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Battle Trucker #1
What the Truck: An Apocalypse LitRPG
It’s humans versus monsters when an apocalypse turns a simple cross-country trek into the road trip from hell in this breakneck LitRPG thrill ride.
All that stands between rowdy long-haul trucker Jill MacLeod (aka Junkmouth) and her family back in Boston is two thousand miles of asphalt. Well, that and the monstrous game the System has had her playing ever since it descended on Earth. The mana. Jill’s kill, score, drive—and stay alive. Behind the wheel of a turreted forty-ton semi named Bertha, Jill hammers east from Montana through a gauntlet of every kind of chomping, hissing, rabid creature imaginable.
Barreling forward in her magical soulbound big rig and chalking up a bumper crop of roadkill, Jill isn’t alone for long. Hitching a ride are stranded brothers Babu and Ras Bati, who just want to make it home to Billings in one piece, and Mia Williams, a school nurse with a rotary cannon and a crateful of ammo. The artillery, at least, will be handy, because what lies ahead is the biggest threat of all . . .
Arriving in Billings, they find a city in chaos, led by a self-appointed psychopathic mayor using the monster-ravaged ruins for his own ends. But Jill hasn’t come this far to be blindsided by a human—no matter how scary. There’s still a game to be The System is watching, that metal-muscle fortress Bertha is transforming, and Jill and her shotgun-riding friends will do anything it takes to keep the terror in the rear view one gobsmacking mile at a time.
The first volume of the hit LitRPG adventure series—with more than 400,000 views on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!
All that stands between rowdy long-haul trucker Jill MacLeod (aka Junkmouth) and her family back in Boston is two thousand miles of asphalt. Well, that and the monstrous game the System has had her playing ever since it descended on Earth. The mana. Jill’s kill, score, drive—and stay alive. Behind the wheel of a turreted forty-ton semi named Bertha, Jill hammers east from Montana through a gauntlet of every kind of chomping, hissing, rabid creature imaginable.
Barreling forward in her magical soulbound big rig and chalking up a bumper crop of roadkill, Jill isn’t alone for long. Hitching a ride are stranded brothers Babu and Ras Bati, who just want to make it home to Billings in one piece, and Mia Williams, a school nurse with a rotary cannon and a crateful of ammo. The artillery, at least, will be handy, because what lies ahead is the biggest threat of all . . .
Arriving in Billings, they find a city in chaos, led by a self-appointed psychopathic mayor using the monster-ravaged ruins for his own ends. But Jill hasn’t come this far to be blindsided by a human—no matter how scary. There’s still a game to be The System is watching, that metal-muscle fortress Bertha is transforming, and Jill and her shotgun-riding friends will do anything it takes to keep the terror in the rear view one gobsmacking mile at a time.
The first volume of the hit LitRPG adventure series—with more than 400,000 views on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!
350 pages, Paperback
First published October 24, 2023
108 people are currently reading
183 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
October 27, 2024
So if, like me, your life was incomplete without a System Apocalypse story centered on a sole proprietor trucker your prayers are now answered. Jill is driving her big rig Bertha when the apocalypse hits. Bertha is getting old, but Jill owns her outright and that is enough for them to take on the world. Or at least enough long haul jobs to make ends meet. Jill ignores the system stuff until she helps save a couple of guys on the road who are fighting for their lives. They explain a bit about what is going on and indicate that you can soul bond with something you care about. Jill cares about Bertha, so obviously she's going to bond with her truck. And the rest follows from there.
Jill wants nothing more than to reunite with her family in Boston so she agrees to take her passengers to their home in the next town (they're in Montana). Along the way, she gains the class "Battle Trucker" and enhances Bertha with things like turrets and habitat modules and things snowball from there. And I was so along for this! I liked Jill. I liked the found family in the apocalypse. And I liked seeing the shenanigans they got up to helping folks along the way.
This is an easy five stars for me as I was engaged with the characters, the pace was excellent and the plot (and worldbuilding) was just whacky enough to work. And I'm definitely moving on to the next book.
A note about crude language: Jill is course. Her swears are vivid and convoluted and strong enough that she multi-classes into Maladict Bard. Essentially, the System grants cursing the power to affect status effects. Good fun. But yeah, that's a lot of cursing. You are warned.
A note about Chaste: Jill has a partner she is working hard to reunite with. There are no shenanigans. Except in the cursing. So this is pretty chaste.
Jill wants nothing more than to reunite with her family in Boston so she agrees to take her passengers to their home in the next town (they're in Montana). Along the way, she gains the class "Battle Trucker" and enhances Bertha with things like turrets and habitat modules and things snowball from there. And I was so along for this! I liked Jill. I liked the found family in the apocalypse. And I liked seeing the shenanigans they got up to helping folks along the way.
This is an easy five stars for me as I was engaged with the characters, the pace was excellent and the plot (and worldbuilding) was just whacky enough to work. And I'm definitely moving on to the next book.
A note about crude language: Jill is course. Her swears are vivid and convoluted and strong enough that she multi-classes into Maladict Bard. Essentially, the System grants cursing the power to affect status effects. Good fun. But yeah, that's a lot of cursing. You are warned.
A note about Chaste: Jill has a partner she is working hard to reunite with. There are no shenanigans. Except in the cursing. So this is pretty chaste.
November 11, 2023
Book one
By far the best big rig apocalypse litrpg to come out so far!
I only found two mistakes in this book. I will list them on Goodreads.
This was shorter than the books I normally read, but at over three hundred pages it wasn't to much shorter.
Plot wise well you need to read it to find out. I don't know what to say that won't drop a bunch of spoilers. Just know I had a lot of fun reading this.
Characters are good and for me the MC was a hoot. Lots of cursing though so be warned!
If I was to pick one negative I would say, needs an auto loot ability because to much loot is being left behind.
9.5/10 I took off half a point for the lack of loot.
By far the best big rig apocalypse litrpg to come out so far!
I only found two mistakes in this book. I will list them on Goodreads.
This was shorter than the books I normally read, but at over three hundred pages it wasn't to much shorter.
Plot wise well you need to read it to find out. I don't know what to say that won't drop a bunch of spoilers. Just know I had a lot of fun reading this.
Characters are good and for me the MC was a hoot. Lots of cursing though so be warned!
If I was to pick one negative I would say, needs an auto loot ability because to much loot is being left behind.
9.5/10 I took off half a point for the lack of loot.
October 17, 2024
This ties Dungeon Crawler Carl easily for the most hilarious book I've read! The creativity all through this novel is to be admired! Battle trucker? Seriously! Jill makes me laugh, especially some of the skills she gets for just being herself! I hope this is the beginning of a lengthy series, because I read the first book in one sitting.
February 26, 2024
Battle truck? Wow!
Really creative litrpg.
I liked the characters, and especially the cursing woman truck driver.
When the system came to earth, Jill McLeod stepped up with her big rig Bertha.
She crosses Montana and faces frightening challenges. She and Bertha get stronger and stronger. What a ride!
I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Really creative litrpg.
I liked the characters, and especially the cursing woman truck driver.
When the system came to earth, Jill McLeod stepped up with her big rig Bertha.
She crosses Montana and faces frightening challenges. She and Bertha get stronger and stronger. What a ride!
I can’t wait to see what happens next.
November 12, 2023
So much fun. Entertaining and novel story.
Will definitely be reading more of this.
Will definitely be reading more of this.
August 15, 2024
Massively surprised!
Honestly picked this up based on the name and thought it might just be quick shlocky read, I am so surprised with how good it ended up being and it might actually be my favourite book I've read this year. I just think that it ticked every box that I'm looking for in a read right now and cannot wait to start the second book! Hoping this becomes a running series!
Honestly picked this up based on the name and thought it might just be quick shlocky read, I am so surprised with how good it ended up being and it might actually be my favourite book I've read this year. I just think that it ticked every box that I'm looking for in a read right now and cannot wait to start the second book! Hoping this becomes a running series!
January 15, 2024
This was pretty damn good. I'll be around for the long haul. 👍🏽👍🏽
December 30, 2023
fun story
Enjoyable read. MC is pretty bad ass and hilarious. Perfect balance of heroism and the profane, and her last line is priceless. I like that she’s middle aged and has fought her way through life and has achieved success through struggles. Her association with opioid addiction and leveling high is a touching way to characterize her. She thinks of lost friends and the problems with choosing the easy way. But she’s not afraid to kill if she has to. Her main allies are solid characters, especially the school nurse. The antagonists are also very strong. It isn’t just aliens who implement a system and force the world to fight for survival. The Billings mayor is an awesomely awful villain who you love to hate. The system is well conceived and consistent. The mind magic people can get is ha handled really well, terrifying and yet not invincible. A lot of laughs from the System itself and the MC’s monologues and indirect communication with it. The truck itself is pretty awesome. Hoping it will become more sentient in future volumes. Great read. I recommend it for anyone who likes this genre.
Enjoyable read. MC is pretty bad ass and hilarious. Perfect balance of heroism and the profane, and her last line is priceless. I like that she’s middle aged and has fought her way through life and has achieved success through struggles. Her association with opioid addiction and leveling high is a touching way to characterize her. She thinks of lost friends and the problems with choosing the easy way. But she’s not afraid to kill if she has to. Her main allies are solid characters, especially the school nurse. The antagonists are also very strong. It isn’t just aliens who implement a system and force the world to fight for survival. The Billings mayor is an awesomely awful villain who you love to hate. The system is well conceived and consistent. The mind magic people can get is ha handled really well, terrifying and yet not invincible. A lot of laughs from the System itself and the MC’s monologues and indirect communication with it. The truck itself is pretty awesome. Hoping it will become more sentient in future volumes. Great read. I recommend it for anyone who likes this genre.
December 2, 2023
A good time
The characters are a lot of fun, especially Jill. Her
actions and vocabulary were entertaining to read. The Bati Brothers are an interesting pair and with Jill the dynamic fits well. I also liked the addition of Mia the Nurse Gunner. Her addition to the group fits well. The only thing I would have liked to see is either a stat sheet or description of the core group’s class and stats. Sometimes I couldn’t tell how strong Ras, Bas and Mia were in relation to Jill. It affected Bloosom’s performance earlier so a reference would be nice.
The characters are a lot of fun, especially Jill. Her
actions and vocabulary were entertaining to read. The Bati Brothers are an interesting pair and with Jill the dynamic fits well. I also liked the addition of Mia the Nurse Gunner. Her addition to the group fits well. The only thing I would have liked to see is either a stat sheet or description of the core group’s class and stats. Sometimes I couldn’t tell how strong Ras, Bas and Mia were in relation to Jill. It affected Bloosom’s performance earlier so a reference would be nice.
August 12, 2025
Love the humour, the novel approach, the subtle nods to communities, the "don't be a dick" attitude and the sometimes difficult to adhere to that principle and when noticed correct the error with honest acknowledgement and trying to change the pattern, with believable ability to change.
Interesting plots and subplots, real people trying their best to work together. So curious where this story will end up.
Listening to Zura Johnson mostly delightfully narration of the book, I hope hooah, hooyah, oorah in the future will sound less like a lovers whisper, or a lady at tea.
Interesting plots and subplots, real people trying their best to work together. So curious where this story will end up.
Listening to Zura Johnson mostly delightfully narration of the book, I hope hooah, hooyah, oorah in the future will sound less like a lovers whisper, or a lady at tea.
October 27, 2023
funny
This book is a reading riot of improbable creative swear words. This is a TRUE monster truck. Hope to see more books sooner than later. Tom Goldstein you are forbidden from going off on a tangent and forgetting this series like my favorite author has done by not getting book 3 of the Duty Trilogy out.
This book is a reading riot of improbable creative swear words. This is a TRUE monster truck. Hope to see more books sooner than later. Tom Goldstein you are forbidden from going off on a tangent and forgetting this series like my favorite author has done by not getting book 3 of the Duty Trilogy out.
November 7, 2023
So trucking good!
This book was hilarious! Action packed and comical. If you enjoy post-apocalyptic, system, litrpg--and you don't mind an utterly absurd amount of swearing--then this book is most definitely for you.
The disappointing part: it just came out, so now I have to wait for a sequel.
This book was hilarious! Action packed and comical. If you enjoy post-apocalyptic, system, litrpg--and you don't mind an utterly absurd amount of swearing--then this book is most definitely for you.
The disappointing part: it just came out, so now I have to wait for a sequel.
March 16, 2024
Awesome
This book was just what I was needing. Action, leveling, comraderey and a great leader. I can't say enough about this book. It was such a fun ride. I hope this author keeps up the good work. If you like a rip roaring fly by the seat of your pants thrill ride I highly recommend this book. Good times ahead.
This book was just what I was needing. Action, leveling, comraderey and a great leader. I can't say enough about this book. It was such a fun ride. I hope this author keeps up the good work. If you like a rip roaring fly by the seat of your pants thrill ride I highly recommend this book. Good times ahead.
October 4, 2025
So different!
The main character was awesome! For those wimpy people who get offended by profanity, you best skip this book, because she out curses Bethany Anne (of Kurtherian gambit fame). The leveling was a bit fast and physical changes not detailed, but things moved at a FAST pace. It was a change from my preferred litrpgs, but refreshing. I recommend trying it.
The main character was awesome! For those wimpy people who get offended by profanity, you best skip this book, because she out curses Bethany Anne (of Kurtherian gambit fame). The leveling was a bit fast and physical changes not detailed, but things moved at a FAST pace. It was a change from my preferred litrpgs, but refreshing. I recommend trying it.
October 30, 2023
A foul mouthed trucker get's stuck on I 90 after the implementation of the system and has no time for the system BS. It's a fun ride with a good MC and some crazy experiences. The first book is a good intro to the series and I'm going to pick up book 2 when it comes out on audiobook.
November 3, 2023
have truck will travel
Really enjoyable read . A good twist on lit rpg not read anything like it before . Lots of action with a good story . Enjoyed it a lot more than I expected really looking forward to book number two.
Really enjoyable read . A good twist on lit rpg not read anything like it before . Lots of action with a good story . Enjoyed it a lot more than I expected really looking forward to book number two.
January 29, 2024
A blast to read
I enjoyed this book from cover to cover. I liked the characters and found the interplay to be amazing. I look forward to see more and different monsters and characters to come. Keep up the good work and I look forward to many more books.
I enjoyed this book from cover to cover. I liked the characters and found the interplay to be amazing. I look forward to see more and different monsters and characters to come. Keep up the good work and I look forward to many more books.
February 11, 2024
Awesome Litpocalpyse
A trucker soul bonds her vehicle and sets off to return to her family, acquiring companions along the way. Funny, great action and interesting system. Can't wait for two.
A trucker soul bonds her vehicle and sets off to return to her family, acquiring companions along the way. Funny, great action and interesting system. Can't wait for two.
March 14, 2024
Title says it all
This is a high-octane thriller with quite possibly the most foul-mouthed protagonist I’ve ever read about. There’s quite a lot of technobabble about guns and other weaponry, but that’s honestly to be expected from this kind of book.
This is a high-octane thriller with quite possibly the most foul-mouthed protagonist I’ve ever read about. There’s quite a lot of technobabble about guns and other weaponry, but that’s honestly to be expected from this kind of book.
June 20, 2024
This blew my mind. A really unique take on litrpg, almost with a mad max feel to it. Moving fortress inside an 18 wheeler, and a foul mouthed girl to take charge of it all. I'll be reading the next one!
October 24, 2023
Wonderful
Kept me entertained from start to finish. Loved how Jill's language became a skill to use. Bertha is a bad assed truck and I can't wait for the next book in the series.
Kept me entertained from start to finish. Loved how Jill's language became a skill to use. Bertha is a bad assed truck and I can't wait for the next book in the series.
November 7, 2023
Great read
I love the unique plot line and all the great characters.. You smashed it out of the park. I could not set the book down
I love the unique plot line and all the great characters.. You smashed it out of the park. I could not set the book down
December 2, 2023
Rolling good fun!!!
Wow what a ride! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't wait for number 2. To the author release number 2 soon please.
Wow what a ride! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't wait for number 2. To the author release number 2 soon please.
December 3, 2023
This book was awesome can't wait to read book 2...
December 3, 2023
Excellent
Excellent excellent... I am sending this to my longhall brother who wishes he had this truck! Funny, exhilarating, sad, crazy... All of it. Get it.
Excellent excellent... I am sending this to my longhall brother who wishes he had this truck! Funny, exhilarating, sad, crazy... All of it. Get it.
January 15, 2024
This was pretty damn good. I'll be around for the long haul. 👍🏽👍🏽
January 18, 2024
Sometimes crass but most creative cursing I’ve ever read
January 24, 2024
Amazing!
Holy trucknuts! What a fracktastically exciting and fun read!
I sincerely recommend this for any adult over the mind age of 18!
Thank you, Sir Goldstein!
Holy trucknuts! What a fracktastically exciting and fun read!
I sincerely recommend this for any adult over the mind age of 18!
Thank you, Sir Goldstein!
February 29, 2024
Fun
Fun and plentiful supply of action the m&s is fantastic as a swearing trucker with a Hart of gold well worth a read
Fun and plentiful supply of action the m&s is fantastic as a swearing trucker with a Hart of gold well worth a read
May 1, 2024
Laughed out loud
Great book. Loved the female lead. I cannot wait for book two. Story is fast paced and flows well. I hope you enjoy
Great book. Loved the female lead. I cannot wait for book two. Story is fast paced and flows well. I hope you enjoy
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews