THE SURVIVALIST #4 THE DOOMSAYER BY JERRY AHERN

Copyright 1981.

Rourke’s quest for his family gets sidetracked when he rescues a woman from Brigands. The woman turns out to be a seismologist who was in the mountains before the Night of the War. Her instruments have detected that the nuclear bombing has created a new fault line. This new fault will within days cause a massive earthquake that will break off the Florida peninsula from the mainland. Rourke decides to suspend his quest to notify the U.S. II government.

Florida is currently occupied by the Cubans. The Cubans are not as lenient in their occupation as the Soviets. Most of the population is interred in concentration camps and this is the situation that Rubenstein finds as he looks for his parents around St. Petersburg. Rourke’s wife Sarah meanwhile gets involved with the resistance in Savannah and Natalia is sent to Miami because of rising tensions between the Cuban and Soviet occupation troops. Now Rourke must expose a traitor in U.S. II and negotiate a truce with the Soviets to evacuate Florida before it slides into the sea.

The fourth book continues to show how messed up the world is after the Night of the War. Rourke almost finds his wife crossing paths but just missing her. Sarah is shown to be developing into a strong woman. She is learning how to survive and protect her children. She is also becoming a leader by organizing a prison rescue of resistance fighters. The story reunites the three friends Rourke, Natalia and Rubenstein. Ahern also once agains shows the Soviets in a positive light. Varakov agrees to a truce and the combined U.S-Soviet rescue manages to save thousands of lives. This was a fun story that ended on an optimistic outlook.

THE SURVIVALIST #3 THE QUEST BY JERRY AHERN

Copyright 1981.

Rourke has reached his home in Georgia. He knows his wife and children are alive. Together with his friend Rubenstein they head out to his secret retreat in the mountains. There in his well stocked shelter the two can recuperate and resupply. Leaving Rubenstein to rest Rourke takes off to continue the search. While on the trail he meets Captain Reed from U.S.II in the area. He is looking for a NASA official who survived the war and would know about a mysterious launch prior to the war known only as the Eden Project. Both the U.S. II and the Soviets are anxious to find out what was launched into space.

Rourke just wants to find his family but is convinced by Reed that if he helps them Reed will use the growing resistance network to help locate his family. So its off to Soviet occupied Athens. There the group and the resistance members are captured with help from a traitor in the upper ranks of U.S. II.

Meanwhile Natalia is revealed to be married to Major Karamatsov. Karamatsov nearly beats his wife to death because of her betrayal down in Texas. Its also revealed that General Varakov is Natalia’s uncle. Varakov wants Karamatsov dead but his position in the KGB protects him. He instead arranges a deal with Rourke. He will free him and the captured resistance fighters in exchange for him killing Karamatsov. The two end up in a gun fight right out of the old west with Rourke triumphant. He then has to rescue the resistance fighters when the local commander reneges on Varakov’s deal and are too late to find the NASA official. He dies of a heart attack right after being found. Thus the Eden Project remains a mystery.

The third book starts to introduce the main themes to the series. Mainly its a quest to find his family. Also the Eden Project will play a key part in the future. The Soviets are shown in this series not as the cartoon villains that other series from this time usually portrayed them. Varakov is shown as an honorable man. His occupation policy is not very repressive and attempts to help the survivors. Soviets in Ahern’s books are usually characters that have personality. Some good and some bad but the Americans also have the same. Of course you need villains and the KGB usually does the heavy lifting in the bad guy department.

And finally we get to see Rourke’s man cave survivalist retreat. It has all the conveniences one would want after the apocalypse. Food, electricity, running water, books. movies and guns. Lots and lots of guns. All lovingly described in detail. There caliber, recoil, if their chrome or stainless steel. Ahern did know his guns. I’ve read a review that calls this gun porn and that an accurate description. God do I love this series.

THE RAMPAGING HULK #1 — Comic book cave of awesome

I was recently informed that it was my second year anniversary blogging. It is appropriate that I just recently started a new blog. Here is the first post for it. So if you have an interest in comic books check out and follow my new blog.

THE SURVIVALIST #2 THE NIGHTMARE BEGINS BY JERRY AHERN

Copyright 1981.

The Soviets have landed in America after the Night of the War. Cities in the mid-west and south were neutron bombed and still intact. The Soviets need the intact industry since most of theirs was destroyed in the war. The KGB already has a plan to pacify the country. A list has prominent citizens that have to be found and eliminated before they can rally resistance to the occupation. The name on the top is Samuel Chambers the former Secretary of Communications and the only surviving member of the cabinet which makes him the new President. Chambers is somewhere in Texas and Captain Natalia Tiemerovna the top KGB agent is sent to find him.

