International Mass Market Paperback – July 28, 2009

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.How can you argue with a description like that?Yes, chapter one involves a brawl between the above mentioned Owen Pitt, and his boss, who has become a monster of a completely different stripe than he had been. Let's just say that I would have considered throwing him out a window before he became a large furry sociopath.Yup. Pitt has to go toe-to-toe with a freaking werewolf. And he has no silver.After Pitt hands in his resignation the hard way, he has officially fallen down the rabbit hole. Monsters are real -- all of them. Pick a B-Movie horror film or a Lovecraftian monster. There are only two forces that deal with the legion of nightmares (that we see in this book). One is the Monster Control Bureau (MCB), a government bureaucracy that looks like it's run by either the Keystone cops, or whatever random thugs can be brought in off the street (though it'll turn out that they aren't random). The other group is Monster Hunter, a private organization dedicated to collecting bounties as they exterminate the world's nastier pests -- including vampires, giant spiders, and a few creatures from the black lagoon.And MHI offers Owen Pitt a job. The perks are good -- play with weapons, hang out with the stunning woman who recruited him, and the paychecks are insane -- and, well, why not?Unfortunately for Pitt, his first day on the job is going to get messy. He soon finds himself being haunted by an old Jewish ghost, is getting visions of an ancient entity called "the Cursed One"who just arrived on US soil, is hip deep in ghouls, vampires, flying killer gargoyles that bleed magma, and did we mention that the Cursed One might be about to end the world?MHI has a wonderfully colorful cast of characters. From a former Vegas stripper who is more vicious and bloodthirsty than the lot of them, to Julie, a member of MHI's founding family, who is also a sniper... and her physical description in the book reminds me a lot of Bayonetta, but we won't go there.There is a wonderfully broad collection of folks here, from the high school chemistry teacher who had to blow up his school filled with spiders, to the poor guy who had to kill his zombiefied students, to the explosive-happy Q-variant, to Earl Harbinger -- an old member of MHI's founding family with an interesting history. The characters are likable, the dialogue engaging, and I don't think I came across a single flaw in the execution.And yes, this book was awesome from start to finish. It didn't really slow down. Despite the constant description of these books as "gun porn," I have yet to be bogged down by a single page on guns. Most of the time, the weapon details are critical to the plot, considering what fresh new horrors they run into all the time. The chapters that amount to a large training montage are detailed and interesting, and establish the characters better than heading straight into the action.Then the shooting started, and didn't really stop for another three hundred pages or so.And just remember: vampires only sparkle when they're on fire.

IMPORTANT NOTE: There is a COMPILATION of the first three Monster Hunter International books, for $9 dollars. If you're going to purchase, I suggest getting the compilation. Save a ton of money.What I would have liked to know before I bought this book. (no spoilers) (Sorry its a long review. I had a lot to cover)1. What type of book is it: adventure, action, drama, etc? This book is a military urban fantasy action packed story from beginning to end. The tiny bits of melodrama are generally simplistic, cliché and secondary. It will be easy to endure them. I make a distinction between melodrama and drama, thus, the bits of drama aren't bad.2. What is the story about, in general? The story is about Owen Pitts, an extremely martially capable man that finally gets his chance at war when he gets thrown into the Monster Hunter business.3. What/Who is the target audience? The target audience is young adult males, those who appreciate good weapon descriptions (me, guilty) and fast military action fans. I don't think this story targets older adults very well.4. Is there character development? Nope. The main protagonist is two-dimensional. He has a particular attitude, manner of acting and perception. He doesn't evolve beyond them. He, literally, was introduced with all the necessary basic characteristics to become a Monster Hunter. He's also a bit like Dirty Harry in the ego sense.Most other characters fill a rigid role within the story without deviation. Thankfully, except for one character, that for a good percentage of the book is a flat one dimensional stooge, they aren't completely two dimensional. One secondary character has an extensive background and detailed emotional facets. In fact, said character is even -more- detailed than the protagonist! Go figure.5. Are the characters likable? The main protagonist, Pitt, is relatively likable, but he is more interesting than he's likable. The character is so competitive he sometimes comes across as an arse. Pretty cool the rest of the time.Many secondary characters have particular quirks that make them unique individuals, except for the cliché rival. I strongly dislike the flat one dimensional aspects of that one character because his scenes are, without exception, very predictable. Every plot twist involving him can be seen a mile away.6. Does the story keep its pacing? Wow, yes! Even the parts where it's all flavor text are usually written in a manner that's pretty interesting. Character backgrounds weren't boring narratives, but interactive conversations. Nicely done! More than one flavor text scene had pleasant surprises. The character interactions are full of funny little details that add color to the dialogue.There are some minor spelling errors that do `bump' the pacing, but not enough to be overly significant.7. Do you have to suspend disbelief? In a moderate amount. The rival for `the girl's' attention is so cliché that I could predict the form of his scenes before they occurred. That should not happen, and thus strained my disbelief.In addition, the main character triggers my disbelief. He's too perfect a hero; huge, can shoot better than almost anyone, great in arms to arms, 'special', very intelligent, blah blah....One scene provides a full and detailed explanation as to why it is smart to disregard ... some... simple precautions, in the face of creatures that will sense you anyways. I won't spoil the details, but ... wow. My disbelief hit the roof.8. Is the book worth the asking price? Keep in mind that I am well inside the target audience. I find the price a tiny bit on the high-side of acceptable, though I do not feel I wasted my money. Your choice to make.In conclusion: If you're looking for flaws in this book, you will definitely find them, but you can also find a heck of a story. This book doesn't get confused as to what it is: an action packed monster hunter story. The reader will not find rich language with perfect wording. The writing will be more contemporary, young, hip, full of nods to current culture and painted from a character driven conservative point of view. Characters are written with varying degrees of quality and likeability, from the very detailed multifaceted personalities to the one dimensional awful `eye-rolling' cliché idiots. Character synergy is entertaining, and makes most of the character interactions fun; though they don't really break out of their two-dimensional roles. There is exactly one three dimensional character in this book and it's not the protagonist. Some particulars strained my disbelief, but didn't break the story flow too much. The price for the ebook is not cheap, but it isn't overpriced either. I was a pretty entertaining story, but will rub some folk the wrong way because of character development quality inconsistencies and somewhat simplistically predictable melodrama.3.5 Stars

I'm not someone who likes to read a ton, so when I tell you that I couldn't put this book down, I mean it!Everything about this series from the lore to the characters is just amazing! I'm honestly upset that I didn't know about these books sooner!Gun nuts will love it because all of the customizations they talk about are awesome! (even people like me who don't know much about guns loves all the cool and crazy customizations and gadgets they got :P)If you're a stickler for diversity, there is plenty of it, and the author doesn't do it like netflix so what they are doesn't really matter, its their character.He does an amazing job at bringing in all different types of lore, urban legends, cryptids, etc. and making them versions of these classic creatures that fit perfectly together in the lore of the world. I love how religion plays a factor in the books as well without treating religion like it's nonsense like other authors tend to do. I love the fact that faith plays a factor to some extent. And while it is a kind of blanket for most religions, it still feels like it's actually acknowledged and utilized a decent amount.This is honestly a book series that I would recommend to most people. I'm honestly surprised this series isn't more popular.

Loved this book. Why? Because I love the author's humour, I love guns, I love sci-fi/fantasy action and I enjoy traditional hero's, good vs. evil type of stories. Already enjoying the second book, can't believe it took me so long to find this series.

Adrenaline rush, bloody pure adrenalin rush. Seriously, started slow but once the action started it was nonstop. Loved it and loved some of the concepts. Got to know many things. There are some reviews about authors comments or something. But, as an Indian I don't care about US politics lol. So this was fun and if the series will be like this, I will read it.

It is really fun to read and mostly fast moving. Sometimes descriptions are a bit long but it didn't interrupt the story or my reading flow. In my opinion the writing really fits the narrators view. Owen isn't at all a highly eloquent speaker and that's what the authors writing style really gets represented. The names of the weapons mean nothing to me cause I have no idea what they are talking about, but the way Owen talks or thinks about them gives one the impression of how powerful they are or aren't. So, if you like action, monsters, a lot of deaths, blood and shootings go ahead, you will not be sorry!

I loved this entertaining, action-packed Monster Hunter fun which has kept my attentin from the start: Though only recommended as a ligh, entertaining read.

Not the most complex bit of fiction but fun, engaging and meaty. Definitely aimed at a male audience, it nonetheless avoids the hypersexual pitfalls of others in the genre. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series!