After barely surviving the onslaught of monsters that tried to kill him the day before his fourteenth birthday, Jack Templar leaves his hometown on a quest to rescue his father and discover the truth about his past. Joined by his friends Will and T-Rex, and led by Eva, the mysterious one-handed monster hunter, Jack sets out for the Monster Hunter Academy where he hopes to find answers to his questions. Little does he suspect that the Academy is filled with dangers of its own, many of them more terrifying than anything he’s faced so far.
Jack and his friends, Will and T-Rex, are headed to the Monster Hunter Academy with Eva. Jack was thrown into a confusing situation in Book 1 and that was all about survival and now he's ready to hear some answers! Getting to the Academy won't be easy and, once he arrives, not everyone is happy to see him or ready to embrace him as the One. Jack doesn't look like anyone special and he doesn't feel it, either, so he will need to be thoroughly tested to see if he can handle the pressure. Jack, Will and T-Rex each have their own agenda once they reach the Academy and their friendships are tested. Will Jack get the answers he needs? Will he survive the challenges he faces? Will he be able to keep his friendships intact?
Another great book! Again, it starts with a warning about monsters and that if you read this book, you become fair game for monsters. He also warns about blood, gore, death and kissing (although the kissing is very minimal). That's a pretty good warning. If your children are queasy, don't have them read this yet. I felt that Book 1 was pretty action packed but this felt nonstop. Especially towards the end. I thought poor Jack would get a rest and immediately he would be on to fight the next battle. Hopefully he'll have a little time to recover for Book 3.
I felt that the plot moved along well and enjoyed learning some answers along with Jack. There's still enough we don't know which will make reading the next book just as much fun as reading this one was! We learn some information about their mission at the end which doesn't make it appear that this series will be ending anytime soon, so hopefully Mr. Gunhus will keep these coming!!
My Rating=5 stars
If you're still undecided, here's an excerpt:
We gathered our things and thanked the captain and crew for their help. Since the Aquamorph, they had kept their distance from us. Sailors were a superstitious bunch to begin with and having their ship attacked by a fog monster had made it even worse. They were nice enough, but it was clear that they were happy to be rid of us.
The four of us walked through the abandoned shipyard. I’ll be
honest with you, it was super-creepy. The dilapidated buildings all had
shadowy openings that could hide monsters ready to attack us. I noticed
that Eva had unscrewed the regular grasping hook she used for her
missing hand and replaced it with a dagger. She had felt it too.
Something was wrong. I followed her lead and put my hand on my sword.
“Don’t,” she whispered. “Just keep walking. Don’t draw attention.”
“What’s going on?” Will whispered back.
“We’re
being followed,” Eva replied. Will, T-Rex and I immediately scanned the
buildings around us. Eva hissed at us under her breath. “You daft
idiots. I said don’t draw attention.”
I faced forward, a little embarrassed. “What now?” I asked.
“Now
we find out who it is,” Eva said. She smashed her foot onto a glass
bottle on the ground and spread out the pieces with her toe. We turned a
corner and Eva shoved us into the empty doorway of one of the
buildings. Then she crouched to the ground and waited.
In less than a minute, we heard footsteps approach us—soft at
first, barely discernible. Then a loud crunch followed as whoever was
stalking us stepped onto the glass. Eva whipped around the corner and
Will, T-Rex and I followed right behind.
There was no one there.
Eva glanced around, searching
the closest possible hiding spaces. A little rock pinged off the top of
her head. We all spun around and looked up at the roofline.
There
was a boy, probably sixteen, with stiff, spiky hair and intense blue
eyes, standing on the roof, making no effort to hide. He was dressed in a
black outfit similar to Eva’s, but this one was more tight-fitting and
showed off a muscular physique. The boy broke out into a wide smile. Eva
shook her head and slid her sword back into its sheath.
“Daniel, you’re lucky you didn’t get killed,” Eva said.
“Are you kidding? Your vacation has made you soft,” Daniel replied.
“You want to play it out?” Eva asked. “See how the actual fight would go?”
The boy jumped down from the roof and landed lightly in front of
us, clearly pleased with himself. “No thanks. I know when to stop. I’m
not stupid.”
“The self-control is new,” Eva said. “But the self-awareness is about the same as when I left.”
Daniel leaned in to hug Eva, but she turned her body away from him. “Let me introduce you to the new recruits,” she said.
This
wiped the grin off his face. He looked like he wanted to say more but
turned self-conscious when he saw Will, T-Rex and I watching him. He
turned toward Will. “So, you’re the great hope for the Black Guard. I’m
Daniel. One of the instructors at the Academy.” He shook Will’s hand.
“Good to meet you. But the great hope, if you want to call him that, is this guy,” he said, nodding to me.
Daniel
turned and looked me over. I held out my hand but he didn’t shake it.
He looked disappointed. “Yes, well, if you say so.” He turned back to
Eva. “Come on, we’ll just make the train if we hurry.” He grabbed Eva’s
bag and walked on ahead of us.
I lowered my hand and picked up my own bag.
“He just left you hanging, didn’t he?” said T-Rex. “That’s not very polite.”
“Don’t
worry about it,” Eva said. “He’s one of the best hunters we have, but
he can be a real jerk sometimes. Trust me, I know. Don’t let it bother
you.” She set off after him.
But Daniel did bother me. The way he had tried to hug Eva. The
whole thing with the handshake. And there was something about the way
Eva had looked at Daniel, too. Trust me, I know. What did that mean
anyway?
“I thought he was kind of cool,” Will said. I gave him a hard look. “To me, anyway. Come on, let’s catch up.”
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.
I found this book through a blog tour when I first started blogging and read it. You can read my review on it HERE.
Awards for Jack Templar Monster Hunter
Book of the Year Finalist by Forward Magazine
Next Generation Indie Book Finalist
Indie Excellence Finalist
Parents Choice Recommended Book Award
Jeff Gunhus grew up in Cyprus, Greece, and Saudi Arabia where there was a distinct lack of television. He quickly found books were the gateway to incredible adventures, fascinating characters and unbelievable discoveries. Now, with five children of his own (all who watch too much television, in his opinion), he has enjoyed revisiting his old books and reliving those adventures all over again.
$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 7/8/13
a Rafflecopter giveaway
2 comments:
Wow - thank you for the great review. I really appreciate it! I'm working away on Book #3!
You're welcome! Yay, glad to hear that book #3 is in the works!
Post a Comment