Showing results by author "Jonathan P. Brazee" in All Categories

Esther Lysander, the driven, professional Marine ever-conscious of the heavy weight of her father's legacy, is selected to become an officer. She has high goals for her career - very high goals - and she believes the best method to achieve success is to be a complete hard-ass, keeping emotions at bay. This outlook has resulted in some notable achievements, but at the cost of friends and her relationship with her twin brother Noah, a price she is willing to pay.

Michiko MacCailin is a member of the First Families, more concerned with her privileged lifestyle of ballet, spending time with friends, and planning her wedding than of the injustices suffered by the indentured workers of the all-powerful Propitious Interstellar Fabrication, Inc., the charter holder of the planet. When her activist fiancé is murdered at a protest rally, she blames the company and embarks on a personal mission of vengeance.

Ripley facing down the Xenomorph Queen. Sarah Connor fighting the Terminator. David Weber’s Honor Harrington. Science fiction novels and the silver screen are full of badass women kicking butt and taking names. Sometimes it’s the momma bear persona stepping up to defend her young, but, other times, she’s just the meanest one standing—bionic arm or not!

Noah Lysander, son of the former Marine Commandant and Chairman of the Federation, followed his twin sister in enlisting as a Marine. While Esther excelled, getting commissioned as an officer, Noah is not so driven, and when he proposes to Miriam, he makes a pledge to be a better husband and future father than his own father had been. Reenlisting for armor, Noah becomes a crewman on an M1 Davis, the most powerful tank ever developed. He quickly finds out that despite nominal peace within the Federation, the deployment demands placed on his platoon are heavy.

Zachary Cannon joined the Navy to get trained as a radiology tech, a skill he could use to get a job and support his family after his enlistment. But the needs of the Navy take priority, and much to his surprise, he was given orders to the Fleet Marine Force as a corpsman to an infantry battalion deploying to Iraq. As part of a rifle squad in Ramadi, Zach joins the Marines on patrol, in assaults, and on security duty, facing the same dangers and hardships.

After the events at the US Embassy in New Delhi, the Marines are being brought back as a combat unit. Newly commissioned 2dLt Anthony Niimoto, a hero of the embassy takeover, is with the first Marine battalion to get back into the deployment cycle. Assigned to anti-piracy, this is supposed to be a dull deployment. But when a US ship is seized by Somali pirates, it's First Platoon, K 3/6 at the tip of the spear.

Captain Esther Lysander, UFMC, is a combat Marine. Her new orders, however, are APOC, or “At the Pleasure of the Chairman”, and while she knows this type of assignment could be career-threatening, she feels duty-bound to accept them. There is no SOP for being APOC, except that it isn't combat as usual. Part spy, part soldier, part political window dressing, Esther has to adapt to everything from clandestine meetings with rebel forces, hostage rescues, and off-the-record sniper missions to being a courier between the chairman and other heads of state.

Gunnery Sergeant Jacob McCardle is the commander of the Marine Detachment at the US Embassy, New Delhi, when the president of the United States arrives on an official visit, the same man who, as a Congressman, sponsored the bill that had decimated the Corps in a cost-cutting effort. As the president arrives, the embassy is attacked and isolated by a mob of nationalists.

Titus sought glory in the Free States Infantry. He ended up in the Engineers. When the chance came to prove himself, he grabbed it with both hands. And caught the eye of the Intelligence service. How could a boot enlisted engineer transform into a soldier who works behind the scenes to root out corruption in the ranks as easily as providing combat intel to the front lines?

Corporal Aiden Kaas is just like any other marine - except for the minor matter that he is a werewolf, one unsanctioned by the Lycan Council. Factions of the Council want him exterminated as a threat to the Tribe, and the military has tracked him down and wants to use him as a super-warrior, something that the Council cannot accept. When Colonel Jack Tarnition infects himself with Aiden’s blood to become a werewolf in his own right, things start spiraling out of control.

Lance Corporal Hondo McKeever is a peacetime marine. Humanity is hooked into a limited war with the alien Klethos, where gladiator-style combat decides the fate of worlds. Hondo's career has consisted of training hard but never seeing actual battle. All of that changes when a new enemy invades the galaxy. One that forces humanity and the Klethos to forge an unlikely alliance. But can the Klethos be trusted? Mankind hasn’t fought an all-out war in centuries, but they’re about to. And the Grub invaders are bent on running the galaxy.

Noah Lindt heard the call of duty after the tragic events of 9/11. Despite a hampering medical condition that kept him on the outskirts of his high school class, he was accepted into the Marines where he found out he had a singular skill. He could outshoot almost anyone. Marksmanship alone is not enough to be a successful scout sniper. Teamwork and mental discipline are paramount, and the self-professed loner has problems adjusting to his spotter as well as the rest of his platoon when they deploy to Ramadi, "the most dangerous city on earth".

Nova Esperança offers no future for Liege Neves as a gangrat and daughter of the favelas. With one goal in mind - to save her younger sister and ailing grandfather from a difficult and hopeless future - Liege's only option is the Federation Navy. Scoring higher on her entrance exams than anyone had expected, Liege enlists as a corpsman and hopes for a safe career that will allow her to get her Avó the help he requires.

Sergeant Leif a’Hope Hollow is the first of his people to earn the coveted title. He never knew how soon he and his fellow raiders would have to prove themselves on the field of battle. After the failed coup to oust the emperor, the Novacks do not fade quietly into the background. They continue a low-grade insurgency, but in doing so, they open the door to other players that bring the entire empire to the brink of destruction. Sergeant a’Hope Hollow must lead a ragtag group of fellow non-humans in an attempt to avert a catastrophe that can wipe out humans forever.

United Federation Marine Lance Corporal Tamara Veal catches the attention of recruiters who nominate her to serve as a Single Combat Specialist. Gladiators, as they are better known, are genetically modified human champions who meet Klethos d'relle in the combat ring when the Klethos issue a challenge for a human world. Win, and the planet stays in human possession; lose, and not only do they lose their lives, but the world as well.

After a successful initial tour as a Marine rifleman, Lance Corporal Gracie Medicine Crow volunteers to become a scout-sniper, one of the deadliest - and most dangerous - military specialties in the United Federation Marine Corps. Gracie comes from the Apsáalooke Nation, a people with a long history of military tradition. Small in stature and considered stunningly beautiful, she is often underestimated, but that merely drives her to be the best sniper in the Corps.

Follow three fictional Marine privates as they participate in the watershed moments in the First Barbary War. This book is historical fiction, but the events it describes are historical fact. Most of the characters actually existed and fought in the war. Where possible, their actual words are reproduced here. In all other cases, dialogue and characterizations were born in the author's imagination.

Jasper van Ruiker is an elderly algae farmer, drafted into the local militia to defend his village from the invading Tenners. Lieutenant Castor "Mountie" Klocek is a Navy pilot, shot down during an air-to-ground mission. Lance Corporal Javier Julio Gregory Portillo and Sergeant Gary Go are Marine combat engineers, the only survivors of a deep-recon mission to destroy a bridge.

Sending up for Seth....