Synopsis

Monster Hunter International follows a young man named Owen Z. Pitt.  It's written in a first person format. The story of Owen Pitt starts out with him as an accountant, and leading a rather miserable life.  Until one day his boss changes into a werewolf and tries to kill him.  Owen is not one to let anyone push him around, and proceeds to battle with his werewolf boss, a battle that eventually ends with Owen pushing his boss and a desk out of a fifteen story window.  Shortly after, Owen is recovering from injuries acquired during the fight with his boss werewolf, and he gets a couple visitors from a private organization called Monster Hunter International(MHI for short).  Owen finds himself swept away into a world full of werewolves, vampires, and anything else that goes bump in the night.

Characters: The characters really drive a novel for me, and these characters are some of the best.                               

Owen Z. Pitt

Owen is not your typical protagonist hero type.  He's a huge guy, 6' 5" and coming in at 300+ lbs.  He was raised buy a father who was an ex-Green Beret.  He has a passion for firearms, and competitive shooting.  He has also competed in hundreds of Three Gun Competitions.  While putting himself through college he worked as a bouncer, and even took part in a few underground fighting rings until he almost beat an opponent to death.  After the incident Owen wanted to do something "normal" so he became an Accountant.  He didn't like the violent path he was headed down and wanted to get away from it.  Until one day his boss turns into a werewolf and tries to kill him, thus he is dragged back into a violent lifestyle. 

Julie Shackleford

We first meet Julie when she come's to see Owen after his werewolf attack, she is there in hopes to recruit Owen into the ranks of MHI, because of his skill with a gun he is an ideal candidate.  Owen is instantly taken with her and can't say no to her offer.  Julie is actually the Heiress of MHI, it was her ancestors who started the company, and it's her Grandfather who runs it now.  She is unlike most female love interests in other books, she's been raised to kill monsters, she's tough as nails and loves guns as much as Owen does.

Earl Harbinger

Earl is the first person from MHI that Owen meets, he plants the seed that gets Owen to join MHI when he visits Owen in the hospital after his werewolf attack.  Earl is a really cool guy and unfortunately I can't talk too much about him without giving secrets away, his character is shrouded in a lot of mysteries. He is introduced as being something of an uncle to Julie.  Earls official position is Director of Operations, he is very vested into MHI and cares deeply for the company as well as it's employees, the two most important things in his life are MHI and Julie Shackleford.

Holly Newcastle

Holly is one of the three characters that went through newbie training with Owen.  Little is know about Holly's life before MHI.  She was a stripper in Las Vegas, and then something horrifying happens to her and leads her to MHI.   The details of which are a mystery at first, so I won't ruin it for you, it's not until almost the very end that we learn what she went through, and it's possibly the worst experience imaginable for anyone to have to endure.  Holly's first appearance is when MHI has an emergency mission and needs to use a few newbies to fill there ranks, she along with Owen and Tripp are among those selected.   Because of what she went through she comes off brash almost to the point of being mean, she speaks her mind and isn't afraid if it might hurt feelings.  However she does have a heart behind the cold exterior and she does care deeply for her friends, she was very upset when she thought Tripp got killed because of an explosion she caused.  She's not one of the "main" characters, but her character is one of the most interesting.  Knowing what she went through before MHI, and watching her fight through her demons to put her past behind her because she wasn't gonna let it beat her, that's what makes her my favorite character in this book.   Well that and who doesn't love a stripper turned monster hunter! 

Tripp

Tripp is a Florida school teacher of Jamaican decent, he is probably Owens best friend, they met when they were going through newbie training together.  Tripp is one of the truly good guys, he's very religious, cares a lot about his teammates and the human race in general.  He is described by Owen as the the True Hero of the group.

Skippy and Ed 

Skippy is the helicopter pilot for MHI, and he has some really inhuman skills with the helicopter.  Unfortunately I can't say much about Skippy and Ed without giving too much away, however I thought they deserved a mention.  But know this, they are brothers, and they are both awesome characters in this book.

My Thoughts

Ok let me just say..WOW, I mean WOW, what a great book, I've been reading some good ones lately but this one literally blew them all out of the water.   This is a very character driven novel, which is my favorite type, the characters are unique in that they are nothing like what you see in other novels.  

If your looking for a intellectually driven, deep meaning, warm and fuzzy novel this book is NOT for you.  It's action packed with great battle scenes of all sorts of nasty monsters.  The author is something of a gun nut, so when he is describing the weaponry that is used during the novel it's very well done and has an authentic feel.  This is one of those novels that you can really get into, even with all it's snarky humor, at the end you still come away caring about the characters and their lives.  It is defiantly a lock for my favorites shelf!