John Schettler's Blog, page 8
May 1, 2016
Just Released: Kirov Saga - Second Front
Second FrontBook 24 in the Kirov Series and Season 3 Finale
Vladimir Karpov has already opened a Second Front in the north against Japan with his bold invasion of Sakhalin Island. Now the battlecruiser Kirov has come upon a most unexpected challenger in the Pacific as the crew of Takami join Admiral Kurita in a daring attempt to sink the Siberian raider. The fast paced naval combat extends through the first six chapters here as two modern day warriors at sea duel in the waters of 1942.
Then the action moves to the frigid Norwegian Sea where Britain launches one of its biggest relief convoys ever bound for Murmansk., PQ-17. The combined British and American covering forces are soon challenged by a powerful German battlegroup centered on the battleship Tirpitz and the newly commissioned carrier Peter Strasser.
Meanwhile, General Dwight D. Eisenhower puts the finishing touches on the first joint US/British offensive of the war, Operation Torch, only this time, with the Straits of Gibraltar closed, there can be no landings at Oran and Algiers. Instead the British come ashore at Lisbon when Portugal joins the Allied cause, and Patton leads the entire US Torch order of battle in a much bigger landing at Casablanca. The objective of both forces is the long lost bastion of Gibraltar, where a dangerous secret lurks in the unexplored depths of St. Michael's Cave.
The invasion is well underway when Fedorov is alarmed to discover what he believes is an insoluble paradox looming on the near horizon. As the history of 1942 is re-written, how could Sergei Kirov ever come to power if Fedorov fails to warn him of his fate at the hands of Staliln? A mission to Ilanskiy is launched to attempt to shore up the history... But Karpov has other ideas....
Buy Now for Kindle: $4.99
1st Edition Trade Paperback: $19.99320 Pages at 5.5" x 8.5"
More about Second Front
Author Interview for Second Front
Vladimir Karpov has already opened a Second Front in the north against Japan with his bold invasion of Sakhalin Island. Now the battlecruiser Kirov has come upon a most unexpected challenger in the Pacific as the crew of Takami join Admiral Kurita in a daring attempt to sink the Siberian raider. The fast paced naval combat extends through the first six chapters here as two modern day warriors at sea duel in the waters of 1942.
Then the action moves to the frigid Norwegian Sea where Britain launches one of its biggest relief convoys ever bound for Murmansk., PQ-17. The combined British and American covering forces are soon challenged by a powerful German battlegroup centered on the battleship Tirpitz and the newly commissioned carrier Peter Strasser.
Meanwhile, General Dwight D. Eisenhower puts the finishing touches on the first joint US/British offensive of the war, Operation Torch, only this time, with the Straits of Gibraltar closed, there can be no landings at Oran and Algiers. Instead the British come ashore at Lisbon when Portugal joins the Allied cause, and Patton leads the entire US Torch order of battle in a much bigger landing at Casablanca. The objective of both forces is the long lost bastion of Gibraltar, where a dangerous secret lurks in the unexplored depths of St. Michael's Cave.
The invasion is well underway when Fedorov is alarmed to discover what he believes is an insoluble paradox looming on the near horizon. As the history of 1942 is re-written, how could Sergei Kirov ever come to power if Fedorov fails to warn him of his fate at the hands of Staliln? A mission to Ilanskiy is launched to attempt to shore up the history... But Karpov has other ideas....
Buy Now for Kindle: $4.99
1st Edition Trade Paperback: $19.99320 Pages at 5.5" x 8.5"
More about Second Front
Author Interview for Second Front
April 2, 2016
Vendetta
Kirov Series Battle Book II
Vladimir Karpov… surely irrepressible, deceitful, conniving, duplicitous, egocentric and yes, disloyal. All these things can rightfully be said about him. And yet, his inner drive to make something greater of himself, whether bordering on the maniacal or not, has also made him a formidable ally in the war against the dark forces of the Axis powers. To those he befriends he brings his iron will, quick and clever mind, exceptional skill in combat, and a ruthless desire to succeed at any cost. In combat he can be heartless, even cruel, and coldly heedless of the consequences of his own actions. There is nothing, in his own mind, that he cannot take within his grasp, and the tools which he takes in hand to work his will on an unsuspecting world are lethal in more ways than many can fathom. To those that make him an enemy, beware.
Ivan Volkov was one such man, first a mere nuisance to Karpov when he came aboard with Inspector General Kapustin in Series Book 4, Men of War. Karpov called him a lapdog, but Volkov, who’s name translates as “Wolf” in Russian, became something very much more in this story. Working for Russian Naval Intelligence, he is ordered to pursue Fedorov along the Trans-Siberian Rail, where he comes upon the railway inn at Ilanskiy, stumbles down a stairway, and finds himself… somewhere else. It is not another place, but another time.
Whether it was fate’s artifice, or mere happenstance, the back stairway is precisely aligned along an unseen rift in time, and any man who walks it becomes a Free Radical, an errant and dangerous thread in the careful tapestry woven by Mother Time. But unlike Fedorov, who’s brief time there ended up profoundly changing the history of the 20th Century when he warned a young Sergei Kirov of an impending plot to take his life, Ivan Volkov never came back. Instead he used his foreknowledge of future events, the data stored in his service jacket computer, to co-opt the White Russian movement after the revolution, unseating Denikin and establishing his private little empire, the Orenburg Federation.
In time he hoped to easily defeat Kolchak’s fledgling Free Siberian State, and by so doing place himself in a position to challenge the Soviet Union, now led by Sergei Kirov, who murdered a young Josef Stalin as a result of Fedorov’s errant whisper. Then along came Vladimir Karpov, defeated in his second attempt to seize control of the ship named for Kirov, lost, forsaken, alone, and adrift at sea. But not for very long.
While the other main characters aboard Kirov, and the ship’s crew, harbor mixed feelings as they commemorate his apparent death, in the opening volume of “Season 2” of this saga, Karpov survives, makes his way to Siberia, and soon applies his unique personality and will to quickly rise in the ranks of the Siberian power elite.
This is that story, of his fall in that last terrible moment aboard Kirov off Oki Island in the Sea of Japan, and his meteoric rise to seize control of the Free Siberian State. By so doing, he becomes a major player in the alternate history of WWII that is threaded through this series. It is inevitable that he soon comes into conflict with his neighbor state to the west, Volkov’s Orenburg Federation, shocked to learn the real identity of the man behind it, and dedicated to his demise.
Here is their story, the clash and contest of wills between our saga’s two arch villains that became Vendetta. The material that creates this novel was extracted from that long running subplot in the saga, spanning 17 different books, and assembled and re-edited here into one continuous and uninterrupted narrative. In doing this I have included what might be called “outtakes,” extended scenes, and occasional new material that never appeared in the original Kirov Series. Consider it my “Director’s Cut” for this long intriguing subplot in the saga, all things Ilanskiy, the mystery, the mayhem, the parachute jumps, commando raids, ground assaults, and oh yes, the Zeppelins!
AVAILABLE NOW ON AMAZON
Vladimir Karpov… surely irrepressible, deceitful, conniving, duplicitous, egocentric and yes, disloyal. All these things can rightfully be said about him. And yet, his inner drive to make something greater of himself, whether bordering on the maniacal or not, has also made him a formidable ally in the war against the dark forces of the Axis powers. To those he befriends he brings his iron will, quick and clever mind, exceptional skill in combat, and a ruthless desire to succeed at any cost. In combat he can be heartless, even cruel, and coldly heedless of the consequences of his own actions. There is nothing, in his own mind, that he cannot take within his grasp, and the tools which he takes in hand to work his will on an unsuspecting world are lethal in more ways than many can fathom. To those that make him an enemy, beware.
Ivan Volkov was one such man, first a mere nuisance to Karpov when he came aboard with Inspector General Kapustin in Series Book 4, Men of War. Karpov called him a lapdog, but Volkov, who’s name translates as “Wolf” in Russian, became something very much more in this story. Working for Russian Naval Intelligence, he is ordered to pursue Fedorov along the Trans-Siberian Rail, where he comes upon the railway inn at Ilanskiy, stumbles down a stairway, and finds himself… somewhere else. It is not another place, but another time.
Whether it was fate’s artifice, or mere happenstance, the back stairway is precisely aligned along an unseen rift in time, and any man who walks it becomes a Free Radical, an errant and dangerous thread in the careful tapestry woven by Mother Time. But unlike Fedorov, who’s brief time there ended up profoundly changing the history of the 20th Century when he warned a young Sergei Kirov of an impending plot to take his life, Ivan Volkov never came back. Instead he used his foreknowledge of future events, the data stored in his service jacket computer, to co-opt the White Russian movement after the revolution, unseating Denikin and establishing his private little empire, the Orenburg Federation.
In time he hoped to easily defeat Kolchak’s fledgling Free Siberian State, and by so doing place himself in a position to challenge the Soviet Union, now led by Sergei Kirov, who murdered a young Josef Stalin as a result of Fedorov’s errant whisper. Then along came Vladimir Karpov, defeated in his second attempt to seize control of the ship named for Kirov, lost, forsaken, alone, and adrift at sea. But not for very long.
While the other main characters aboard Kirov, and the ship’s crew, harbor mixed feelings as they commemorate his apparent death, in the opening volume of “Season 2” of this saga, Karpov survives, makes his way to Siberia, and soon applies his unique personality and will to quickly rise in the ranks of the Siberian power elite.
This is that story, of his fall in that last terrible moment aboard Kirov off Oki Island in the Sea of Japan, and his meteoric rise to seize control of the Free Siberian State. By so doing, he becomes a major player in the alternate history of WWII that is threaded through this series. It is inevitable that he soon comes into conflict with his neighbor state to the west, Volkov’s Orenburg Federation, shocked to learn the real identity of the man behind it, and dedicated to his demise.
Here is their story, the clash and contest of wills between our saga’s two arch villains that became Vendetta. The material that creates this novel was extracted from that long running subplot in the saga, spanning 17 different books, and assembled and re-edited here into one continuous and uninterrupted narrative. In doing this I have included what might be called “outtakes,” extended scenes, and occasional new material that never appeared in the original Kirov Series. Consider it my “Director’s Cut” for this long intriguing subplot in the saga, all things Ilanskiy, the mystery, the mayhem, the parachute jumps, commando raids, ground assaults, and oh yes, the Zeppelins!
AVAILABLE NOW ON AMAZON
February 29, 2016
Available Now: Kirov Series ~ Steel Reign
Kirov Series: Book 23
ABOUT STEEL REIGN
By John Schettler
The Steel Reign of the Japanese offensive reaches its high water mark as Yamamoto launches Operation FS in a bold attempt to storm the Islands of Fiji and Samoa and isolate Australia. He is opposed by a determined stand made by Admirals Fletcher and Halsey in the desperate battles of the Coral Sea and Koro Sea to decide the fate of Empires.
Meanwhile Vladimir Karpov continues his long planned invasion of Sakhalin Island, but Japan now has a powerful new champion as the Destroyer Takami is detached north to join Admiral Kurita’s task force. Now Captain Harada and the crew of Takami plot how to find and confront the dark, unseen enemy of the north that the Japanese have come to call Mizuchi, the mighty battlecruiser Kirov.
In the Atlantic, Admiral Raeder discovers the strange ship and cargo taken as a prize of war by Kaiser Wilhelm. Now he orders the Hindenburg north to Saint Nazaire to complete repairs in the only dry dock that can hold the massive battleship. But Admiral Tovey leads a plan to launch a surprise raid to destroy those facilities, and to do so he calls on the able services of the Argos Fire.
Warriors from a future time now launch themselves into the fires of WWII in a daring attempt to halt the enemy advance and end the Steel Reign of the Axis powers.
Kindle Version: $4.99
Trade Paperback: $19.99
More about Steel Reign ~ Author Interview
Steel Reign is Book 23 in the longest running Alternate History of WWII ever written, by John Schettler. Learn more about the series, and what segment of the history each volume covers at www.writingshop.ws
ABOUT STEEL REIGN
By John Schettler
The Steel Reign of the Japanese offensive reaches its high water mark as Yamamoto launches Operation FS in a bold attempt to storm the Islands of Fiji and Samoa and isolate Australia. He is opposed by a determined stand made by Admirals Fletcher and Halsey in the desperate battles of the Coral Sea and Koro Sea to decide the fate of Empires.
Meanwhile Vladimir Karpov continues his long planned invasion of Sakhalin Island, but Japan now has a powerful new champion as the Destroyer Takami is detached north to join Admiral Kurita’s task force. Now Captain Harada and the crew of Takami plot how to find and confront the dark, unseen enemy of the north that the Japanese have come to call Mizuchi, the mighty battlecruiser Kirov.
In the Atlantic, Admiral Raeder discovers the strange ship and cargo taken as a prize of war by Kaiser Wilhelm. Now he orders the Hindenburg north to Saint Nazaire to complete repairs in the only dry dock that can hold the massive battleship. But Admiral Tovey leads a plan to launch a surprise raid to destroy those facilities, and to do so he calls on the able services of the Argos Fire.
Warriors from a future time now launch themselves into the fires of WWII in a daring attempt to halt the enemy advance and end the Steel Reign of the Axis powers.
Kindle Version: $4.99
Trade Paperback: $19.99
More about Steel Reign ~ Author Interview
Steel Reign is Book 23 in the longest running Alternate History of WWII ever written, by John Schettler. Learn more about the series, and what segment of the history each volume covers at www.writingshop.ws
January 31, 2016
Foxbane: Kirov Series Battle Book 1
In a move that stunned Great Britain in 1940, the Germans launched a daring operation to seize the vaunted Rock of Gibraltar and Malta. Now Erwin Rommel leads the Afrika Korps in a bid to conquer all of Egypt and knock England out of the war. But a strange event in the year 2021 sends the Great Grandsons of the Desert Rats back through time to pose a bold new challenge. Soon the hunter becomes the hunted, as the Desert Fox struggles for his very survival in this exciting alternate history of WWII.
Available Now on Amazon!
Loaded with action, Foxbane presents 58 chapters of all the action from the German Operation Felix attack on Gibraltar, the daring attack on Malta, (Operation Herkules), the opening moves in North Africa with O'Connor's Raid, the Battle of Beda Fomm, and Rommel's first offensive, Operation Sonnenblume. Then, in the midst of the fighting, General O'Connor goes missing, and a desperate search and rescue operation is mounted. Fate takes the search team to a unexpected rendezvous in the deep desert, where a strange event in the midst of a new war in 2021 has displaced the modern British 7th Armored Brigade back in time to 1941. As Rommel drives east towards Alexandria, he is soon confronted by a powerful new enemy that becomes the bane of the Desert Fox from that day forward. At the Battle of Bir el Khamsa, modern day Challenger II tanks and Warrior AFVs confront the cream of Rommel's Afrika Korps. But we're just getting started!
Foxbane then continues as Rommel receives powerful new reinforcements to launch a bold attack on Tobruk. The fighting continues as the British launch their own counteroffensives in Operation Crusader, and finally Operation Supercharge, where the Desert Rats seek to push Rommel back to Tripoli. Here is all the great desert war action extracted from the massive 24 volume Kirov Series novels by John Schettler, re-edited by the author and presented in one continuous file spanning 58 chapters. (Over 175,000 words).
This is military fiction at its absolute finest, an alternate history so convincing that you’ll believe it actually happened!
Available Now on Amazon!
$4.99
Available Now on Amazon!
Loaded with action, Foxbane presents 58 chapters of all the action from the German Operation Felix attack on Gibraltar, the daring attack on Malta, (Operation Herkules), the opening moves in North Africa with O'Connor's Raid, the Battle of Beda Fomm, and Rommel's first offensive, Operation Sonnenblume. Then, in the midst of the fighting, General O'Connor goes missing, and a desperate search and rescue operation is mounted. Fate takes the search team to a unexpected rendezvous in the deep desert, where a strange event in the midst of a new war in 2021 has displaced the modern British 7th Armored Brigade back in time to 1941. As Rommel drives east towards Alexandria, he is soon confronted by a powerful new enemy that becomes the bane of the Desert Fox from that day forward. At the Battle of Bir el Khamsa, modern day Challenger II tanks and Warrior AFVs confront the cream of Rommel's Afrika Korps. But we're just getting started!
Foxbane then continues as Rommel receives powerful new reinforcements to launch a bold attack on Tobruk. The fighting continues as the British launch their own counteroffensives in Operation Crusader, and finally Operation Supercharge, where the Desert Rats seek to push Rommel back to Tripoli. Here is all the great desert war action extracted from the massive 24 volume Kirov Series novels by John Schettler, re-edited by the author and presented in one continuous file spanning 58 chapters. (Over 175,000 words).
This is military fiction at its absolute finest, an alternate history so convincing that you’ll believe it actually happened!
Available Now on Amazon!
$4.99
December 28, 2015
Kirov Saga: Turning Point
Kirov Saga: Turning Point Available Now!
Season 3, Book 6 ~ Series Volume 22
Kirov Series fans stand ready—Volume 22 is primed to hit Amazon on schedule, just in time for your New Year’s celebration. As with other novels in Season 3, it presents a lot of action on three fronts, covering the period February through April of 1942. Beginning just where Knight’s Move left off, we are returned to the hunt for Kaiser Wilhelm and Goeben as they attempt to reach friendly ports with their hidden cargo, a situation amplified in importance because of the unusual and amazing twist the author threw at us in Knight’s Move, where the Germans encounter a derelict and abandoned ship in the deep south Atlantic, with hidden cargo of unmeasured worth.
It was another great spin on the basic theme that underlies the entire series—that the fabric of time itself has become fragile and breakable, particularly in situations where large explosive events or nuclear devices are involved. Time is starting to fracture, and the fissures that develop can run like cracks in a broken mirror, spanning decades. This has caused men and material encountering these fractures to slip in time, mostly falling backwards from the future to the past, and reaching the tortuous web of the 1940s where WWII is being waged. But sometimes things move forward as well, like Kaiser Wilhelm’s brief encounter with the US carrier Tarawa before it slipped back to 1942, pulled by time’s gravity to the place it belonged.
Get ready for other big events this time out, as yet another major plot twist is about to be introduced here in Turning Point. [ Read the full article here ]
Half a world away, the Soviets finally launch their winter counteroffensive in a desperate attempt to stem the German tide, and force a turning point in the bitterly contested struggle on the frozen east front of early 1942.
In the Pacific, Montgomery has stopped the Japanese and saved the embattled island of Singapore, but for how long? The rising tide of the Japanese offensive now sweeps around the Rock of the East to threaten Sumatra and Java, forcing Churchill to make the most difficult decision of the war. The battle begins with a brave challenge by Admiral Doorman in the Java Sea, yet soon both Axis and Allied forces will find their plans rudely interrupted. Something has emerged from the ashes of a great disaster that now threatens to weigh heavily in the balance of the Pacific War.
Meanwhile, Generals Wavell, O’Connor, and Kinlan launch a new offensive in ‘Operation Supercharge.’ Holding nothing back, they hope to engage and defeat Rommel’s Afrika Korps once and for all, to decide the contest in Libya and pave the way for the great campaign against French North Africa.
Available now on Amazon for Kindle
Season 3, Book 6 ~ Series Volume 22
Kirov Series fans stand ready—Volume 22 is primed to hit Amazon on schedule, just in time for your New Year’s celebration. As with other novels in Season 3, it presents a lot of action on three fronts, covering the period February through April of 1942. Beginning just where Knight’s Move left off, we are returned to the hunt for Kaiser Wilhelm and Goeben as they attempt to reach friendly ports with their hidden cargo, a situation amplified in importance because of the unusual and amazing twist the author threw at us in Knight’s Move, where the Germans encounter a derelict and abandoned ship in the deep south Atlantic, with hidden cargo of unmeasured worth.
It was another great spin on the basic theme that underlies the entire series—that the fabric of time itself has become fragile and breakable, particularly in situations where large explosive events or nuclear devices are involved. Time is starting to fracture, and the fissures that develop can run like cracks in a broken mirror, spanning decades. This has caused men and material encountering these fractures to slip in time, mostly falling backwards from the future to the past, and reaching the tortuous web of the 1940s where WWII is being waged. But sometimes things move forward as well, like Kaiser Wilhelm’s brief encounter with the US carrier Tarawa before it slipped back to 1942, pulled by time’s gravity to the place it belonged.
Get ready for other big events this time out, as yet another major plot twist is about to be introduced here in Turning Point. [ Read the full article here ]
Half a world away, the Soviets finally launch their winter counteroffensive in a desperate attempt to stem the German tide, and force a turning point in the bitterly contested struggle on the frozen east front of early 1942.
In the Pacific, Montgomery has stopped the Japanese and saved the embattled island of Singapore, but for how long? The rising tide of the Japanese offensive now sweeps around the Rock of the East to threaten Sumatra and Java, forcing Churchill to make the most difficult decision of the war. The battle begins with a brave challenge by Admiral Doorman in the Java Sea, yet soon both Axis and Allied forces will find their plans rudely interrupted. Something has emerged from the ashes of a great disaster that now threatens to weigh heavily in the balance of the Pacific War.
Meanwhile, Generals Wavell, O’Connor, and Kinlan launch a new offensive in ‘Operation Supercharge.’ Holding nothing back, they hope to engage and defeat Rommel’s Afrika Korps once and for all, to decide the contest in Libya and pave the way for the great campaign against French North Africa.
Available now on Amazon for Kindle
October 29, 2015
Just Released: Kirov Saga - Knight's Move
Kirov Series - Season 3 - Book 5
Knight's Move - Available Now on Amazon!
Knight’s Move...
The Germans would call it Rosselsprung, the leaping move of a Knight in a heated game of chess. In the aftermath of the naval duel off the Canary Islands, Admiral Raeder turns loose his surface units to adopt a strategy of commerce raiding as part of his effort to choke British supplies and material bound for Egypt. Surviving the battle largely unscathed, Kaiser Wilhelm joins the light escort battle carrier Goeben in a daring sortie into the South Atlantic. Still reeling from losses sustained off Fuerteventura, the Royal Navy struggles to give chase and engage the German raiders in a harrowing naval saga. Yet the Germans find much more than they ever expected in the desolate reaches of the icy South Atlantic.
In the Pacific, the Japanese General Yamashita presses his Banzai Blitzkrieg through Malaya to the final attack against Singapore, the “Rock of the East,” but finds the British defense is now led by a most unexpected arrival. Can the British hold Singapore? The outcome is presented here in a detailed account of the battle to decide the fate of this jewel in the Empire's crown.
In the Atlantic, the Germans now begin Phase II of Operation Condor with the attack on Gran Canaria, and the British stage a desperate and stubborn defense. Now they must decide whether to risk everything to hold the island, or fall back to Tenerife and live to fight another day.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Karpov has taken Kirov north to support the opening moves of his own chess game against Japan. He musters his resources to stage a surprise attack on lower Kamchatka and Sakhalin Islands, his first bid to win back territories lost to Japan long ago in the aftermath of his fateful sortie to 1908. Now the Japanese must finally realize and deal with the substantial threat Karpov poses from the north, dispatching Knights of their own to challenge the Siberian in a major alternate history battle.
Action from start to finish as the war careens into 1942 in the amazing Kirov Saga!
For Kindle: $4.99
Trade Paperback: Coming Soon
Knight's Move - Available Now on Amazon!
Knight’s Move...
The Germans would call it Rosselsprung, the leaping move of a Knight in a heated game of chess. In the aftermath of the naval duel off the Canary Islands, Admiral Raeder turns loose his surface units to adopt a strategy of commerce raiding as part of his effort to choke British supplies and material bound for Egypt. Surviving the battle largely unscathed, Kaiser Wilhelm joins the light escort battle carrier Goeben in a daring sortie into the South Atlantic. Still reeling from losses sustained off Fuerteventura, the Royal Navy struggles to give chase and engage the German raiders in a harrowing naval saga. Yet the Germans find much more than they ever expected in the desolate reaches of the icy South Atlantic.In the Pacific, the Japanese General Yamashita presses his Banzai Blitzkrieg through Malaya to the final attack against Singapore, the “Rock of the East,” but finds the British defense is now led by a most unexpected arrival. Can the British hold Singapore? The outcome is presented here in a detailed account of the battle to decide the fate of this jewel in the Empire's crown.
In the Atlantic, the Germans now begin Phase II of Operation Condor with the attack on Gran Canaria, and the British stage a desperate and stubborn defense. Now they must decide whether to risk everything to hold the island, or fall back to Tenerife and live to fight another day.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Karpov has taken Kirov north to support the opening moves of his own chess game against Japan. He musters his resources to stage a surprise attack on lower Kamchatka and Sakhalin Islands, his first bid to win back territories lost to Japan long ago in the aftermath of his fateful sortie to 1908. Now the Japanese must finally realize and deal with the substantial threat Karpov poses from the north, dispatching Knights of their own to challenge the Siberian in a major alternate history battle.
Action from start to finish as the war careens into 1942 in the amazing Kirov Saga!
For Kindle: $4.99
Trade Paperback: Coming Soon
August 31, 2015
Just Released: Tide Of Fortune
Tide of Fortune Goes Live Sep 1, 2015
Kirov Series fans will be pleased to learn the next book in the saga is now available in the Amazon Kindle store here:
MORE ABOUT THIS VOLUME
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
MAPS
Kirov Series fans will be pleased to learn the next book in the saga is now available in the Amazon Kindle store here:
MORE ABOUT THIS VOLUME
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
MAPS
July 2, 2015
Just Released: Winter Storm
Kirov Saga:
Winter Storm
Season 3, Book 3, Series book 19
Just in time for the long 4th of July weekend, and out early for the faithful crew that has followed this story from book 1, Winter Storm takes us into the dramatic military events of late 1941. KINDLE EDITION
This volume packed with heavy wartime action and the drama of Fedorov’s facedown with the Siberian. One look at the cover makes that quite apparent. Ever since Paradox Hour and the third season opener Doppelganger took us through the mind boggling mysteries of the time travel elements of the story, it has been cat and mouse on the ship, as the author used most of volume 2, Nemesis, to present the story of Karpov’s devious plot to gain control of Kirov. Fedorov is beset by both Karpovs in that last volume, and looking for allies. He finally convinces Volsky, but too late to stop Karpov’s plot. Now, he lays low aboard the ship, hoping to slowly gather support.
This third volume opens exactly where Nemesis left off, with Grilikov nose to nose with the implacable Sergeant Troyak in the helo bay. Once again, it was Orlov’s wayward ways that set up that confrontation, blustering into the helo bay and thinking he could now even bully the Marines. Yet the Siberian Karpov is older, more cunning, and wiser after having been through the fire, and he handles the situation on the ship in a way you may not expect. Over the first 9 chapters we get a resolution of the long simmering potential conflict between Fedorov and the ship’s new Siberian master, and while necessary to the developing plot, this is not the central action of this volume.
Winter Storm quickly moves into the history of the crucial battles of late 1941, and it is loaded with combat. Beginning with Part IV, aptly entitled “The Rising Storm,” the narrative returns to the war with the next 12 chapters taking us back to the Russian front, where the historical characters of Guderian, Model, and the other German generals face down the Red Army. Operation Typhoon is presented in great detail, and yes, we finally get the arrival of the Big Cats on the field of battle, and the showdown between Kurt Knispel and Dmitri Lavrinenko takes place in an action filled three chapter duel at a place called Malakhovo, north of Tula on the road to Serpukhov. This segment concludes with “Black Snow,” where a surprising plot twist occurs that introduces more drama into the crisis of the battle of Moscow, but this is something that cannot be discussed here. Suffice it to say, these 12 chapters at the heart of Winter Storm have the author bringing us into the war in the east as never before. But we’re just getting started!
After a relatively quiet summer, except for the disastrous retreat of the Red Army, the last quarter of 1941 saw little action in other theaters. But at Churchill’s urging, late in the year the British tee up an operation against Rommel. So we get another classic battle segment here in this novel, as Operation Crusader is launched in October of this altered history timeline The Desert Fox has been sitting on his Gazala Line defenses, licking his wounds and watching one unit after another being taken from his Afrika Korps. The November 41 British operation was originally launched from the Egyptian-Libyan border with the aim of relieving Tobruk, but in this altered history, the stunning counterattack by Kinlan’s Heavy Brigade put an end to that threat back in Crescendo of Doom. So this time the British intend to try and push Rommel off his Gazala Line defenses and see if they can retake Cyrenaica, but both sides are in for surprises.
Just before Crusader gets started, we get treated to an engaging three chapter session between Hitler and the man the world came to call the Prophet, Ivan Volkov. Flying to Wolf’s lair, Volkov is trying to shock Hitler with the urgency of these critical engagements in late 1941, and also has a hidden agenda of his own which sets up even more action later. Far from being shunted aside on Tunguska, the younger Karpov will soon get his chance to prove his worth, as Volkov is again up to no good while the Siberian is away on his sojourn to the Pacific.
And then we finally come to the last spasm of war at the end of 1941, like the fireworks display that ends the show every fourth. This is, of course, Japan’s Operation Z plan to attack Pearl Harbor, and Winter Storm concludes with the dramatic events taking us to December 7th in an extended segment most aptly entitled “Climb Mount Niitaka.” Here we learn what the Japanese Navy now looks like, not untouched by the interventions of 1908, which led them to make some interesting changes to their order of battle. And then that navy sets sail, even as the Siberian Karpov struggles through the ice to try and reach the scene of battle in time.
The loving detail in all these scenes depicting the altered history of the war tell us where season three is now taking us, for the next volume in the series, Tide Of Fortune will lead us boldly into 1942. If this book sets the template for what is to come, then batten down the hatches, as the author is promising to take us right on through the war, covering all the major battles WWII buffs will know and love, on land, at sea, and in the skies. In Winter Storm we see also the first effects of new war fighting technology entering the story. Germany has the Big Cats now prowling the field in selected units, and even Rommel gets a few of the new PzKfw-55L Lions to augment his Afrika Korps, when Hitler sends him a newly structured 10th Panzer Division early. The Germans also get another toy in this volume, while the British lay their own plans at how they can get new war winners into production based on the amazing power they have in hand with Kinlan’s Brigade.
These new tanks, weapons, and other tech are all arriving early, which, along with all the new ships at sea, will all be part of the excitement as the war unfolds. Fledgling missiles and jet fighters are already on the drawing boards, and the impact of this advanced tech will play out in the volumes ahead. In the meantime, while it has some great character based scenes on the ship itself, and involving Hitler, Volkov and Sergei Kirov, more than half of this volume is dedicated to covering the dramatic and critical battles at the end of 1941. And from what I am told, there’s a lot more to come in Tide of Fortune.
Jump on the action with Winter Storm available now, with the e-book out early this month of barbecues, fireworks… and some good beer. Enjoy this one, which will not fail to deliver everything you’ve come to expect from this series.
KINDLE EDITION
The Trade Paperback will be available from the CreateSpace link on the writingshop web site, on or before 7/15/15
Winter Storm
Season 3, Book 3, Series book 19
Just in time for the long 4th of July weekend, and out early for the faithful crew that has followed this story from book 1, Winter Storm takes us into the dramatic military events of late 1941. KINDLE EDITION
This volume packed with heavy wartime action and the drama of Fedorov’s facedown with the Siberian. One look at the cover makes that quite apparent. Ever since Paradox Hour and the third season opener Doppelganger took us through the mind boggling mysteries of the time travel elements of the story, it has been cat and mouse on the ship, as the author used most of volume 2, Nemesis, to present the story of Karpov’s devious plot to gain control of Kirov. Fedorov is beset by both Karpovs in that last volume, and looking for allies. He finally convinces Volsky, but too late to stop Karpov’s plot. Now, he lays low aboard the ship, hoping to slowly gather support.
This third volume opens exactly where Nemesis left off, with Grilikov nose to nose with the implacable Sergeant Troyak in the helo bay. Once again, it was Orlov’s wayward ways that set up that confrontation, blustering into the helo bay and thinking he could now even bully the Marines. Yet the Siberian Karpov is older, more cunning, and wiser after having been through the fire, and he handles the situation on the ship in a way you may not expect. Over the first 9 chapters we get a resolution of the long simmering potential conflict between Fedorov and the ship’s new Siberian master, and while necessary to the developing plot, this is not the central action of this volume.
Winter Storm quickly moves into the history of the crucial battles of late 1941, and it is loaded with combat. Beginning with Part IV, aptly entitled “The Rising Storm,” the narrative returns to the war with the next 12 chapters taking us back to the Russian front, where the historical characters of Guderian, Model, and the other German generals face down the Red Army. Operation Typhoon is presented in great detail, and yes, we finally get the arrival of the Big Cats on the field of battle, and the showdown between Kurt Knispel and Dmitri Lavrinenko takes place in an action filled three chapter duel at a place called Malakhovo, north of Tula on the road to Serpukhov. This segment concludes with “Black Snow,” where a surprising plot twist occurs that introduces more drama into the crisis of the battle of Moscow, but this is something that cannot be discussed here. Suffice it to say, these 12 chapters at the heart of Winter Storm have the author bringing us into the war in the east as never before. But we’re just getting started!
After a relatively quiet summer, except for the disastrous retreat of the Red Army, the last quarter of 1941 saw little action in other theaters. But at Churchill’s urging, late in the year the British tee up an operation against Rommel. So we get another classic battle segment here in this novel, as Operation Crusader is launched in October of this altered history timeline The Desert Fox has been sitting on his Gazala Line defenses, licking his wounds and watching one unit after another being taken from his Afrika Korps. The November 41 British operation was originally launched from the Egyptian-Libyan border with the aim of relieving Tobruk, but in this altered history, the stunning counterattack by Kinlan’s Heavy Brigade put an end to that threat back in Crescendo of Doom. So this time the British intend to try and push Rommel off his Gazala Line defenses and see if they can retake Cyrenaica, but both sides are in for surprises.
Just before Crusader gets started, we get treated to an engaging three chapter session between Hitler and the man the world came to call the Prophet, Ivan Volkov. Flying to Wolf’s lair, Volkov is trying to shock Hitler with the urgency of these critical engagements in late 1941, and also has a hidden agenda of his own which sets up even more action later. Far from being shunted aside on Tunguska, the younger Karpov will soon get his chance to prove his worth, as Volkov is again up to no good while the Siberian is away on his sojourn to the Pacific.
And then we finally come to the last spasm of war at the end of 1941, like the fireworks display that ends the show every fourth. This is, of course, Japan’s Operation Z plan to attack Pearl Harbor, and Winter Storm concludes with the dramatic events taking us to December 7th in an extended segment most aptly entitled “Climb Mount Niitaka.” Here we learn what the Japanese Navy now looks like, not untouched by the interventions of 1908, which led them to make some interesting changes to their order of battle. And then that navy sets sail, even as the Siberian Karpov struggles through the ice to try and reach the scene of battle in time.
The loving detail in all these scenes depicting the altered history of the war tell us where season three is now taking us, for the next volume in the series, Tide Of Fortune will lead us boldly into 1942. If this book sets the template for what is to come, then batten down the hatches, as the author is promising to take us right on through the war, covering all the major battles WWII buffs will know and love, on land, at sea, and in the skies. In Winter Storm we see also the first effects of new war fighting technology entering the story. Germany has the Big Cats now prowling the field in selected units, and even Rommel gets a few of the new PzKfw-55L Lions to augment his Afrika Korps, when Hitler sends him a newly structured 10th Panzer Division early. The Germans also get another toy in this volume, while the British lay their own plans at how they can get new war winners into production based on the amazing power they have in hand with Kinlan’s Brigade.
These new tanks, weapons, and other tech are all arriving early, which, along with all the new ships at sea, will all be part of the excitement as the war unfolds. Fledgling missiles and jet fighters are already on the drawing boards, and the impact of this advanced tech will play out in the volumes ahead. In the meantime, while it has some great character based scenes on the ship itself, and involving Hitler, Volkov and Sergei Kirov, more than half of this volume is dedicated to covering the dramatic and critical battles at the end of 1941. And from what I am told, there’s a lot more to come in Tide of Fortune.
Jump on the action with Winter Storm available now, with the e-book out early this month of barbecues, fireworks… and some good beer. Enjoy this one, which will not fail to deliver everything you’ve come to expect from this series.
KINDLE EDITION
The Trade Paperback will be available from the CreateSpace link on the writingshop web site, on or before 7/15/15
May 11, 2015
Just Released! Kirov Saga: NEMESIS
Kirov Saga: NEMESIS
Season Three, Book 2
KINDLE VERSION: $4.99
The second volume in the third season of this long running tale carries the story into the turbulent waters of the north. With Admiral Volsky fallen ill, Fedorov struggles to prevent Karpov from repeating the awful events that ended in nuclear fire, and the explosion that again sent the ship reeling through time. With his memory intact, knowledge of Rod-25 and everything Karpov would do, he sets his mind on gaining control of the ship, yet must face the dangerous wrath of Karpov if he is to succeed.
Meanwhile, the Siberian, as the second Karpov is now called, has struck a dangerous bargain with Sergei Kirov, but one that could bring about another fatal collision in time. Learning that the ship has reappeared, he sets his mind on trying to find Kirov, and in so doing gain control over the most powerful weapons in the world. Unaware that his duplicate self even exists, he soon finds he has a shadowy accomplice.
The war continues on the Russian front as the Germans slowly begin to introduce new prototype tank designs, born of the shock and fire delivered by Kinlan’s heavy brigade. The story takes us into this action on the Soviet front with the cutting edge of Guderian’s 2nd Panzergruppe, and the veteran divisions of the 24th Panzer Korps spearhead the final German assault aimed at winning the war in 1941, Operation Typhoon. In doing so they run right into Sergie Kirov’s last available reserves, and the 1st Siberian Shock Army launches a daring counterattack to try and stem the German tide.
Read More about Nemesis Here
KINDLE VERSION: $4.99
Trade Paperback Available on or before May 15, 2015
Season Three, Book 2
KINDLE VERSION: $4.99
The second volume in the third season of this long running tale carries the story into the turbulent waters of the north. With Admiral Volsky fallen ill, Fedorov struggles to prevent Karpov from repeating the awful events that ended in nuclear fire, and the explosion that again sent the ship reeling through time. With his memory intact, knowledge of Rod-25 and everything Karpov would do, he sets his mind on gaining control of the ship, yet must face the dangerous wrath of Karpov if he is to succeed.
Meanwhile, the Siberian, as the second Karpov is now called, has struck a dangerous bargain with Sergei Kirov, but one that could bring about another fatal collision in time. Learning that the ship has reappeared, he sets his mind on trying to find Kirov, and in so doing gain control over the most powerful weapons in the world. Unaware that his duplicate self even exists, he soon finds he has a shadowy accomplice.
The war continues on the Russian front as the Germans slowly begin to introduce new prototype tank designs, born of the shock and fire delivered by Kinlan’s heavy brigade. The story takes us into this action on the Soviet front with the cutting edge of Guderian’s 2nd Panzergruppe, and the veteran divisions of the 24th Panzer Korps spearhead the final German assault aimed at winning the war in 1941, Operation Typhoon. In doing so they run right into Sergie Kirov’s last available reserves, and the 1st Siberian Shock Army launches a daring counterattack to try and stem the German tide.
Read More about Nemesis Here
KINDLE VERSION: $4.99
Trade Paperback Available on or before May 15, 2015
March 12, 2015
Just Released: Doppelganger
Season 3 of the Kirov Series opens with Volume 17: Doppelganger, where the answer to the dilemma that now faces Mother Time will finally decide the fate of the ship and crew. Battle still rages in the Atlantic, where Admiral Tovey must now face down the German fleet alone on HMS Invincible. Two of the world's most powerful battleships now come face to face in a titanic clash at sea, and Tovey must use all his skill to survive.
Elena Fairchild arrives on the scene to discover the crisis aboard Rodney has made her quest for the lost key impossible. Yet there she meets one other uninvited guest, an American officer who reveals that he is not the man he seems. Together they consider what they may have lost, and how it might yet be saved.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Karpov has discovered that his own personal fate is also in jeopardy as his dwindling lease on time runs thin. Realizing the dilemma that has plagued Fedorov for so long, he rises in Tunguska, intent on seeking the heart of a gathering storm, in a desperate attempt to save his own twisted soul from the ravages of Paradox. As he peers through the shattered glass of history, deep into the mirror of time, he suddenly discovers his own self looking right back at him.
The exciting alternate history of WWII careens towards 1942, as Germany now makes its great bid to destroy Kirov’s Soviet Russia and smash the last of the stubborn British resistance in the Middle East. Yet plans for new weapons of war will appear, strange doppelgangers spawned from the legacy of Kirov. Soon they will darken the battlefields of Europe, when the tempo of technology will leap ahead to produce a new generation of tanks, aircraft and the deadly art of missile warfare arrives years early.
READ MORE ON DOPPELGANGER HERE
NEW: MAJOR CHARACTER BROWSER
GET KINDLE VERSION ON AMAZON: $4.99
Elena Fairchild arrives on the scene to discover the crisis aboard Rodney has made her quest for the lost key impossible. Yet there she meets one other uninvited guest, an American officer who reveals that he is not the man he seems. Together they consider what they may have lost, and how it might yet be saved.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Karpov has discovered that his own personal fate is also in jeopardy as his dwindling lease on time runs thin. Realizing the dilemma that has plagued Fedorov for so long, he rises in Tunguska, intent on seeking the heart of a gathering storm, in a desperate attempt to save his own twisted soul from the ravages of Paradox. As he peers through the shattered glass of history, deep into the mirror of time, he suddenly discovers his own self looking right back at him.
The exciting alternate history of WWII careens towards 1942, as Germany now makes its great bid to destroy Kirov’s Soviet Russia and smash the last of the stubborn British resistance in the Middle East. Yet plans for new weapons of war will appear, strange doppelgangers spawned from the legacy of Kirov. Soon they will darken the battlefields of Europe, when the tempo of technology will leap ahead to produce a new generation of tanks, aircraft and the deadly art of missile warfare arrives years early.
READ MORE ON DOPPELGANGER HERE
NEW: MAJOR CHARACTER BROWSER
GET KINDLE VERSION ON AMAZON: $4.99
