Jack Templar, Monster Hunter by Jeff Gunhus
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Source : Received electronic copy to review
Genre: Teen Fantasy, Action, Paranormal
Book Description: 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.
My thoughts: Fourteen is a tough age. For Jack it just became tougher. His surprise for his birthday is that he entered the realm of becoming a monster hunter. His family has a long lineage of fighting monsters. He is an orphan, so he had no previous knowledge of his destiny.
As he turns fourteen, monsters literally are seeking him out. Their goal is to destroy him. Fortunately for him, his body started changing. He is suddenly stronger, more agile, and quicker.
This book fun to read. The author starts off by warning the reader that they are about to enter the realm of monsters, there is no turning back is they read the book. That is a definite attention getter for kids. Honestly, what kid wouldn't want to read a forbidden book?
The book is action packed. Jack runs from one crisis to another. He meets one monster after another. There is no lagging in the book.
The only parental caution is violence. There's sword fighting, zombies eating brains, harpies clawing, etc.
About Jeff Gunhus: 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.
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