Meanwhile Rourke and his friend Paul Rubenstein are traveling through Texas on their way to Georgia. They rescue Natalia who is posing as an American from Brigands. The three have various adventures fighting the brigands and a militia force that is roaming the country. The three are eventually captured by the invading Soviets but Rourke with the help of Natalia who has fallen in love with Rourke helps him rescue the captured Chambers and escape. Rourke and Rubenstein eventually reach Rourke’s home in Georgia and find it burned down but a message from his wife Sarah that she and the kids are alive and heading to Tennessee.

The second book in the series starts to set up the world that Rourke will inhabit. The mid-west and south will be occupied by the Soviets with the HQ in Chicago. A new government known as U.S.II will be formed in Texas and Louisiana to counter the occupation. We get introduced to General Varakov the Soviet Supreme commander of the occupation army and the main villain Major Vladimir Karamatsov. And most important is the friendship that is formed between Rourke, Natalia and Rubenstein. A friendship that will be prominent throughout the series.

A NEW BLOG

I have started a new blog. Check out the Comic Book Cave of Awesome.

THE SURVIVALIST #1: TOTAL WAR BY JERRY AHERN

Copyright 1981.

John Thomas Rourke ex-CIA agent, weapons specialist and survival expert is a man who plans ahead. He knows that there are many scenarios for the collapse of civilization. He has studied how to survive and has build a shelter in the mountains for his family. Yet he can’t plan for every contingency. A Soviet invasion of Pakistan escalates out of control into a full scale nuclear war. Rourke is on a 747 flying home from Canada when it happens. Forced to crash land in Albuquerque he must now make his way across a devastated country overrun with brigands and invading Soviet troops to be reunited with his wife and two children in Georgia.

“If civilization were destroyed today__ would John Thomas Rourke be able to survive…?” That is what is on the cover of every book in this series. The answer is of course yes. Rourke is the most bad ass man to ever live. He seems to be perfect an expert in all forms of combat, a medical doctor and knows how to fly any plane. Sort of like an American James Bond but with a wife and family. Thus the first book sets up the characters and the basic premises for the series the quest to find his wife and children. His wife Sarah didn’t approve of her husbands obsession with survival and never bothered to learn the location of his shelter. Something she regrets as she is forced to flee with her children from armed brigands. Rourke picks up a sidekick in Paul Rubenstein a publisher from New York who becomes his best friend. A friendship that carries on throughout the series.

After all the new books I was reading lately its great to get back to the old classics from the ’80s. The Survivalist is probably the most iconic post-apocalypse series from that decade. In fact it was the first and responsible for the slew of series that would follow. The series sold millions of copies and lasted well into the ’90s with 29 books. Recently his wife and a good friend have revived the series and I hope to read them. This will definitely keep me occupied this summer. It was one of my favorites.

THE ESSENTIAL DOCTOR WHO THE MASTER EDITED BY MARCUS HEARN

Copyright 2015.

The Master the renegade Time Lord that is the Doctor’s greatest enemy. Back in 1971 Terrence Dicks and Barry Letts the script editor and producer came up with introducing a new opponent for the Doctor. They decided on a Professor Moriarty type character who was also a Time Lord and an equal to the Doctor. Thus Roger Delgado stepped in an gave his iconic performance during the Pertwee era. Later other actors would step into the part Anthony Ainley, Eric Roberts, John Simm and the current incarnation by Michelle Gomez. The book has a summary of each episode that the Master appeared in. These include the radio, comics and books. There are biographies on each of the actors that played the Master. Also interviews with Terrance Dicks(creator),Katy Manning?(Jo Grant), Richard Franklin(Captain Mike Yates),Mathew Waterhouse(Adric),Gary Russell, and Michelle Gomez the current Master(or Mistress as she now calls herself).

I finally got around to reading this Christmas give from a friend at work. I am a big fan of Doctor Who and I found this to be a very interesting and informative book. Definitely a good source for anything about the Master.

THE X FILES THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE EDITED BY JONATHAN MABERRY

Copyright 2016.

Volume two in an anthology of X-files short stories.

DEAD RINGER By Kelly Armstrong.

1993 Comstock Pennsylvania. A young boy disappears from his home and winds up seventy miles away with no memory. So is this an alien abduction or some sinister evil fairy. The truth may lie with a woman that had a similar experience when she was a child. Interesting story to start the anthology with.

DRIVE TIME By Jon McGoran.

2016 Cameron Massachusetts. A top secret experiment in time travel is taking place. An intruder specifically asks for agent Mulder. He claims to be from the future and was sent back by a rival to kill the professor at the institute so the rival can get credit for inventing time travel. His plan is to send back the same assassin from different periods of his life thirty-five times so thirty-five men can assault the experiment. The oldest of these returnees wants to stop it because the man that sends them back becomes a cruel tyrant. This is a fascinating idea with a time travel twist.

BLACK HOLE SON By Kami Garcia.

1977 Chilmark, Massachusetts. A teenage Fox Mulder must endure the horrors of high school and his bickering parents. He hears from a friend about a young woman that was found whose disappearance was similar to his sister. He sneaks into the mental hospital were she’s at. He doesn’t get much information but has his first encounter with the Cigarette Smoking Man. A fascinating idea to explore Mulder as a teenager. And he gets his first encounter with CSM man although he doesn’t remember because he is drugged to forget.

WE SHOULD LISTEN TO SOME SHOSTAKOVICH By Hank Phillippi Ryan.

2017 Washington DC. A recently married Dana and Fox are moving into a new apartment. They receive a gift of a painting from a Russian artist that may have a clue to aliens. A strange story that has the two married in the future with a daughter on the way. Contradicts this years episodes in that Dana’s mother is alive when she dies this season.

MUMMIYA By Greg Cox.

1996 Bellingham, Washington. A homeless man stabs what he claims to be a mummy that attacked him. An autopsy reveals a young woman that was recently mummified by the same procedures the ancient Egyptians used. The trail leads to her boyfriend who is obsessed with Egyptology and hoping to bring back his terminal girlfriend. Another interesting story.

PHASE SHIFT By Bev Vincent.

1996 Houston, Texas. A family is trapped inside their home by a mysterious force. It looks like a possible alien experiment. A ok story with an implied gruesome ending.

HEART By Kendare Blake.

1995 Holmdel, New Jersey. Arthur Linninger is a mild mannered man who has a heart attack. The transplanted heart he received once belonged to a mobster. Now he starts taking on the characteristics of the mobster. Two FBI agents investigating murders has him worried. Other transplant recipients are found to have murdered the men responsible for the mobsters death and could Arthur be next. An OK story.

MALE PRIVILEGE By Hank Schwaeble.

2006 Horn, Arkansas. A strange condition causes all the men in Horn to suddenly develop large breasts. The investigation leads to a witch, a dragon and an ancient curse that involves the sacrifice of a young man. A good story.

PILOT By David Liss.

1996 Washington D.C. Mulder and Scully are investigating reports of strange lights. The witness seems to know the two agents and has an offer for them. He claims to come from an alternate reality where the X-files is a TV show. He gives them the pilot episode and wants money for all the others. This was a unique idea and I enjoyed this story.

ROSETTA By David Sakmyster.

2014 Arcadia, South Carolina. Mulder and Scully are there to meet a man that has proof of aliens from a recent probe landing on a comet. They may come face to face with genuine E.T.s. A interesting story but has a major error in X-file continuity. The Lone Gunmen are in it and they died some fifteen years ago.

SNOWMAN By Sarah Stegall.

2001 Mt. Rainier, Washington. Agent Doggit is approached by his former Marine commander for help. A covert team testing communication systems have disappeared. The two find Mulder also investigating and the bodies of the team. They seemed to have fled in terror and died of exposure. Now the three are stalked by what appears to be Sasquatch. Nice to remember someone remembers Doggit and I always love a good Sasquatch story.

VOICE OF EXPERIENCE By Rachel Caine.

1993 Washington D.C. Mulder meets an old flame on his lunch break. She is soon found to commit suicide. His investigation takes him to a famous author that may be stealing life energy from victims to write successful books. Another good story.

XXX By Glenn Greenburg.

1999 San Fernando Valley, California. Two porn stars have their heads suddenly explode while on set. The investigation leads to an anti-porn activist using an alien virus but the truth may be with the telekinetic abilities of the star porn actress Ashley Ford. An interesting story that lead to an unexpected ending.

FOUNDLING By Tim Waggoner.

1997 Ambergris Falls, Ohio. The inhabitants of a small town vanish without a trace. Mulder and Scully investigate and find a baby on the street. They have to fight ghostly figures and a mercenary employed by a billionaire. This was a fascinating story.

WHEN THE COWS COME HOME By David Farland.

2000 Gallup, New Mexico. A rancher is gored to death by a bull. Strange lights, crop circles and mutilated cow corpses point to aliens. The investigation take them to a Navajo witch doctor. The shortest and weakest story in the anthology.

Now two new books in a row. This one came out in February so it is probably the newest I ever did from this blog. Volume two of the anthology series was as enjoyable as the first. Once again stories with aliens, ghosts, time travel, alternate realities, the Lone Gunmen, Doggit, government coverups and conspiracies and plenty of general weirdness.

I even got a message from the editor. Makes me feel real important. He says he’s working on a third volume titled “Secret Agendas”. Something to look forward to.

ANOTHER FREE STORY.

So I have been trying to continue to write and I did manage to crank out another story.

I HATE NINJAS

“I hate ninjas.” said David.

He was sitting behind the steering wheel of a Toyota pickup. The windshield was busted out and a ninja was on the hood. He was moaning in pain while clutching at his groin. Occasionally he would scream out something in Japanese. David grinned at the pain the ninja was clearly in. It served the asshole right he thought to himself. He was glad that he emptied his 9mm into the guy’s balls. Mess with him and you get your balls shot off.

David glanced down at his left shoulder. The ninja’s kitana was driven completely through and pinning him to the seat. He could not properly grasp the kitana without tearing his shoulder all up and have himself bleed out. He thought about starting up the pickup and driving somewhere for help. But the keys were on the floor and he couldn’t reach them.

David looked around and saw the various black clad figures lying prone on the ground. Another Toyota pickup was lying wrecked in a ditch. The ninja on the hood let out another groan then succumbed to blood loss. These wimps paid the price for this. Small comfort but still comfort nonetheless. His mind started to drift back to how he got in this predicament.

20 MINUTES EARLIER

The old half-track was cruising down interstate I-80. Suddenly there was a loud rending of metal as the old engine threw a rod. It went crashing through the hood and leaving a big gaping hole. The engine ground to a halt and thick black smoke started pouring out of the hole. The half-track pulled over to the side of the highway.

David Robbins got out and looked over the damage. He looked around and noticed the sign on the shoulder. RENO 112. He shook his head, reached into the half-track and took out his AR-15. He checked that the safety was on and slung it over his shoulder. He started off down the road leaving the old half-track to die in peace.

This was really starting to be an epic shitty day. Survive a low yield nuclear blast. Get a rattlesnake bite to the face and get roughed up by some morons. Of course why should he think that something would work in his favor? What did he do to piss the universe off?

There was one favorable thing going for him and that was it was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, birds were singing and a cool breeze was at his back. The surrounding countryside was lush and green. Years of neglect had seen the vegetation grow up in some areas right next to the road. As he was crossing a bridge he noticed the sign.

BY ORDER OF THE CALIFORNIA
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
SANITATION IT IS ILLEGAL TO
DISPOSE OF CORPSES IN THE RIVER.
ANYONE CAUGHT WILL FACE FINES OF
UP TO $10,000 AND FIVE YEARS IN PRISON.

David chuckled to himself. Leave it to California to try and make a few bucks off the apocalypse. Then he had a flashback to his experiences. One of the teams sent into the cities to clean up. He remembers going into Omaha after it was hit with a biological weapon. The virus had wiped out over seventy percent of the population. He could smell the rotting corpses even through the gas mask that he wore.

What was so macabre was how the bodies seemed to be frozen in the position they were in while going about their lives. There was the old couple sitting at dinner with the moldy food they would never finish. People were sitting behind the steering wheels of their vehicles like they were still going somewhere. The worst was the little children. Then there were the rats. Thousands came out swarming the streets devouring….

His train of thought was interrupted by shouts. David had not been paying attention and silently chided himself for that. There about 100 yards away were two white Toyota pickups. About a dozen men clad in black were around the pickups. They looked like they were setting up two Dragon anti-tank guided missile launchers in the foliage by the side of the road. Three of the figures had already started running toward him holding what looked like swords.

“Well this can’t be good,” said David to himself.

He raised his AR-15 and selected single shot. Sighted on the one on the left and squeezed the trigger. The ninja on the left stopped and turned his body to the side. David couldn’t believe that the ninja actually dodged the bullet. He sighted and pulled the trigger again with the same results. Five more quick shots and the ninja dodged them all.

“Fuck you, you God damn pussy,” he said out loud. David then switched the selector to full auto and fired off the full clip. The ninja could not dodge all those bullets at once and spun around from multiple hits. The ninja fell to the ground as David ejected the clip and reached for a full one. But by then the other two ninjas were almost on top of him.

The first swung at him with his katana. David blocked the blow with his AR-15. He then kicked out and impacted with the ninja’s groin. The ninja bent over and dropped his kitana to clutch his groin. David took his upraised AR-15 and brought it over the ninja’s head, and then pulled the ninja toward him with the AR-15 tightly against his neck.
The third ninja came up and pulled out two shuriken. He tossed both at David. David brought the ninja’s head he had pinned in front of his face. One shuriken impacted the forehead of the pinned ninja while the other impacted the collarbone. David let the limp body slide to the ground.

