A review of The Mongrel

Sparky gives a "brief" review of the first book in the Hunter's Moon series, a scifi series by Walt Robillard.

Recently my friend Walt Robillard sent me an advanced copy of his new book, The Mongrel, the first in the Hunter's Moon series. He asked me to give it a read and give him my honest opinion. That is something I am quite capable of doing. Unfortunately I didn't get it finished anywhere near as quickly as I would have liked, life had other plans for me, which didn't include much reading unfortunately.

But I've finished the thoughts, I gathered my many thoughts, and I'm prepared to share them with the whole world, you know.. All two or three people who read this mess. So let's get down to brass tacks. The pitch Walt has for the Hunter's Moon series is pretty accurate in my mind, It's John Wick meets the Clone Wars.. Except I would add, And if John Wick's Shelter pup was a giant metal murder muppet of doom.
THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU! I want to keep spoilers to a minimum, because so much of this book needs to be experienced freshly for maximum effect. The book immediately starts off with an explosive prologue in the fighting pits of Koban Sul,
where we meet the main character, Orin Lasher. Half Human, Half Vosi, a mongrel. We learn that this young pup is a champion gladiator who's won scores of fights throughout the gladiator circuit. We quickly see why he's a champion,
through his natural skill and sheer brutality. Yet he's still a diamond in the rough, someone who has yet to realize his full potential. Salvation comes for him in the form of the Marshal Templars, think the Knights Templars in space and you're about on the money. One of these Marshals will become his mentor, and really like a mother to him.

We jump forward to the present, where we find Lasher sitting in a cell, guarded by the order that he had been brought into. We soon discover that he and his mentor had been dispatched to mediate routine tribal negotiations on the planet, only
for everything to go pear shape, that results in the death of his mentor, the one he considered to be his mother. This is where Lasher goes full metal murder muppet and wipes out the offending party. Beyond this we get deep into spoiler territory, but
I will say that Lasher goes full John Wick mode in his pursuit of vengeance and the truth.

Along the way we meet an interesting cast of characters, who range from tough hard asses, to comical smart asses and everything in between, Along the way a few of those characters discover a new family in one another, and through those relationships they're able to do what needs to be done, and survive while doing it. The setting of Hunters Moon is an interesting one, even if its only a relatively small glimpse at a much larger world. Its clear that the author is paying homage to Scifi of the past, but doing it in his own way.

Some call the Marshals Templars space wizards, for how they wield the mystical power of the way, but at no time do they feel like over-powered power rangers. The Way is a powerful tool, but it doesn't make them into supermen or women. The history and purpose of the Marshals Templars and Lancers is interesting, and draws inspiration from real world history. I think the Author really did a great job at nailing the technology and weaponry in this book. It makes sense, and its all plausible near future tech, if you know about those things. There is nothing in this book that
is just there because of “cool factor,” if its there, the author has a rational reason for putting it there. Whether or not its cool. You won't find characters doing things, or using tech that make no sense. Its all reasoned and justified. Something I can't say about some authors these days.

And then there is the combat scenes.. I've read a LOT of thrillers/military authors, many who never served, but still did a good job of executing combat scenes because they did their homework. But even the best lack a certain authenticity, that only authors who've had boots

on the ground, who've trained and seen combat have. This book has that authenticity in spades, the way the troops interact and speak to each other, the tactics they use, all of it tells you this author knows what he's talking about, because he's been there, done it, got screwed out of the t-shirt.

The scenes with Lasher getting his full murder muppet on, where he touches the bad guys in all of their no no places are brutal, fast paced

and pure awesome. And it only gets better when he first pairs up with his metal murder muppet sidekick.. I wish I could speak more about the murder creature on the cover of this book.. But that character, its name, its personality, just have to be experienced on their own. It'll make you laugh, cry, and nerd out.

It felt like it took a little while for the book to really get going, before you fully understood what all was going on, but when it takes off? It slams you into the back of your seat like a Rocket sled in a 46G acceleration. Its a non-stop ride of action, violence, and murder muppetry that you won't want to put down till the very end. This book might not be perfect, but it doesn't need to be, its damn good and makes me eager to read the next two books in the series. If you enjoyed John Wick, if you grew up loving Star Wars, if you love metal murder muppets and
Military Scifi?

This book is a book you're going to want to read.