Bruce W. Perry's Blog
October 9, 2025
"Sigma" Will Be The Third Novel In "The Last" Series, and Why Would I use An Australian Voice for Audio Books?
Before we bid farewell to 2025, I will publish the third novel in The Last series, titled "Sigma." The first two are The Last and The Garden Of Love And Peril. Sigma is a science-fiction dystopian novel, like its two predecessors and six other dystopian thrillers that I have published.
The Last has been purchased and read in seven different countries, and if you haven't read this popular pandemic-thriller book (coincidentally published in October 2019!), you can easily pick up a copy here.
Along with trekking through the conclusion of a novel, I'm also generating audio books. Amazon, the publishing platform I use, allows you to choose from dozens of different AI-generated voices, which greatly simplifies the labor process (I would never be able to produce an audio book otherwise, and many people "consume" books of this nature). My last two audio books, for To The North and Devastated Lands, have involved a male voice with an Australian accent. Why did I do that, if the characters are not Australian?
The most important element of an audio-book narration is clarity (you can hear the sentences accurately), as well as reading with just enough emotion so that the narration doesn't come across as dry or monotone, but not with so much emotion that the voice is shrill or actor-y. The Australian voice I used was simply a clearer and more resonant narration, and I didn't care about the accent. It shouldn't be distracting.
Sigma will also be published in paperback and audio book. Look for them in December 2025, right around Xmas !
The Last has been purchased and read in seven different countries, and if you haven't read this popular pandemic-thriller book (coincidentally published in October 2019!), you can easily pick up a copy here.
Along with trekking through the conclusion of a novel, I'm also generating audio books. Amazon, the publishing platform I use, allows you to choose from dozens of different AI-generated voices, which greatly simplifies the labor process (I would never be able to produce an audio book otherwise, and many people "consume" books of this nature). My last two audio books, for To The North and Devastated Lands, have involved a male voice with an Australian accent. Why did I do that, if the characters are not Australian?
The most important element of an audio-book narration is clarity (you can hear the sentences accurately), as well as reading with just enough emotion so that the narration doesn't come across as dry or monotone, but not with so much emotion that the voice is shrill or actor-y. The Australian voice I used was simply a clearer and more resonant narration, and I didn't care about the accent. It shouldn't be distracting.
Sigma will also be published in paperback and audio book. Look for them in December 2025, right around Xmas !
May 22, 2024
New Pandemic Travel Adventure "Altered States" Debuts First As Kindle Book
Yours truly traveled extensively in 2021, including overseas, and the result is the pandemic travel memoir, "Altered States."
You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3VY1DQ5
Here's what a recent reviewer had to say about this short book about the drastic differences I perceived in 2021 between different states and countries:
"Altered States: My Surreal Journey Through Pandemia, 2021 by Bruce W. Perry is the story of one man's revelatory journey through a locked-down world.
"Leaving rural Vermont and embracing his nomadic nature, the author brings readers along his various trips to Switzerland, Montana, and Florida during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
"From deserted airports in America and a fearful atmosphere of terror to European anecdotes where the pandemic seems all but invisible, Perry's narration draws stark comparisons of experience during that recent collective crisis. A rare work of travel writing when travel was discouraged or impossible, Perry's philosophical musings about freedom and common sense seem practical and reasonable, given his unique lens into the crisis.
At times a work of anthropology, and others a righteous critique of seemingly unfair or nonsensical policies, Perry navigates a controversial topic with humor and honesty."~Self Publishing Review, 2024
This is partly a book about "health policy as a reflection of national traits and values."
In observing Sweden, visiting Switzerland, as well as Montana and Florida, I discovered that health matters and approaches are cultural, and say more about the people and their leaders than the epidemiological vagaries of the pandemic itself.
Along with color photos, this book focuses mainly on three different destinations: Switzerland, St. Pete Beach, Florida, and Big Sky, Montana.
You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3VY1DQ5
Here's what a recent reviewer had to say about this short book about the drastic differences I perceived in 2021 between different states and countries:
"Altered States: My Surreal Journey Through Pandemia, 2021 by Bruce W. Perry is the story of one man's revelatory journey through a locked-down world.
"Leaving rural Vermont and embracing his nomadic nature, the author brings readers along his various trips to Switzerland, Montana, and Florida during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
"From deserted airports in America and a fearful atmosphere of terror to European anecdotes where the pandemic seems all but invisible, Perry's narration draws stark comparisons of experience during that recent collective crisis. A rare work of travel writing when travel was discouraged or impossible, Perry's philosophical musings about freedom and common sense seem practical and reasonable, given his unique lens into the crisis.
At times a work of anthropology, and others a righteous critique of seemingly unfair or nonsensical policies, Perry navigates a controversial topic with humor and honesty."~Self Publishing Review, 2024
This is partly a book about "health policy as a reflection of national traits and values."
In observing Sweden, visiting Switzerland, as well as Montana and Florida, I discovered that health matters and approaches are cultural, and say more about the people and their leaders than the epidemiological vagaries of the pandemic itself.
Along with color photos, this book focuses mainly on three different destinations: Switzerland, St. Pete Beach, Florida, and Big Sky, Montana.
November 2, 2023
The Last's Four-Year Anniversary Edition, Real Life Meets Fiction, And “Altered States” Travel Adventure On Tap
Four years ago almost to the day, we published "The Last,” a gripping and fast-paced dystopian novel about a Scottish scientist named Emma Wallace Blair, who tackles loneliness and solitude, violent threats to her life, and a catastrophic pandemic, as New York, Edinburgh, and London collapse around her.
The readers in several countries (mostly the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and Canada) loved it. "Engrossing… A GREAT read!…Engaging, I couldn't put it down!!…Scary, sweet, tragic, triumphant!"
I've published an anniversary edition ebook and lowered the price (by 20%) of both ebook and paperback so many more readers can experience this emotional and engrossing post-apocalyptic read.
I need remind no one that a few months after The Last came out in October 2019, we all fell into a panic-demic for real this time. The ensuing years have evolved an interesting new perspective with which to read The Last, particularly in light of Emma's speculations on treatments and immunity (none of which were colored by real events, as I wrote the book in late 2018, 2019).
At one point in the book, Emma escapes Manhattan by bike across the Williamsburg Bridge to Brooklyn. Right out of the pages of “Life imitates art,” my son ends up in an apartment on the East Side adjacent to the pedestrian entrance to said bridge.
For his 20th birthday, I sent him a fully equipped “go bag,” and told him that if anything perilous and unmanageable happens in New York, "just grab the bag and book it across the Williamsburg" (just like Emma!).
Also speaking of books, we are publishing a new one soon, called “Altered States: My Surreal Journey Through Pandemia, 2021.”
This compact nonfiction ebook (to start) describes the nearly 100 days of travel I did at the height of the pandemic, including overseas. The book includes about 15 color photos and lots of interesting facts and tales on how different regions and countries dealt with present chaotic realities.
"Altered States” will be available in about two weeks, mid-November. Look for it here!
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Bruce-W.-Perry/author/B001IO9PBC
The readers in several countries (mostly the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and Canada) loved it. "Engrossing… A GREAT read!…Engaging, I couldn't put it down!!…Scary, sweet, tragic, triumphant!"
I've published an anniversary edition ebook and lowered the price (by 20%) of both ebook and paperback so many more readers can experience this emotional and engrossing post-apocalyptic read.
I need remind no one that a few months after The Last came out in October 2019, we all fell into a panic-demic for real this time. The ensuing years have evolved an interesting new perspective with which to read The Last, particularly in light of Emma's speculations on treatments and immunity (none of which were colored by real events, as I wrote the book in late 2018, 2019).
At one point in the book, Emma escapes Manhattan by bike across the Williamsburg Bridge to Brooklyn. Right out of the pages of “Life imitates art,” my son ends up in an apartment on the East Side adjacent to the pedestrian entrance to said bridge.
For his 20th birthday, I sent him a fully equipped “go bag,” and told him that if anything perilous and unmanageable happens in New York, "just grab the bag and book it across the Williamsburg" (just like Emma!).
Also speaking of books, we are publishing a new one soon, called “Altered States: My Surreal Journey Through Pandemia, 2021.”
This compact nonfiction ebook (to start) describes the nearly 100 days of travel I did at the height of the pandemic, including overseas. The book includes about 15 color photos and lots of interesting facts and tales on how different regions and countries dealt with present chaotic realities.
"Altered States” will be available in about two weeks, mid-November. Look for it here!
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Bruce-W.-Perry/author/B001IO9PBC
May 21, 2023
Do Fiction Writers Use True Stories In Their Plots? Yes, Probably More Than You Think
There are no unwritten rules that forbid fiction writers from weaving reality into their plots. These true stories often take place as part of a character's internal monologue, such as the retelling of a memory, but they could play more major roles in plots than this.
A lot of novels that we consider as classics, such as Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises or James Salter's Light Years contain loose depictions of people the authors knew, to the point where the books ticked off some of the people who recognized themselves.
Finishing a book and creating a believable, cohesive plot is hard; inventing stories out of whole cloth is hard. Writers need propelling and motivating elements to help ram them through to the end. Seguing at some strategic points to relate a real story is one of those elements, as long as the element helps round out a character and is not a grand deviation.
I would venture that almost all imaginary plots have some basis in reality. Writing is psychological, and these 'true' stories help give the fiction its verisimilitude, a $10 word that means "appears or sounds tonally true to life."
One example for me appears in my latest novel– Zero Country . The character Zeke seeks treatment in Germany for a tick rash, and this scene was based on an experience I had in Switzerland last June (!) The story–taking the train to a European city and sitting in a classic cafe near the main train station to await my antibiotics scrip–was fun to write. More importantly, it helps depict Zeke as more than just a likable vet on a motorcycle, but a man with worldly experiences.
Like Zeke, I was amazed by the wondrous curve balls that life can pitch at you (neither one of us got any symptoms, for which we were also grateful). Like many writers, the older I get, the more events pile up in my memories, and occasionally they wander their way into novels.
A lot of novels that we consider as classics, such as Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises or James Salter's Light Years contain loose depictions of people the authors knew, to the point where the books ticked off some of the people who recognized themselves.
Finishing a book and creating a believable, cohesive plot is hard; inventing stories out of whole cloth is hard. Writers need propelling and motivating elements to help ram them through to the end. Seguing at some strategic points to relate a real story is one of those elements, as long as the element helps round out a character and is not a grand deviation.
I would venture that almost all imaginary plots have some basis in reality. Writing is psychological, and these 'true' stories help give the fiction its verisimilitude, a $10 word that means "appears or sounds tonally true to life."
One example for me appears in my latest novel– Zero Country . The character Zeke seeks treatment in Germany for a tick rash, and this scene was based on an experience I had in Switzerland last June (!) The story–taking the train to a European city and sitting in a classic cafe near the main train station to await my antibiotics scrip–was fun to write. More importantly, it helps depict Zeke as more than just a likable vet on a motorcycle, but a man with worldly experiences.
Like Zeke, I was amazed by the wondrous curve balls that life can pitch at you (neither one of us got any symptoms, for which we were also grateful). Like many writers, the older I get, the more events pile up in my memories, and occasionally they wander their way into novels.
March 9, 2023
"Man V. AI Machine" Is One Of The Strong Themes in "Zero Country"
I was sitting at my gate waiting to board a plane recently, when I logged onto the social media platform Twitter. Oddly, I noticed that its thread of messages had shifted to many in the German language, as if the platform "knew" that I was on my way to a German-speaking city (Zurich in this case, and Swiss-German to be exact, not to mention that country's other two national languages, French and Italian).
Hmm, that's interesting, I thought. I had location-tracking turned off in my browser (and I was in Boston, not Zurich yet). Had AI tracked my cell phone to Logan's Terminal E gate, or otherwise "knew" I was readying for that SwissAir flight? So how did Twitter find out? I didn't think too much of it.
Then when it came time to board the plane, for the first time, we didn't have to hand over our tickets to be scanned. In fact, we didn't have to show our tickets at all. We had our faces scanned by biometric or artificial intelligence (AI) code. Most of us got a quick green light at the "new" entry gate, meaning that AI had quickly sized us up. This was weird, and too powerful. Who else was given this accurate facial imagery, and for what other databases or purposes?
AI has a cool factor associated with it–as in the much discussed ChatGBT–but significant downsides. You don't just launch brand-new, powerful tech without properly vetting it and its longterm effects, "because you can," propelled forward blindly by an infatuation with its coolness.
In a lengthy piece by William McCaskell for "Foreign Affairs" magazine, he writes, "Of the many developments that have occurred since this magazine’s first issue a century ago, the most profound is humanity’s ability to end itself. From climate change to nuclear war, engineered pandemics, uncontrolled artificial intelligence (AI), and other destructive technologies not yet foreseen, a worrying number of risks conspire to threaten the end of humanity."
"Zero Country" uses the latter quote as one of its epigraph entries. In the new science-fiction novel, I include strong themes in the plot of AI run amok, not just iris scans to enter every door, and to fetch your child from school, but human-like machines or "droids" that abruptly infiltrate, and ultimately antagonize, everyday life (robot is a term that's beginning to sound outdated). Some of this AI is used for nefarious purposes, and our human protagonists reject passivity and fight back valiantly against it.
Ultimately, it's humanity arrayed against unvetted AI, and a cautionary tale. And no, the plot does not include any cute and lovable robots (like the robotic lawn-mowers and vacuum cleaners I've seen a lot around lately!).
For a good read of "Zero Country," the paperback can be found here:
https://www.amazon.com/Zero-Country-Bruce-W-Perry/dp/B0BTHX4LN4/
And thanks for reading!
Hmm, that's interesting, I thought. I had location-tracking turned off in my browser (and I was in Boston, not Zurich yet). Had AI tracked my cell phone to Logan's Terminal E gate, or otherwise "knew" I was readying for that SwissAir flight? So how did Twitter find out? I didn't think too much of it.
Then when it came time to board the plane, for the first time, we didn't have to hand over our tickets to be scanned. In fact, we didn't have to show our tickets at all. We had our faces scanned by biometric or artificial intelligence (AI) code. Most of us got a quick green light at the "new" entry gate, meaning that AI had quickly sized us up. This was weird, and too powerful. Who else was given this accurate facial imagery, and for what other databases or purposes?
AI has a cool factor associated with it–as in the much discussed ChatGBT–but significant downsides. You don't just launch brand-new, powerful tech without properly vetting it and its longterm effects, "because you can," propelled forward blindly by an infatuation with its coolness.
In a lengthy piece by William McCaskell for "Foreign Affairs" magazine, he writes, "Of the many developments that have occurred since this magazine’s first issue a century ago, the most profound is humanity’s ability to end itself. From climate change to nuclear war, engineered pandemics, uncontrolled artificial intelligence (AI), and other destructive technologies not yet foreseen, a worrying number of risks conspire to threaten the end of humanity."
"Zero Country" uses the latter quote as one of its epigraph entries. In the new science-fiction novel, I include strong themes in the plot of AI run amok, not just iris scans to enter every door, and to fetch your child from school, but human-like machines or "droids" that abruptly infiltrate, and ultimately antagonize, everyday life (robot is a term that's beginning to sound outdated). Some of this AI is used for nefarious purposes, and our human protagonists reject passivity and fight back valiantly against it.
Ultimately, it's humanity arrayed against unvetted AI, and a cautionary tale. And no, the plot does not include any cute and lovable robots (like the robotic lawn-mowers and vacuum cleaners I've seen a lot around lately!).
For a good read of "Zero Country," the paperback can be found here:
https://www.amazon.com/Zero-Country-Bruce-W-Perry/dp/B0BTHX4LN4/
And thanks for reading!
February 3, 2023
'Zero Country' Now Available In Paperback
The new natural-disaster dystopian thriller Zero Country is now available in a handy paperback. If you liked To The North, Caldera, Tsunami Beach, or The Last, you'll love Zero Country! Three-dimensional characters who meet tough times with thick skins, humor, and teamwork, as well as dark, dystopian themes of artificial intelligence, surveillance, and authoritarianism run amok.
As my own baby blues have often struggled with tiny print in books, I designed the paperback with a 14-point font size (many books are 10 point). This font size falls just short of the "large print” standard of 16 point or higher. However, it's still much easier to read.
You can find the paperback at this link:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTHX4LN4
The cover was designed by the always talented Yulia Muchynska of Miblart.
Let me know via email if you have any more questions about my novels: bruce.perry.author@gmail.com .
As my own baby blues have often struggled with tiny print in books, I designed the paperback with a 14-point font size (many books are 10 point). This font size falls just short of the "large print” standard of 16 point or higher. However, it's still much easier to read.
You can find the paperback at this link:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTHX4LN4
The cover was designed by the always talented Yulia Muchynska of Miblart.
Let me know via email if you have any more questions about my novels: bruce.perry.author@gmail.com .
December 29, 2022
Happy New Reading: New Fiction "Zero Country" Now Available
Zero Country, the third installment in the To The North series, goes live at this link:
Zero Country
Zero Country is a fast-paced dystopian thriller set in Yellowstone in 2028. The region is now called the Greater Yellowstone Restoration Project, after the super eruption that took place in 2025.
Zeke Sanchez and Brett Fairbanks, a former U.S. Navy SEAL, investigate a series of puzzling and gruesome crimes. They are former soldiers and buddies from the Iraq War of years ago.
Monica and Katy (two volcanologists from Caldera) cluster with other scientists at the GYRP. They both have young children with them, and they both want out of Yellowstone due to the menacing developments there.
They live within the blasted landscape in a bleak campus of geodesic structures that resembles a lunar habitat.
A sketchy mining operation has also settled on the site, hoping to rake in millions off a rumored vein of rare-earth elements.
That's it; no more spoilers! Get your copy now, and happy reading :)
Zero Country
Zero Country is a fast-paced dystopian thriller set in Yellowstone in 2028. The region is now called the Greater Yellowstone Restoration Project, after the super eruption that took place in 2025.
Zeke Sanchez and Brett Fairbanks, a former U.S. Navy SEAL, investigate a series of puzzling and gruesome crimes. They are former soldiers and buddies from the Iraq War of years ago.
Monica and Katy (two volcanologists from Caldera) cluster with other scientists at the GYRP. They both have young children with them, and they both want out of Yellowstone due to the menacing developments there.
They live within the blasted landscape in a bleak campus of geodesic structures that resembles a lunar habitat.
A sketchy mining operation has also settled on the site, hoping to rake in millions off a rumored vein of rare-earth elements.
That's it; no more spoilers! Get your copy now, and happy reading :)
December 1, 2022
Nomadic Author Readies New Novel, 'Zero Country'
Today I wrapped up the first draft of Zero Country, the 3rd installment in the To The North series. What will ensue is at least four rewrites of the entire novel; thus is the "joy toil" of producing a new novel.
The latter stage also involves crafting, from a formatting standpoint, the paperback and hard cover.
Zero Country will be available as an eBook as early as two weeks from now; paperback, more like a month. As Hemingway was said to have remarked, "The first draft of a novel is always crap." I wouldn't quite go that far with ZC, but a first draft is never ready for prime time. You have to flesh out plot, characters, and often, the ending itself.
This book was written at different times in three distant parts of the globe: Warren, Vermont; Weesen, Switzerland, and St. Pete Beach, Florida. In fact, I just signed a To The North paperback for the bartender at the Don Cesar in St. Pete, as the sun crept into the Gulf of Mexico, flowering brilliantly in the colors of a daiquiri.
The latter stage also involves crafting, from a formatting standpoint, the paperback and hard cover.
Zero Country will be available as an eBook as early as two weeks from now; paperback, more like a month. As Hemingway was said to have remarked, "The first draft of a novel is always crap." I wouldn't quite go that far with ZC, but a first draft is never ready for prime time. You have to flesh out plot, characters, and often, the ending itself.
This book was written at different times in three distant parts of the globe: Warren, Vermont; Weesen, Switzerland, and St. Pete Beach, Florida. In fact, I just signed a To The North paperback for the bartender at the Don Cesar in St. Pete, as the sun crept into the Gulf of Mexico, flowering brilliantly in the colors of a daiquiri.
September 17, 2022
Try Them, You'll Like Them
Two of my novels have been set at "Try something new" prices: Tree Of Life and Lost Young Love. TOL is a War Romance, a sprawling story about an AWOL Iraq Vet and his adventures in Europe, which reads more like "Fiction & Literature" than other novels I have published.
Tree Of Life: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0949M68ZT;
"A skillful tale of an American's trauma and expatriation…" said Kirkus Reviews of the first edition Accidental Exiles. They also compared it in tone to the Lost Generation literature of the 1920s and 1930s.
Lost Young Love: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074L8NHZF
Lost Young Love is a bawdy and funny novel, "Coming Of Age," yet also with a fictional memoir-ish tone.
"The writing is brutally honest and cinematic, seemingly penned in the moment of these recollections, with the emotions still thick in the descriptions and erotic passages.
"From humorous exchanges to existential musings about the meaning of love, this uniquely themed work will make you blush, laugh, and more importantly, remember your own early stumbles and triumphs in the realm of young love," wrote one reviewer.
Enjoy! And now I continue writing the Dystopian Science Fiction novel which is third in the "To The North" series.
Tree Of Life: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0949M68ZT;
"A skillful tale of an American's trauma and expatriation…" said Kirkus Reviews of the first edition Accidental Exiles. They also compared it in tone to the Lost Generation literature of the 1920s and 1930s.
Lost Young Love: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074L8NHZF
Lost Young Love is a bawdy and funny novel, "Coming Of Age," yet also with a fictional memoir-ish tone.
"The writing is brutally honest and cinematic, seemingly penned in the moment of these recollections, with the emotions still thick in the descriptions and erotic passages.
"From humorous exchanges to existential musings about the meaning of love, this uniquely themed work will make you blush, laugh, and more importantly, remember your own early stumbles and triumphs in the realm of young love," wrote one reviewer.
Enjoy! And now I continue writing the Dystopian Science Fiction novel which is third in the "To The North" series.
August 23, 2022
What's Next? "Zero Country" and a Return to Yellowstone
Zero Country is next up on the docket. This novel is a dystopian thriller and the #3 installment in the highly rated To The North series. This book will follow Caldera, which was also published in 2022.
Zero Country will be published late summer or early Fall 2022, and is a bit more than half finished. So, no spoilers will follow, merely teasers, a brief synopsis.
Zero Country takes us back to Yellowstone two years following its devastating supereruption. The region is now called the Greater Yellowstone Restoration Project (GYRP); Monica and Katy (two volcanologists from Caldera) cluster with other scientists at the GYRP. They live within the blasted landscape in a bleak campus of white-domed structures that resembles a Mars habitat.
Katy, Monica, and other scientists study the air, soil, and seismic activity, as the pressure mounts from politicians, mining corporations, and other power brokers to get the region back on its feet.
A sketchy mining operation has also settled on the site, hoping to rake in millions off a rumored vein of rare-earth materials.
Conflicts arise (as you might have guessed); a group of miners are found murdered. Bearing the responsibility for hard-labor and security details, "artificials," powered by unstable artificial-intelligence programs, roam the landscape, wreaking havoc and behaving increasingly hostile.
Zeke Sanchez is called in to help investigate the mining murders, after the FBI has mysteriously white-washed their own investigation. For help, Zeke brings in an ex-Navy SEAL from Vermont named Brett Fairbanks.
Is Yellowstone gearing up for another magmatic explosion? What effects have the mining ops had on seismicity?
Has artificial intelligence run amok, challenging Fairbanks's self-defense skills and placing Katy's and Monica's children in danger? Stay tuned…
Meanwhile, if you haven't read the first two books in the series, here they are, in paperback and kindle:
To The North #1: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GBJ74YG
Caldera: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QHCZ84B
Zero Country will be published late summer or early Fall 2022, and is a bit more than half finished. So, no spoilers will follow, merely teasers, a brief synopsis.
Zero Country takes us back to Yellowstone two years following its devastating supereruption. The region is now called the Greater Yellowstone Restoration Project (GYRP); Monica and Katy (two volcanologists from Caldera) cluster with other scientists at the GYRP. They live within the blasted landscape in a bleak campus of white-domed structures that resembles a Mars habitat.
Katy, Monica, and other scientists study the air, soil, and seismic activity, as the pressure mounts from politicians, mining corporations, and other power brokers to get the region back on its feet.
A sketchy mining operation has also settled on the site, hoping to rake in millions off a rumored vein of rare-earth materials.
Conflicts arise (as you might have guessed); a group of miners are found murdered. Bearing the responsibility for hard-labor and security details, "artificials," powered by unstable artificial-intelligence programs, roam the landscape, wreaking havoc and behaving increasingly hostile.
Zeke Sanchez is called in to help investigate the mining murders, after the FBI has mysteriously white-washed their own investigation. For help, Zeke brings in an ex-Navy SEAL from Vermont named Brett Fairbanks.
Is Yellowstone gearing up for another magmatic explosion? What effects have the mining ops had on seismicity?
Has artificial intelligence run amok, challenging Fairbanks's self-defense skills and placing Katy's and Monica's children in danger? Stay tuned…
Meanwhile, if you haven't read the first two books in the series, here they are, in paperback and kindle:
To The North #1: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GBJ74YG
Caldera: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QHCZ84B
