Audible's Laudables: Monster Hunter International

On this blog's installment of Audible's Laudables, I present to you Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia.

Owen Zastava Pitt is just a normal accountant suffering through the daily grind when his boss tries to eat him. Surviving the incredible encounter, Owen understands the unbelievable, bone-chilling truth: monsters exist, and they are everywhere. His performance, however, garners the attention of Monster Hunter International- a private organization that has been eliminating supernatural threats for over a century- and they offer Owen a job. Of course, Owen's had worse gigs. With more money than he's made in a year sitting on the table, Owen can't really refuse. And, having the opportunity to work with the beautiful, intelligent, and near perfect hunter Julie doesn't hurt, either.

But when a ghost takes up residence in his head and shows him that a dark and ancient evil seeks to hasten the apocalypse, Owen realizes just how much is at stake.  As Armageddon approaches, Owen must find a way to stay alive and save the world.

Let me start by saying this 24 hour behemoth of a listen is definitely worth it.

While at first I wasn't entirely sure I liked Owen as a character (he seemed pretty smug), the opening action sequence that challenged everything he knew immediately helped develop him, and he indeed grew throughout the story. His development, and the super cute romance arc, endeared him to me by the end. The other characters Correia creates in MHI are likewise easy to visualize, empathize with, and ultimately enjoy. Those at the MHI compound are a rather eclectic group and I found most of them pretty charming.  I think the only character who really suffered in the personality department is Grant- probably because his main purpose in the entire story is to be Owen's human foil/antagonist.  Of all the things I had to suspend belief about (and there was a lot), Julie's relationship with Grant was the hardest to accomplish.  That said, Correia does make a valiant attempt to humanize and somewhat redeem Grant at the end (which I won't spoil for you here.)

As far as plot, its fast pacing and gratuitous action kept me constantly engaged. I had a hard time unplugging. Foreshadowing and mystery throughout keeps your more thoughtful readers intrigued, while all the gore, blood-spattering, and imaginative deaths of monster and human alike are sure to sate your primal side as well. And building on all that grotesquerie, I loved how Correia dealt with the monsters of his world by weaving in well-known lore while simultaneously tailoring them to the story. His nods to Lovecraft and Tolkien among others were fantastic.

One other thing to laud in this book- the heroes are rarely unscathed by their encounters with the supernatural. Owen gets his butt handed to him on multiple occasions, surviving through sheer strength of will and often fortuitous circumstances.  Everyone suffers real battle wounds, real danger, and no character is safe.

My qualms- Aside from Grant, I struggled with some of the intense gun obsession and its subsequent barrage of gun jargon. While appropriate for context, I know next to nothing about gun terminology and it was at these parts that I glazed over a bit.  (But if you love guns, oh my WORD is this book for you.) Lastly, and this might be nit-picky, I found Owen's slowness to figure stuff out rather unbelievable, given the establishment of his intelligence at the beginning.

Still, at any rate, Monster Hunter International gets my stamp of approval, and I look forward to checking out the rest of the series.  If you want to check out a sample, you can go to Correia's blog directly here.