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Junkyard Pirate #7
Junkyard Commandos
A team of grumpy old vets answer the call to war and undertake an impossible rescue when a secret mission, deep in hostile alien territory, goes terribly wrong.
The US Army’s Zebra Company has been tasked with an impossible, secret mission to establish a presence on planet Fimil Prime . With a no-holds-barred budget, and the help of friendly alien allies, Mission Black Turtle is launched, sending the fortress-class Angry Arc and two hundred of Earth’s finest soldiers into the great unknown.
A living embodiment of SNAFU, the mission falls off the rails when the highly advanced Quarr challenge Zebra Company’s arrival by fielding a host of genetically engineered warriors to ruin the day.
Cut off from supplies and reinforcements, a beaten and beleaguered Zebra Company barely survives as a well-supplied Quarr army wages a grueling war of attrition, taking unimageable losses to run humanity off planet.
Never ones to back down from a challenge, Albert Jenkins and his elite platoon of grumpy old vets mount up again, bringing their own brand of sarcastic justice to Fimil Prime. The big question? What can a platoon of old vets do against an army of genetically engineered aliens? It’s a question AJ and his friends are all too happy to answer.
Buy Junkyard Commandos today and kick the Quarr back to parts unknown.
The US Army’s Zebra Company has been tasked with an impossible, secret mission to establish a presence on planet Fimil Prime . With a no-holds-barred budget, and the help of friendly alien allies, Mission Black Turtle is launched, sending the fortress-class Angry Arc and two hundred of Earth’s finest soldiers into the great unknown.
A living embodiment of SNAFU, the mission falls off the rails when the highly advanced Quarr challenge Zebra Company’s arrival by fielding a host of genetically engineered warriors to ruin the day.
Cut off from supplies and reinforcements, a beaten and beleaguered Zebra Company barely survives as a well-supplied Quarr army wages a grueling war of attrition, taking unimageable losses to run humanity off planet.
Never ones to back down from a challenge, Albert Jenkins and his elite platoon of grumpy old vets mount up again, bringing their own brand of sarcastic justice to Fimil Prime. The big question? What can a platoon of old vets do against an army of genetically engineered aliens? It’s a question AJ and his friends are all too happy to answer.
Buy Junkyard Commandos today and kick the Quarr back to parts unknown.
406 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 26, 2023
233 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
August 7, 2025
Great book
Story line is fast and great to read. A very good military futuristic group of characters from our past.
I recommend you to read TBE entire series.
Story line is fast and great to read. A very good military futuristic group of characters from our past.
I recommend you to read TBE entire series.
November 18, 2023
Excellent follow up
Been reading some below average books recently, so this may be a slightly higher score than I would usually give it, but it's still very good
The team set up AJ as bait, without telling him, you can guess how happy he is about that.
From that, it all leads to humanity trying to expand from earth and AJs team having to resurrect the plan when the army.makes contact with the enemy
The whole team is here for this one and it is a riot, the action is frequent and fast paced and the humour genuinely funny.
My one complaint, I wish Jamie could write faster. Roll on the next book, I'll be reading it on day one
Been reading some below average books recently, so this may be a slightly higher score than I would usually give it, but it's still very good
The team set up AJ as bait, without telling him, you can guess how happy he is about that.
From that, it all leads to humanity trying to expand from earth and AJs team having to resurrect the plan when the army.makes contact with the enemy
The whole team is here for this one and it is a riot, the action is frequent and fast paced and the humour genuinely funny.
My one complaint, I wish Jamie could write faster. Roll on the next book, I'll be reading it on day one
November 29, 2023
The gangs all here
A.J. and crew have their whole squad turned out for a new war. Each with their own Beltigersk symbiote rider, the outfit are enhanced, youth restored, and ready to mix it up with a Togath army. A daring damsel has her own good time commanding a US Army mobile fortress against same Togath army. Sparks may fly.
I love it when old characters, like old friends, get together. Even if you haven't seen each other for a while, the conversation starts up right where it left off. Easy. Comfortable. So now add in borrowed power combat armor and hopeless odds and you've got the Junkyard crew back in action! Intense combat and personal struggles keep the pages furiously turning. Damn the sleep! Full speed ahead! This is a great read!
A.J. and crew have their whole squad turned out for a new war. Each with their own Beltigersk symbiote rider, the outfit are enhanced, youth restored, and ready to mix it up with a Togath army. A daring damsel has her own good time commanding a US Army mobile fortress against same Togath army. Sparks may fly.
I love it when old characters, like old friends, get together. Even if you haven't seen each other for a while, the conversation starts up right where it left off. Easy. Comfortable. So now add in borrowed power combat armor and hopeless odds and you've got the Junkyard crew back in action! Intense combat and personal struggles keep the pages furiously turning. Damn the sleep! Full speed ahead! This is a great read!
November 13, 2023
Good story but something has changed
Somehow this story forgot that the relationship between Doc and AJ was far deeper (and I thought they were previously married). Also, AJ has transformed into a war minded patriot from the pragmatic realist just trying to live his life and take care of his family/friends. Personally, I would have preferred the track that the series was previously on, but maybe the mercenary track can be fun. I guess we will see.
Somehow this story forgot that the relationship between Doc and AJ was far deeper (and I thought they were previously married). Also, AJ has transformed into a war minded patriot from the pragmatic realist just trying to live his life and take care of his family/friends. Personally, I would have preferred the track that the series was previously on, but maybe the mercenary track can be fun. I guess we will see.
November 25, 2023
Completely changed direction of the series
1 Amanda and AJ were married in the previous book. Now they are not.
2 Language was too coarse.
3 New characters were added to the tean and others were omitted.
4 This turned into a full-on military adventure instead of a story about the adventurers who we had gotten to know.
There were other issues as well.
I won't be reading any future adventures.
1 Amanda and AJ were married in the previous book. Now they are not.
2 Language was too coarse.
3 New characters were added to the tean and others were omitted.
4 This turned into a full-on military adventure instead of a story about the adventurers who we had gotten to know.
There were other issues as well.
I won't be reading any future adventures.
February 25, 2024
I've been so-so on this series from the beginning and now I have to say that while Jamie McFarlane is a very good writer, this series is not for me. The military aspect of this military science fiction story just doesn't cut it and it makes me wonder how people see special operations forces and military operations in general from the outside. This is why I usually don't read or watch things in this genre and that's the case here. Hard pass for me.
October 27, 2023
story continuation error
In the last book AJ and Amanda are married. This book makes it seem like they were just dating and that is an issue.
In the last book AJ and Amanda are married. This book makes it seem like they were just dating and that is an issue.
November 9, 2023
vulgar, vulgar, vulgar
There’s absolutely no reason to be so foul-mouthed. Really turns me off to reading any more of an author who doesn’t have much character
There’s absolutely no reason to be so foul-mouthed. Really turns me off to reading any more of an author who doesn’t have much character
November 5, 2023
great story! love this series
I love this author, his writing style & imagination, & I especially love the characters and the depth to which we’ve gotten to know them. I would say this author is great at storytelling, laying it out so it makes sense , while developing characters into strong characters who we feel connections with & he tells it with quirky banter between friends and wonderful humor. And let’s not forget the action which is always a highlight. You can count on these guys to bring the hurt to a fight. Speaking of guys….& since we’ve been introduced to Deke, how about a woman on the soldier team? (Nothing against Amanda or lisa and all they do) And how come this band of old fart soldiers, who have been kicking butt across the galaxy, do not have a group name? Soldiers are notorious at nicknames, why none for this group?
There’s fighting, like usual, with the Quarr & Togarth. Action packed, as usual, but less so for our group because of their great suits. The real and interesting person in this one is Deke. She’s great and I hope we see much more of her in the future. She’s a true bada_-! Like I said, she’d fit right in with team __(?)__. They need a name! For real. 😉
So although I love the author, the book and characters, this one had some issues. IMO First thing, I think the author must have had to rush to release date, at least that’s my guess for the resulting number of editing errors, which are usually not a thing in his books. Also, there were several instances of frustration. While action packed and still good, it felt like simply more of the same. I don’t want to see the series end. I don’t feel like it’s reached it’s plateau because there’s so much open to them,but I also want to be truthful and say it (they) need a different enemy or a different challenge, etc. Fighting the Togarth was even boring for AJ’s team so you can imagine how it was for us. I do wonder if there’s a storyline to investigate and maybe free the Togarth from the bonds of their creators? Just a thought.
