Raiju: A Kaiju Hunter Novel

by K.H. Koehler

Being a teen wizard sucks... So there I was, Mr. Nobody. I had to stop a monster, the military, and the President of the United States from turning the country into a nuclear wasteland. And I had to do it by slaying a god, and, quite possibly, by killing the girl I loved. And you think you have problems... His home destroyed by a rampaging kaiju, or giant monster, Kevin Takahashi and his father relocate to New York City where Kevin believes the nightmare is over and the only battleground left to face from now on is high school. But soon after his arrival in the Big Apple, a new kaiju emerges. Qilin is so powerful that even the U.S. Military may be unable to contain or destroy the monster. And if that isn't bad enough, Kevin is falling in love with Aimi Mura, the resident "bad girl," and the girlfriend of the toughest bully in school. But will Aimi still want him when she discovers his darkest secret? Because Kevin is more than a ragged refugee from the now defunct city of San Francisco. He's also a Keeper -- a teen wizard who can summon ancient, demonic god-beasts to do battle for him, and his creature to call is Raiju, the oldest of the ancient Kami. Kevin has only a short time to win Aimi over and save the city of New York. Because Raiju and Qilin are about to clash, and after the dust settles, there may be no home left for either one of them! Excerpt The explosion that heralded the end of my life and the beginning of my nightmare rocked the entire street from side to side. All of us went down, clutching the pavement, as dozens of car alarms went off, adding to the rising cacophony in the night. Something told me we were in trouble--the type of trouble that would cost us our lives if we didn't keep our heads together. I sat up, gritting my teeth with determination, and scrambled backward. I didn't stop until I hit the fence. Something had happened, something that was going to change the world. Again. The street was full of smoke and the raw smell of sewage. Ironically, the first thing I thought was not that some creature was responsible for that, but that a gas main had exploded on the avenue or a bomb had gone off. This was New York. Crime happened in New York. Terrorists set fire to buildings... Then the street rattled grittily and cracks spider-crawled across the pocked asphalt. It reminded me of the earthquake I had felt several days ago, taken to the tenth power. The street rolled and several cabs flipped over like toys. I was afraid, finally, down in my bones, where the basest survival instincts lurk. I crawled unsteadily to my feet, covered in grit and blood and freezing sweat, and turned to look at Aimi and Snowman clinging to the fence for support. My mind was clear and alert and painfully sober. The first thing I did was grab Snowman by the front of his fancy glitter jacket and push him stumbling toward Aimi. "Get her out of here," I said. "Get them all out of here now!" He blinked at me, clearly shaken, our conflict forgotten for the moment. Then he nodded, turning to assist first Aimi, then the other members of the band, over the fence. I didn't stay to watch. Behind me, beyond veils of smoke, came the worst sound imaginable, a screaming the likes of which you would expect to hear from the bowels of hell. I stepped out into the street, looking at the people lying in the gutters like broken dolls. The explosion had brought traffic to a screeching halt and cars were jam-packed every which way on the avenue like a kid's toy collection. The street trembled again, and again I heard that like someone running a metal glove over a blackboard. I walked out into the street, feeling like the token Asian in a spaghetti western about to go out and face the gunfighter villain. I thought of sirens, fires, ineffectual police squads firing on the monster that crawled out of San Francisco bay two years ago. I walked, but I walked afraid. I knew I had to buy Aimi and her friends time to get away, but my throat was dry and clicked when I tried to swallow. All around me people were struggling to escape their cars, banging doors against the vehicles packed against them, breaking windshields, crawling through jagged glass with no hesitation for fear or pain as their own basest instincts for survival kicked in. Ragged people in ragged clothes and blood... The earthquake, I thought. Something huge was moving under the street. And now that something is here... An injured businessman staggered into the street. Maybe he was trying to help, or was only in a state of shock, but he reached a car with a family trapped inside it and tried yanking open the passenger-side door, which only banged against the side of the idling cab that had slammed into it at the intersection. I didn't think. I pushed him aside. The family in the car was screaming. I slid the jacket off my shoulders, wrapped by forearm in the thick material, and bashed in the passenger-side window with my fist. "Get out!" I shouted. "Get out of here now!" As ...

Genres: Monsters, Young Adult, Fantasy

166 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

K.H. Koehler is the author of various novels and novellas in the genres of horror, SF, dark fantasy, steampunk and young and new adult. She is the owner of KH Koehler Books and KH Koehler Design, which specializes in graphic design and professional copyediting. Her books are widely available at all major online distributors and her covers have appeared on numerous books in many different genres. Her short work has appeared in various anthologies, and her novel series include The Kaiju Hunter, The Mrs. McGillicuddy Mysteries, Anti-Heroes, Planet of Dinosaurs, The Nick Englebrecht Mysteries, and The Archaeologists. She is the author of multiple Amazon bestsellers, and was also one of the founders and chief editors of KHP Publishers, which published genre fiction from 2001 to 2015. She has over fifteen years experience in the publishing industry as a writer, ghostwriter, copyeditor, commercial book cover designer, formatter and marketer. Visit her website at https://khkoehler.net

Reviews

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic

A giant monster! Where?!
The cover and prologue had me hooked. Readers know this is going to be bad a**. Easy Reading and good flow. From San Francisco to The Big Apple ... what fun! The story is well set up for a sequel ... should Koehler decide to expand the ride. This is pure entertainment for any age.

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this unique Kaiju novel.
Loved how it brought Asian mythology into it.
Well-written, and engaging characters.
Recommended.

[J.M. Horn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The mere mention of Kaiju in the title was enough to grab my attention. I was not disappointed.

The characters were interesting and engaging. I like the direction the action took and how the story developed.

Would love to see more follow-up on the Kaiju and the world they live in. A definite recommend.

[Norm S · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars

Think this book is better suited for teenage readers. All the main characters are high school age. Two Japanese monsters battle it out destroying most of NYC in the process.

[D.M. Dutcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: purchased this e-book at Amazon.com

Surprisingly good book about a young man having to deal with moving to a new place, a new school, and giant monsters that want to kill him. Kevin Takahashi just moved to New York City from San Fransisco, but not by choice. A gigantic monster-a kaiju-named Karakadon devastated the city, killing many of his friends and forcing people to relocate. Now he is going to a new school, and meets a beautiful gothic Lolita named Aimi, and he's about to find out life is going to get even more complicated than back home.

Kevin makes for a great main character. He's honest, cynical, but still romantic. He's surrounded by other memorable characters, like the Snowman his rival for Aimi's affections, and the geeks that latch on to him during his first day. The world of Kaiju Hunter is well done, too. K.H. doesn't shy away from a more realistic depiction of what it would really be like if there were giant monsters that occasionally rampaged in the world, down to "end of the world" parties and KTV, all Kaiju, all the time. The writing is quick and snappy, and the plot has some nice twists.

There's a couple of downsides though. One is there are a few formatting errors to the text that were missed during editing. The other is the whole use of Japanese talk and mythology feels a little off to me. More sort of an american otaku take than a Japanese one. Not that it's bad at all, but for the Kaiju, the names he gives a few don't mesh with their concept in my opinion.

But these are minor quibbles. It's a fun book, especially for giant monster movie fans, with great characters and a nice plot. I recommend picking it up, and like the other reviewers I hope to see a sequel from him soon.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those who came in late, the word “kaiju” has come to refer to the giant monsters that trample their way through Japanese monster movies. Lately, internet self-publishing has revealed a fledgling horror sub-genre, the kaiju novel. I enjoyed my first kaiju novel, which was written by Jeremy Robinson, so I started looking for similar books and found “Raiju.”

“Raiju” turned out to be a YA novel whose protagonist is a teenaged boy who finds out that he is a kaiju hunter, magically armed with a sword of light and marginal control over the immense title kaiju.

Throughout the book, author K.H. Koehler skillfully maintains a first person voice that captures his teen’s age, bravado, insecurity, and emotional highs and lows.

What is more, the novel offers an original take on its monsters. Instead of being irradiated lizards, the kaiju in “Raiju” are kami, the gods/spirits of Shinto, the indigenous religion of Japan. Thanks to their magical nature, the kaiju in this novel can appear and disappear without leaving endless trails of destruction that would make them easy to locate. Raiju’s enemy, a huge black formless menace, is all the more dangerous for it.

Add all this to some good depiction of kaiju action and destruction, and you have a book that’s worth checking out.

[Michele Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book.


An off-beat book, Raiju is part teen urban fantasy, part classic monster movie. Kevin is a teen reeling from the utter destruction of San Francisco by a mutated shark. His best friend and mother both died in the attack and he and his father both emerged different people.
Now Kevin is trying to start over at a new school in New York, but being half Japanese and a hothead makes fitting in hard. And of course there's a girl, Aimi, a gothic lolita singer with a temperamental sidekick and a dark secret. Beneath the city another monster grows, and it seems to be coming after Kevin. Kevin has his own secret. He's a Keeper, the guardian of an ancient kami-god, one that could help him defeat the mutated monster lurking in New York's sewers, or tear the city apart in its rage.
While much of this book appears to be straight out of a Godzilla flick, Koehler puts a wonderful new spin to it, infusing the mutants and science-gone-wrong explanations with an enticing Japanese mythos. An exciting book, it's a shame it's not longer (or that there's no sequel out yet.) Definitely a book for people looking for more flavor to their paranormal fiction.

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kevin Takahashi is a refugee from the destruction of San Francisco, the result of an attack by a kaiju, or giant monster. Now living in New York, Kevin is trying to adjust to a new city, a new school, and new problems. His main problem seems to be that he’s caught the attention of Aimi Mura, a minor musical celebrity with jealous friends and an insanely protective father. But these problems are minor compared to the arrival of yet another kaiju in New York.

Raiju delivers exactly what it promises: lots of big monster action along with messages about the condition of the environment. (Which is something of a running theme in giant monster movies.) The cast of characters are quirky and unique, and the back story is delivered in a novel way that doesn’t feel like info-dumps. Fans of giant monsters shouldn’t need much more, but there’s also teen angst and a cute romantic angle as well.

I give Raiju 4 stars. It’s a fun, fast-paced monster book that doubles as a coming of age story. I’d recommend it to fans of monster movies or fans of YA fiction.

[La · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely written and although the climax is action-packed, it didn't feel rushed. The characters were enjoyable and the story came to a satisfying, yet open-ended conclusion.

[Ahimsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent prose and fast-paced action made this a really fun read.