The French Gambit

By: Drew McGunn

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Alternate history on an epic scale. Drew McGunn continues the acclaimed Lone Star Reloaded series with a high-stakes European gambit.

He was a Ranger, forged on the battlefields of Mexico and East Texas. Europe's war was supposed to be observed, not survived.

Colonel Jesse Running Creek—veteran commander, hero of the Republic — is dispatched to Paris on the eve of the Franco-Prussian War. His mission: navigate the treacherous currents of French diplomacy, secure a controversial arms deal, and report on the terrifying new face of European warfare, from deadly Prussian artillery to Texas's own advanced weaponry caught in the fray.

But as France ignites and empires clash, duty forces Jesse to leave his untested fourteen-year-old son, David, adrift in a Paris plunging into the chaos of siege. While Jesse witnesses the brutal efficiency of the Prussian war machine at Sedan, David must face his own crucible—navigating first love, prejudice, and the bloody rise of the Paris Commune. Across the continent, Jesse’s wife Elsa fights her own battles, caught between her Prussian family and her Texas loyalties.

When revolution consumes Paris and the Texas Legation itself becomes a target, Jesse and his handful of Rangers must make a desperate stand. Outnumbered, surrounded, with only their Texas grit and advanced rifles against the fury of the mob, the fight for survival becomes intensely personal.

In a continent aflame, torn between duty to his Republic, his divided family, and his own complex heritage, can Colonel Running Creek survive the deadly French gambit and bring his family home?

Good story, bad AI Faux Texas accented reader.

Good continuing story, but the AI narrators pronunciation of items like Chassepot (chaspough) grated. As did the fake Texan accent used by the AI.