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Salvage Merc One #1
Salvage Merc One
Joseph Laribeau was born to be a Marine in the Galactic Fleet. He was born to fight the alien enemies known as the Skrang Alliance and travel the galaxy doing his duty as a Marine Sergeant. He loved the life. But when the War ended and Joe found himself medically discharged, the best job ever was over and he never thought he’d find his way again. Then a beautiful alien walked into his life and offered him a chance at something even greater than the Fleet, a chance to serve with the Salvage Merc Corp. Now known as Salvage Merc One Eighty-Four, Joe Laribeau is given the ultimate assignment by the SMC bosses. To his surprise it is neither a military nor a corporate salvage. Rather, Joe has to risk his life for one of his own. He has to find and bring back the legend that started the Corp. He must find Salvage Merc One.
230 pages, Paperback
Published January 25, 2016
96 people are currently reading
195 people want to read
About the author
Jake Bible
157 books365 followersJake Bible, Bram Stoker Award nominated-novelist, short story writer, independent screenwriter, podcaster, and inventor of the Drabble Novel, has entertained thousands with his horror, sci/fi, thriller, and adventure tales. He reaches audiences of all ages with his uncanny ability to write a wide range of characters and genres.
Jake is the author of the bestselling Z-Burbia series set in Asheville, NC, the bestselling Salvage Merc One, the Apex Trilogy (DEAD MECH, The Americans, Metal and Ash) and the Mega series for Severed Press, as well as the YA zombie novel, Little Dead Man, the Bram Stoker Award nominated Teen horror novel, Intentional Haunting, the ScareScapes series, and the Reign of Four series for Permuted Press.
Find Jake at jakebible.com. Join him on Twitter @jakebible and find him on Facebook.
Jake is the author of the bestselling Z-Burbia series set in Asheville, NC, the bestselling Salvage Merc One, the Apex Trilogy (DEAD MECH, The Americans, Metal and Ash) and the Mega series for Severed Press, as well as the YA zombie novel, Little Dead Man, the Bram Stoker Award nominated Teen horror novel, Intentional Haunting, the ScareScapes series, and the Reign of Four series for Permuted Press.
Find Jake at jakebible.com. Join him on Twitter @jakebible and find him on Facebook.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
October 28, 2025
Pretty impressive honestly, I don't even remember how I found this novel, I was looking for a space novel, I think I found a few recommendations and ended up with this.
The writer is pretty good, I have been incapable of reading any English novel that isn't LitRPG, but Salvage Merc One isn't LitRPG and I enjoyed it so much (except the ruthless beating of the MC part, I hated that and all the shit, why so much shit?)
There was a lot of twists and turns, and A1 level plotting by the writer, amazing characters, not really the best in descriptions though (actually barely good, which is making me desperate now to read a sci-fi novel with better descriptions lol)
4 deserved stars, and I will try to read the second book when I have time, but right now I am a man on a mission, and I'll read only what advances my mission.
The writer is pretty good, I have been incapable of reading any English novel that isn't LitRPG, but Salvage Merc One isn't LitRPG and I enjoyed it so much (except the ruthless beating of the MC part, I hated that and all the shit, why so much shit?)
There was a lot of twists and turns, and A1 level plotting by the writer, amazing characters, not really the best in descriptions though (actually barely good, which is making me desperate now to read a sci-fi novel with better descriptions lol)
4 deserved stars, and I will try to read the second book when I have time, but right now I am a man on a mission, and I'll read only what advances my mission.
August 14, 2020
Not one of my absolute favourites, but still a really good read. I like the characters, and the aliens are sublimely unique. I probably would have given this a 5 star rating if I hadn’t read his Roak books first. Salvage Merc One just isn’t quite as hard hitting in comparison.
April 24, 2016
I remember one of the first podcasts I listened to in the mid-2000s was a very interesting take on zombies called DEAD MECH by Jake Bible. It was interesting and unique enough that 10 yrs later I still recognized the author’s name and when I was offered the opportunity to listen to the audiobook of Salvage Merc One by Jake Bible, I jumped at the chance.
This is a true sci-fi novel with a startlingly large and varied amount of alien species. While it doesn’t get bogged down in useless details of individual species, I wasn’t able to get enough details to build a mental image of them, either. Since the aliens interacted seamlessly with the protagonist (a human), I was mostly forced to visualize them as humanoids (although they weren’t). It was written sort of in the way one might expect if we (the Human Race) ever managed to actually get rid of all prejudices and differences weren’t actually noticed (now THAT’s sci-fi!). The lack of details might be an issue for some for a proper “movie of the mind” experience, though.
The novel grabs you from the beginning and moves at a brisk pace, maybe a little too brisk for me. There were parts I would have liked a little more exploration on, such as the training received upon recruitment or some of the individual missions. Personally, I think the novel could/should have been about 2 hrs longer; no real modifications to the plot, just more fleshed out. Having said that, I enjoyed the audiobook and finished it in a day. It was witty and interesting.
The audio performance was very good. The narrator, Andrew Wehrlen, demonstrated an admirable range of voices for the various aliens and characters and was consistent with their use. The audio production was professional and had no noticeable problems.
Bottom Line: The interesting scenario we are introduced to with Salvage Merc One deserves exploration. The witty dialogue and varied alien species make for an interesting science fiction novel.
I received a free copy of this audiobook in return for an honest and unbiased review.
This is a true sci-fi novel with a startlingly large and varied amount of alien species. While it doesn’t get bogged down in useless details of individual species, I wasn’t able to get enough details to build a mental image of them, either. Since the aliens interacted seamlessly with the protagonist (a human), I was mostly forced to visualize them as humanoids (although they weren’t). It was written sort of in the way one might expect if we (the Human Race) ever managed to actually get rid of all prejudices and differences weren’t actually noticed (now THAT’s sci-fi!). The lack of details might be an issue for some for a proper “movie of the mind” experience, though.
The novel grabs you from the beginning and moves at a brisk pace, maybe a little too brisk for me. There were parts I would have liked a little more exploration on, such as the training received upon recruitment or some of the individual missions. Personally, I think the novel could/should have been about 2 hrs longer; no real modifications to the plot, just more fleshed out. Having said that, I enjoyed the audiobook and finished it in a day. It was witty and interesting.
The audio performance was very good. The narrator, Andrew Wehrlen, demonstrated an admirable range of voices for the various aliens and characters and was consistent with their use. The audio production was professional and had no noticeable problems.
Bottom Line: The interesting scenario we are introduced to with Salvage Merc One deserves exploration. The witty dialogue and varied alien species make for an interesting science fiction novel.
I received a free copy of this audiobook in return for an honest and unbiased review.
April 9, 2016
I enjoyed this book and found myself grinning at the quirky humor.The author wittilly tells the story of Joe in the first person perspective.Andrew B. Wehrlen was excellent at narrating the audiobook and giving life to each character.It felt as if I was sitting there with them,experiencing the story as it happened.I liked that the author kept creatively revealing more plot twists and kept me guessing till the end.I received an audiobook from the author in exchange for an honest review.
March 4, 2016
Overall Rating is Misleading
I read Military -- historical, fiction, SciFi -- and I'm a little confused over this books genre placement and overall rating. To be fair, probably over half the current books placed in military anything don't belong . A Former military MC type automagically puts in that genre, I guess.
For Amazon to recommend to me is another mystery but it happens all too frequently. They need to get a new AI, somebody -- somewhere should be able to come up with common sense algorithm and when that happens, I'm gone.
The dialogue was awful and the made up words for obscenity were not only confusing, made this difficult to read, understand at times. I thought they covered that in writing 101.
The plot, story ... ? A corporal or sergeant , whatever, makes admiral in 2 years? A drunk just turns it right around in a nanosecond and he's just a plain bad SOB. Single, operative salvage missions -- forgot, he has a sidekick but many do not -- and it's a thriving business. Unfortunately, I don't know how or why except a background story that isn't credible along with the aliens that I never really understood physically or character. Could go on but there's not much that makes sense, from a credible, realistic standpoint and there's no point to continue.
The salvage marine theme is getting a bit more popular. There are a few I enjoy. Necrospace comes to mind and I thought that this would be similar? With the ratings and all. Not even close. I guess folk don't do credible. I hear the words grim, grim dark? If story is just a tad too real.
Maybe I'm too harsh -- superhero type stories, fantasies just don't make good military reads and I feel a bit mislead. Very light read for YA.
I read Military -- historical, fiction, SciFi -- and I'm a little confused over this books genre placement and overall rating. To be fair, probably over half the current books placed in military anything don't belong . A Former military MC type automagically puts in that genre, I guess.
For Amazon to recommend to me is another mystery but it happens all too frequently. They need to get a new AI, somebody -- somewhere should be able to come up with common sense algorithm and when that happens, I'm gone.
The dialogue was awful and the made up words for obscenity were not only confusing, made this difficult to read, understand at times. I thought they covered that in writing 101.
The plot, story ... ? A corporal or sergeant , whatever, makes admiral in 2 years? A drunk just turns it right around in a nanosecond and he's just a plain bad SOB. Single, operative salvage missions -- forgot, he has a sidekick but many do not -- and it's a thriving business. Unfortunately, I don't know how or why except a background story that isn't credible along with the aliens that I never really understood physically or character. Could go on but there's not much that makes sense, from a credible, realistic standpoint and there's no point to continue.
The salvage marine theme is getting a bit more popular. There are a few I enjoy. Necrospace comes to mind and I thought that this would be similar? With the ratings and all. Not even close. I guess folk don't do credible. I hear the words grim, grim dark? If story is just a tad too real.
Maybe I'm too harsh -- superhero type stories, fantasies just don't make good military reads and I feel a bit mislead. Very light read for YA.
November 14, 2024
Heheheh 🤙🙌🙌🙌
June 28, 2017
This book was funny.
So Jo Laribeau leaves the marines, he has lost his legs, but has had them replaced with artificial ones. He is in a spot of bother in a bar one night, when a rather interesting woman offers him a job in the Salvage Marine Corps, or SMC, an organisation that does jobs around the place for whoever needs jobs done.
The Corps is a neutral organisation, they don’t take sides, so even if there is a war, they still remain neutral.
Anyone can hire then, to do any job, and they just get the job done, collect items, people, ships, whatever.
There are lots of them, and they all have a ‘number’ assigned to them. They are assigned a ‘ticket’, they do the job, they get paid.
Jo has an assistant, although if there has ever been a side kick in the universe, Mgurn is it.
Mgurn is one of the funniest creatures I have come across in a book in a long time, and he seriously made this book.
So what is this book actually about? It starts off following Jo, learning about his life and Mgurn’s life as SMCs. However, it is not long before things devolve of course, and they get into trouble, and before you know it, several other Salvage Merc’s get involved, and it gets very complicated. This is one of those stories that is difficult to get into without giving away too much, and I don’t want to ruin it!
This is a lot of fun though, there is some brilliant action, awesome fight scenes, and some outstanding tech.
The best thing of this entire book (apart from Mgurn) though are the aliens. There are numerous aliens that are described in this book, and the author has gone to an amazing job of describing in incredible detail each of them.
He has also done some research, and put a lot of effort into the technology that is evident.
This is a great read, well worth the effort, and I can’t wait to read part two.
If you love a good Sci-Fi read, Firefly, or any quirky space adventure series, this is for you – and it's just fun. Think Guardians of the Galaxy mixed with Starship Troopers.
So Jo Laribeau leaves the marines, he has lost his legs, but has had them replaced with artificial ones. He is in a spot of bother in a bar one night, when a rather interesting woman offers him a job in the Salvage Marine Corps, or SMC, an organisation that does jobs around the place for whoever needs jobs done.
The Corps is a neutral organisation, they don’t take sides, so even if there is a war, they still remain neutral.
Anyone can hire then, to do any job, and they just get the job done, collect items, people, ships, whatever.
There are lots of them, and they all have a ‘number’ assigned to them. They are assigned a ‘ticket’, they do the job, they get paid.
Jo has an assistant, although if there has ever been a side kick in the universe, Mgurn is it.
Mgurn is one of the funniest creatures I have come across in a book in a long time, and he seriously made this book.
So what is this book actually about? It starts off following Jo, learning about his life and Mgurn’s life as SMCs. However, it is not long before things devolve of course, and they get into trouble, and before you know it, several other Salvage Merc’s get involved, and it gets very complicated. This is one of those stories that is difficult to get into without giving away too much, and I don’t want to ruin it!
This is a lot of fun though, there is some brilliant action, awesome fight scenes, and some outstanding tech.
The best thing of this entire book (apart from Mgurn) though are the aliens. There are numerous aliens that are described in this book, and the author has gone to an amazing job of describing in incredible detail each of them.
He has also done some research, and put a lot of effort into the technology that is evident.
This is a great read, well worth the effort, and I can’t wait to read part two.
If you love a good Sci-Fi read, Firefly, or any quirky space adventure series, this is for you – and it's just fun. Think Guardians of the Galaxy mixed with Starship Troopers.
May 11, 2020
This review refers to the audiobook version.
I must admit that the first time I tried to listen to the book I gave up after a few chapters. The characters seemed infantile and their interactions grated on me. I'm glad that I waited a while and tried again.
Joe Laribeau is an ex-marine who was discharged after the war with the Skrang, because his artificial legs were too expensive for the military to consider maintaining. He get recruited into the Salvage Merc's who go around finding and recovering things. They are true mercenaries in that they will sell what they recover to anybody and are respected as neutral by all side because of this.
Joe's old buddy from the Marines is in politics and becoming president. Joe wants to know why, so he arranges to meet him. Things go really badly at the meeting and deteriorate even further from there.
There are some nice twists and turns, some are even unexpected. A good start to the series. I will definitely be listening to the next book.
I received a free copy of this book and chose to write a review.
I must admit that the first time I tried to listen to the book I gave up after a few chapters. The characters seemed infantile and their interactions grated on me. I'm glad that I waited a while and tried again.
Joe Laribeau is an ex-marine who was discharged after the war with the Skrang, because his artificial legs were too expensive for the military to consider maintaining. He get recruited into the Salvage Merc's who go around finding and recovering things. They are true mercenaries in that they will sell what they recover to anybody and are respected as neutral by all side because of this.
Joe's old buddy from the Marines is in politics and becoming president. Joe wants to know why, so he arranges to meet him. Things go really badly at the meeting and deteriorate even further from there.
There are some nice twists and turns, some are even unexpected. A good start to the series. I will definitely be listening to the next book.
I received a free copy of this book and chose to write a review.
March 28, 2020
This series reminds me so much of Roak: The Galactic Bounty Hunter. Of course, the locale, the era, and the narrator are the same, so that helps. These two guys must be related; Roak the bounty hunter and Joe Laribeau the salvage merc. Joe Laribeau, former Galactic Fleet Marine who now sports a pair of speedy artificial legs after losing his real ones in battle. Now recruited as salvage merc #184 by the Salvage Merc Corp. Little does Joe realize that he’s about to embark on a world-changing destiny. A destiny he knew nothing of but one that knew him. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
March 16, 2020
This book starts out good but gets wierd fast. It's kind of a story about how a guy gets sucked in by destiney to become a God. The setting is interesting and there are a lot of excellent character interactions before the whole - doomed to become god plot takes over. I feel like this is a series that might improve as it goes on but has kind of a rocky start
June 4, 2018
i enjoyed this one and the ending was good. i admit, i had a bit of a struggle with the way things wrapped up, but its where the author wanted to take me, so i just relaxed and went for the ride. turned out it went well and was worth the read.
June 21, 2023
Good Enough to Finish
The first half of the book was entertaining, and I really enjoyed the MC's relationship with his assistant, but the second half took a surprising turn that felt like a lazy way to wrap up the story.
The first half of the book was entertaining, and I really enjoyed the MC's relationship with his assistant, but the second half took a surprising turn that felt like a lazy way to wrap up the story.
July 17, 2018
well, 3.4
the story is quite entertaining and funny. maybe i'm just a tiny bit too old to take it seriously ;)
the story is quite entertaining and funny. maybe i'm just a tiny bit too old to take it seriously ;)
April 1, 2020
Different, interesting, entertaining but sadly gave me something of a headache. Glad I read it but I won't be bothering with the sequel...
December 15, 2025
ich mag joe
April 16, 2016
Read more reviews @ The Bibliosanctum
TL; DR Review
3.5 stars. Joe Laribeau reminds me of the most irresponsible drunk in the galaxy. Commander John Shepard. Kicks ass even after having all the drinks in the galaxy. And I do mean all of them.
Longer Review
Joe Laribeau is an ex-Marine sergeant who was discharged after losing both his legs. His legs are replaced with battle legs (metal legs that allow him to run pretty swiftly and hold up well), but the military still feels that he's too expensive an asset to keep and discharge him despite his "battle clarity" which is kind of like a self-contained, discount version of Jedi Battle Meditation. Joe starts collecting a pension and roves the galaxy for a while before being recruited by Salvage Merc Eight, Hopsheer Balai, for the Salvage Merc Corp. The SMC was created to fill a void in the galaxy. They're a neutral entity that came into its own during the height of a galaxy wide war between the Galactic Fleet--which I think is a military conglomerate of like-minded aliens--and a warlike alien species known as the Skrang.
The SMC salvages important technology, supplies, and people (among other things) while doing retrieval mission and obtaining information that may be valuable to others. Being neutral means they give both sides a fair chance at obtaining some of the things they salvage by auctioning them off to the highest bidder. They also try to maintain fairness by not allowing one side to get more powerful than the other and acting in the interest of non-aggressive planets. Following an attack that Joe survives, he's tasked with finding the merc to rule all mercs--Salvage Merc One.
To say that this book didn't get go where I was expecting at all would be an understatement. Okay, that's not exactly true. As far as space-faring mercenary stories go, this one did follow the basic formula. However, based on the synopsis, I expected a more serious tone than what the story actually gave me. This was largely a humorous story that brimmed with action and a little intrigue. Joe was a funny, endearing character, and it was an excellent decision to tell this story from his POV as it makes it very easy to connect with Joe. Narrating Joe's story is Andrew B. Wehrlen, and he was a great choice for this book. He does an admirable job of capturing the humor of the story and Joe's personality. He managed to find distinctive voices for most of the characters, and I thought he did a fair job on the female voices which can be a little hit or miss with me where male narrators are concerned.
The supporting cast of characters aren't as fleshed out as Joe aside from maybe Joe's partner who is described as a mix between an armored beetle and a Great Dane and tends to spout random facts. Regardless, Bible introduces us to many new races in this story, and while we learn a little about some of their physical characteristics, we don't learn much about them beyond that. Given that this book is supposed to be a fast-paced military merc story, I don't think these characters suffer from not being explored as the action is the driving force behind this book, and it doesn't fail to entertain.
There are a few portions of the story that left me a little foggy. One very big instance is when a story that is being told to Joe, but readers are never actually told the story. It's skimmed over, and all I know is that it involves a questionable death. Beyond that, there's no revelation or consideration for the reader even though it leaves Joe speechless. Then, there's the ending. I have mixed feelings about it. It sort of dived over into the science-fantasy genre for a bit there, which I love, but I don't know if that was exactly the best ending for a book of this nature. It felt too whimsical, a little too overpowered for this, even with the considerations made for the story.
I enjoy military science fiction, but I don't get to read it as much as I'd like. This definitely appealed to that part of me that enjoys stories in this setting. This sets up an interesting universe for a series (I'm assuming this will be a series), but works well as standalone book. Now, if you excuse me, there is some Mass Effect calling my name after reading this. Time to go save a galaxy!
TL; DR Review
3.5 stars. Joe Laribeau reminds me of the most irresponsible drunk in the galaxy. Commander John Shepard. Kicks ass even after having all the drinks in the galaxy. And I do mean all of them.
Longer Review
Joe Laribeau is an ex-Marine sergeant who was discharged after losing both his legs. His legs are replaced with battle legs (metal legs that allow him to run pretty swiftly and hold up well), but the military still feels that he's too expensive an asset to keep and discharge him despite his "battle clarity" which is kind of like a self-contained, discount version of Jedi Battle Meditation. Joe starts collecting a pension and roves the galaxy for a while before being recruited by Salvage Merc Eight, Hopsheer Balai, for the Salvage Merc Corp. The SMC was created to fill a void in the galaxy. They're a neutral entity that came into its own during the height of a galaxy wide war between the Galactic Fleet--which I think is a military conglomerate of like-minded aliens--and a warlike alien species known as the Skrang.
The SMC salvages important technology, supplies, and people (among other things) while doing retrieval mission and obtaining information that may be valuable to others. Being neutral means they give both sides a fair chance at obtaining some of the things they salvage by auctioning them off to the highest bidder. They also try to maintain fairness by not allowing one side to get more powerful than the other and acting in the interest of non-aggressive planets. Following an attack that Joe survives, he's tasked with finding the merc to rule all mercs--Salvage Merc One.
To say that this book didn't get go where I was expecting at all would be an understatement. Okay, that's not exactly true. As far as space-faring mercenary stories go, this one did follow the basic formula. However, based on the synopsis, I expected a more serious tone than what the story actually gave me. This was largely a humorous story that brimmed with action and a little intrigue. Joe was a funny, endearing character, and it was an excellent decision to tell this story from his POV as it makes it very easy to connect with Joe. Narrating Joe's story is Andrew B. Wehrlen, and he was a great choice for this book. He does an admirable job of capturing the humor of the story and Joe's personality. He managed to find distinctive voices for most of the characters, and I thought he did a fair job on the female voices which can be a little hit or miss with me where male narrators are concerned.
The supporting cast of characters aren't as fleshed out as Joe aside from maybe Joe's partner who is described as a mix between an armored beetle and a Great Dane and tends to spout random facts. Regardless, Bible introduces us to many new races in this story, and while we learn a little about some of their physical characteristics, we don't learn much about them beyond that. Given that this book is supposed to be a fast-paced military merc story, I don't think these characters suffer from not being explored as the action is the driving force behind this book, and it doesn't fail to entertain.
There are a few portions of the story that left me a little foggy. One very big instance is when a story that is being told to Joe, but readers are never actually told the story. It's skimmed over, and all I know is that it involves a questionable death. Beyond that, there's no revelation or consideration for the reader even though it leaves Joe speechless. Then, there's the ending. I have mixed feelings about it. It sort of dived over into the science-fantasy genre for a bit there, which I love, but I don't know if that was exactly the best ending for a book of this nature. It felt too whimsical, a little too overpowered for this, even with the considerations made for the story.
I enjoy military science fiction, but I don't get to read it as much as I'd like. This definitely appealed to that part of me that enjoys stories in this setting. This sets up an interesting universe for a series (I'm assuming this will be a series), but works well as standalone book. Now, if you excuse me, there is some Mass Effect calling my name after reading this. Time to go save a galaxy!
August 30, 2016
( Format : audio )
"Numbers" - 184
This is a terrific, very fast paced military-style science fiction which bounces around worlds and meets aliens galore. It is funny and fun.
Simple story: invalided out of the military life he loved, Joseph is approached and recruited into a special corporation, the Salvage Merc Corp. It's operatives are known by numbers: Joe is 184. He is not very good at his assignments so was surprised to be entrusted with something rather special: to track down the almost mythical number One.
If the story seems a little confusing at times, that's fine. Joe is completely confused most of the time. And since this story is told from Joe's point of view ... But he has good friends , mostly aliens of assorted shapes and sizes, and they are good at what they do. Some even have an idea of what they are doing.
Without a superb narrator to drive this story onward at it's frantic pace, this audio would fail. Fortunately, Andrew Wherein is the perfect voice for Joe. He catches the fun, the chaos, the fears and the fighting to perfection. His dialogues capture numerous voices, each distinctly identifiable. And he is Joe.
I had never read or heard a book by Jake Bible before this one and I am very grateful to the rights holder of Salvage Merc One for the complentary copy I received, via Audiobook Boom for this introduction. I will certainly be looking out for more by him and for audiobooks narrated by Mr.Werhein. Definitely recommended for anyone with a sense of fun who enjoys military science fiction. Or even if you don't and just like fast action, quick fire dialogue, fantastic aliens and a jolly good romp, go on, give it a try. You won't be disappointed
"Numbers" - 184
This is a terrific, very fast paced military-style science fiction which bounces around worlds and meets aliens galore. It is funny and fun.
Simple story: invalided out of the military life he loved, Joseph is approached and recruited into a special corporation, the Salvage Merc Corp. It's operatives are known by numbers: Joe is 184. He is not very good at his assignments so was surprised to be entrusted with something rather special: to track down the almost mythical number One.
If the story seems a little confusing at times, that's fine. Joe is completely confused most of the time. And since this story is told from Joe's point of view ... But he has good friends , mostly aliens of assorted shapes and sizes, and they are good at what they do. Some even have an idea of what they are doing.
Without a superb narrator to drive this story onward at it's frantic pace, this audio would fail. Fortunately, Andrew Wherein is the perfect voice for Joe. He catches the fun, the chaos, the fears and the fighting to perfection. His dialogues capture numerous voices, each distinctly identifiable. And he is Joe.
I had never read or heard a book by Jake Bible before this one and I am very grateful to the rights holder of Salvage Merc One for the complentary copy I received, via Audiobook Boom for this introduction. I will certainly be looking out for more by him and for audiobooks narrated by Mr.Werhein. Definitely recommended for anyone with a sense of fun who enjoys military science fiction. Or even if you don't and just like fast action, quick fire dialogue, fantastic aliens and a jolly good romp, go on, give it a try. You won't be disappointed
February 20, 2016
An ex-marine gets recruited into salvage company-for-hire. This book was generally good, but it has some problems that I don't know if I can express fully. First is the first person perspective, the writing was informal, which one the one hand allowed for some pretty humorous jokes and observations from the main character. It sometimes became too informal though, to the point where I started to skim over whole conversations because I wasn't interested in the commentary. There were a lot of unanswered questions throughout the book too, the end was nowhere near satisfying. The author at one point copped out on the perspective and wrote about the main character being told a story, and told us that at thevend of it his mind was blown, without actually telling the story to the audience.
This book was a fun little read though, I'm not sorry I read it.
This book was a fun little read though, I'm not sorry I read it.
September 12, 2016
I read about 60% of this book and then I got tired, I rarely leave a book unfinished but at least in my case, this book has nothing to drive me to finish reading it. You got a lot of short fast passages that don't build anything solid, many happenings are portrayed almost in a divine way but they don't earn that distinction in any way, it seems the author just wants to make readers think that some concepts are incredible but for me, they just seem dull. The whole ex-military merc story has become a cliche, and if you don't spice it well with some intriguing information you will not end up with something worth reading. I'll put a bookmark though to where I left just in case in my next 10 years I will have nothing better to spend my time though I doubt it, especially when I got my hands on some great books that I can't wait, to begin with.
February 2, 2017
Sardonic Humor, as Salvage Mercs Fight for Balance
Much more traditional adventure story than all the wild humor in "ROARK:" , but still plenty of dark humor and cynicism. Very enjoyable read, with lots going on behind the scenes. Characters develop and change -- a little as they battle for balance in our Galaxy.
There is an area of character overlap between Joe, the primary protagonist of "Salvage Mercs One" and Roark, the bounty hunter protagonist of "ROARK". Both are wisecracking warriors trying to survive in a hostile universe. Joe is a little less monomaniacal than Roark. Joe (Salvage Merc #148 -- going on 1) is a bit more understandable and sympathetic character. Great, enjoyable read! Good Military Space Opera...
Much more traditional adventure story than all the wild humor in "ROARK:" , but still plenty of dark humor and cynicism. Very enjoyable read, with lots going on behind the scenes. Characters develop and change -- a little as they battle for balance in our Galaxy.
There is an area of character overlap between Joe, the primary protagonist of "Salvage Mercs One" and Roark, the bounty hunter protagonist of "ROARK". Both are wisecracking warriors trying to survive in a hostile universe. Joe is a little less monomaniacal than Roark. Joe (Salvage Merc #148 -- going on 1) is a bit more understandable and sympathetic character. Great, enjoyable read! Good Military Space Opera...
Read
June 1, 2016This is a well written, fun listen. I liked Joe - he is a likeable, smartass (and badass)/; character. I loved his assistant and the rest of the merc team. They always pulled together and had a one for all attitude which I admire.
Joe is a hardworking Marine who ends up hurt, out of a job, and with enhanced abilities when the alien wars end. He becomes a salvage merc. When his best Marine buddy ends up president of the alliance, he senses things are off. What he does next will make him a legend.
I received this audiobook for free from Audiobook Boom! in exchange for an honest review.
Joe is a hardworking Marine who ends up hurt, out of a job, and with enhanced abilities when the alien wars end. He becomes a salvage merc. When his best Marine buddy ends up president of the alliance, he senses things are off. What he does next will make him a legend.
I received this audiobook for free from Audiobook Boom! in exchange for an honest review.
December 17, 2016
How anyone liked this book let alone gave it 5 stars is beyond me. Not only was the writing terrible the story made no sense and the characters couldn't have been any less life-like. At one point the hero is called juvenile by another character and I think that's the best way to describe the whole book, its like it's written by a non particularly intelligent 13 year old boy just hitting puberty. I will never read another Jake Bible book and should have known how bad it would be from the cover and title but I thought I'd trust goodreads, how wrong I was
February 27, 2016
Just plain fun to spend a day with
This is an old-fashioned fast paced, action packed space opera. With surprises. I love it, the author paints aliens and their worlds with words, his best friend is the readers imagination. The hero is a cheeky vet with a sense of humor, I joined in his laughter at times, I liked his never say die optimism. A good read.
This is an old-fashioned fast paced, action packed space opera. With surprises. I love it, the author paints aliens and their worlds with words, his best friend is the readers imagination. The hero is a cheeky vet with a sense of humor, I joined in his laughter at times, I liked his never say die optimism. A good read.
April 8, 2016
Good fun science fiction action
I loved this book! There was enough action to keep me reading and not want to set my kindle down. Enough humor to keep me smiling, and a hero that I could cheer for and want to get in there and help him win. I can hardly wait for the next Salvage Mercury One book.
I loved this book! There was enough action to keep me reading and not want to set my kindle down. Enough humor to keep me smiling, and a hero that I could cheer for and want to get in there and help him win. I can hardly wait for the next Salvage Mercury One book.
February 10, 2016
Joe forever
I am an avid jake bible reader so to say this was also a well written book is only the truth. Take a chance and read for yourself the interesting story line. Grabs your interest the first few pages. Bravo loved it!!!
I am an avid jake bible reader so to say this was also a well written book is only the truth. Take a chance and read for yourself the interesting story line. Grabs your interest the first few pages. Bravo loved it!!!
March 3, 2016
Great book, very funny in places. I loved the descriptions of all the different species, it really helped to picture them. Loads of action, death and destruction all centred around Joe's story. An awesome sci-fi story from Mr Bible, I have hope that there will be a sequel.
February 11, 2016
Humorous plot driven story of a mercenary for hire who finds more than what he bargained for.
April 25, 2016
Not to bad a little slow at times
You get lost in the between stuff and Marines don't say hooha that kinda ruined it for me it was an ok read.
You get lost in the between stuff and Marines don't say hooha that kinda ruined it for me it was an ok read.
July 5, 2016
I smell the start of another hit series from Jake Bible. Mercenaries/Repo in space.
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