Monster Hunter Vendetta Review

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(More customer reviews)Monster Hunter Vendetta picks up Owen Pitt's saga a few months after the events of the first book, Monster Hunter International. This time Owen is the hunted as much as he is hunter. The Dread Overlord (a sort of top-of-the-heap Cthulu monster) has put the word out to his minions on Earth that he wants Owen Pitt delivered to him in his dimension for torture and death. He blames Owen for what the Feds did to him during the last battle described in the first novel (something involving a tactical nuke), when Owen literally saved the world.
This book fills in a lot of the back-story of the MHI fictional universe without getting in the way of the non-stop action. For a new writer Larry Correia has great story-telling skills as he pulls the reader from one chapter to the next. Don't start this book on a night when you need to get some sleep. One could easily start this on a Friday night and finish it by Sunday.
We learn more of the family history of the Shackleford's, four generations of which have owned and operated MHI. Some really big secrets of some agents of Monster Control Bureau (MCB) get spilled here. It does nothing to alleviate MCB's image as an evil-twin version of Men In Black. Even worse its top agent is a bloody-minded egomaniac who doesn't care if MHI is wiped out as long as he accomplishes his mission.
The author does a great job of building up the powers of the villain, a British necromancer, to the point where you doubt that anything to stop him. The key is to make it believable when our hero does beat him and comes home in one-piece to marry the girl he loves - another monster hunter who shoots a rifle better than Owen. Good looks, brave and a great shot. That is my idea of a 21st century heroine/love-interest.
This is a fun book with an adult view of good vs. evil, in stark contrast to the action movies of today that have stories at the level of comic books, even when they are not based on comic books. I'm glad to report that the evil villains are truly evil and not mis-guided or victims of a troubled childhood. The author's deft touch shows in the depiction of some of the "good guys" who cut corners while trying to save the world. We still don't like the guys from MCB, but some of them are more understandable after this book.
It's a successful second book in the series because new readers can enjoy it before reading the first book but it still moves the saga forward for people who have already "discovered" MHI. That's why I give it Five Stars.
Urban fantasy is in good hands with this sharpshooting writer from Utah.

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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 . . .

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The Gray Man (A Gray Man Novel) Review

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(More customer reviews)Anyone looking for an action thriller hero need look no further than here, to Court Gentry. After running afoul of his bosses in the CIA and being put on that agency's shoot-on-sight-list, Gentry has been earning his living doing what he has been trained to do, he takes out targets he is paid to terminate. Anyone associated with hired assassins knows about The Gray Man. This man has the uncanny ability to simply fade into the background. His targets never see him coming and the investigations afterward never find any connection to anyone. The reputation of this man grows to legendary proportions because of his complete anonymity, nobody is ever completely sure of who he actually is. There is only one man who positively knows the identity of this operative, his handler Sir Donald Fitzroy of Cheltenham Security Services. At least that's what Sir Donald thought. Someone literally wants The Gray Man's head delivered on a platter and there is no limit to the amount of money they are willing to spend to achieve that goal. What follows is an incredibly exciting journey from Iraq to a chateau in Normandy with danger, destruction, and death all along the route. A bounty has been put on The Gray Man's head and paid assassins have been invited to join in the hunt to see who can deliver him, dead or alive, to the chateau before the time limit runs out.
I had to keep reminding myself that this is a debut novel for author Mark Greaney. The plotting for this book is outstanding. The pace started out with an exciting episode and just never let up. The man behind the legend was very slowly revealed so that he did seem to be a shadowy figure, a ghostly figure, someone who could fade in and out simply because there was no substance to him. Over time this very talented author lets the reader come closer and closer to the main character to glimpse his intelligence, his efficiency in doing his work, and his moral code. It may sound unusual to consider that a person who kills for a living would have a moral compass but Court Gentry does. And it is believable. Characters are well defined and clear, the dialogue is crisp and clean and well suited to each character. This author did a wonderful job of describing both locations and weaponry used in the story and it is very obvious that he is familiar with both subjects. While there are a large number of professional killers involved in tracking Gentry down, I think this was necessary to represent the "contest" nature of the hunt. I really like that Greaney finished off the story by tying up loose ends, nothing was left unresolved. And yet, could it possibly be that The Gray Man isn't finished yet? I certainly hope not.
I do not assign 5 star ratings to books lightly. They have to earn that designation from me. This book would probably get an even higher rating from me if the Amazon system would allow it. I found the book to be well written, well plotted, and very, very exciting.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

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