What do you think?
Rate this book
Reinitializing the Apocalypse: A LitRPG Adventure
An action-packed Apocalyptic LitRPG perfect for fans of Dungeon Crawler Carl and The Primal Hunter!
The System left him for dead without a class. Their mistake.
During the first Apocalypse, the System Lords forgot one tiny detail—they left William Ward out. While everyone else got classes and powers, he kept doing what he does working in the shadows as a legendary hitman.
When he finally retires, living quietly with his disabled dog Max, the System Lords decide to meddle again. After turning Earth into a complete hellhole, they hit reset on the Apocalypse, only this time, William is added to the System.
As some half-baked apology, he’s given a fancy AI assistant, a pile of System credits, and a new Arcane Gunslinger. Oh, and they threw in a robotic arm and leg, plus healed Max’s back legs.
Perks that almost make William forgive them.
That is, until they open a freaking portal and unload countless souped-up goblins in System-upgraded gear onto his front lawn.
Time to grab his bat, load up his Ruger .357 Magnum, and take the System for all it's worth. The System Lords are about to regret ever remembering the name William Ward.
Jump into a new LitRPG Apocalypse Series from Timothy McGowen, the bestselling author of Arcane Knight and Path of the Titans. It's perfect for fans of Dungeon Crawler Carl, The Primal Hunter, and The System Apocalypse.
The System left him for dead without a class. Their mistake.
During the first Apocalypse, the System Lords forgot one tiny detail—they left William Ward out. While everyone else got classes and powers, he kept doing what he does working in the shadows as a legendary hitman.
When he finally retires, living quietly with his disabled dog Max, the System Lords decide to meddle again. After turning Earth into a complete hellhole, they hit reset on the Apocalypse, only this time, William is added to the System.
As some half-baked apology, he’s given a fancy AI assistant, a pile of System credits, and a new Arcane Gunslinger. Oh, and they threw in a robotic arm and leg, plus healed Max’s back legs.
Perks that almost make William forgive them.
That is, until they open a freaking portal and unload countless souped-up goblins in System-upgraded gear onto his front lawn.
Time to grab his bat, load up his Ruger .357 Magnum, and take the System for all it's worth. The System Lords are about to regret ever remembering the name William Ward.
Jump into a new LitRPG Apocalypse Series from Timothy McGowen, the bestselling author of Arcane Knight and Path of the Titans. It's perfect for fans of Dungeon Crawler Carl, The Primal Hunter, and The System Apocalypse.
467 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 31, 2026
About the author
Timothy McGowen
70 books27 followersI'm a dad of two wonderful girls and a husband to a wonderful wife.
As a full time author I enjoy hours of writing and reading every day. I'm living the dream and I thank my lucky stars each day that I get to write fulltime. Please leave a review and tell a friend about my books, each one reviewed or sold is a boon towards my epic quest of staying fulltime.
As a full time author I enjoy hours of writing and reading every day. I'm living the dream and I thank my lucky stars each day that I get to write fulltime. Please leave a review and tell a friend about my books, each one reviewed or sold is a boon towards my epic quest of staying fulltime.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 2, 2026
I really wanted to like this, but...well, reasons why it got 3 starts.
A hit-man, with metal limbs, sporting a magical gunslinger gear and gun, in an apocalyptic world with his loyal dog...you expect something like John Wick. We got the bargain bin version instead.
The story was good, the apocalyptic world is interesting and who doesn't love their trusty pooch? The problem? The MC is an unlikable ass. You can tell that the author wanted something like John Wick with a mix of a hard boiled western. However, for whatever reason the author couldn't deliver. The MC's own character and actions made the story difficult; as he really didn't want to do anything. He didn't even sound like badass and more like a everyday thug that enjoys kneecapping people with a baseball bat. It was hard reading about an interesting world and side characters but the main character is so unwilling to engage to go on an adventure. After 40 % in; I was hoping someone offed the guy and took his dog to an a better home. Interesting but I wasn't really hooked.
A hit-man, with metal limbs, sporting a magical gunslinger gear and gun, in an apocalyptic world with his loyal dog...you expect something like John Wick. We got the bargain bin version instead.
The story was good, the apocalyptic world is interesting and who doesn't love their trusty pooch? The problem? The MC is an unlikable ass. You can tell that the author wanted something like John Wick with a mix of a hard boiled western. However, for whatever reason the author couldn't deliver. The MC's own character and actions made the story difficult; as he really didn't want to do anything. He didn't even sound like badass and more like a everyday thug that enjoys kneecapping people with a baseball bat. It was hard reading about an interesting world and side characters but the main character is so unwilling to engage to go on an adventure. After 40 % in; I was hoping someone offed the guy and took his dog to an a better home. Interesting but I wasn't really hooked.
July 6, 2026
DNF at around chapter 9. The main character is unbearable, he's stupid, incompetent, crass and sociopathic. He uses those around him and gets them killed without batting an eye, he lacks any kind of remorse or empathy, he's quite disgusting. Small spoiler ahead: He's reticent to use an upgrade on his dog because it might make him too smart, and he will gain sapience, he just wants him to remain "a good boy". ; He gets all the guests for a wedding killed, people that he lived with for some time, including the woman he was sleeping with, and he barely has a reaction, because "he's so used to death". Like I said, disgusting character. I really can't imagine what the hell was the author thinking.
I will personally avoid any of this author's works from now on, from the reviews of his other series, he has a specific type of main character it seems, which is quite sad.
I will personally avoid any of this author's works from now on, from the reviews of his other series, he has a specific type of main character it seems, which is quite sad.
April 20, 2026
Not good.
I DNF at around 100 pages in. The world seems interesting enough and the premise could be fun, but the actual execution is severely lacking.
The fights feel like they have no weight to them, the story beats seem forced, the MC is a great pile of a-hole and lazy, in the beginning claiming to not trust the system but instantly fobbing off all decisions to it. On top of that we are lead to believe that he is a scary powerful hitman when he clearly had been struggling right before the start of the book.
If the author was able to deliver on tone and in substance maybe this would be worth but defiantly is a skip for me.
I DNF at around 100 pages in. The world seems interesting enough and the premise could be fun, but the actual execution is severely lacking.
The fights feel like they have no weight to them, the story beats seem forced, the MC is a great pile of a-hole and lazy, in the beginning claiming to not trust the system but instantly fobbing off all decisions to it. On top of that we are lead to believe that he is a scary powerful hitman when he clearly had been struggling right before the start of the book.
If the author was able to deliver on tone and in substance maybe this would be worth but defiantly is a skip for me.
June 9, 2026
NOT JOHN WICK
NOT JOHN WICK. The MC is way too pompous of an arse and full of himself to be John Wick. More of a Jonah Hex…The World is interesting, and the system isn’t too crunchy. Supporting characters are fine, Max is a good doggo. William kinda grows on you, but not. I’ll read the next one and hope for some positive character development.
Side Note: He is a GUNSLINGER. A “clip” and a “mag” are different and not interchangeable! None of the guns he used or mentioned take a clip! Rant over.
NOT JOHN WICK. The MC is way too pompous of an arse and full of himself to be John Wick. More of a Jonah Hex…The World is interesting, and the system isn’t too crunchy. Supporting characters are fine, Max is a good doggo. William kinda grows on you, but not. I’ll read the next one and hope for some positive character development.
Side Note: He is a GUNSLINGER. A “clip” and a “mag” are different and not interchangeable! None of the guns he used or mentioned take a clip! Rant over.
April 26, 2026
Saved by dog
Main character is not particularly likeable. Especially noticeable since all the actually decent characters end up dying or leaving never wanting to see him again. All the nice characters except Max, the dog, for whom the main character will do anything. Max makes the book readable and prevents DNF. Max also survives. If I read the sequel it’ll be to see how Max develops.
Main character is not particularly likeable. Especially noticeable since all the actually decent characters end up dying or leaving never wanting to see him again. All the nice characters except Max, the dog, for whom the main character will do anything. Max makes the book readable and prevents DNF. Max also survives. If I read the sequel it’ll be to see how Max develops.
June 27, 2026
He loves his dog for much that when he finally got the join the system and he had a lot of money because even though he did not have a class he was a killer with a code. Only people who needed killing got killed, and with a class he was even better at it. I loved the grudge he had against the goblins.
April 3, 2026
Great series start
Great start to a series! I enjoyed how the Apocalypse had already happened and this is the aftermath and continuation. Gives it an entirely different feel and freedom for some fun.
Great start to a series! I enjoyed how the Apocalypse had already happened and this is the aftermath and continuation. Gives it an entirely different feel and freedom for some fun.
April 7, 2026
The premise of the MC getting his class late years after the apocalypse has begun is a new one to me. The world felt like the Wild West. It was interesting to see a gun based class because that is not very common. My only hang up is that I did not like the MC but I like that he likes dogs.
May 21, 2026
Dnf
Started out interesting but quickly lost interest. He is a magic user that focuses on guns but it doesn't explain why he only uses a revolver and a bat. And the abilities he has are very generic. I also liked the main character less and less as the book went on. dnf
Started out interesting but quickly lost interest. He is a magic user that focuses on guns but it doesn't explain why he only uses a revolver and a bat. And the abilities he has are very generic. I also liked the main character less and less as the book went on. dnf
June 28, 2026
Rein utilizing the apocalypse.
Huh, it was a good story, not exactly great, but Good! I spent a couple of afternoons reading it, and enjoyed it. It had some gaps in it, but hopefully book 2 will clear some of those up.
Thank you!
Huh, it was a good story, not exactly great, but Good! I spent a couple of afternoons reading it, and enjoyed it. It had some gaps in it, but hopefully book 2 will clear some of those up.
Thank you!
May 19, 2026
Read the reviews on this and so many people were hating on the main character. They were right, the MC ruins this. There is nothing here to get you invested.
July 6, 2026
I want to like this but the mc is annoying and all over the place he could of maybe avoided deaths at the wedding but he don't listen the ai told him about the artifact and that people would come for it he's like I said all over the place i love the dog 🐕 him not so much plus his ai is sneaky she hides things from him and for some reason is really trying to get him to spend all his money and his dumb self took a class instead of reading closely the ai tricks him and hide his notifications 🤔 tried this a second time and nope still don't like the mc the mc can ruin a entire book
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews