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Nowak Brothers #1
I Kill Monsters
Mikkel and Szandor kill monsters. They're not government funded, they're not from a time-honored lineage of hunters, nor are they rich kids with lots of toys. They're two twenty-something brothers from the poor side of town who have taken it on themselves to rid the streets and underground of creatures who would prey on the innocent. Donning gas masks and using makeshift weaponry, they delve into the labyrinthine sewer system of New Avalon to grapple with snarling zombies, flesh-eating ghouls, insectoid hive creatures, and more. It's a dirty job and it rarely pays, but someone has to do it.
Hired by a woman from the rich side of town who believes she's being stalked by monsters, the two brothers think they've finally gotten an easy job that will pay well. But as they follow the clues, things are not adding up. Kidnappings, jackbooted commandos, and mysterious emails are just the beginning. Soon they find themselves involved in something bigger than monsters. It's anybody's guess whether they'll come through it alive, much less get paid.
I Kill Monsters is an exciting punk rock urban fantasy for those who enjoy their protagonists with a mouth on them and a weapon in their hands.
Hired by a woman from the rich side of town who believes she's being stalked by monsters, the two brothers think they've finally gotten an easy job that will pay well. But as they follow the clues, things are not adding up. Kidnappings, jackbooted commandos, and mysterious emails are just the beginning. Soon they find themselves involved in something bigger than monsters. It's anybody's guess whether they'll come through it alive, much less get paid.
I Kill Monsters is an exciting punk rock urban fantasy for those who enjoy their protagonists with a mouth on them and a weapon in their hands.
298 pages, Paperback
First published February 3, 2015
122 people are currently reading
644 people want to read
About the author
Dennis Liggio
29 books76 followersDennis Liggio is the author of sixteen books, including I KILL MONSTERS, the DAMNED LIES series, THE LOST AND THE DAMNED, and the books set in the city of New Avalon. He is a veteran of the game industry, enjoys long walks on the beach while thumbing through tomes of unspeakable evil, and rumor has it that if you say his name three times in front of a mirror at midnight he will appear and give you Hostess Fruit Pies. He writes primarily in the genres of geeky absurdist humor, horror, and urban fantasy. He lives in Pflugerville, Texas with his amazing wife, awesome daughter, and four cats that act like wieners..
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
August 17, 2022
Meet the Nowak Brothers.
Szandor and Mikkel are the Nowak Brothers and they hunt down and kill monsters. For a career.
They are both employed in disposable jobs, but their jobs are just to pay the bills. Their bread and butter. No, they have dedicated their lives to killing monsters.
All kinds of monsters. Zombies, vampires, ghouls and other horrors.
They have all kinds of adventures while monster hunting and have a large adventure while trying to rescue a client.
Thanks to their monster killing business they are plummeted into one mishap after another.
With Szandor narrating their feats and ventures, the author gives an in-your-face account of what happens. You feel like you are crawling throughout the sewers with them.
Szandor and Mikkel are the Nowak Brothers and they hunt down and kill monsters. For a career.
They are both employed in disposable jobs, but their jobs are just to pay the bills. Their bread and butter. No, they have dedicated their lives to killing monsters.
All kinds of monsters. Zombies, vampires, ghouls and other horrors.
They have all kinds of adventures while monster hunting and have a large adventure while trying to rescue a client.
Thanks to their monster killing business they are plummeted into one mishap after another.
With Szandor narrating their feats and ventures, the author gives an in-your-face account of what happens. You feel like you are crawling throughout the sewers with them.
November 24, 2020
Good monster book!
I Kill Monsters by Dennis Liggio is a great monster hunting action book! Lots of cool creepy monsters, corporate espionage, lots of twist and turns, and great characters. Never bored.
I Kill Monsters by Dennis Liggio is a great monster hunting action book! Lots of cool creepy monsters, corporate espionage, lots of twist and turns, and great characters. Never bored.
January 6, 2021
Preamble
After I finished Liggio’s Dane Monday Saves Christmas (With Help) during the break, I started up I Kill Monsters, the debut shot across the bow in the Nowak Brothers series. I felt drawn to Szandor Nowak as his misanthropic self did some wacky shit with Dane Monday in the Christmas story, perhaps feeling a kindred spirit in the dude (a former angry young man, perhaps?) I’m glad I did, for reasons cited below.
A note about my reviews: I consider myself an appreciator, not a critic. I know first-hand what goes into the creation of art – the blood, the sweat, the tears, the risk. I also know that art appreciation is subjective and lernt good what mama tell’t me – if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. I’m not a school marm grading a spelling test – I’m a reader who enjoys reading. If a book is entertaining, well-written, and I get absorbed into it, five out of five. I have gone as low as three stars – anything less than that and I will not review a book (chances are I DNFed anyway). Regardless, I wouldn’t even put a star rating system on my reviews but for the reality of storefronts like Amazon.
Take from that what you will.
Review – 5/5
I Kill Monsters is a first-person adventure story narrated by Szandor Nowak, a misanthropic young man barely out of teenage jeans (probably ripped up in OG punk rock style, too). Not even legal for boozing, as you loony Yanks like to play pretend with 21, but he drinks whiskey nonetheless. He indeed does, as the title suggest, kill monsters. He also whinges, whines, and goes out of control with rage as he drops the lead pipe on zombie and ghoul ass. To say that the guy is a sour motherfucker is a bit of an understatement, as evidenced by the following line near the end of the book:
“My sole act of defiance was drawing a penis on the white board.”
As a recovering penis drawing aficionado (hell, I ain’t recovered from shit – now I write about dicks) in the (blue) vein of Jonah Hill in Superbad, I could appreciate Szandor’s stance on drawing wieners on stuff. Though in his case it was on a white board in the villains’ lair, rather than in school textbooks that were to be handed down to my sister to leaf through in horror the following year as her teacher looked on (true story). But what this is meant to convey is the somewhat patent unlikability of Szandor Nowak.
Liggio takes pains to explain why Szandor is a bit of a zombie slaughtering DB, but the fact remains that he is that annoying fuck who takes everything way too fucking seriously and has a hard time chilling the eff out. Of course, like all anti-heroes, Szandor has a traumatic past that explains why he’s got such a chip on his shoulder. Said past illustrates why his brother Mikkel is in the monster hunting game with him, though like most older fantasy brothers, he’s way cooler and gets more ladies.
Picture Resident Evil inseminating Charlie Brown and then the offspring (who listens to the band The Offspring) fucking The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler and the child of that union failing to pull out when it hit that Pixar movie Onward raw, and you’re in the territory of what this book feels like. Onward vibes are strong with this one, even though it was written before the movie – Mikkel, in addition to having much more emotional intelligence than Szandor, even drives around a van like the older brother in that movie.
The plot itself centers around a monster job gone wrong because the dame (or is it the toots?) who stepped into the Nowak Brothers’ smoky office wasn’t being totally straight with the boys when she gave ‘em the job, see? Rather than Chandler-esque grizzled detectives slugging back whiskey, the broad gets two young men with a thirst for monster killing as her cigarette-eating gumshoes. The detective bits, replete with double-crosses and twists and what not, take a back seat to the very well-described action sequences throughout the story.
In fact, I have read Liggio described as ‘the Jean Claude Van Damme of literature.’ I cannot think of anything more apt, and before I add some kind of piece to my graphic ‘it’s x meets x’ literary descriptor trope above (it would totally be Van Damme as Uranus getting his pecker cut off by Charlie Brown Cronus and Resident Evil being born from the frothy waves in lieu of Aphrodite), let me just say that if you like action movies, you will love this book. John McClane from Die Hard probably needs a role in the creation myth of I Kill Monsters, perhaps literally mother fucking as he screams ‘yippee kay yay’…
Anywho, back from that little deep dive into my own psychology that would probably give Freud a boner for fulfilling many of his theories about everything being about sex, there is indeed some sex in the book. And some love interests. And misanthrope Szandor handles it all like a champ and deals with his demons and settles down into a white picket fence life by the end of the novel… kidding! He’s fucked and remains so, setting the scene for Jabberwock Jack, the second book in the series, which I will be reading soon.
As a final (non-sexual – aww, shucks!) note, this is one of the easiest reads I have enjoyed in a while. The prose is extremely taut and descriptive and the pacing is very well done. Technically, it’s sound AF. And it has a beating heart as well, even though it’s a severely traumatized one with ventricular scarring from PTSD-related panic attacks. It’s somehow not depressing, too, even though it deals with some depressing stuff. Somehow the lights gets in. A highly recommended book.
After I finished Liggio’s Dane Monday Saves Christmas (With Help) during the break, I started up I Kill Monsters, the debut shot across the bow in the Nowak Brothers series. I felt drawn to Szandor Nowak as his misanthropic self did some wacky shit with Dane Monday in the Christmas story, perhaps feeling a kindred spirit in the dude (a former angry young man, perhaps?) I’m glad I did, for reasons cited below.
A note about my reviews: I consider myself an appreciator, not a critic. I know first-hand what goes into the creation of art – the blood, the sweat, the tears, the risk. I also know that art appreciation is subjective and lernt good what mama tell’t me – if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. I’m not a school marm grading a spelling test – I’m a reader who enjoys reading. If a book is entertaining, well-written, and I get absorbed into it, five out of five. I have gone as low as three stars – anything less than that and I will not review a book (chances are I DNFed anyway). Regardless, I wouldn’t even put a star rating system on my reviews but for the reality of storefronts like Amazon.
Take from that what you will.
Review – 5/5
I Kill Monsters is a first-person adventure story narrated by Szandor Nowak, a misanthropic young man barely out of teenage jeans (probably ripped up in OG punk rock style, too). Not even legal for boozing, as you loony Yanks like to play pretend with 21, but he drinks whiskey nonetheless. He indeed does, as the title suggest, kill monsters. He also whinges, whines, and goes out of control with rage as he drops the lead pipe on zombie and ghoul ass. To say that the guy is a sour motherfucker is a bit of an understatement, as evidenced by the following line near the end of the book:
“My sole act of defiance was drawing a penis on the white board.”
As a recovering penis drawing aficionado (hell, I ain’t recovered from shit – now I write about dicks) in the (blue) vein of Jonah Hill in Superbad, I could appreciate Szandor’s stance on drawing wieners on stuff. Though in his case it was on a white board in the villains’ lair, rather than in school textbooks that were to be handed down to my sister to leaf through in horror the following year as her teacher looked on (true story). But what this is meant to convey is the somewhat patent unlikability of Szandor Nowak.
Liggio takes pains to explain why Szandor is a bit of a zombie slaughtering DB, but the fact remains that he is that annoying fuck who takes everything way too fucking seriously and has a hard time chilling the eff out. Of course, like all anti-heroes, Szandor has a traumatic past that explains why he’s got such a chip on his shoulder. Said past illustrates why his brother Mikkel is in the monster hunting game with him, though like most older fantasy brothers, he’s way cooler and gets more ladies.
Picture Resident Evil inseminating Charlie Brown and then the offspring (who listens to the band The Offspring) fucking The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler and the child of that union failing to pull out when it hit that Pixar movie Onward raw, and you’re in the territory of what this book feels like. Onward vibes are strong with this one, even though it was written before the movie – Mikkel, in addition to having much more emotional intelligence than Szandor, even drives around a van like the older brother in that movie.
The plot itself centers around a monster job gone wrong because the dame (or is it the toots?) who stepped into the Nowak Brothers’ smoky office wasn’t being totally straight with the boys when she gave ‘em the job, see? Rather than Chandler-esque grizzled detectives slugging back whiskey, the broad gets two young men with a thirst for monster killing as her cigarette-eating gumshoes. The detective bits, replete with double-crosses and twists and what not, take a back seat to the very well-described action sequences throughout the story.
In fact, I have read Liggio described as ‘the Jean Claude Van Damme of literature.’ I cannot think of anything more apt, and before I add some kind of piece to my graphic ‘it’s x meets x’ literary descriptor trope above (it would totally be Van Damme as Uranus getting his pecker cut off by Charlie Brown Cronus and Resident Evil being born from the frothy waves in lieu of Aphrodite), let me just say that if you like action movies, you will love this book. John McClane from Die Hard probably needs a role in the creation myth of I Kill Monsters, perhaps literally mother fucking as he screams ‘yippee kay yay’…
Anywho, back from that little deep dive into my own psychology that would probably give Freud a boner for fulfilling many of his theories about everything being about sex, there is indeed some sex in the book. And some love interests. And misanthrope Szandor handles it all like a champ and deals with his demons and settles down into a white picket fence life by the end of the novel… kidding! He’s fucked and remains so, setting the scene for Jabberwock Jack, the second book in the series, which I will be reading soon.
As a final (non-sexual – aww, shucks!) note, this is one of the easiest reads I have enjoyed in a while. The prose is extremely taut and descriptive and the pacing is very well done. Technically, it’s sound AF. And it has a beating heart as well, even though it’s a severely traumatized one with ventricular scarring from PTSD-related panic attacks. It’s somehow not depressing, too, even though it deals with some depressing stuff. Somehow the lights gets in. A highly recommended book.
December 21, 2020
Some journeys start with an unexpected first step. When I first wrote I Kill Monsters, I didn't think it was going to continue on through five books and more to come. I just knew I had to write about two brothers dealing with weird crap that nobody else cares about, cracking jokes, being sarcastic, and bludgeoning their way through monsters with limited awareness of why they really shouldn't be the ones doing it. Then they ended up dealing with corporate douchebags, giant behemoths, clone armies, being adults, meeting psychopathic relatives, and a whole bunch of other things I never expected when I first started writing notes about their adventures.
Now in 2020 the book has a second edition, a new sequel, and more coming in 2021! One of the reviews down below referred to this as the "Jean Claude Van Damme of literature". You don't know how much that thrills me! That's a title I'm going to own and wear to my damn grave! It's been a strange road to reach this point and it's probably going to be weirder before it ends. I hope everyone enjoys I Kill Monsters as well as the continuing adventures of the Nowak Brothers!
Now in 2020 the book has a second edition, a new sequel, and more coming in 2021! One of the reviews down below referred to this as the "Jean Claude Van Damme of literature". You don't know how much that thrills me! That's a title I'm going to own and wear to my damn grave! It's been a strange road to reach this point and it's probably going to be weirder before it ends. I hope everyone enjoys I Kill Monsters as well as the continuing adventures of the Nowak Brothers!
March 27, 2017
DNF - This book was like pulling teeth to get through. So many mistakes it just felt insulting. Some of the dialog read so unreal and juvenile I had a hard time believing it. Most of the scenes without any action just drug and I found my mind wondering while I was reading and by the time I finished the page I had no clue what happened.
The characters are are not very well developed and I just didn't care what happened to them. I really hated this book so much that I got about 75% through it and just gave up the hope it would improve.
On the plus side the monsters are cool and well described I did picture them, but other than that I was highly disappointed. I will not be reading the sequel.
The characters are are not very well developed and I just didn't care what happened to them. I really hated this book so much that I got about 75% through it and just gave up the hope it would improve.
On the plus side the monsters are cool and well described I did picture them, but other than that I was highly disappointed. I will not be reading the sequel.
January 9, 2019
Great start to a new series.
January 20, 2021
I Kill Monsters has been sitting in my Kindle library for a long while now. I purchased it a few years back after reading Larry Correia’s Monster Hunter series. Those books started me on a kick to find more of the same, and after finally getting around to I Kill Monsters I can say that it was, indeed, more of the same. Well, in a way. Dennis Liggio does something a bit different and offers up a neat twist at one point, but aside from that it was rather similar to Monster Hunter. You get snarky, out-of-their-league protagonists, testosterone oozing from the pages, and monster slaying with just enough mix-ups to the rules to keep it entertaining.
Larry Correia, however, does it better in my opinion. I Kill Monsters isn’t a bad read, but it is, for the most part, predictable. As I said, there’s a big twist that comes about but aside from that (and past that point in the book) it’s a typical monster-hunting format. Yes, witty banter is good, but me substance as well. Give me a male protagonist moved by more than just a deep, dark anger. Give me a female lead who isn’t a sexpot with dangerous secrets. Give me something original so I don’t feel like I’ve read it all before.
Larry Correia, however, does it better in my opinion. I Kill Monsters isn’t a bad read, but it is, for the most part, predictable. As I said, there’s a big twist that comes about but aside from that (and past that point in the book) it’s a typical monster-hunting format. Yes, witty banter is good, but me substance as well. Give me a male protagonist moved by more than just a deep, dark anger. Give me a female lead who isn’t a sexpot with dangerous secrets. Give me something original so I don’t feel like I’ve read it all before.
July 14, 2019
Not my favorite entry in my personal favorite genre of "brothers who fight monsters" but appreciated nonetheless.
Pros:
-sarcastic narrator
-snarky footnotes
-solid worldbuilding
-a bit less romanticized than some takes on monster hunting tend to be
Cons:
- You know how some books you can just tell were written by a dude? This is one of them.
- I don't love the author's writing style in general. There's no noticable technical mistakes, but it just feels a bit clunky.
Overall, solidly okay, will probably read the rest of the series.
Pros:
-sarcastic narrator
-snarky footnotes
-solid worldbuilding
-a bit less romanticized than some takes on monster hunting tend to be
Cons:
- You know how some books you can just tell were written by a dude? This is one of them.
- I don't love the author's writing style in general. There's no noticable technical mistakes, but it just feels a bit clunky.
Overall, solidly okay, will probably read the rest of the series.
September 18, 2017
Ok first book in series
It starts out ok,good premise. Some of the narration was off putting. Just ok for me. Found myself skimming some of the time.
It starts out ok,good premise. Some of the narration was off putting. Just ok for me. Found myself skimming some of the time.
May 9, 2021
Hope there's not more!!!
Boring they couldn't make up their minds up what they were hunting. Vampires, zombies, spiders never did figure it out.
Boring they couldn't make up their minds up what they were hunting. Vampires, zombies, spiders never did figure it out.
August 4, 2020
I'm not entirely sure how I came across this book - might have been listed as one of the Kindle recommendations. I decided to pick it up based on a reasonable price and the blurb:
"Mikkel and Szandor kill monsters. They're not government funded, they're not from a time-honored lineage of hunters, nor are they rich kids with lots of toys. They're two twenty-something brothers from the poor side of town who have taken it on themselves to rid the streets and underground of creatures who would prey on the innocent. Donning gas masks and using makeshift weaponry, they delve into the labyrinthine sewer system of New Avalon to grapple with snarling zombies, flesh-eating ghouls, insectoid hive creatures, and more. It's a dirty job and it rarely pays, but someone has to do it.
Hired by a woman from the rich side of town who believes she's being stalked by monsters, the two brothers think they've finally gotten an easy job that will pay well. But as they follow the clues, things are not adding up. Kidnappings, jackbooted commandos, and mysterious emails are just the beginning. Soon they find themselves involved in something bigger than monsters. It's anybody's guess whether they'll come through it alive, much less get paid.
I Kill Monsters is an exciting punk rock urban fantasy for those who enjoy their protagonists with a mouth on them and a weapon in their hands."
----- Some mild spoilers ahead -----
The action takes place in the city of New Avalon. It seems like a perfectly normal city, bar the monsters, of course. It also has a unique system of sewers, which are a background to quite a few action scenes in the book.
As an urban monster novel - it did not disappoint. There is a variety of monsters, some of which are based on good aul salamanders, like vampires; there are zombies and ghouls; Szandor also killed a snake. However, my favourite monsters were Spiders. There is something very primal about fear of creepy crawlies, especially if those are bigger, meaner creatures, with enough pack instinct to plan an ambush and an ability to use human bodies like marionettes. Yeesh!
The narrative is from the first-person perspective. That perspective belongs to a brash, cocky, and occasionally reckless 20-year-old. It feels very bloke-ish, but having in mind who is telling the story, I didn't mind it very much. It felt very much in the spirit of the character.
When it comes to the characters, they are mechanically correct in terms of their built. There is a tragic backstory, which drives them and colours their actions. There is also some depth to them, but I will return to that in a moment. What I did like, was the fact that they held their menial day jobs on top of the side-gig of monster hunting, which is not well paid and comes with plenty of expenses, and had to take a day off if a hunt came up. Pretty realistic for anyone who wants to pay their bills and have a side hustle, whatever it may be. Another thing I liked was their gear - a rag-tag ensemble of pieces selected based on what was accessible without causing a lot of suspicions and able to protect the wearer, but rarely matching or looking cool.
Liggio's writing can feel a bit clunky at times, though it is of a good craft.
It doesn't have as much depth as some other stories, but after a few books that took a heavy emotional toll on me, I welcomed this change.
The action scenes are entertaining and held my attention; the plot moves along at a decent pace; there are twists.
I would describe this book as Jean-Claude Van Damme of literature. If you're looking for a deep plot or characters, you'll probably end up disappointed, however, if you're looking for a fun read where shit goes boom and monsters run rampant - this may be a book for you.
-----
You can read more reviews on my blog Of Books And Coffee
"Mikkel and Szandor kill monsters. They're not government funded, they're not from a time-honored lineage of hunters, nor are they rich kids with lots of toys. They're two twenty-something brothers from the poor side of town who have taken it on themselves to rid the streets and underground of creatures who would prey on the innocent. Donning gas masks and using makeshift weaponry, they delve into the labyrinthine sewer system of New Avalon to grapple with snarling zombies, flesh-eating ghouls, insectoid hive creatures, and more. It's a dirty job and it rarely pays, but someone has to do it.
Hired by a woman from the rich side of town who believes she's being stalked by monsters, the two brothers think they've finally gotten an easy job that will pay well. But as they follow the clues, things are not adding up. Kidnappings, jackbooted commandos, and mysterious emails are just the beginning. Soon they find themselves involved in something bigger than monsters. It's anybody's guess whether they'll come through it alive, much less get paid.
I Kill Monsters is an exciting punk rock urban fantasy for those who enjoy their protagonists with a mouth on them and a weapon in their hands."
----- Some mild spoilers ahead -----
The action takes place in the city of New Avalon. It seems like a perfectly normal city, bar the monsters, of course. It also has a unique system of sewers, which are a background to quite a few action scenes in the book.
As an urban monster novel - it did not disappoint. There is a variety of monsters, some of which are based on good aul salamanders, like vampires; there are zombies and ghouls; Szandor also killed a snake. However, my favourite monsters were Spiders. There is something very primal about fear of creepy crawlies, especially if those are bigger, meaner creatures, with enough pack instinct to plan an ambush and an ability to use human bodies like marionettes. Yeesh!
The narrative is from the first-person perspective. That perspective belongs to a brash, cocky, and occasionally reckless 20-year-old. It feels very bloke-ish, but having in mind who is telling the story, I didn't mind it very much. It felt very much in the spirit of the character.
When it comes to the characters, they are mechanically correct in terms of their built. There is a tragic backstory, which drives them and colours their actions. There is also some depth to them, but I will return to that in a moment. What I did like, was the fact that they held their menial day jobs on top of the side-gig of monster hunting, which is not well paid and comes with plenty of expenses, and had to take a day off if a hunt came up. Pretty realistic for anyone who wants to pay their bills and have a side hustle, whatever it may be. Another thing I liked was their gear - a rag-tag ensemble of pieces selected based on what was accessible without causing a lot of suspicions and able to protect the wearer, but rarely matching or looking cool.
Liggio's writing can feel a bit clunky at times, though it is of a good craft.
It doesn't have as much depth as some other stories, but after a few books that took a heavy emotional toll on me, I welcomed this change.
The action scenes are entertaining and held my attention; the plot moves along at a decent pace; there are twists.
I would describe this book as Jean-Claude Van Damme of literature. If you're looking for a deep plot or characters, you'll probably end up disappointed, however, if you're looking for a fun read where shit goes boom and monsters run rampant - this may be a book for you.
-----
You can read more reviews on my blog Of Books And Coffee
November 27, 2017
Mikkel and Szandor kill monsters. Just like it says on the cover. I went into this book knowing that there's more to their story than just this one book. I also come at this from the perspective of a person who's written a lot and knows how hard it is to actually pull off self-publishing a novel - much less an entire batch of them! Liggio has a somewhat unique approach to story-telling. There is a little bit of ramp-up time for this book, but once the real action begins, the pace seems pretty brisk. The story progresses in a fairly linear fashion, I don't recall there being any time-jumping, or even flashbacks, even when I wish there was a flashback or two to tell me what the hell happened that made these two the way they are! You get glimpses as the action moves along but this author drags you through the now, not indulging in the past. Maybe you have to read that stuff in some other book later!
Worth the read, won't suck up every waking moment but it will compel you to turn the pages if you give it a chance.
Worth the read, won't suck up every waking moment but it will compel you to turn the pages if you give it a chance.
April 10, 2018
1.5 stars
This is an urban fantasy where the brothers fight monsters (like Supernatural, the TV show). A girl comes and asks them for help; they then discover that .
The writing was workmanlike - it told the story. I liked the way it showed the relationships between brothers.
What I didn't understand was why no authorities were involved. Sure, maybe the authorities didn't believe in monsters, but there's no reason why you can't take a photo and post it on the Internet?
I also didn't really care about the characters in the end.
This is an urban fantasy where the brothers fight monsters (like Supernatural, the TV show). A girl comes and asks them for help; they then discover that .
The writing was workmanlike - it told the story. I liked the way it showed the relationships between brothers.
What I didn't understand was why no authorities were involved. Sure, maybe the authorities didn't believe in monsters, but there's no reason why you can't take a photo and post it on the Internet?
I also didn't really care about the characters in the end.
May 15, 2018
I liked it. Could have used some more editing but it kept my attention.
It's kinda like a more gritty and urban take on Supernatural.
I got this book for free so I can't really speak to it's value but I don't regret reading it.
It's kinda like a more gritty and urban take on Supernatural.
I got this book for free so I can't really speak to it's value but I don't regret reading it.
May 26, 2021
I love, I Kill Monsters. It is the first book into an amazing series of unprofessional professional monster hunters, Mikkel and Szandor (sp?) Nowak.
These guys aren't the Winchesters, but watch out for their pipes and sword, and the Porkchop Express.
These guys aren't the Winchesters, but watch out for their pipes and sword, and the Porkchop Express.
June 22, 2021
This was a fun read about two brothers who kill monsters. These guys aren't pros, and don't have the latest, greatest equipment, which makes their exploits hilarious. This is one of those books that ramps up and gets better as it goes along, and I'm looking forward the the next book in the series!
did-not-finish
August 14, 2023DNF - page 162 (54%)
Ehhhhh.... No. I need to quit while I'm ahead. And also be better about DNFing books. Anyway, another Kindle clean out saga victim. I probably would have been really into this when I first downloaded it too 😔
Ehhhhh.... No. I need to quit while I'm ahead. And also be better about DNFing books. Anyway, another Kindle clean out saga victim. I probably would have been really into this when I first downloaded it too 😔
December 19, 2017
Enjoyable
But in need of a good editing.
This came close to five stars.
I look forward to book two.
Recommend for those that enjoy monster hunting books.
But in need of a good editing.
This came close to five stars.
I look forward to book two.
Recommend for those that enjoy monster hunting books.
March 4, 2018
Fun
Action, fantasy, horror the brothers battle with attitude. Got a real kick out of POV notes throughout story to click on for a little snark
Action, fantasy, horror the brothers battle with attitude. Got a real kick out of POV notes throughout story to click on for a little snark
May 7, 2018
Monster killlers
I liked that the book moved fast and the monsters were described in great detail. Looking forward to the next book.
I liked that the book moved fast and the monsters were described in great detail. Looking forward to the next book.
August 14, 2024
A very solid monster hunting book, though imo the flashback goes on for a bit too long and the ending isn't quite as strong as the rest of the book. Nevertheless, enjoyable and unique.
May 20, 2015
I received this story through Story Cartel, in exchange for an honest review.
It’s not a glamorous job. That’s how the story begins, and it is certainly spot on. The Nowak brothers, twenty-two year old Mikkel and twenty year old Szandor, are from New Avalon, a city that just seems to be crawling with the creepy crawlies. As you can probably decipher from the title alone, they brothers hunt monsters.
The story is told through the younger Nowak brother. The brothers are from the grungier side of town, and they do their best to make ends meet. They take a lot of cases that have no pay, but at least for Szandor, it’s not about the money as much as it is about how they make a difference.
Within is a collection of stories, timestamps of the Nowak brothers’ monster hunting business. There are quite entertaining footnotes made throughout, that mostly made me chuckle. As a HUGE Supernatural fan here, I found it quite easy to picture the Nowak’s taking a page out of the Winchesters’ crazy hectic lives. There are many parallel similarities of the two, and Liggio’s story is an easy read that you just breeze through the chapters.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wouldn’t take it too seriously, allowed for the youthful voice of the character and the less than pleasant situations. (His descriptions can get yuck.) Fans of adventure and fantasy should definitely give it the look through.
September 18, 2022
I Kill Monsters. What a weird title, I thought when I first saw this. But I picked up the ebook when it was available on Amazon for free. I would happily have paid for it, and would happily pay for any other books by Dennis Liggio.
This is the story of two brothers, Szandor and Mikkel Nowak, from a city called New Avalon, a city which is infested with all manner of creatures, including ghouls that live in the sewers, zombies, strange six-legged spidery things that can take over your body and use you like a puppet, and a few other things.
Szandor and Mikkel kill monsters. They have day jobs (or at least Szandor does - Mikkel is just a playboy) but at night and on weekends, they kill monsters. But the way they do it is where the fun begins.
The story is told from Szandor's point of view. He is the reckless, angry and often impulsive of the pair. Mikkel is more of the brains of the team. The book is littered with jokes and funny footnotes (an interesting touch) that keeps it entertaining.
Not to be taken too seriously, this book has the lot - fun, action, intrigue, a bit of sex and lots and lots of monsters! I would have rated it 5 stars but the editing let it down a little. A but of a proofread would have made it more enjoyable for me (I am an editor, after all). Highly recommended, a good, fun romp in the world of nasty creatures.
This is the story of two brothers, Szandor and Mikkel Nowak, from a city called New Avalon, a city which is infested with all manner of creatures, including ghouls that live in the sewers, zombies, strange six-legged spidery things that can take over your body and use you like a puppet, and a few other things.
Szandor and Mikkel kill monsters. They have day jobs (or at least Szandor does - Mikkel is just a playboy) but at night and on weekends, they kill monsters. But the way they do it is where the fun begins.
The story is told from Szandor's point of view. He is the reckless, angry and often impulsive of the pair. Mikkel is more of the brains of the team. The book is littered with jokes and funny footnotes (an interesting touch) that keeps it entertaining.
