Buried Starship

by Anthony J. Melchiorri

Some ships are meant to stay buried.

Veteran Marine Jace Hawthorne thought his warfighting days were over when humanity fell to the alien Overlords.

Now he smuggles outlawed medical tech under the Overlords’ oppressive rule, doing whatever it takes to keep his family safe and alive. But when a routine job leads him to a remote space station blasted to ruins, Jace uncovers a secret the Overlords tried to erase after the evidence of ancient alien technology powerful enough to challenge their empire.

The Overlords move fast. His family is imprisoned. Jace is marked for elimination.

Hunted across the stars, Jace follows a trail of shattered clues to a long-buried starship with unimaginable power—a dangerous alien relic from a forgotten war. A ship that could change everything.

To save his family—and humanity’s future—Jace must
keep running… or risk everything to awaken what was meant to stay buried.

He knows one thing for certain. The Overlords messed with the wrong Marine.

Buried Starship is the explosive first book in the Shadow of War series. If you love military space opera with mysterious spaceships, alien technology, underdog rebellions, and heroes forged in the fires of war, you’ll be riveted by this tale of humanity’s fight for survival—perfect for fans of J.N. Chaney, M.R. Forbes, and Red Rising.

Genres: Science Fiction

400 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 29, 2025

About the author

Anthony J Melchiorri is a scientist with a PhD in bioengineering. Originally from the Midwest, he now lives in Texas. By day, he develops cellular therapies and 3D-printable artificial organs. By night, he writes apocalyptic, medical, and science-fiction thrillers that blend real-world research with other-worldly possibility. When he isn't in the lab or at the keyboard, he spends his time running, reading, hiking, and traveling in search of new story ideas.

Read more at http://anthonyjmelchiorri.com and sign up for his mailing list at http://bit.ly/ajmlist to hear about his latest releases and news.

Reviews

[Meenaz Lodhi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A surprising and unusual discovery, an unexpected twist in the plot, secrecies that had my nerves on edge, and my attention was focused intensely on the story. Vicious villains, cruel humans working for the Overlords made my blood boil!

I loved it!
Already halfway through book-2.
Sadly I will have to wait till February for book-3. Hopefully Melchiorri may release it sooner, like a, Christmas present? 😉

[William B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

Always looking for another space opera. They can’t be too complicated or have too many heroes and heroines to keep track of. This seemed to fit that bill, but seemed like forever before finally getting to the buried starship. Looking forward to reading volume two.

[Laurie Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

WoW what a ride!

Explosive, full on excitement, action filled with larger than life characters some competing and some collaborating.

The story quickly opens out from a localised family situation to a species defining war.

Amid the battles and skirmishes relationships that could be crucial to humanity’s survival begin to forge and, it appears, could flourish.

Bring on the next book soon please.

[Michael Keller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jace Hawthorne is a Shadow smuggler from Cobalton's Shadowport Guild. His boss, Lex, had no sympathy and high expectations. Jace's father, Marcus Hawthorne, was flying second seat on this run when everything went fubar. Losing their cargo and nearly losing their lives didn't sit well with Lex. Bad enough that when Jace got home his home was burning, his father's body laid in the street and his mother was taken away in an ambulance. Things were beyond bad when Caera Frost blew back into Jace's life. Things got worse.
This rocking storyline builds momentum, gives you brief pause, then rockets away with full afterburners! The cast of characters is full of red shirts, throwaways that cue the scene then exit. Usually involving much bloodloss. But the main characters, Jace and Caera, are fulltime in each other's grills. A slow piece at a time, Jace uncovers his real mission. The action never really slows down. Depleted uranium slugs and plasma fire bolts f!y between vehicles, between characters, from space to planet, everywhere. Lots of action! This is a great read!

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

Logic contradictions makes

Anthony Melchiorri has set store on honor as a core foundation to build the story. Yet the book reveals serious misunderstanding and/or misuse of honor. Logic contradictions that ripple throughout unfortunately make rational cohesion of the moral and social aspects unstable. Those underlying cognitive associations therein being painted within the science fiction framework of the vehicle which is carrying them,..fall apart.
Melchiorri did a standup bit of writing regarding ends not justify the means theme. But with truth and honor going hand in hand, lies can be understood and forgiven but betrayal can not be forgotten. To hand out yards and yards of forgiveness and memory blocks to make a nice package wrapped up with a pretty bow is naught but an irrational ending.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buried Starship is an interesting take on the alien invasion scenario. It has similarities to other scifi books containing alien starships repursed for human use, but this is the first time I've a ship built by aliens specifically for human use, to accomplish what they could not, win against the aliens who killed their race.
It's an interesting shift in perspective, and one that lends the story a bit of mystery. The story is a good one, and I already have the next book ready to go.

[Thief of Pages (Ty) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this series on Kindle Unlimited and decided to take a gamble on book one. So glad that I did because I thoroughly enjoyed it. Was in the mood for some good sci-fi and this definitely hit the mark. I thought the writing was stellar and the overall story was captivating. Characters were realistic and had some depth which I appreciated. You combine all that with a plot of humanity deciding to fight back against some powerful alien overlords...yeah, count me in on that. Looking forward to book two in the near future.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Bit of Battle Fatigue

This first book in the series has a plot which is a series of intense conflicts, actions and battles. There is a reasonable amount of background history revealed along the way but the conflicts battles dominate the narrative. Collateral losses are high, on both sides, and the final outcome is not (yet) guaranteed. Book’s end brings as many questions as answers.

[larry Mccauley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too.much dialog

The writing is good but these folks.are.down and out with nothing happening, father and son are.exiled from.every where and any action that has taken p!ace has lead to having to.escape ,the mother is close to.death with no medication ,the brother is dead and way too many negatives and not.much to positive action to hang with thks story . That is me ,...maybe you like .lots of dialog

[Caleb S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn’t expecting to like this series as much as I did. This had an interesting start, and I didn’t expect his father to get killed so quickly. I liked that the author has little cliffhangers in the book like who the traitor is. Nothing is obvious with the cliffhangers either like some books do. Nothing goes right for the main character and a lot of of this book but not quite to the point of annoyance. This is a unique sci-fi story.

[Kevin Names · Rating 3 out of 5]

a pleasant read

Somewhat jejune with a smattering of predictability , though not enough to kill the telling. Halfway through the writing techniques and patterns were obvious but not too intrusive. Fun reads like this are their own niche… summer afternoons on thanks for the funthe couch, winter slouching with a good cuppa and a warm blanket on a rainy day.

[Elree Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed by Beth

Oh WOW!

This is a great story/read.

My stomach dropped a few times while reading.

Your time and money is worth the book and I am assuming the whole series. Most books I have read doesn't shock me at the ending this one did. I cannot wait to start on the next one.

[GREGG CORDELL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read.

This was a great read with a lot of things happening all the time and poor Have can't seem to get a break but always gets surprised around every corner . The book has plenty of action and is well written and so far the storyline is right on track . Can't wait to read the next one in the series.

[Terry Perrine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast read, fast plot and excellent character development

I greatly enjoyed this fast paced action packed yarn. The characters are quite realistic and the equipment, to include failures which are well folded into the storyline which also smoothly incorporates a number of surprising twists.

[Corinne Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Revenant was a fantastic start to the Shadow of War series. The battle scenes in space were so descriptive that I felt like I was there in the thick of things. Jace is a great character and the storyline is gripping and intense and I was hooked from the start. Very excited for the next book.

[Brian Everson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holly Cow

Did humanity finally get off its dead ass and decide to fight back You'll find all that out in this great book Of humanity's own making They finally learned that They finally learned that they have to combine together to win the situation

[David Oppenheim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow Start

Book gets moving mid way through and is very enjoyable. Glad I stuck with it and will definitely continue the series. Only three stars because I genuinely feel like I read the world's longest preface \intro.

[Emmanuel Obi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast Paced Action

Whoa, truly an enjoyable space opara with humans fighting for survival. The ending was anticipated and appreciated. Looking forward to continuing the adventure with book 2.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book with lots of interesting twists and turns. Can’t wait to read the next series, and see what happens. Wonder cliff hanger ending the book. Wow.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

A man, and a cat, in one lllllooooonnnnggg prologue to the series… Or does it just appear to be a cat? It’s unsecured in the cargo hold yet manages to survive without harm the various trials the MC faces in his ship— something to ponder…

[John T Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

This was a good read. Stumbled across it looking for something to read. Dont regret it. This is worth your time if your on the fence.

[Gary Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

But it's a scanner... Total action, all blood and guts, death and destruction... Guess I'll be moving on to something else.

[Ray Schaeffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

something new and god SF

Been an enjoyable read. Nice to read a book that has some thought provoking moments and ideas. Enjoy it as much as I did.

[Edward Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read

This book was an easy interesting read. No complicated plot but it had a steady story flow.as usual for books of this ilk our hero is incredibly lucky.

[Tim Knipp · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it

Good story, even if a little simple and predictable. Good characters, pace, and action. Can’t wait to see where the next one takes us.

[Barbara Seabury · Rating 5 out of 5]

escape artist

Protagonist escapes from too many dire circumstances that we know he will always survive. This plot theme repeats itself too frequently.

[Dale Rosso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Decent first book in the series, I enjoyed the read and am looking forward to the next book. I always enjoy lost races tech stories if done right.

[Vic Guyan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

A good read. Took a little longer than I expected to actually get to the ship, but I enjoyed the read.

[Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slow, very slow.