz Series: Checquy Files #3 Author: Daniel O’Malley Rating: 2 of 5 Stars Genre: Urban Fantasy Pages: 622 Words: 250K
Long, bloated, two storylines that didn’t actually have any impact on each other and worst of all, boring. I was bored. The first storyline is dealing with London and World War II and the bombs being dropped on London. The second story involves a woman (who is married to a cop and has a daughter who is a toddler) who joins the Checquy because she can discharge electricity and it is in the present day.
I enjoyed the present day storyline. She was an engaging character with just the right amount of feistiness to keep me from rolling my eyes and she was SMART. She used her brains. Then I would just groan in spirit at the next chapter when we would go back to the stupid idiots who I was forced to read about during WWII. It was nothing more than a boring history info dump about the Checquy and I didn’t care two squats for it. Unfortunately, it seemed to play the bigger part and sucked the life from the entire book.
I actually feel rather generous giving this 2 stars. But it wasn’t bad, so I don’t feel like I can really go any lower. But I certainly won’t be reading any more in the Checquy Files if O’Malley writes any more. I hope he doesn’t because this was bad and I’m going to pretend The Rook and Stiletto are just a duology. Blitz has no business sullying the good literary name of the Checquy Files.