There are things that happen in this one that are kind of wonky, ie: Amanda-all for going then not so much. Not ensuring other medial personnel along, ie another trauma surgeon, PA or surg tech, nurse, etc. These guys and the Ark’s team were all going into a situation they weren’t expected to survive but they only sent one surgeon on the Wasp & probably same on the Ark. Not realistic. one of the things that happens changes the whole plan and what AJ and his team can do. And it was never explained how or why that happened. They never talked to that entity to find out why. If it’s something explained to us before in previous books then I’ve forgotten in between books and needed a reminder. Sorry. Lol..I need a Beltigerk! Can u help with that?! 😂
To author: u can find edits & comments in highlighted Notes section, if interested. Once you read them, feel free to clear them from the book. 👍😉
Looking forward to book 8, which sounds like a team-up with Deke. Yaaayy! Happy holidays!
I love this author, his writing style & imagination, & I especially love the characters and the depth to which we’ve gotten to know them. I would say this author is great at storytelling, laying it out so it makes sense , while developing characters into strong characters who we feel connections with & he tells it with quirky banter between friends and wonderful humor. And let’s not forget the action which is always a highlight. You can count on these guys to bring the hurt to a fight. Speaking of guys….& since we’ve been introduced to Deke, how about a woman on the soldier team? (Nothing against Amanda or lisa and all they do) And how come this band of old fart soldiers, who have been kicking butt across the galaxy, do not have a group name? Soldiers are notorious at nicknames, why none for this group?
There’s fighting, like usual, with the Quarr & Togarth. Action packed, as usual, but less so for our group because of their great suits. The real and interesting person in this one is Deke. She’s great and I hope we see much more of her in the future. She’s a true bada_-! Like I said, she’d fit right in with team __(?)__. They need a name! For real. 😉
So although I love the author, the book and characters, this one had some issues. IMO First thing, I think the author must have had to rush to release date, at least that’s my guess for the resulting number of editing errors, which are usually not a thing in his books. Also, there were several instances of frustration. While action packed and still good, it felt like simply more of the same. I don’t want to see the series end. I don’t feel like it’s reached it’s plateau because there’s so much open to them,but I also want to be truthful and say it (they) need a different enemy or a different challenge, etc. Fighting the Togarth was even boring for AJ’s team so you can imagine how it was for us. I do wonder if there’s a storyline to investigate and maybe free the Togarth from the bonds of their creators? Just a thought.
There are things that happen in this one that are kind of wonky, ie: Amanda-all for going then not so much. Not ensuring other medial personnel along, ie another trauma surgeon, PA or surg tech, nurse, etc. These guys and the Ark’s team were all going into a situation they weren’t expected to survive but they only sent one surgeon on the Wasp & probably same on the Ark. Not realistic. one of the things that happens changes the whole plan and what AJ and his team can do. And it was never explained how or why that happened. They never talked to that entity to find out why. If it’s something explained to us before in previous books then I’ve forgotten in between books and needed a reminder. Sorry. Lol..I need a Beltigerk! Can u help with that?! 😂
To author: u can find edits & comments in highlighted Notes section, if interested. Once you read them, feel free to clear them from the book. 👍😉
Looking forward to book 8, which sounds like a team-up with Deke. Yaaayy! Happy holidays!
July 18, 2024
Another great installment from Jamie McFarlane
My reviews are a little repetitive which is a good thing but I am running low on adjectives / superlatives to use.
I like sci-fi, space, well written stories that just flow. Jamie McFarlane achieves this every time and it is the same in The Oldest Starfighter that I'm already half way through.
The formula works really well and you either take me at my word and read it, or move on to something else. I wouldn't have touched this genre a few years ago, but took a punt on a friend's recommendation and I'm well and truly hooked.
Just read the damn book.
My reviews are a little repetitive which is a good thing but I am running low on adjectives / superlatives to use.
I like sci-fi, space, well written stories that just flow. Jamie McFarlane achieves this every time and it is the same in The Oldest Starfighter that I'm already half way through.
The formula works really well and you either take me at my word and read it, or move on to something else. I wouldn't have touched this genre a few years ago, but took a punt on a friend's recommendation and I'm well and truly hooked.
Just read the damn book.
November 7, 2023
Love this series.
The author has a great writing style that flows well. I often found myself leaning into my Kindle trying to get closer to the story. I love the interactions between human and their symbiote alien partners and how they teach them to understand human phrases. There is also a love story that evolves throughout the books, but doesn't take away from the action of the story. Loved it!
The author has a great writing style that flows well. I often found myself leaning into my Kindle trying to get closer to the story. I love the interactions between human and their symbiote alien partners and how they teach them to understand human phrases. There is also a love story that evolves throughout the books, but doesn't take away from the action of the story. Loved it!
December 6, 2023
GIs Getting It done
There was a time very few knew what SEaLs or other Tier 1s were. As an E6 I most enjoyed that it was AJ, his friends and good ol "regular" infantry that rode out and met opposing forces.
Its hard to believe this was the 7th Junkyard story. I always binge Jamie's books even though I never want them to end. He continues to be perhaps my favorite Indy author and a huge inspiration.
There was a time very few knew what SEaLs or other Tier 1s were. As an E6 I most enjoyed that it was AJ, his friends and good ol "regular" infantry that rode out and met opposing forces.
Its hard to believe this was the 7th Junkyard story. I always binge Jamie's books even though I never want them to end. He continues to be perhaps my favorite Indy author and a huge inspiration.
September 26, 2024
Another great book
McFarlane continues the Junkyard series with creative world building and new struggles for AJ and his team. I find it hard to put these books down- I can't wait to find out how AJ gets through the conflict. I gave it only 4 stars because it seems to me the character development is not as strong as his earlier books, and McFarlane is more preachy this time than previously. Despite this, I highly recommend this exciting story.
McFarlane continues the Junkyard series with creative world building and new struggles for AJ and his team. I find it hard to put these books down- I can't wait to find out how AJ gets through the conflict. I gave it only 4 stars because it seems to me the character development is not as strong as his earlier books, and McFarlane is more preachy this time than previously. Despite this, I highly recommend this exciting story.
October 2, 2024
Junkyard Commandos
Wasn't sure how this one would turn out. But it managed to be really good, as usual. Sad parts. And, the joking/light talking going into battle was very well done. You have to have some way to prepare mentally for what's ahead. Anyway, as usual, the writing is superb. Very few misspelled words made it even better. This whole series has been a great read. Each character is so well described. You feel like you know them personally. Truly enjoyable reading.
Wasn't sure how this one would turn out. But it managed to be really good, as usual. Sad parts. And, the joking/light talking going into battle was very well done. You have to have some way to prepare mentally for what's ahead. Anyway, as usual, the writing is superb. Very few misspelled words made it even better. This whole series has been a great read. Each character is so well described. You feel like you know them personally. Truly enjoyable reading.
July 8, 2025
Mind bogglingly great book!
Author Jamie McGarland has done it again! Amazingly good action, characters and plot. I am in awe of how great he writes combat stories. And, his characters feel like they’re your family or your best friends. You feel their joy and their pain.
As a matter of fact, the entire “Junkyard Pirate” series is great! Do yourself a favor and immediately read this entire series & this book too. You WILL be very glad you did :)
Author Jamie McGarland has done it again! Amazingly good action, characters and plot. I am in awe of how great he writes combat stories. And, his characters feel like they’re your family or your best friends. You feel their joy and their pain.
As a matter of fact, the entire “Junkyard Pirate” series is great! Do yourself a favor and immediately read this entire series & this book too. You WILL be very glad you did :)
December 5, 2023
This series has become my absolute favorite! As a Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam war, I can truly relate to the characters: how they think, and act. This author has written his way into my top 10 all-time writers list (which includes Robert Heinlein...). I wait anxiously for each new book to come out! The universe McFarlane has created is absolutely believable, and palpable.
November 12, 2023
Great read...
I was so glad to get back with the gang and see where they had been. I love the interaction between the symbiote and the humans. And I love the interaction between AJ and all of his buddies. I hope this isn't the last book and the series will continue!
I was so glad to get back with the gang and see where they had been. I love the interaction between the symbiote and the humans. And I love the interaction between AJ and all of his buddies. I hope this isn't the last book and the series will continue!
December 5, 2023
Great book but a big continuity!
Book 7 in the Junkyard Pirate series. First rate as usual. I would have given it 5 stars except for the continuity problem In book 6, AJ and Amanda got married; this one starts out with no mention of that, otherwise a great read.
Book 7 in the Junkyard Pirate series. First rate as usual. I would have given it 5 stars except for the continuity problem In book 6, AJ and Amanda got married; this one starts out with no mention of that, otherwise a great read.
December 29, 2023
This should be required reading for any soon to be private in the Army. It's chock for of brain washing patriotic nonsense. The characters are so incredibly shallow that there's more patriotic banter than actual character building!
September 7, 2024
Great read!
Terrific character development, plenty of believable action, some romance. Altogether, it is well-balanced with nice pacing. If you enjoy the genre, this is a wonderful read. More please?
Terrific character development, plenty of believable action, some romance. Altogether, it is well-balanced with nice pacing. If you enjoy the genre, this is a wonderful read. More please?
June 14, 2025
very great series
I'm amazed that this author can write so many fantastic novels, I hope that he never stops writing. His books are some of the best Entertainment I have read and worth the time to read them. Thank you for a very fun entertaining read.
I'm amazed that this author can write so many fantastic novels, I hope that he never stops writing. His books are some of the best Entertainment I have read and worth the time to read them. Thank you for a very fun entertaining read.
October 29, 2023
Whopper!!
All the usual..then I realized I missed a book!..gotta go back for that. Very attention holding.. entertaining read. I liked it!
All the usual..then I realized I missed a book!..gotta go back for that. Very attention holding.. entertaining read. I liked it!
Read
November 6, 2023I really like this universe
This group of vets is a hard fought group . the core unit is good people fighting for other good people👍👍👍👍👍
This group of vets is a hard fought group . the core unit is good people fighting for other good people👍👍👍👍👍
November 6, 2023
Next one please
Great dialogue and action. Wonderful entertainment. Only need to have the rest of the series as quick as possible. Please.
Great dialogue and action. Wonderful entertainment. Only need to have the rest of the series as quick as possible. Please.
Read
November 11, 2023Good Read
I find all of the junkyard pirate books to be a little short, but I'm usually satisfied after reading. Now after reading this one I know I'm hooked.
I find all of the junkyard pirate books to be a little short, but I'm usually satisfied after reading. Now after reading this one I know I'm hooked.
November 12, 2023
Amazing
One of my best read will read the whole series again. Can't wait for book #8 . Thanks for such a great book
One of my best read will read the whole series again. Can't wait for book #8 . Thanks for such a great book
November 15, 2023
Go gadget go!
Gibberish gibberish and more jibberish. Blah blah blah. Yack yack yakity yack!
Worth the 5*s, I just hate writing reviews
Gibberish gibberish and more jibberish. Blah blah blah. Yack yack yakity yack!
Worth the 5*s, I just hate writing reviews
November 16, 2023
It ended too quickly
I enjoyed book 7 but it seemed to end too quickly. It seemed to lack the 'feel' of the previous books.
I enjoyed book 7 but it seemed to end too quickly. It seemed to lack the 'feel' of the previous books.
November 24, 2023
Top Notch Science Fiction!
December 1, 2023
Book 7 in the series
AJ and the team are recruited for a special mission and not under the best circumstances. Well written with lots of action. A great story.
AJ and the team are recruited for a special mission and not under the best circumstances. Well written with lots of action. A great story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews