Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge

Oliver Chadwick Gardenier (a name he hates) is “Chad.” His parents are extreme leftists, PC, anti-achievement, and anti-American. With Libertarian resentment for being controlled, he is deliberately, stubbornly, everything opposed to them. Divinely (literally) endowed with everything from musical genius to an eidetic memory, Chad has an otherworldly capacity to tack on human and other languages. Super-abilitied though he is, his trials and terrors make for a gripping read.

The disaster as a Marine in the barracks bombing in Lebanon, his struggle back, and his allies evoke Barry Sadler’s Casca, though richer. This protagonist will feature in many sequels.

Chad’s adult career is as a Monster Hunter, a largely commission-driven occupation involving great risks and great rewards. Over the top, action-immersive encounters dip into nearly every mythology out there. The premise of an otherworld of creatures and societies from which mankind must be shielded is open-ended fantasy and exhilarating.

Told in first person, Grunge could have been overfull of telling, but the authors have used action and dialogue adroitly to avoid that trap. Telling does occur, like an engaging roller-coaster, but this is a noticeably professional and polished work. As this is collaboration, I would have expected some transitional difficulty, but noticed none.

Buy into this adventure now!!