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The Freeman
If you fear for the future of the United States of America-and you should-then Jerry and Sharon Ahern's terrifying vision of the next few years will chill your blood. America is occupied and no longer free. But there are those who will not quit. They will not surrender.
- GenresEbooks
372 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1986
1 person is currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Jerry Ahern
224 books74 followersJerry Ahern (born Jerome Morrell Ahern) was a science fiction and action novel author best known for his post apocalyptic survivalist series The Survivalist. The books in this series are heavy with descriptions of the weapons the protagonists use to survive and prosecute a seemingly never-ending war amongst the remnants of the superpowers from pre-apocalypse times.
Ahern was also a firearms writer, who published numerous articles in magazines such as Guns & Ammo, Handguns and Gun World.
Jerry Ahern passed away on July 24, 2012 after a long struggle with cancer.
Ahern also released books under pseudonym Axel Kilgore.
Ahern was also a firearms writer, who published numerous articles in magazines such as Guns & Ammo, Handguns and Gun World.
Jerry Ahern passed away on July 24, 2012 after a long struggle with cancer.
Ahern also released books under pseudonym Axel Kilgore.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 9, 2013
If you are worried that pacifists are a danger to our government, this book might be for you! I find the premise of the book a little hard to accept, myself. Another negative is that the political situation has changed since this book was written. However, there are definitely Americans who would not surrender their weapons to any government, like rebels in this story. For those on the political right (me), survivalists (me back when I was a Boy Scout) and NRA members (me for awhile after I served in the Army), the action here is not bad.
December 2, 2025
Red Dawn meets Moonraker in a 1980s-era, Men's Fiction Cold War Classic featuring Ballistics, Broads, Blades, Battles, and Booms
The Freeman, by Jerry and Sharon Ahern, is a stand-alone kitschy, dystopian epic about a patriotic, freedom-loving American resistance movement in search of a charismatic leader to free the United States from Soviet occupation. The resistance founder, James Hope, is killed in an ambush by Soviet Spetsnaz commandoes and their traitorous US National Police allies. Thirty years later, the resistance pins their hopes on a popular Olympic athlete turned medical doctor turned celebrity astronaut named Michael Borden. Borden is recruited by the Resistance for a mission to destroy a joint US-Soviet manned space platform that is, in fact, a secret doomsday weapon designed to give Soviet Russia the edge in a planned nuclear takeover of the world. The story scenario is further complicated by Borden's love life, his secret past, and the geo-political world of the story which the Resistance is allied with Canadian, Brit, French, Israeli, Egyptian and Red Chinese allies in their struggle to prevent the Evil Empire from taking over the world. Think Moonraker meets Red Dawn in a 1986 Mass Market paperback.
The scenario is completely ridiculous by today's standards but such was the world of the 1980s when the USSR was still regarded as a Superpower and movies like Red Dawn (the original) were treated as warnings of what could happen if the USA allowed weak, liberal politicians to handle national security and did not strengthen itself to prevent a Soviet takeover of the world.
Jerry Ahern and his wife, Sharon Ahern, co-wrote over 80 novels together in the 1980s world of mass-market men's fiction glory and were most famous for their post-apocalyptic survivor series called "The Survivalist" among others. Jerry Ahern was also a firearms and survival expert, and gun entrepreneur who briefly served as President of the then Seattle-based handgun company, Detonics. In addition to his novels, he wrote non-fiction books on these topics and was a regular contributor to magazines like "Soldier of Fortune" and "Handgun." All of his novels featured Detonics products and various other guns and edged weapons, supposedly to inform the reader on the essentials of survivalism. They also were populated by the same kind of cynical, indestructible jack-of-all-trades protagonists that were a 1970s-80s staple. And the women--all over-the-top, oversexed strong babes who can kick azz in a firefight and generally want to get in the sack with the hero within ten minutes of meeting him. That's the kind of nonsense that pretty much ruins this novel for sensitive, pearl-clutching post-modern readers. But hey, that was what people wanted during that golden age.
By today's standards, this is a solid two star book. But in 1986, when it came out, it would probably have been regarded as a three star book, easily, because this style of writing, characterization, and action-sexploitation was regarded as good popular writing for that time. What drags the entire plot down, besides the 80s cliches, characters, and scenarios, is that too much dialogue consists of characters explaining why things are the way they are. Too much explaining instead of showing. Character development consists of using well-worn hackneyed stereotypes. The dystopian condition of the USA under Soviet control doesn't appear to be all that bad. Except that the NatPos, as the National Police are called, are brutal and taking away the guns of those in the Resistance Areas. And they don't like free speech. Heck, real world Chicago is more draconian than the way this Soviet controlled dystopia is rendered. Had there been more description of economic hardships and political control under the occupation forces--the kind of stuff going on in Eastern Europe, the USSR, Vietnam, North Korea, or Afghanistan in the early 80s -- it would have been an immeasurably more realistic dystopia. In other words, this novel suffers from lazy world-building and equally lazy plot-building. Most of the political arguments here are right out of 1980s era NRA mailout material.
Still, there is something quaint and fascinating in the dystopian worlds created by Jerry Ahern and his wife, Sharon. The simple morality and integrity of the characters, at least in terms of their fundamental patriotic Americanism, feels downright refreshing compared to the complicated angst of today's grim post-modernism. Recommend you watch the movies Moonraker and Red Dawn (the original) before picking up and reading The Freeman. It's the only way to appreciate the world as it once was. Enjoy!
The Freeman, by Jerry and Sharon Ahern, is a stand-alone kitschy, dystopian epic about a patriotic, freedom-loving American resistance movement in search of a charismatic leader to free the United States from Soviet occupation. The resistance founder, James Hope, is killed in an ambush by Soviet Spetsnaz commandoes and their traitorous US National Police allies. Thirty years later, the resistance pins their hopes on a popular Olympic athlete turned medical doctor turned celebrity astronaut named Michael Borden. Borden is recruited by the Resistance for a mission to destroy a joint US-Soviet manned space platform that is, in fact, a secret doomsday weapon designed to give Soviet Russia the edge in a planned nuclear takeover of the world. The story scenario is further complicated by Borden's love life, his secret past, and the geo-political world of the story which the Resistance is allied with Canadian, Brit, French, Israeli, Egyptian and Red Chinese allies in their struggle to prevent the Evil Empire from taking over the world. Think Moonraker meets Red Dawn in a 1986 Mass Market paperback.
The scenario is completely ridiculous by today's standards but such was the world of the 1980s when the USSR was still regarded as a Superpower and movies like Red Dawn (the original) were treated as warnings of what could happen if the USA allowed weak, liberal politicians to handle national security and did not strengthen itself to prevent a Soviet takeover of the world.
Jerry Ahern and his wife, Sharon Ahern, co-wrote over 80 novels together in the 1980s world of mass-market men's fiction glory and were most famous for their post-apocalyptic survivor series called "The Survivalist" among others. Jerry Ahern was also a firearms and survival expert, and gun entrepreneur who briefly served as President of the then Seattle-based handgun company, Detonics. In addition to his novels, he wrote non-fiction books on these topics and was a regular contributor to magazines like "Soldier of Fortune" and "Handgun." All of his novels featured Detonics products and various other guns and edged weapons, supposedly to inform the reader on the essentials of survivalism. They also were populated by the same kind of cynical, indestructible jack-of-all-trades protagonists that were a 1970s-80s staple. And the women--all over-the-top, oversexed strong babes who can kick azz in a firefight and generally want to get in the sack with the hero within ten minutes of meeting him. That's the kind of nonsense that pretty much ruins this novel for sensitive, pearl-clutching post-modern readers. But hey, that was what people wanted during that golden age.
By today's standards, this is a solid two star book. But in 1986, when it came out, it would probably have been regarded as a three star book, easily, because this style of writing, characterization, and action-sexploitation was regarded as good popular writing for that time. What drags the entire plot down, besides the 80s cliches, characters, and scenarios, is that too much dialogue consists of characters explaining why things are the way they are. Too much explaining instead of showing. Character development consists of using well-worn hackneyed stereotypes. The dystopian condition of the USA under Soviet control doesn't appear to be all that bad. Except that the NatPos, as the National Police are called, are brutal and taking away the guns of those in the Resistance Areas. And they don't like free speech. Heck, real world Chicago is more draconian than the way this Soviet controlled dystopia is rendered. Had there been more description of economic hardships and political control under the occupation forces--the kind of stuff going on in Eastern Europe, the USSR, Vietnam, North Korea, or Afghanistan in the early 80s -- it would have been an immeasurably more realistic dystopia. In other words, this novel suffers from lazy world-building and equally lazy plot-building. Most of the political arguments here are right out of 1980s era NRA mailout material.
Still, there is something quaint and fascinating in the dystopian worlds created by Jerry Ahern and his wife, Sharon. The simple morality and integrity of the characters, at least in terms of their fundamental patriotic Americanism, feels downright refreshing compared to the complicated angst of today's grim post-modernism. Recommend you watch the movies Moonraker and Red Dawn (the original) before picking up and reading The Freeman. It's the only way to appreciate the world as it once was. Enjoy!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews