They Own the Night: The First Gomer Wars

by Michael S. Pauley

The Aliens' initial attacks were precise and devastating. Traversing the planet under the cover of darkness, they eliminated most of the Worlds' leaders and crippled their militaries all in one night. The horrific assaults continued unchecked as the thousands of alien craft circled the globe like locust, killing anyone in their path. For those who saw their methods and survived, it was clear that the invaders wanted to do one thing, remove all human life from the planet. Our only recourse was to rely on the Continuity of Government plan, and the people with the background to try and maintain a working government. The surviving leadership would do all they could to try and put things back together and to preserve what they could, but would preservation be enough? After a harrowing escape from the initial Alien attack, with his wife and only a part of his family, it was a different world for Lieutenant General, Michael Patrick, United States Army Reserve. No longer would he be just a small town lawyer, or a tired washed-up former special operator and relic of the Cold War. Now it would fall to General Patrick to piece together the military forces that would stop the onslaught. Together with other old soldiers and the survivors of the various armies and navies from around the globe, they would pull themselves together as a fighting force. Their one thought, their one mission, was not just to preserve life, but to take back the night.

366 pages, Paperback

First published June 28, 2013

About the author

Michael S. Pauley is a Navy brat and an old soldier who, throughout his military career, served in all three components of the United States Army. He is also a licensed attorney in South Carolina, who is admitted in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and before the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Pauley is a former Judicial Law Clerk for the Honorable Chief Justice Jean H. Toal, Supreme Court of South Carolina, as well as a former Prosecuting Attorney for the Office of Disciplinary Counsel. Currently in the private practice of law as a partner in LIDE AND PAULEY, LLC, Mr. Pauley concentrates on both State and Federal Constitutional law; law enforcement defense; civil rights law; and appellate litigation. Born in Beckley, West Virginia “back when dinosaurs roamed the earth,” Mr. Pauley resides in Lexington, South Carolina, along with his bride. Mr. Pauley is a member of the United States Naval Institute and the American Legion, Post 154, Tybee Island, Georgia. You can find out more by either following Mr. Pauley on Twitter @michaelspauley; Tumblr at http://thegomerwars.tumblr.com; or on his web page at www.michaelspauley.com.

Reviews

[Charles Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essentially updating/Americanizing H.G. Welles' The War of the Worlds, author Michael S. Pauley - a veteran of all three branches of the American armed forces fires the opening salvo of a series in the military-SF genre, elevating and honoring the military part.

Present-day Earth gets blitzed by an interstellar invasion fleet, nameless, nasty E.T.s soon given the all-purpose US Army tag "Gomers." The energy-eating marauders and their craft, active after dark only, decapitate global defense and government infrastructure. In the USA, semi-retired Lt-Col. Michael "Mighty Mouse" Patrick survives the initial onslaught, learning upon rescue he holds the most senior rank and experience to take charge as Supreme Commander. From his dug-in mountain bunker the no-nonsense general re-organizes the remaining Army, Navy and Air Force along WW2 lines (failure to do so being an immense flaw of the latter-day Pentagon, we're told) and begins R&D to exploit the Kryptonite-like weaknesses of the Gomers and put Yankee know-how in the forefront of humanity's offensive.

Even with a subplot about the war from the POV of a grunt ground trooper named Kowalski, the narrative emphasis turns on textbook-detailed troop deployments, resource allocation, chains of command and strategies against the enigmatic Gomers, whose unvarying and arcade-game MO seems to be hit back instinctually with ever more brutally gigantic (but fewer) floating fortresses.

It does read a bit like a blow-by-blow of a battlefield sim, and while a typical SF author ("Egghead," as Gen. Patrick might say) might dwell on the sense-of-wonder awe and culture and backstory of the invaders, Pauley belays all that baggage for a straightforward delivery of underdog mankind adapting and beating back a formidable foe so schematized that Gomer ships ("objects") are never clearly described. Only late in the game are Gomers revealed as - sound familiar, Starship Troopers fans? - giant arachnids.

Unlike some others in the Tom Clancy platoon, gung-ho political endorsements are kept muted, though one senses the author's admiration for Ronald Reagan and contempt for the Russians.

While it doesn't take the hill for originality, this brawny procedural in Wellesian interplanetary warfare should earn stars and stripes with undiscriminating combat SF fans and ROTC members.

[Dragonlady-sci-fi-fantasy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Science Fiction, science, and history, so this book was a great find for me. This is an intriguing blend of aliens and realism. They Own the Night deals with how The American Government and others around the world would deal with the devastation of a surprise alien attack that decimates all leadership, both military and governmental. It has excellent character development. This book was especially engaging for me because I really like Sci-fi that has a hard science element. This story incorporates existing technology and realistic human responses.