Blog Tour: Matt Archer: Monster Hunter by Kendra C. Highley - Review

Blog Tour Hosted by Reading Addiction Blog Tours 

Title: Matt Archer: Monster Hunter
Author: Kendra C. Highley
Publisher: Createaspace
Publishing Date: October 19, 2012
Pages: 299
Genre: YA Horror
Series: Matt Archer #1
Source: Kindle

  

Barnes & Noble /Smashwords /Createspace

Fourteen-year-old Matt Archer spends his days studying Algebra, hanging out with his best friend and crushing on the Goddess of Greenhill High, Ella Mitchell. To be honest, he thinks his life is pretty lame until he discovers something terrifying on a weekend camping trip at the local state park.

Monsters are real. And living in his backyard.

But that's not the half of it. After Matt is forced to kill a strange creature to save his uncle, he finds out that the weird knife he took from his uncle's bag has a secret, one that will change Matt's life. The knife was designed with one purpose: to hunt monsters. And it's chosen Matt as its wielder.

Now Matt's part of a world he didn't know existed, working with a covert military unit dedicated to eliminating walking nightmares. Faced with a prophecy about a looming dark war, Matt soon realizes his upcoming Algebra test is the least of his worries.

His new double life leaves Matt wondering which is tougher: hunting monsters or asking Ella Mitchell for a date?

I signed up for this tour as soon as I saw the book. The book blurb was very interesting and sounded different, new, refreshing, and it was. The book was very exciting, thrilling, and full of action and a bit of gore. The writing flowed well and the pace was great, very quick and easy read. I was fully intrigued by the first page and the book kept me interested to the very end. 

Matt Archer is 14; he discovers he has a calling, to kill monsters. He lives with his older brother who is very athletic and very bulky, his older sister, the responsible brainiac, and his single mother. His Uncle Mike is also very involved with the family. Matt comes to find out his Uncle has been keeping secrets, the scary and harry kind. Monsters exist and now he is passing the torch to Matt. Matt is a little guy but fast and agile, quick thinking. He soon master the art of monster killing, only one problem, the monster are getting smarter, faster, more human like under all their teeth, fur, and claws.

This was an absolute blast to read. I can say that I have not read anything like it before. The concept was just exceptional for me. I know monster killing... nothing new, but the monsters in this book were new. I was expecting ghosts, ghouls, vampires, zombies… No these are not those kinds of monsters. These are more the type that you find in fairytales, campfire stories, children’s tales and the fact that the monsters were growing smarter was just icing on the cake. So we have scary mutated monsters that can whisper the fact you are their next meal, into your ear before eating you. Nightmares on the way.

The pacing of the book was right on track for the style of the book. I read it like I was in it, fast, breathless, and a little high strung. The action was great, the fight scenes amazing. I am not one who usually dives into fight scenes. For some reason they tend to lose me and I skim through them to get the important parts, the bumps, bruises, and who won logistics. The fight scenes in Monster Hunter were well done and fun. I loved all the characters but of course Matt and Will were my favorite. Duh, the story is about them. Matt is a normal 14 year old boy. He thinks like boy, acts like a boy, and talks like a boy, everything that a normal 14 year old does, Matt does. He has a best friend, a half way normal family, a school nemesis, and a long time crush that seems out of his league. He is a bit small for his age and his best friend, big guy Will, usually does the talking smack. When Matt becomes a monster hunter, all this changes. He starts to change and has to learn to deal with the changes. Will is your average big lovable goof. He stands by Matt no matter what and helps him anyway he can. He is a very loyal friend. Will really had me rolling at times. Really funny dude.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a fun action packed make believe with a bit of horror read to pass the time. The book has some great things about friendship, crushes, bullying, and family packed in with all the fun. So it’s not a mindless type of book but it’s not too deep either. It’s just right. I really liked it!!!

Kendra C. Highley lives in north Texas with her husband and two children. She also serves as staff to two self-important and high-powered cats. This, according to the cats, is her most important job.
Kendra believes chocolate is a basic human right, running a 10k is harder than it sounds, and that everyone should learn to drive a stick-shift. She loves monsters, vacations, baking and listening to bad electronica.
More information about the Matt Archer universe, works in progress and the nature of the Higgs Boson* can be found at www.kendrachighley.com

(*Yeah…not really. We’ll let the scientists handle that part.)

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