I recently had the chance to read and review the first book of the series, and I cannot believe I have not heard of this author sooner!
Jeff Gunhus started this series to get his children more interested in reading, which I think is pretty cool! The first things I see when I get the book is the warnings all over the front and back about not opening the book unless you are a monster hunter. The book warns that if you start to read the books, the monsters will sense you, and they will come for you. There are even two warnings at the beginning of the book that urge you to close the book, and walk away none-the-wiser.
So, this book is about Jack Smith (as we later discover is actually Jack Templar). His mother passed away when he was born, his father passed away when he was 2. He lives with his aunt in a seemingly normal town. He has two best friends, Will (whose mouth is bigger than he is) and T-Rex (a funny nickname that really brings the character to life...who basically lives with at least one finger jammed in his nostril - maybe two in times of extreme stress).
As Jack approaches his 14th birthday, everything starts to change. Suddenly, nothing and nobody are as they seem. Jack needs to quickly adapt to save himself and his friends, as he fights one monster after another. This is a very action-filled book. It kept me reading to the very end.
I will admit, I did prescreen the book before handing it to my daughter (who is 9 years old). I had it read within about 24 hours. Jeff Gunhus (the author) had spoken with me prior to sending the book and let me know there was some violence in the book. I'll be honest, I'm not too queasy about violence, especially if it is tasteful. How is violence tasteful...that's what you must be thinking. Well, I surely will not let my child read about violence towards people...but monsters are another story. In Harry Potter there are several scenes in which Harry has to protect himself against evil wizards and creatures. And in Percy Jackson, there are all sorts of creatures after him that he has to "take out." But since I had never read this series before, I thought I should definitely be the first to read it (ok, ok, you caught me, I just really wanted to read it). The violence in the book is all aimed at monsters, and therefore doesn't bug me.
Twenty-four hours later, I let my daughter rip the book out of my hands. She is an avid reader, but hasn't finished the book yet. She is about halfway through it and says she is enjoying it quite a bit. This coming from a girl that wouldn't even read Harry Potter for 30 minutes (I swear I need to get a DNA test on this child, as I'm starting to wonder if she is truly mine).
Even better, if you are not into these "kid" books, turns out Jeff Gunhus also writes books for adults! In fact, I just got through reading one and will let you know more about that in another post.
You can get the Jack Templar books in paperback or on your Kindle (or Kindle app) on Amazon. I can't wait to get the second book, Jack Templar is going to the Monster Academy *excited squeal*.
'Til next time,
-Sue
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.
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