Monster Hunter by Jeff Gunhus review

Finalist for 2012 Book of the Year Award – Foreword Reviews

Orphan Jack Templar has no memory of his parents and only the smallest details from his Aunt Sophie about how they died. The day before Jack’s fourteenth birthday, things start to change for him. At first it’s great: A sudden new strength helps him defend his nose-picking friend “T-Rex” from the school bully, and even his crush, Cindy Adams, takes notice. But then a mysterious girl named Eva arrives and tells him two facts that will change his life forever. First, that he’s the descendent of a long line of monster hunters and he’s destined to be in the family business. Second, that there’s a truce between man and monster that children are off-limits…until their fourteenth birthday! Jack has only one day before hundreds of monsters will descend on his little town of Sunnyvale and try to kill him.

As if that weren’t enough, things get even more complicated when Jack discovers that the Lord of the Creach (as the monsters are collectively known) holds a personal grudge against him and will do anything to see that Jack has a slow and painful death. To stay alive and save his friends, Jack will have to battle werewolves, vampires, harpies, trolls, zombies and more. But perhaps the most dangerous thing he must face is the truth about his past. Why do the other hunters call him the last Templar? Why do they whisper that he may be the “One?” Why do the monsters want him dead so badly?  Even as these questions plague him, he quickly discovers survival is his new full-time job and that in the world of monster hunters, nothing is really what it seems.

For Middle Grade readers and higher

Fans of: Percy Jackson Series, Harry Potter and The Goosebumps Series by R.L. Stine

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Middle Grade / YA Fantasy

Rating – PG

More details about the author

Connect with Jeff Gunhus on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.jacktemplar.com/

My Review:

This is a really cool idea for a book. What if one day just before your birthday weird things start to happen to you. You get stronger and are able to defend yourself against bullies. That would be cool enough for an unpopular 13 year old. However this book is full of surprises and the main plot is so nicely entwined with smaller plots that this book has so much more to offer. Jack's family business is to become a monster hunter. There is an outstanding truce that kids are safe until they are 14. It is now or never for Jack. 
His crush seems to notice him, and he doesn't mind the monster so much. Until he realizes that these monsters are werewolves, and zombies... etc. Is Jack the ONE?

I really liked this book because it had all different monsters, and monsters are never what they seem. I also like when the hero of the book is not the popular kid in school. I also liked that Jack had to go through training! I am giving this book a 5/5 ! I was given a copy to review, however all opinions are my own!

Jeff Gunhus is the author of the Middle Grade/YA series The Templar Chronicles. The first book, Jack Templar Monster Hunter, was written in an effort to get his reluctant reader eleven-year old son excited about reading. It worked and a new series was born. Jeff is also the co-CEO of a national company with over 4,000 employees that has been featured in national media for its unique opportunity for college students to learn entrepreneurial skills. He is the author of the motivational career guides No Parachute Required (Hyperion) and Wake Up Call (Seven Guns Press). After his experience with his son, he is passionate about helping parents reach young reluctant readers and is active in child literacy issues. As a father of five, he leads an active lifestyle in Maryland with his wife Nicole by trying to constantly keep up with his kids. In rare moments of quiet, he can be found in the back of the CIty Dock Cafe in Annapolis working on his next novel.