“Thanks dipshit. Whoa do you guys stink. Don’t you ever take a bath?” David taunted him.

The ninja spat out a curse in Japanese and drew his kitana. David dropped the AR-15 and picked up the fallen kitana. David didn’t know how to use a sword but had no intention of fighting the ninja on his terms. He took the kitana and threw it at his opponent. The ninja easily ducked the flying kitana but it distracted him from what came next. David reached forward and grabbed the ninja’s wrist that was holding the sword. He forced the sword point forward driving it into the ninja’s left eye.

The ninja went limp with a surprised look on his face then collapsed to the ground with the kitana sticking out of his eye. David reached down and picked up the AR-15. He pulled out a spare clip and inserted into the rifle. Looking up both Toyotas were racing toward him. He sighted on the left one and fired off half the clip at the driver. The bullets punched through the windshield and several went into the driver’s skull. The driver lost control of the Toyota and it careened into the ditch at the side of the road.

David turned and fired off the rest of the clip at the other Toyota. The bullets starred the windshield but this driver had the foresight to duck in time. David jumped out of the way as the Toyota sped past him. It stopped abruptly and then did a complete U-turn. The driver punched out with his hand at the broken windshield knocking it loose. He pulled at it until it was out of the frame and tossed it off to the side. Then with hatred in his eyes he revved the Toyota and accelerated straight for David.

David ejected his empty clip and reached for a new one. Instead his fingers felt around an empty pouch. It was at this time that he noticed there were four more ninjas running up to him. One was almost upon him. Thinking quickly David tossed his empty assault rifle at the ninja’s legs and just jumped out of the way of the speeding Toyota. The ninja running at him tripped as his legs got tangled in the AR-15 and pitched forward to the ground. He fell right in front of the oncoming Toyota and looked up as the wheel approached his head.

The Toyota tire crushed the ninjas head like an empty beer can. A coating of blood was on the tire and it was leaving a red trail as it rolled forward. The Toyota skidded to a stop and the driver jumped out. He started to yell something in Japanese but was cut short by the 9mm bullet slamming into his forehead.

David turned with his drawn Baretta to confront the last three. A thrown shuriken hit the barrel and knocked it out of his hand. The three formed a semi-circle and started to advance. David decided that the best defense was an offense. He took off running at the ninja in the center. The ninja was taken by surprise at the bold move and he froze for just a moment. A moment is all that David needed.

David reached the ninja and grabbed him by his tunic. He noticed the knife in the scabbard at his hip and reached down and pulled it out. Then David drove the knife right into the ninjas gut. He quickly pulled it out turned around and threw it at the other ninja. The knife embedded itself in the ninja’s chest. As the ninja David held went limp he snatched up the kitana from his hand. He then turned toward the remaining ninja and started to savagely swing the sword at his head.

The remaining ninja was able to block David’s savage blows with his own kitana. The blows were slowly driving him back. The ninja took out something from his pouch and threw it to the ground. There was a blinding flash and a puff of smoke. David swung at the cloud of smoke and the kitana swooshed through empty air. He looked at the dispersing smoke and saw that the ninja had disappeared into thin air. He scanned the area and couldn’t find any living soul.

“Well where did the little fucker go?” he mumbled to himself.

David stood and looked around examining the dead bodies for any sign of life. After ten minutes he could see no sign of life around the area and warily started toward the Toyota. He stopped at the driver he shot in the forehead and bent down and searched him. A smile came across his face as his hands closed around a set of keys. At least he had a ride home for the rest of the way he thought to himself. Maybe things are looking up.

He then picked up his Baretta on the ground and checked that the clip was full. Satisfied he climbed behind the wheel and the Toyota started to bring the key to the ignition. Suddenly the remaining ninja jumped up on the hood of the Toyota. He crouched down and thrust the kitana through the open space were the windshield used to be. The kitana pierced his left shoulder. David yelled out in pain and dropped the keys. He then picked up the Baretta that he set down on the seat and emptied the clip into the crouching ninja on the hood.

And now he stuck in his current predicament. Pinned like a bug. He stared out from where the windshield should be and let his mind drift. Things couldn’t get much worse.

“You look like you had a rough day,” said a voice to his left. David turned and was confronted by several men. They were dressed in new crisp fatigues and carried Galil assault rifles. He noticed that the man who spoke to him had the hammer and sickle wielding bear patch of the People’s Republic of California.

Things indeed could get worse.