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A review by jazzrizz
The Monster Hunter Files by Mike Kupari, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, John C. Wright, Steve Davidson, Jonathan Maberry, Alex Shvartsman, John Ringo, Faith Hunter, Jessica Day George, Brad R. Torgersen, Sarah A. Hoyt, Quincy J. Allen, Kim May, Julie C. Frost, Jim Butcher, Jody Lynn Nye, Larry Correia
4.0
Overall ... I really enjoyed this Anthology. There were several stories I really liked, but there a few that were just ok. It was a fun peek into other author's take on the MHI world.
7/30-7/31: Larry Correia “Thistle” -Owen and the MHI team take on a new monster in Arizona.: Owen, Holly & Trip are on the case. *****
8/1-8/2: Jim Butcher “Small Problems” - MHI's janitorial staff has to handle some "small problems": Sid the janitor ends up having to solve a local Cazador theft problem ... which turns up a dead trainee he went a round with a few days before. ALL of the hunters are flying out on a mission ... and Owen tasks Sid with finding the thing that killed Don ... before MCB shows up. GREAT story! *****
8/3: Mike Kuparii “Darkness Under The Mountain” - Cooper quits and takes a freelance hunting gig in Afghanistan for a Chinese mining company. -- Listened to this on the trip ... Cooper requested a transfer to Vegas (new bride didn't want to leave town) and was denied. He quits MHI ... this was a pretty good short story. It'll be interesting if his buddy decides to join MHI. They stumble onto a hidden city deep beneath the earth. He has to call Earl in for help after they were escorted off the property. He's got a spot in Vegas if he wants it :) ***1/2
8/3: Jessica Day George “A Knight Of the Enchanted Forest” - Trailer park elves vs. Gnomes TURF WAR: Travel listening (I was driving) ... this was a fun one. I loved Glad ... she kind has Owen's spunk ... and she took on a werewolf! Now, she's befriended the Queen of Elves in the trailer park and is helping with a slight Gnome problem. Glad's hippy dad is clueless ... ****
08/03-8/13: John C. Wright “The Manticore Sanction” - Cold War Era betrayal and espionage with Britain's equivalent to STFU: Travel listening -- Started this one on the trip, but didn't finish it until this morning. I wasn't all that thrilled with this one. A British STFU agent goes rogue to save the woman he loves from his agency trying to kill her ... and from Imhotep (she's his love reincarnated) ... Weird story. ***
8/14: Maurice Broaddus “The Dead Yard” - Trip attends to to some family business in Jamaica, voodoo ensues: This one was pretty good. I love Trip, and he's lead on this job. Owen & Holly are with him. This seems to take place before Owen's scars are healed ... It was a great voodoo case. Good story ****
8/14-8/15: Brad Torgersen “The Bride” - Benjamin Franklin cut deals with other things besides Franks. ... This is definitely an interesting story. Albert prefaces that he's not sure if it's fiction or fact, but he's including it just in case it's fact. ****
8/15: Faith Hunter “She Bitch, Killer of Kits” - Jane Yellowrock teams up with MHI to take care of some werewolves in the Appalachians ... This one sounds like it takes place farther into Jane's story than I've gotten to.!! ... oh well. It sounds like she's established a company in NO ... and she's on the hunt for a werewolf biting kids to replace her pack. Jane, with the help of a former mate (and now with MHI) and his crew tracked down the female werewolf & her pack to a biker bar. I like the loose connection to MHI. Great story ... Love Jane ****
8/15: Jody Lynn Nye "Mr. Natural" - an STFU unit has to deal with hippies and plant monsters in the 1970s: This was a very trippy story. An army unit survivors of a supernatural attack in Vietnam (now working for MCB) has them fighting in Minnesota. A giant tree-like creature has a commune under a trance. The MCB agents have to break the trance to rescue the hippies. Pretty great story that features an 8' tall Bunny/Demon with a puff exemption :) ****
8/16: Quincy J Allen “Sons Of The Father” - Two brothers find out about what their dad used to do for a living, and kill a whole lot of monsters in the process: This has a bigtime "Supernatural" feel to it. Only their Dad is dead and they're raised by their Mom and their dad's best friend. They're taught to kick ass and protect the weak. The boys disobey their mom's orders to stay away from "Goblin Hill" ... and discover a crime scene ... with friends of theirs cars at the site. Loved this one. Great story ... I hope they make an appearance in future books :) *****
8/17: Alex Shvartsman “The Troll Factory” - Heather Kerkonen needs a favor from an MHI recruit when a mission in Russia goes sideways: This was a fun one that takes place AFTER Siege ... Heather brings a newbie (who isn't mentally there to be a hunter) to get data from a computer data center that's been taken over by the trolls that work there (they ate everyone!). ****
8/17-8/20: Kim May “Keep Kaiju Weird” - Just because a Kitsune has earned her PUFF exemption doesn't mean she is going to let some monster wreck Portland. While on a jog, she stumbles on cultists carving symbols in rocks. A quick call to Franks (and Grant in tow) ... they can't quite shut down the ritual in time. Major action scene ensues ... ***1/2
8/20: Steve Diamond “The Gift” - The Vatican's Hunters from the Blessed Order of St. Hubert the Protector deal with Old Ones in Mexico: This one starts out very interesting. The same Vatican Hunter that helped Franks with the Nemesis project is in this one, along with an enhanced (bone grafts from a saint ... he's over a 1/2 millennia old) Hunter. This was a pretty good story that had an interesting ending for the enhanced Hunter. I really enjoyed this one. ***1/2
8/20-8/21: John Ringo “The Case of the Ghastly Specter” - Chad Gardnier recounts one of his missions from the 1980s. STRAIGHT OUT OF SAINTS ... it's the case he has to solve while getting his PhD at Oxford. If you've read Saints ... you could skip this one. Still a great story though ****
8/21: Bryan Thomas Schmidt & Julie Frost “Huffman Strikes Back” - Cecil Huffman had a brother, and he's got a grudge to settle against Owen Pitt: Turns out Owen's boss has a brother ... who got infected the same night while camping. He's managed to assemble a team who has a grudge against MHI to go after Owen. Owen's at a cabin in TN by himself (Julie's on her way back from an op) when he gets ambushed. Great action scene follows! Favorite one so far. *****
8/21-8/22: Sarah A. Hoyt “Hunter Born” - Remember when we mentioned that monster hunting screwed up Julie Shackleford's junior prom?: I think I'm going to like Hoyt's take on Julie. Julie just wants one normal experience in her young life. A date to prom with a terrific senior. It starts out promising ... but Julie's not normal ... and this isn't a great date. Julie kicks butt ... and it turns out, she's ok with not being normal ... it definitely pays well :) ****
8/22-8/23: Jonathan Maberry “Hitler’s Dog” - In WW2, Agent Franks really hated Nazis, dealing with Golem of Prague doesn't improve his disposition either.: Scientists at a Nazis camp build a Golem to try to stop one of the creatures the Nazis made them create. A really interesting twist on the Golem story. ****
7/30-7/31: Larry Correia “Thistle” -Owen and the MHI team take on a new monster in Arizona.: Owen, Holly & Trip are on the case.
Spoiler
Owen killed the girls parents. The victims of the attack weren't her parents. I think this is the girl that the Doppleganger shows Earl.8/1-8/2: Jim Butcher “Small Problems” - MHI's janitorial staff has to handle some "small problems": Sid the janitor ends up having to solve a local Cazador theft problem ... which turns up a dead trainee he went a round with a few days before. ALL of the hunters are flying out on a mission ... and Owen tasks Sid with finding the thing that killed Don ... before MCB shows up. GREAT story! *****
8/3: Mike Kuparii “Darkness Under The Mountain” - Cooper quits and takes a freelance hunting gig in Afghanistan for a Chinese mining company. -- Listened to this on the trip ... Cooper requested a transfer to Vegas (new bride didn't want to leave town) and was denied. He quits MHI ... this was a pretty good short story. It'll be interesting if his buddy decides to join MHI. They stumble onto a hidden city deep beneath the earth. He has to call Earl in for help after they were escorted off the property. He's got a spot in Vegas if he wants it :) ***1/2
8/3: Jessica Day George “A Knight Of the Enchanted Forest” - Trailer park elves vs. Gnomes TURF WAR: Travel listening (I was driving) ... this was a fun one. I loved Glad ... she kind has Owen's spunk ... and she took on a werewolf! Now, she's befriended the Queen of Elves in the trailer park and is helping with a slight Gnome problem. Glad's hippy dad is clueless ...
Spoiler
but joins the fight in the end!08/03-8/13: John C. Wright “The Manticore Sanction” - Cold War Era betrayal and espionage with Britain's equivalent to STFU: Travel listening -- Started this one on the trip, but didn't finish it until this morning. I wasn't all that thrilled with this one. A British STFU agent goes rogue to save the woman he loves from his agency trying to kill her ... and from Imhotep (she's his love reincarnated) ...
Spoiler
He sells his soul to get the power to help her ... only there's a twist at the end ... she's 1/2 human, 1/2 siren ... and she's not in love with him.8/14: Maurice Broaddus “The Dead Yard” - Trip attends to to some family business in Jamaica, voodoo ensues: This one was pretty good. I love Trip, and he's lead on this job. Owen & Holly are with him. This seems to take place before Owen's scars are healed ... It was a great voodoo case. Good story ****
8/14-8/15: Brad Torgersen “The Bride” - Benjamin Franklin cut deals with other things besides Franks. ... This is definitely an interesting story. Albert prefaces that he's not sure if it's fiction or fact, but he's including it just in case it's fact.
Spoiler
If true, there's definitely a female Franks ... who may have made a similar deal as Franks ... and the Continental Congress hides her from Franks. It'll be interesting to see if there's any truth to this one.8/15: Faith Hunter “She Bitch, Killer of Kits” - Jane Yellowrock teams up with MHI to take care of some werewolves in the Appalachians ... This one sounds like it takes place farther into Jane's story than I've gotten to.
Spoiler
She's apparently figured out she's 170 years old8/15: Jody Lynn Nye "Mr. Natural" - an STFU unit has to deal with hippies and plant monsters in the 1970s: This was a very trippy story. An army unit survivors of a supernatural attack in Vietnam (now working for MCB) has them fighting in Minnesota. A giant tree-like creature has a commune under a trance. The MCB agents have to break the trance to rescue the hippies. Pretty great story that features an 8' tall Bunny/Demon with a puff exemption :) ****
8/16: Quincy J Allen “Sons Of The Father” - Two brothers find out about what their dad used to do for a living, and kill a whole lot of monsters in the process: This has a bigtime "Supernatural" feel to it. Only their Dad is dead and they're raised by their Mom and their dad's best friend. They're taught to kick ass and protect the weak. The boys disobey their mom's orders to stay away from "Goblin Hill" ... and discover a crime scene ... with friends of theirs cars at the site. Loved this one. Great story ... I hope they make an appearance in future books :) *****
8/17: Alex Shvartsman “The Troll Factory” - Heather Kerkonen needs a favor from an MHI recruit when a mission in Russia goes sideways: This was a fun one that takes place AFTER Siege ... Heather brings a newbie (who isn't mentally there to be a hunter) to get data from a computer data center that's been taken over by the trolls that work there (they ate everyone!).
Spoiler
Mike was attacked by a rare Spider demon when he was introduced to the world of supernatural. He's got "spiders" in his brains. Turns out he's able to manifest spiders. They kill the demon (another rare one) that was controlling the trolls. Gets the data ... and Mike gets a job offer for the new & improved STFU.8/17-8/20: Kim May “Keep Kaiju Weird” - Just because a Kitsune has earned her PUFF exemption doesn't mean she is going to let some monster wreck Portland. While on a jog, she stumbles on cultists carving symbols in rocks. A quick call to Franks (and Grant in tow) ... they can't quite shut down the ritual in time. Major action scene ensues ... ***1/2
8/20: Steve Diamond “The Gift” - The Vatican's Hunters from the Blessed Order of St. Hubert the Protector deal with Old Ones in Mexico: This one starts out very interesting. The same Vatican Hunter that helped Franks with the Nemesis project is in this one, along with an enhanced (bone grafts from a saint ... he's over a 1/2 millennia old) Hunter. This was a pretty good story that had an interesting ending for the enhanced Hunter. I really enjoyed this one. ***1/2
8/20-8/21: John Ringo “The Case of the Ghastly Specter” - Chad Gardnier recounts one of his missions from the 1980s. STRAIGHT OUT OF SAINTS ... it's the case he has to solve while getting his PhD at Oxford. If you've read Saints ... you could skip this one. Still a great story though ****
8/21: Bryan Thomas Schmidt & Julie Frost “Huffman Strikes Back” - Cecil Huffman had a brother, and he's got a grudge to settle against Owen Pitt: Turns out Owen's boss has a brother ... who got infected the same night while camping. He's managed to assemble a team who has a grudge against MHI to go after Owen.
Spoiler
A Birmingham Gnome, A bullman from TX, and Happy the Orc who was exiled from Skippy's tribe.8/21-8/22: Sarah A. Hoyt “Hunter Born” - Remember when we mentioned that monster hunting screwed up Julie Shackleford's junior prom?: I think I'm going to like Hoyt's take on Julie. Julie just wants one normal experience in her young life. A date to prom with a terrific senior. It starts out promising ... but Julie's not normal ... and this isn't a great date.
Spoiler
Mr. Trashbags is in her head warning her things are not as they seem8/22-8/23: Jonathan Maberry “Hitler’s Dog” - In WW2, Agent Franks really hated Nazis, dealing with Golem of Prague doesn't improve his disposition either.: Scientists at a Nazis camp build a Golem to try to stop one of the creatures the Nazis made them create.