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Irregular Scout Team One #0
Falling
When the world ends, where will you stand? Will you hold the center, or fall?
When his National Guard unit is overrun by the victims of the plague sweeping America, Sergeant First Class Nick Agostine struggles to keep his vow to defend against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and keep those he loves safe. Along the way, he discovers just how far he will go to survive, and the price of redemption.
The prequel to the best selling Post Apocalyptic series, Irregular Scout Team One. This is how it all began, and how America fell.
When his National Guard unit is overrun by the victims of the plague sweeping America, Sergeant First Class Nick Agostine struggles to keep his vow to defend against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and keep those he loves safe. Along the way, he discovers just how far he will go to survive, and the price of redemption.
The prequel to the best selling Post Apocalyptic series, Irregular Scout Team One. This is how it all began, and how America fell.
- GenresZombies
102 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 16, 2017
75 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
J.F. Holmes
77 books75 followersJ.F. Holmes is a retired Army Senior Noncomissioned Officer, having served for 22 years in both the Regular Army and Army National Guard. During that time, he served as everything from an artillery section leader to a member of a Division level planning staff, with tours in Cuba and Iraq, as well as responding to the terrorists attacks in NYC on 9-11.
From 2010 to 2014 he wrote the immensely popular military cartoon strip, "Power Point Ranger", poking fun at military life in the tradition of Beetle Bailey and Willy & Joe.
His books range from Military Sci-Fi to Space Opera to Detective to Fantasy, with a lot in between, and in 2017 two are finalists for the prestigious Dragon Awards. As of August 2017, Mr. Holmes has eighteen books and two novellas published.
Feel free to join Irregular Scout Team One on Facebook, and get a chance to influence the course and plot of his next book!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/15294...
From 2010 to 2014 he wrote the immensely popular military cartoon strip, "Power Point Ranger", poking fun at military life in the tradition of Beetle Bailey and Willy & Joe.
His books range from Military Sci-Fi to Space Opera to Detective to Fantasy, with a lot in between, and in 2017 two are finalists for the prestigious Dragon Awards. As of August 2017, Mr. Holmes has eighteen books and two novellas published.
Feel free to join Irregular Scout Team One on Facebook, and get a chance to influence the course and plot of his next book!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/15294...
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 9, 2017
THIS IS SERIOUSLY ONE VERY GREAT BOOK AND THE START OF A GREAT SERIES.
This is seriously one very great book and J.F. Holmes has written was super story with the start of this book. With the Zombie Apocalypse starting many Servicemen and First Responders alike all respond when needed and called, but even they don't realize the scope of the disaster until they are up front and on the frontline. Army Sgt First Class Nicholas Agostine is one of those called to the forefront. As he leaves for something even he won't believe until he sees it, he kisses his wife and baby goodbye believing they're on the way to safety. But once he finds out what they're fighting, his only thought is hoping his family made it to safety. Mr. Holmes has done such a great job with this book and it is one that I will pass on to others and now I will go to the next set of books in this series. Thank you Mr. Holmes.
This is seriously one very great book and J.F. Holmes has written was super story with the start of this book. With the Zombie Apocalypse starting many Servicemen and First Responders alike all respond when needed and called, but even they don't realize the scope of the disaster until they are up front and on the frontline. Army Sgt First Class Nicholas Agostine is one of those called to the forefront. As he leaves for something even he won't believe until he sees it, he kisses his wife and baby goodbye believing they're on the way to safety. But once he finds out what they're fighting, his only thought is hoping his family made it to safety. Mr. Holmes has done such a great job with this book and it is one that I will pass on to others and now I will go to the next set of books in this series. Thank you Mr. Holmes.
January 8, 2022
This would be great if the author didn't have the MC a Veteran Sergeant be such a f-up so as to make for weird drama. If this tendency of the authors keeps up I doubt I will ever finish this book/series.
1h19m into the audiobook and just.. to much retarded stuff. Walmart scene with the security "snort" person. Just too wtf fubar.
1h19m into the audiobook and just.. to much retarded stuff. Walmart scene with the security "snort" person. Just too wtf fubar.
December 13, 2021
Well written prequel, looking forward to the next edition.
March 22, 2017
This is the prequel to the Zombie Killers books by J.F. Holmes, detailing the fall of civilization as we knew it. It's a bit light, more of a novella than a novel, but well written with believable characters and good character development, and the author really knows how to write combat scenes. Good stuff!
March 21, 2017
The beginning.
This is a riveting first-person account of a ordinary guy who's in the NY National Guard called up for a emergency. A family man with a deep love of his wife, daughter, and country. The scenario given is realistic and frightening. The author draws on his own knowledge of and experiences in the military to spin a intriguing tale of the downfall of the United States and it's start to recover.
This is a riveting first-person account of a ordinary guy who's in the NY National Guard called up for a emergency. A family man with a deep love of his wife, daughter, and country. The scenario given is realistic and frightening. The author draws on his own knowledge of and experiences in the military to spin a intriguing tale of the downfall of the United States and it's start to recover.
August 21, 2017
Dragon nominee. Not ANOTHER zombie apocalypse!
March 21, 2017
An excellent addition to the series. John has written a prequel that shows how Nick ended up as an Irregular Scout Team 1 member, after the fall of the world. Serving as a National Guard NCO, he and his squad were there when the zombie horde hit New York State, withdrawing towards Seneca.
It's short, but it truely shows the horror of those first days of the zombie apocalypse.
It's short, but it truely shows the horror of those first days of the zombie apocalypse.
March 20, 2017
Another winner!
John Holmes does it again! A fitting prequel describing how it all began for Nic Agostine. It is a genuinely good read I couldn't stop reading until it was finished.
John Holmes does it again! A fitting prequel describing how it all began for Nic Agostine. It is a genuinely good read I couldn't stop reading until it was finished.
April 22, 2017
Awesome read
I'm from the area in the book. I was able to get highly detailed images, as I see some of the sites almost daily. I would love more. Born and raised in Albany.
I'm from the area in the book. I was able to get highly detailed images, as I see some of the sites almost daily. I would love more. Born and raised in Albany.
May 26, 2018
Far too many zombie stories start off either well into the apocalypse or use the whole “Oh, look the world is going crazy. Let me spend the next week, month, whatever asleep and when I wake up it'll be all gone to shit.” Not so with J.F. Holmes's Falling. We get a view of the fall of the world from the sharp end. Nick O'Neil, our hero is there at Ground Zero of the zombie apocalypse just as it is starts.
Holmes's portrayal of the military and the way it is treated is accurate as well. Nick's guard unit starts the story running a traffic control point in the Continental United States. They don't know why they're there. They don't know what they're guarding against. Put bluntly, they're treated like mushrooms, kept in the dark and fed shit. One guard member gets it right based on guesswork and they all think he's loopy. It's pretty typical and kind of cliché but it works. The military is trained to follow orders without questioning and that's what they do. The politicians seldom care what the military thinks. Even once details start to leak, Nick's unit only learns that there is a plague to the east, but not what it is. They don't know what the threat is until they witness it for themselves.
Seriously, this book starts so early in the fall (it is called Falling after all) that no one has any clue what is going on. Well, for the most part. At any rate things get ugly quickly and it all just goes to hell from there. The running. The fighting. The sudden death. It's crazy.
Holmes's zombies are just plain scary as well. They move quickly. The kill quickly from even the smallest bite. They turn so fast it'll make your head spin. That's probably their most horrifying trait. Like “Oh no, he's dead. OMG HE'S EATING ME!!!” That fast. They have glowing red eyes too. This is both terrifying and awesome. It also makes them easy to spot, but that's a separate issue.
Falling has all of the craziness and heartbreak you would expect from a zombie novel. I don't want to get into spoilers but trust me, one part of Falling had a big, bad, rough, tough, hardcore dude almost crying. Seriously, it hit me hard. I mean, the gut-wrenching heartbreaker is kind of a zombie staple, but Holmes knocked this one out of the park.
It's always a treat reading military science fiction written by someone who has served. There is a certain feeling that needs to be in a story about the military. It's hard to describe but it's kind of a mixture of “I've got your back,” mixed with “I love all of you,” crossed with “Fuck you and the horse you rode in on,” with just a touch of “I'm sick of this shit... even though I actually love it.” Holmes did a good job communicating that.
Something else that this book offers that most zombie stories don't is a goal. Somewhere to get to that actually exists. Remember the first season of The Walking Dead when Rick and company fought and fought to get to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta so that they could find the cure for the virus? Remember it not being there? I've seen an absolute buttload of that in zombie stories. Crying characters disappointed because they knew with absolute positivity, that there was a safe place to get to. There was somewhere that they could be sheltered and protected. But then they get there and it's not safe. The dead are stacked up like cord-wood or, more likely, scattered around in a mess of random death. But not Falling. Falling actually works backwards from that. Nick has no clue that there is anyplace to run to until he finds it and stumbles in with tears in his eyes.
My only complaint about Falling is that it doesn't end when the story ends. There is a definite arc here. I read this thing all the way through, enjoying myself the whole way, and then got to the end of a chapter. I was satisfied. I turned the page, fully expecting to see an excerpt from the next book there. What I got was a new chapter. I was...uhhh... not disappointed, exactly. As a lifelong fan of the written word, I'm always sad to see a good story end. It was a bit confusing though. Having read it, it's obvious why it's there. It sets up the rest of the series.
Falling starts off a series known as Zombie Killers. I get the fact that the end of the book sets up the rest of the series. I kinda, sorta get the fact that it needs to. It was just a bit perplexing to see it there though. Before the last couple of chapters, Falling works as a standalone book. As a matter of fact, it is a pretty champion standalone before those last couple of chapters. With that addition though, this book really only makes sense in a wider context than what is contained in its pages. I can't help think that Holmes added that last little bit for marketing purposes and, while I don't disapprove (authors do like and deserve to get paid for their work), I don't really see that they add much to Falling as a whole. It's almost like a bonus short story at the end of the book. Kind of like The Cleansing of the Shire at the end of The Return of the King except at least Holmes made it entertaining.
All in all though, it was a good book and I do plan on picking up the rest of the series at some point in time. I mean, Holmes has made the whole series available at a good price on Amazon and who am I to argue with quality fiction at a good price?
Holmes's portrayal of the military and the way it is treated is accurate as well. Nick's guard unit starts the story running a traffic control point in the Continental United States. They don't know why they're there. They don't know what they're guarding against. Put bluntly, they're treated like mushrooms, kept in the dark and fed shit. One guard member gets it right based on guesswork and they all think he's loopy. It's pretty typical and kind of cliché but it works. The military is trained to follow orders without questioning and that's what they do. The politicians seldom care what the military thinks. Even once details start to leak, Nick's unit only learns that there is a plague to the east, but not what it is. They don't know what the threat is until they witness it for themselves.
Seriously, this book starts so early in the fall (it is called Falling after all) that no one has any clue what is going on. Well, for the most part. At any rate things get ugly quickly and it all just goes to hell from there. The running. The fighting. The sudden death. It's crazy.
Holmes's zombies are just plain scary as well. They move quickly. The kill quickly from even the smallest bite. They turn so fast it'll make your head spin. That's probably their most horrifying trait. Like “Oh no, he's dead. OMG HE'S EATING ME!!!” That fast. They have glowing red eyes too. This is both terrifying and awesome. It also makes them easy to spot, but that's a separate issue.
Falling has all of the craziness and heartbreak you would expect from a zombie novel. I don't want to get into spoilers but trust me, one part of Falling had a big, bad, rough, tough, hardcore dude almost crying. Seriously, it hit me hard. I mean, the gut-wrenching heartbreaker is kind of a zombie staple, but Holmes knocked this one out of the park.
It's always a treat reading military science fiction written by someone who has served. There is a certain feeling that needs to be in a story about the military. It's hard to describe but it's kind of a mixture of “I've got your back,” mixed with “I love all of you,” crossed with “Fuck you and the horse you rode in on,” with just a touch of “I'm sick of this shit... even though I actually love it.” Holmes did a good job communicating that.
Something else that this book offers that most zombie stories don't is a goal. Somewhere to get to that actually exists. Remember the first season of The Walking Dead when Rick and company fought and fought to get to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta so that they could find the cure for the virus? Remember it not being there? I've seen an absolute buttload of that in zombie stories. Crying characters disappointed because they knew with absolute positivity, that there was a safe place to get to. There was somewhere that they could be sheltered and protected. But then they get there and it's not safe. The dead are stacked up like cord-wood or, more likely, scattered around in a mess of random death. But not Falling. Falling actually works backwards from that. Nick has no clue that there is anyplace to run to until he finds it and stumbles in with tears in his eyes.
My only complaint about Falling is that it doesn't end when the story ends. There is a definite arc here. I read this thing all the way through, enjoying myself the whole way, and then got to the end of a chapter. I was satisfied. I turned the page, fully expecting to see an excerpt from the next book there. What I got was a new chapter. I was...uhhh... not disappointed, exactly. As a lifelong fan of the written word, I'm always sad to see a good story end. It was a bit confusing though. Having read it, it's obvious why it's there. It sets up the rest of the series.
Falling starts off a series known as Zombie Killers. I get the fact that the end of the book sets up the rest of the series. I kinda, sorta get the fact that it needs to. It was just a bit perplexing to see it there though. Before the last couple of chapters, Falling works as a standalone book. As a matter of fact, it is a pretty champion standalone before those last couple of chapters. With that addition though, this book really only makes sense in a wider context than what is contained in its pages. I can't help think that Holmes added that last little bit for marketing purposes and, while I don't disapprove (authors do like and deserve to get paid for their work), I don't really see that they add much to Falling as a whole. It's almost like a bonus short story at the end of the book. Kind of like The Cleansing of the Shire at the end of The Return of the King except at least Holmes made it entertaining.
All in all though, it was a good book and I do plan on picking up the rest of the series at some point in time. I mean, Holmes has made the whole series available at a good price on Amazon and who am I to argue with quality fiction at a good price?
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews