Showing results by author "Nicholas Sansbury Smith" in All Categories

With nowhere left to run, the Allied States fortifies their few remaining outposts and relocates Central Command to prepare for their final stand. President Jan Ringgold and her generals know beating the enemy on the battlefield is impossible. The only path to victory seems to be taking down the leader of the New Gods, a sinister Chimera known as the Prophet, before he can complete his campaign to enslave humanity.

On a war torn Earth, the mighty Nova Alliance is the last defense against the treacherous Coalition. At the heart of this defense are the Engines—formidable, genetically enhanced soldiers. Under the command of the legendary Captain Akira Hayashi, the elite Shadow Squad has defended the frontlines for years. But just as victory seems imminent, the Coalition strikes hard, targeting the very sites meant to heal the wounded planet.

Engines. Genetically modified warriors that keep the great Nova Alliance war machine churning against the enemy Coalition. Most days, Engines are all that stand between salvation and chaos. Led by legendary Engine Captain Akira Hayashi, Shadow Squad has fought on the frontlines for a decade. They are on the brink of victory when the Coalition launches a series of desperate and devastating attacks that cripple the Nova Alliance restoration sites vital to save the dying planet.

The motto of Marine Sergeant Ronaldo Salvatore lives on in his son, Dominic, and his undercover team known as the Saints. With the support of LAPD Captain Zed Marks, the Saints embark on a mission to destroy the criminal organizations that have a stranglehold on Los Angeles. Through brains, cunning, and sheer ruthlessness, the most powerful leader, Don Antonio Moretti, has risen from underdog to contender for the throne. He believes that only the Vega family of narcos stands in his way, but he has underestimated another underdog.

Captain Axel Finn has spent his life running salvage missions with an alien crew and their war bot. This motley group has found refuge on his ship from their own tumultuous pasts. But little do any of them know, beneath his gentle demeanor, their steadfast captain is far from the peace following, adventure seeking giant of a man they all love. His pacifist ethos meant to safeguard them has edged them to the brink of financial ruin and drawn dangerous enemies.

Almost seven weeks have passed since the Hemorrhage Virus ravaged the world. The remnants of the United States military have regrouped and relocated Central Command to the George Washington Carrier Strike Group. It's here, in the North Atlantic, that President Jan Ringgold and Vice President George Johnson prepare to deploy a new bioweapon and embark on the final mission to take back the country from the Variants.

The dust from Dr. Kate Lovato's bioweapon has settled. Projections put death counts in the billions. Her weapon was supposed to be the endgame, but it turned a small percentage of those infected with the Hemorrhage Virus into something even worse.

On the eve of extinction all seems to be lost, but there is still one final hope.... Operation Liberty has failed. Humans are losing the war. With no other option, General Kennor decides to pull back the troops and give science a second chance.

Newly christened as the leader of Delta Force Team Ghost, Master Sergeant Joe Fitzpatrick arrives in Normandy over 70 years after Allied Forces joined the fight against the Nazis. The war to free survivors and eradicate pockets of adult Variants and their offspring is underway by the European Unified Forces. But as the troops push east, rumors of a new type of monster spread through the ranks. Fitz and his new team quickly realize that the fight for Europe might be harder than anyone ever imagined.

On the moon, Ronin Hayashi trains to protect the colonies from the inevitable invasion of the machines. While he prepares to stand his ground, Sergeant Tadhg Walsh is planning an escape mission to deliver a weapon to the resistance on Earth. At Neptune Station, Captain Akira Hayashi and Shadow Squad have returned from a deadly journey into enemy territory, where they learn the machines are building an army at an astonishing rate. After continued attempts to contact the Lunar Defense Corps for help, Shadow Squad accepts the hard truth—the LDC isn’t coming.

One month after the defeat of a rogue group of terrorists, the United States struggles to maintain control over the New Frontier. The untamed sector of America simmers as opportunists, criminals, and marauders wait to fill the void left behind. An extremist faction of the Navajo Nation called the Rattlesnakes have waited years for this moment. Their leader launches their first, brutal attack on a water treatment and power facility in Colorado. 

The government said the Variants were dying off.... That the beasts would be extinct in a matter of years.... That the Allied States had returned to prosperity and freedom.... The government was dead wrong. Deep under the cities, the Variants weren't just hiding, they were breeding. While the human survivors of the Extinction Cycle built outposts and brought back industries, the monsters were building something of their own.

Six months after the deadly attacks on Fort Golden and Estes Park, Colorado is on the verge of collapse. Sam “Raven” Spears and Calvin Jackson struggle to rebuild and protect their families and friends that have remained. Sheriff Lindsey Plymouth and the Rangers desperately fight to hold back the marauders penetrating their borders. And all the while, the bioengineered Wild Fire plague continues spreading through the New Frontier and beyond.

Two years after an attack brought down the electrical grid across the United States, the recovery effort is well underway. A new network of armored trains carry supplies and industrial equipment crucial to rebuilding the country. But along the rails, one area of America is still mired in darkness, violence, and danger. Some call it the Badlands. Others the Wild West. The government simply refers to it as the New Frontier. 

The deadly hunt continues as the hunters become the hunted.... Five days ago North Korea detonated three nuclear warheads over the United States, triggering an electromagnetic pulse that crippled the country. A second attack destroyed the nerve center of America in a nuclear blast that flattened the nation’s capital. As the United States descends into chaos, the survivors must decide how far they will go to save the ones they love.

In the aftermath of a devastating civil war, America has fallen into anarchy and chaos. Los Angeles is divided into different territories controlled by criminal organizations. Don Antonio Moretti has won a slice of the pie, but is hungry for more. In his quest for power, he sends his nephew and a small crew to Mexico to negotiate a new deal for their staple product, while the don returns to Italy for some unfinished business.

For a dozen years, villagers along the ancient Da River in Vietnam have feared a nightmarish creature who hunts and consumes human flesh. Only in whispers do they mention its name, The White Ghost. To the United States military, this creature has a different name - Marine Lieutenant Trevor Brett, the chemically engineered experiment gone wrong that they will do anything to hide. Sole survivor of his platoon, Brett has stalked the jungle for prey. But the men who made him into a monster are searching for him, and when they find him, the line between hunter and hunted will be blurred.

The best-selling Extinction Cycle series by Nicholas Sansbury Smith first introduced listeners to a world ravaged by an engineered virus that turned men into monsters. Humanity's only hope was not a cure, but another bioweapon. When deployed it killed 90 percent of the infected, but the remaining 10 percent transformed into even more terrifying creatures called Variants. Here's a collection of Extinction Cycle short stories that explore the human spirit and the fight for survival in the face of overwhelming odds from some of the leading voices in the post-apocalyptic genre.

After waking up with no memories in an underground facility, a squad of elite soldiers and scientists must try to recall what their mission is. But first, it’s a race against the clock to escape their collapsing bunker before it becomes a tomb. Topside, an even more dangerous world of fiery skies and desolate terrain awaits. As they venture out to explore their strange new surroundings, bits of memory begin to return, though nothing can prepare them for the strange forces protecting this bleak landscape.

Held captive by Dark Horse Company, Captain Axel Finn is faced with a mission to humanity’s ancestral home after all contact with the planet is lost. Learning his mother might be hiding there, Axel agrees to help his adversaries, and deploy on Vengeance, the last Steward ship. But his decision might lead to his downfall if the Wrath have already arrived on Earth. On the treacherous Wooly planet of Dari, bounty hunter Rangnar Soki becomes the prey, finding himself the target in a deadly game of survival. His path to rejoin Axel’s crew hinges on passing a test of Dari’s most revered guardian.