Earth Fire

The Survivalist #9

by Jerry Ahern

The Russians, consolidating their brutal hold on America after the bloody horror of World War III, are planning an act so vicious that mankind, itself, may never recover from the blow. John Thomas Rourke, the ex-CIA Covert Operations Officer, weapons expert, and survival authority is the only one with a prayer of stopping them.

But the Reds aren't afraid of Rourke. They fear the same thing he does: the imminent combustion of the earth's atmosphere into a global mass of deadly flame!

Though Rourke has finally found his family, it will be a short reunion if he can't find a way to survive the Earth Fire. When all of humanity is about the burn in a hell of its own creation, it will be the final—and perhaps fatal—test of Rourke's skills as THE SURVIVALIST.'

Genres: Post Apocalyptic, Action, Adventure, Ebooks, Military Fiction, Dystopia, Pulp

240 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2008

About the author

Jerry Ahern (born Jerome Morrell Ahern) was a science fiction and action novel author best known for his post apocalyptic survivalist series The Survivalist. The books in this series are heavy with descriptions of the weapons the protagonists use to survive and prosecute a seemingly never-ending war amongst the remnants of the superpowers from pre-apocalypse times.

Ahern was also a firearms writer, who published numerous articles in magazines such as Guns & Ammo, Handguns and Gun World.

Jerry Ahern passed away on July 24, 2012 after a long struggle with cancer.

Ahern also released books under pseudonym Axel Kilgore.

Reviews

[Bill Riggs]

Top notch, over the top early 80’s WWIII, post apocalypse fun. Outrageous? Yes! This is a sit back, grab some popcorn and enjoy the show type of story. This is shooting at Soviet MiGs with .45 pistols while waving the American flag type of Hollywood fun.

[Craig]

The Survivalist is John Thomas Rourke, a doctor and ex-CIA agent and weapons expert. Earth Fire is the ninth volume in what would become the longest and most successful of the series in Zebra's "Men's Adventure" line of the 1980s. This ninth one is overall just another step along the way, but in another way is wraps up all of the arcs from the previous eight books. (Spoilers will be possible... be warned...) Rourke and his wife Sara had been spending some time apart when the nasty Russkies peppered the U.S. with atomic bombs, nuclear destruction from the skies, but luckily no one was more prepared than JTR. Since then, he had picked up a sidekick named Paul Rubenstein when their flight crashed, he started working with a beautiful Russian named Natalia (which makes him angsty and conflicted, though he's always faithful to Sara), and he began working for the new U.S. government, and, in his spare time, he looked for his family. He helped Paul find his family before Florida fell off the bottom of the continent and finally is reunited with Sara and the kids. JTR catalogues his weapons collection quite frequently, which always seems to take a hundred pages; they're skimmable and skippable, like you'd ignore commercials on tv or skip over advertisements in comic books. The Russians have been portrayed as evil, for the most part, yet complex and sometimes honorable as individuals. The population had rapidly dropped into Mad Max mode, and the Russians have long since moved in and taken over key areas. It turned into a vast and glorious cartoon serial comic book story, with something called The Eden Project looming. Is the whole planet going to go up in flames? Can nothing be done to stop the madness?... Sex and violence... then the world blows up. (That was the spoiler, sorry. However, since the series continues...) It's another pretty well-told and fast-paced story, a quick read peopled with clear cut good guys and bad guys. I read the first ten in a week when the company for which I worked at the time sent me out of town to help set up a new distribution center in a small town and I had nothing much else to do after hours. I didn't agree with much of the political philosophy, but Ahern was a great storyteller and Rourke's friends and family dynamics became a truly compelling soap opera. The last chapter of this one is truly epic after you've been waiting for it for the last couple thousand pages!

[Nicholas]

This one is moderately more engaging than the previous ones, even if the plot is on the silly side of things. No, seriously, it's a silly plot development. By this point, Ahern is almost capable of writing a decent action scene, but still far too bogged down in the tiny details about what Rourke is doing with his guns. I mean, this is the ninth book. We know he's operating the slide on the Detonic after he slams another clip in the well.

I think these details are how Ahern expresses his sexual frustrations.

Again, however, he does a decent job of portraying most of the Soviets as actual human beings, worthy of respect and honor, with only the main antagonist having the cartoonish villain aspects. Considering this is a post-apocalyptic novel (in which the Sovs started the apocalypse war) with a noticeable right/libertarian bent, written in 1984, that is impressive.

[Little Timmy]

This is my favorite adventure series. Dr John Thomas Rourke leads his family and friends through a post apocalyptic world fighting ever step if the way. Fantastic characters and plots. Very detailed weapon descriptions. Excellent series. My highest recommendation

[Joseph B]

The 'first act', as I call it, concludes in Earth Fire. All eight previous novels build up to the events in this one; and it is an explosive finale to this mega-arc. John and Natalia attempt to unite U.S. 2 and Soviet factions in a bid to stop the true end of the world... or at least survive it.

Earth Fire is both an end and new beginning for the Survivalist series. I enjoy Ahern's descriptive prose, even if it meanders into technical specifications about guns often, and paired with the predictable but enjoyable overpowered protagonists makes for fun pulp.

[Bob]

Ugh.. really hate that Sarah cow.

[Jan]

Old school pulp fiction at it's best. Bad dialog, over the top characters and plot holes you could drive a truck through. Very enjoyable!

[Charles]

See my review under "Total War," Survivalist Book 1.

[Kurt Vosper]

see book 1

[Jonah]

The classic 1980s flagporn (flagsploitation?)at the end was too funny! That really took me back.

[Keith]

Was fun easy reading in my teens. Would actually like to pick one up again and see what I think now. :D

[jayne flatt]

Absolutely brilliant

Read them all five times and enjoying them all again as much cannot wait to read the Redstone for number ten