Not to be taken too seriously, this book has the lot - fun, action, intrigue, a bit of sex and lots and lots of monsters! I would have rated it 5 stars but the editing let it down a little. A but of a proofread would have made it more enjoyable for me (I am an editor, after all). Highly recommended, a good, fun romp in the world of nasty creatures.
February 7, 2016
As an avid reader of Kelley Armstrong, Seanan McGuire, and Charlie Huston, I like to consider myself to be very familiar with the urban monster landscape. I Kill Monsters is the first book I’ve read by this author, and I would label his work as having solid potential. I Kill Monsters isn’t the first of its kind, nor the most original, but it does have its charm.
The book features two brothers Szandor and Mikhail, living on a rougher side of town, who take down the creepy crawlies hiding in the city. They take money as best as they can, but work the daily grind to keep the bills paid (mostly). When a well-to-do client comes along, they jump at the opportunity to play bodyguard for a few days. Unfortunately for them, something much more nefarious than the boogeyman is afoot, and the boys are launched into a part of the monster industry they didn’t even know existed.....
Read more: http://somenerdgirl.com/2016/01/14/bo...
The book features two brothers Szandor and Mikhail, living on a rougher side of town, who take down the creepy crawlies hiding in the city. They take money as best as they can, but work the daily grind to keep the bills paid (mostly). When a well-to-do client comes along, they jump at the opportunity to play bodyguard for a few days. Unfortunately for them, something much more nefarious than the boogeyman is afoot, and the boys are launched into a part of the monster industry they didn’t even know existed.....
Read more: http://somenerdgirl.com/2016/01/14/bo...
July 21, 2015
This story kept me up late at night. Really late... Alright, it was almost dawn. I really enjoyed this fast-paced book, especially the writing style. You see everything through the eyes of an angry punk teenager as he writes down his story. I haven't seen this pov much, and I really loved it - especially because there is a lot of humor. And monsters, but thank goodness no one sparkled. The characters are original, and they feel very real to me. Nice plot too, I'm not often fooled, but this time I was :) the only negative thing for me was the swearing, I get that it's the style of the character, very understandably so, but I almost didn't read om because it bugged me. Glad I did read it though! Oh, I got this book free btw, for an unbiased review. Sorry for my bad English, I'm not a native speaker. I can understand English like it's my own language, but writing it is a bit difficult.
July 11, 2015
I won this through the First Reads program.
I loved this book! Pretty much from the first page, the action is non-stop. I liked the characters and would definitely read a sequel. In fact, this was the first book by Dennis Liggio I have read, but it will NOT be the last one.
The only criticism I have is that it needed to be proofread again. I caught a number of typos and errors, such as a conversation where it appears one character is speaking with himself, or where a word was omitted or added where it shouldn't have been. Overall, these issues did not detract from my enjoyment of the story and the writing style.
I loved this book! Pretty much from the first page, the action is non-stop. I liked the characters and would definitely read a sequel. In fact, this was the first book by Dennis Liggio I have read, but it will NOT be the last one.
The only criticism I have is that it needed to be proofread again. I caught a number of typos and errors, such as a conversation where it appears one character is speaking with himself, or where a word was omitted or added where it shouldn't have been. Overall, these issues did not detract from my enjoyment of the story and the writing style.
May 2, 2016
It didn't take me as long as it looks, I was in a competition for something so I had to take a break. It is really good and I am pissed off for the brothers at the end. Actually I am pissed for them pretty much the entire book.
Overall this is a really good book with really well done characters who have spunk, attitude, and likeability.
Overall this is a really good book with really well done characters who have spunk, attitude, and likeability.
January 28, 2017
Exactly how I like books about monster hunting, and this one was perfect. I took one star for editing issues. They were a little too distracting for such an otherwise polished book with a great cover and superb story. The characters were how they should be and the funny rarely seemed forced. I have the next two books and will be starting the second later today......
July 2, 2015
Enjoyed this one. Couple of anti-heroes sticking it to monsters and the man in the corporate world.
Reminded me a little of a video game - main story, side missions and boss level at the end...but that works for me :)
Grab a beer and have a read.
Reminded me a little of a video game - main story, side missions and boss level at the end...but that works for me :)
Grab a beer and have a read.
November 4, 2015
Surprisingly good
Honestly I think Mr. Liggio would do well to have any future work go by an experienced editor. That being said I found it hard to our the book down. I think he has the beginnings of an amazing series with New Avalon and I can't wait to read more.
Honestly I think Mr. Liggio would do well to have any future work go by an experienced editor. That being said I found it hard to our the book down. I think he has the beginnings of an amazing series with New Avalon and I can't wait to read more.
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