Return of the Phoenix (Monster Squad #1) By Heath Stallcup

3.5

Looking for an MHI fix. You can get it here. Book 1 us off to a great start and I've already got the end one. I'm hoping for more character development though, someone in which to cling, love or hate etc. The story itself is action packed and fun though. Heath Stallcup Monster Squad 1 by Heath Stallcup is really just the beginning to a series that is supposed to be all about action, a war between vampires and werewolves, not necessarily on opposing forces. The story is long and convoluted in order to clearly draw battle lines, but really weaves a meandering narrative full of contrived story beats, vapid character development, and overly generous exposition that focuses more on the attempt to manufacture political intrigue out of whole cloth rather than demonstrate the flawed construction of a military organization. I really wanted to like this book which has been on my TBR for over ten years, but I can not. The only time we see the squad in action was in the beginning and they get wiped out. These, the reader is told, are the best of the best. And the rest of the book shows how a new unit is chosen, the training, and the initiation of a romance between two of the characters. For an action novel, it leaves a lot to be desired. For a monster book, it leaves a lot to be desired. I am very unhappy. This will serve as #9 of 50 on my over 5 yrs reading goal. I can't wait to move on to my next novel. Heath Stallcup Rather than having one or two major ‘this didn’t work for me’ bits (other than the sense of humor, which I’ll get to in a minute), there were a lot of little things. It’s easiest just to say that the writing quality wasn’t very good. Characters lacked believable depth, or were ridiculous in their behaviors; characters’ plans had holes in them; the book ended at an annoying place; etc. One (military) character, upon being captured by the enemy, volunteered an amazing amount of sensitive information before they even asked him about anything, yet didn’t even seem to realize it.

The sense of humor also had a lot of little problems rather than one big one. Sometimes it’s forced and over the top. Sometimes it’s slapstick. Sometimes it seems rather inappropriate (there’s a plot involving setting up a homophobic, ranting politician for blackmail involving a transsexual–without going into the whole thing, I’ll just say that I think a number of people would find the way it was carried out to be offensive).

On the whole, I think there are enough books that fit any of a number of the aspects of this one, but are written better, that you might as well not settle.


Longer review on my site: http://www.errantdreams.com/2017/08/r... Heath Stallcup If Tom Clancy wrote Urban Fantasy, it would be these books.

One of the things I love about Urban Fantasy is that it can be done in so many ways. Return of the Phoenix puts a military thriller spin on the genre.

The story centers around a group of elite soldiers tasked by governments to take on things that go bump in the night.

There was much to like about Return of the Phoenix. The pacing was good with enough tension to keep me turning the page. The different subplots to the story were all strong and kept me engaged. There were some nice surprise twists that I didn’t see coming. The author has also built an interesting world and put his own unique spin on things that kept it fresh.

The one problem I had with the book was the ending or lack of one. The story ended so abruptly that I was confused as I had so many unanswered questions. It felt like the author had written a much larger book and decided to cut it into two or three books and the ending just happened to be where the one-third- or one-half mark was.

The lack of ending has me unsure of whether to continue deeper into the series or not.
Heath Stallcup I didn’t know what to expect but I love Heath Stallcup books so i got it. Another MUST read! You cannot go wrong reading these books. From Yellowstone that sucks you in (Caldera) to Monster Squad (where monsters really do exist) prepare to stay up all night! Heath Stallcup

Humanity has spent its time enjoying the peace that can only be had through blissful ignorance. For centuries, stories of things that go ‘bump’ in the night have been passed down and shared. When creatures of the night proved to be real, the best of America’s military came together to form an elite band of rapid response teams. Their mission: to face to challenge and keep the civilian populace safe from those threats and hide all evidence of their existence. But during a routine mission, when things go horribly wrong, the Monster Squad finds themselves having to rebuild from the ashes of what they once were.

This time, they face not only the monsters that threaten the peaceful lives of the citizens they are sworn to protect, but their own government, as a dark storm brews on the horizon. A storm that will threaten not just the squad and their existence, but the lives of every human on earth… Return of the Phoenix (Monster Squad #1)

Fun

Lots of action and lots of things that go bump in the night, I enjoyed the action and the story Heath Stallcup I gotta agree with everyone else. If you like Monster Hunter International, check this out. Heath Stallcup This series will keep you on your toes. Interlaced with all the human emotions that make it seem so real. Heath Stallcup Great book

Great book my first from this author, so far I would recommend. looking forward to reading more in this series. Heath Stallcup ABR's full Return of the Phoenix audiobook review can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

I am fully expecting some sort of a reinventing of one of my favorite audiobook series, Monster Hunter International. A secret agency battling monsters in real life and protecting us regular people.

I want action, blood and gore, ridiculous monsters with plans to take over the world. I want a solid story that will help define this monster story sub-genre.

What I got was an epic tale of a secret military team that is trained to fight the horrors of the night. They are all given secret injection to help keep them safe from the “contagious” variety of monsters.

What I really liked was the hard core military action scenes, procedures and personalities. Full of subtle and not so subtle humor throughout. Instead of having the monsters be just monsters. Stallcup was able to give them all interesting back stories and agendas.

Where my interest started to wonder was in the love story between a monster and one of the military team. I always find myself becoming very uncomfortable when erotica pops unknowingly in a story. Sitting at my desk at work, hoping that no one will hear what I hear. Constantly looking over my shoulders to make sure that no one gets too close.

All in all this was a fun military story about fighting monsters. With several good plot twists that I didn’t see coming. I think for a first novel that Stallcup did very well and I look forward to hearing how his style progresses with future stories.

In the beginning I found the performance by Jack Voorhies to be a bit soft-spoken for my taste. This changed slowly as the story progressed. By the end I was not able to think of another narrator that would be able to give the story such a unique voice.

I didn’t care for the obnoxious blast of sound for the indicator of story switch. At first I thought there was something wrong with the recording and soon I realized that this was an intentional signal to the listener.

Audiobook provided for review by the Author. Heath Stallcup

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