Rebellion

by Ken Shufeldt

Bailouts and ambitious plans for recovery have failed to rescue the United States's crumbling economy. As the country stands on the brink of total economic collapse, the president takes a desperate gamble and strikes a bargain with China to write off America's debt. It seems a brilliant move—until the Supreme Court is destroyed by a cruise missile in a shocking attack and Manhattan is invaded. China has come to claim what's theirs.With American captives executed daily in national broadcasts by the attackers, the government in disarray, and US military forces shattered into local militias, all seems lost.But deep in the heart of Texas the American spirit lives on. John David Drury, a young, untried, but highly qualified "four-star general" of a scrappy militia, along with Molly Spitz, a highly-ranked graduate of the Air Force Academy, prepares to lead a strike against New York City. As in 1776, America's fate once again hinges on rebellion in this action-packed novel by Ken Shufeldt.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

448 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 3, 2014

Reviews

[Nick Brett · Rating 1 out of 5]

This does indeed make the film Red Dawn look like a masterpiece. In the right hands this could have been a powerful and interesting novel, but the reality is poorly delivered. It is the kind of book I would have loved when I was about thirteen when my tastes were simpler and far less sophisticated.

But anyway the cunning Chinese find a way to upset the US economy and then invade. Luckily we have hero JD (and we see his backstory that makes him the right man to stand up to the dastardly invaders) who will lead the fight back against the Chinese. What can I say, JD is perfect, whatever he tries he is the best in the world at it, trust me, if he came to learn your job he would be better at it than you by next Tuesday and world class by next Friday. Most of the characters here are utter caricatures and the dialogue is stilted and clichéd. The Chinese talk like teenage Americans for instance. Lots of significant action takes place off-screen as it were and sacrifice is dealt with in a pithy and unimaginative way, “I’m sorry you lost thousands of men, but it was for the greater good” type of thing. Oh, and let us not forget the mysterious benefactor who can magic up top grade weaponry at the drop of a hat!

If you like any sort of depth or sophistication then this is not the book for you.

[Chris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Inaccurate, poorly written, and a source of emergency toilet paper or bird cage liner

[Tim Moon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rebellion is a mix of military action and politics. John David Drury is the primary character, with an interesting story, and skills that set him up nicely for end game of the story. There's also a scattershot of politicians, but they're not nearly as interesting.

The idea behind Rebellion is an interesting one - the U.S. crumbles under its debt and struggles to rebuild, while other nations step up to fill the gap. But the places where the political maneuvering could have been tense and exciting, like in House of Cards, the author just brushes over them. Amazingly every law breezes through Congress, the president does things he can't really do, the Supreme Court becomes a puppet of the White House, etc.

Huge leaps in time take place with little reference. At one point, at the end of a chapter, the president has announced massive changes in government policy and then at the start of the next chapter, without saying how much time has passed, people are on the news talking about how great the changes were. There's no detail, no emotional connection. It was like dominos falling. This happens, then this happens, then this other thing happens too.

I think the author would have been better served to focus on Drury, since he was by far the most interesting and the only character you would want to care about. The rest felt like fillers. I wanted to like this book more, but it was too disjointed to connect with.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rebellion is a very fast-paced and enthralling story of the US attacked and taken over by China. From there, the bulk of the book follows JD as he goes from top operator to top commander of the fight to retake the US. The book starts with the tales of the milestones in JD's life. This alone made for a great story, the rest was simply excellent bonus that seemed never to end. My only criticism is that the Chinese characters' dialogue was entirely unrealistic. They spoke like typical Americans despite having lived in China their whole lives. Other than Shufeldt's weakness in writing dialogue, the story was captivating and superbly entertaining.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Standard men's adventure novel, with bad editing, stilted dialogue, awkward sex scenes and a plot that gives the protagonists everything they need whenever they need it and the bad guys continually make stupid mistakes.

[Robert Furlong · Rating 1 out of 5]

Incredibly inaccurate to the point that I wonder if the author has even met anyone in the military. The writing has an interest combination of being far too lengthy yet giving no descriptions. The dialogue is awkward and clunky and the whole thing reads like a boomer's wild fantasy. I picked it up because I expected "Red Dawn but with China" would be dumb fun, but the author forgot to include the fun and didn't even get to the Red Dawn until 200 pages in.

[Todd Stanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good plot but a bit disjointed story telling.

[Steve Schlutow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fun pop corn read. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. When reading this book, take it for exactly what it is—a popcorn fun read—about a military hero growing up.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fans of the Johnstone Out of the Ashes series will enjoy this book. Basicly it condenses the main parts of the beginning series into one book. America has been taken over by the Chinese, and we have a war to retake America. Shufeldt manages to reclaim the US in one book as opposed to multiple in the Johnstone series. Shufeldt manages to leave an opening for a series by having the major bad guy escape with our heroes wife and child and head for Russia. As the book closes, our hero, General Drury is about to embark on a one man rescue/search and destroy mission.

Fun fiction, but a little too much formula and been done before. If you want a classic try to find the old Out of the Ashes series.

[Brad Theado · Rating 3 out of 5]

I dont really understand the previous review left on this book. I actually enjoyed the story. I liked the characters, the premise and the use of the weaponry in a creative way.

I do think that the author glossed over political maneuverings that would have been a lot more difficult than the way that they were portrayed and relationships were way too easy.

I probably wont read the next book in the series just because its going in a direction that I dont think I will enjoy but this one was a good stand alone read.

[John l ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

This was the first of his books I have read but it won't be the last. I liked the way he developed JD from the very beginning.I definitely got caught up in the plot and enjoyed all of the action. I especially liked how he used recent references throughout. I look forward to Russia.

[Douglas Boren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting ,engaging, and a rousing story. Cliffhanger ending. A good political science fiction novel.

[Jim Serna]

Excellent !!! I have no other words to explain how much I enjoyed this book......Excellent

I hope he will continue this book or. if he has, or will please let us know.

[Jerry Blackerby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the easiest read, but a good book. It shows what could happen to our country and the effort to take it back. It ended with what appears to be a sequel to come.

[Ronny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started out OK but most of it read like a history book. A future war where the side with more and better weapons won.