Some months removed from the epic defeat of Lord Machado and his forces of evil, Owen Pitt and his team from Monster Hunter International is on a mission to capture the Chupacabra. Unfortunately, a necromancer crashes the party with a horde of zombies and his target sighted on Owen specifically. Things go from bad to worse when the zombie outbreak and necromancer and (basically) the Earthly command of the Church of the Temporary Mortal Condition are stopped and Owen is arrested by the Mexican government. Complicating matters even further is that his mother and father in law to be, one a Master Vampire, and another a vampire in her thrall, visit Owen in prison hoping to sway him to their side against this necromancer. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Owen realizes he’s got a bounty on his head for halting the powers of evil in the first one.
Correia’s over-the-top ultra-violent style makes for a quickly paced novel. Since the government endorsed Monster Control Bureau has much to say in things involving monsters on US soil, they have made it their responsibility to ensure Owen is not abducted by the Necromancer, who happens to know very intricate details about Monster Hunter International. Not only does the Necromancer want a measure of revenge against Owen for thwarting his masters, the Old Ones (as depicted in Monster Hunter International), but because Owen is special. He is a once in era person who can be a key to the Old Ones entry and destruction of our reality. Further complicating matters for Owen, and all of the team of Monster Hunter International, is that the Necromancer hints of traitor in the ranks.
Correia intersperses much of the action with a fleshing out of Owen’s family; the Church of the Temporary Mortal Condition targets Owen’s parents and his brother Mosh. Fortunately, Owen’s father is a military man and was able to dispatch a couple of the monsters to attack he and his wife. Mosh, Owen’s brother and lead singer of a popular heavy metal band, is attacked in the midst of a concert. In addition, Correia reveals more about the history of Monster Hunter International and their nemesis, the Old Ones, which are very reminiscent of Cthulhu and Lovecraft’s Great Old Ones.
The character I grew to enjoy the most was the government agent Franks. He was much of an antagonist and foil for MHI and Owen in the previous volume, but here in Monster Hunter Vendetta he is one of the primary agents assigned by the governmental Monster Control Bureau to ‘protect’ Owen and his family. The character says very little, seems indestructible, but begins to show a line of respect for Owen. I also thought Owen’s father was well-realized. Correia captured a moment between them that is very symbolic of the father-son relationship. That is, the moment when the father finally has to listen to the son, because the son just might be a little wiser about something than the father, the moment of begrudging respect. Not quite the moment when a child takes care of their parents in old age, but still a poignant moment nonetheless.
I also enjoyed the deeper exploration of the Old Ones (though Correia hasn’t fully mined this, I think) and more of the history of Monster Hunter International. In other words, I like the mythology for this world Correia has thus far built in the two novels. Granted, he’s using some ready-made ingredients with the Old Ones clear homages to the Lovecraft/Cthulhu mythos and the familiar element of a secret black ops paramilitary force fighting against the things normal people would not believe existed. But the short of it is that Correia is playing a long game with his Monster Hunters books, and look forward to seeing it play out.
So how does Monster Hunter Vendetta rate? I enjoyed it a great deal, the pacing was great, the characters are over-the-top, yet balanced by a human empathy that made them more than cardboard cutouts just shooting monsters. Don’t worry, the characters do a lot of that, too.
With this second installment, I’m fully on board for where Correia wants to take me with The Monster Hunters.
Recommended
© 2013 Rob H. Bedford
http://larrycorreia.wordpress.com/
Part of The Monster Hunters Omnibus:
http://www.baenebooks.com/p-1618-the-monster-hunters.aspx Hardcover / eBook, / Baen Books, June 2012
Mass Market Paperback of Monster Hunter Vendetta: Pages: 656
September 2010
Sample Chapters: http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/9781451637847B/9781451637847B.htm?blurb
Copy purchased
