Bunker: Born to Fight

Bunker #1

by Jay J. Falconer

All That Stands Between a Global Conspiracy and the End of the World is One Man and a Gun

When a coordinated attack brings chaos to the country, the mountain community of Clearwater, Colorado finds itself at ground zero.

Without power, technology, and the ability to survive, the desperate townspeople turn to a mysterious drifter for help—Jack Bunker, a troubled man with the skills and training to keep everyone alive.

Soon it becomes clear that not everything in Clearwater is what it seems. Dark forces are amassing in the shadows, preparing to unleash an evil far worse than anyone could have imagined. An evil even Bunker might not be able to stop.

Genres: Post Apocalyptic, Fiction, Survival, Science Fiction, Apocalyptic, Thriller, Military Fiction

285 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 6, 2017

About the author

Jay J. Falconer is an award-winning screenwriter and USA Today Bestselling Author whose books have hit #1 on Amazon in Action & Adventure, Military Sci-Fi, Post-Apocalyptic, Dystopian, Terrorism Thrillers, Technothrillers, Military Thrillers, Young Adult, and Men's Adventure fiction. He lives in the high mountains of northern Arizona where the brisk, clean air and stunning views inspire his day.

When he's not busy working on his next project, he's out training, shooting, hunting, or preparing for whatever comes next.

You can find more information about this author and his books at www.JayFalconer.com.

Awards and Accolades:
2020 USA Today Bestselling Book: Origins of Honor
2018 Winner: Best Sci-Fi Screenplay, Los Angeles Film Awards
2018 Winner: Best Feature Screenplay, New York Film Awards
2018 Winner: Best Screenplay, Skyline Indie Film Festival
2018 Winner: Best Feature Screenplay, Top Indie Film Awards
2018 Winner: Best Feature Screenplay, Festigious International Film Festival - Los Angeles
2018 Winner: Best Sci-Fi Screenplay, Filmmatic Screenplay Awards
2018 Finalist: Best Screenplay, Action on Film Awards in Las Vegas
2018 Third Place: First Time Screenwriters Competition, Barcelona International Film Festival
2019 Bronze Medal: Best Feature Script, Global Independent Film Awards
2017 Gold Medalist: Best YA Action Book, Readers' Favorite International Book Awards
2016 Gold Medalist: Best Dystopia Book, Readers' Favorite International Book Awards
Amazon Kindle Scout Winning Author

Reviews

[Greg Schloesser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though I've read some poor books in the genre, I am still drawn to post-apocalyptic novels. I am somewhat intrigued by the subject, probably because I harbor a hidden fear that something like this could actually happen. If it does, what would happen to society and civilization? Who would be the survivors? Would life be worth living?

When Amazon's "Book Bub" offered the first three books in this Bunker series at a ridiculously low price, I couldn't resist. I probably should work on my resistance skills. While the books aren't terrible, they are quite formulamatic. The damaged protagonist is forced to become a hero due to extenuating circumstances. He is, of course, ex-military and has amazing skills. He shows-up at the last minute -- time and time again -- to save the day. He gets injured, but somehow manages to quickly and effortlessly overcome beatings and torture that would kill just about anyone. Sometimes I think these plots could write themselves.

I also find that the author spends WAY too much time describing events that really aren't that important. It took the author numerous pages to describe the agonizing details of how Bunker was able to secure some honeycombs from a beehive. Was that really necessary? It seemed to me that these loooong descriptions of non-consequential events were inserted to add page count, and little more. I grew weary of these extended descriptions.

I dutifully completed all three books in the package, but really don't have the desire to read the final two books to complete the series. That says a lot.

[CJ Redding · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm a bit of a sucker for post-apocalyptic and generic-muscle-man-heads-clueless-group-of-survivors stories. Even though I've seen it done a million times, if you get a good cast of characters and keep the tensions high, I'll be there eating out of the palm of your hand.

The first I ever heard of Bunker: Born to Fight was seeing it available as a free audiobook on YouTube. I was bored at work, and put it on. Born to Fight is post-apocalyptic and has a generic muscle head named Jack Bunker who adopts a woman (who has just been divorced from her abusive husband) and her young son as they set out to survive after an EMP takes out the train they all happened to be riding on.

However, I can't say it has a good cast of characters, nor does it have satisfying tension. Jack makes for a pretty dull protagonist. He's a muscle head, he has some dark past he's running from . . . yep that's his entire personality. Stephanie, I think that's her name, is the epitome of the "obnoxious female tag along." Her character was already in question when the book began, but after hearing lines like "I can't help it if I'm prettier than other women," making demands that Bunker take her and her son along with him, and whining selfishly when he talks about leaving on his own as if she has any say over his life as practical strangers, her character just took a nosedive for me and I don't think she can be redeemed. The author tries to make her out to be a good mom, but with the way she's written (and her kid too) it kind of backfires as pandering. It really feels like the author just couldn't get in the mind of a woman, because she's written terribly. Some writers can portray other genders well, some just can't.

The plot suffers from drama. Born to Fight really feels like a soap opera with a mid season cliffhanger where an EMP goes off just to spice things up. It drags out saving the kids from the bus accident for far too long, and the author came up with some weird excuses for the Main characters to strip off their clothes just so they can see each other a bit naked. I'm partway into the next book and Jack's hardly in it. Toward the end of BTF, the story ends up taking the characters back to Stephanie's home town which she was trying to escape and we spend a lot of time with a bunch of unlikeable characters for . . . some reason. Yeah, they're probably important to the plot, but they can be around without the author forcing us into their gross head space. I don't need to read from their perspective to know they exist and might effect the plot later, because so far they're not doing a whole lot other than annoying me.

Someone in the comment section pointed out that the series felt like one book stretched out into a series just to make more money and I'm starting to believe that. Born to Fight ends very abruptly and feels more like an episodic end point, than a novel finale.

Additional complaints:
-Too much description of characters and locations that aren't all that important, dragging the story out unnecessarily.
-A national crisis that isn't treated with much fear.
-Obnoxious female characters who stomp their feet and get their way.
-A few technical inaccuracies
-Characters jumping to conclusions normal people wouldn't jump too (Not talking about the EMP. Talking about everything else.)
-Hate books where the cover straight up lies. Nowhere does Jack ever don military garb or ever use a gun. If anything the cover should have Jack shirtless wearing booty jean shorts standing on top of a school bus while Stephanie pouts in the corner.

Yeah, the only thing this book did for me was alleviate some boredom.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fantastic start to a book series. Also great that it's. A shorter book with quick chaos to handle. It was very well written and exciting. Bunker is an interesting character which looks to build more as his history is leaving readers in the dark.

[Jena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes you buy a book on a whim, and you are blown away. This story includes a mystery man, and an EMP, electromagnetic pulse. It's suspenseful, and even though the book is short, I already love Jack Bunker, who or what ever he is. Fantastic five stars! Get it!

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short Changed

Book one ought to almost be called Chapter one. The apocalyptic nature is understated and fairly well unreleased. A good editor or proofreader is needed.
I found the hero to be broken, the female lead to be inconsistent considering, and the rest to be marginalized.
It is good to see a new author work at his craft but all practice should not necessarily be published.
Only for rabid and die hard fans of dystopian prepper stories.

[John Karlson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pass this by

Nah, to much other stuff worth your time. Started off OK, but went off the rails. Pass this series and spend your time and money on better story and writing. Think I even paid for this dribble

[Barry Bash · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light easy read

[Jarrod Olson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very boring.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

May be best suited for teens interested in the genre.

Very ... simple

[Ray Simmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like and read a lot of different genres. But sometimes a book seems to have been written with a guy like me in mind. Bunker by Jay J. Falconer is exactly that kind of book. Bunker is my kind of protagonist, a U.S. military veteran who is not looking for trouble but certainly knows how to handle it if it rears its ugly head. The story is present day, but the scenario and the science are cutting edge which gives an almost sci-fi feel to the story sometimes. There are plenty of females in this story but thank God they are far from the typical damsels in distress. I like this story. The bad guys are from a country I grew up thinking of as the enemy, and with a former KGB officer running that country now, this story seems a tale that could very well happen.

The plot of Bunker is fast-paced, exciting, and very well written. We hit the ground running and the action and the stakes just keep going higher and higher. This action is realistic enough and well written enough to satisfy a combat veteran and an avid reader. In other words, the plot and action scenes in Bunker are very good. Yet if you were to ask me what the strongest attribute of this novel is, I would have to say it is the characters. They jump out at me. They are strong, they are independent, they fall short of what they should be sometimes, but most of all they are very believable.

[Lee M Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Chirp offered the first three books in this Bunker series at a ridiculously low price, I also couldn't resist. However, I was cautious and bought only the first SHORT audio book in the series.
It is an interesting, but no too technical take on an EMP triggered apocalypse.
This first book in the series tries to introduce us to Jack Bunker as our post war veteran trying to escape his past near the fictional town of Clearwater, Colorado. The story sets up his endearment to the town of Clearwater by his heroic rescue of a busload of school children. But, just when you want to know more the book ends with multiple ends untied to lure you into buying book two.
The book felt like a single sidebar episode of the McGyver television series. "Tune in next week to see how Jack McGyver solves anther seemingly impossible situation."
Because I want to see how the author handles the technical implications of an EMP event and how the prepper hermit conspiracy nut turns his character around, I will buy the second Chirp book before the price goes up from $1.99.

[Bob Neumann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picture yourself riding Amtrak to Denver. You are on an UPWARD incline and everyone around you on their smartphones are cursing and redialing. Now your name is Jack Bunker and you know something terrible has occurred and you are headed to the engine. But you don’t get far, because as you look through the observation windows you see a jetliner coming right at you.
Good Question...but you are a man well trained...you are running away from your past. But your training kicks in and you yell for everyone to get down. You throw yourself on top of a woman and child. Now that is where everything starts and it doesn’t slow down.
I remember a movie, maybe you do to, where a man gets off a helicopter and gives his seat to a woman. He says to everyone who think “HOW STUPID!”, I REMEMBER when it was women and children FIRST. I personally that humanity has lost that survival instinct.
Bunker is maybe the best Dystopian Post-Apocalyptic book I have read. It is the first in a five book series.

[RJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Our protagonist, Jack Bunker is a man with a secretive past. As he rides a train through the Rocky Mountains the country is struck by an EMP. As everything grinds to a halt Bunker’s intentions are to head towards the nearest town. A young mother and her son, who have been sitting by Bunker, attach themselves to Bunker to go with him. As they travel on foot towards the town of Clearwater they come across a bus load of children in a dire situation. As Bunker and the rescued children enter Clearwater his only thought is to get back on the road and out of town as quickly as possible. His past follows him everywhere he goes and he has no intentions of having it catch up to him here and now. But the grateful townsfolk won’t let him leave. Short start to a potentially good series; three.point.five for the effort.

[Ken Finlay · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Bunker: Born to Fight” is a post-Apocalyptic tale in which a Jack Reacher clone overcomes all adversity , mostly without breaking a sweat.
Following an EMP attack on the U.S.A. Jack Bunker, fleeing a past he's trying to forget, finds a welcome home in the isolated town of Clearwater, Colorado (of course they have no idea of who he once was).
He picks up a newly-divorced woman and her son - of course her ex is the SOB who runs the town.
What struck me most is that this is not really a book, just a couple of chapters out of one.
It's becoming increasingly popular as serial books, assuming they build up a readership, can be far more profitable that a stand-alone.
I've read worse books this year, but I've also read far better (though not in the post-Apocalyptic novels I've come across).
2 Stars.

[Brooke Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

🎧(audiobook)
Solid. I’ve been in an “end of the world” audiobook kick.
They are all kind of predictable, but easy to listen to.
Bunker has tons of secrets(non of which are revealed in this first book) we know he is leaving behind his “old self” but very little more than that.
He meets a divorcee and her son who decided to travel with him back to town when the train they are traveling on is hit with an EMP.
Bunker becomes the hero early on when he saves a bunch of kids from a bus on a cliff
I’m looking forward to seeing the conflicts that arise and how this group of survivors, learn to survive.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting start

When you first start reading you’ll notice the resemblance of this storyline to an apocalyptic tv show from years ago: Jericho. Small town, bad boy, outsider hero, lost school bus full of children, little girl on bus badly hurt getting rescued by said bad boy hero, nuclear EMP, needing to find Geiger counters, crazy old man selling something to sheriff for a paltry sum of money and men trapped in a mine. It’s all so very familiar.

But I loved Jericho so I’ll give this series a shot.

[Diane E]

Very good story

4 stars because chapters not marked.
This is much like a drifter series you might have read. Jack Bunker (not his real name) is getting away from his previous life .on a train going to Denver , a plane crashes and the train just stops. No electricity to access the Internet or computers. He and a woman and her son head for the nearest town, Clearwater .
What would happen if an EMP hit where I live. Scary

[Barbie* · Rating 2 out of 5]

The pain was intense, sending Albert down to the pavement on one knee.
"Eeeooww," he said, bending his elbow and swinging his body around to keep Burt from breaking his thumb.




Yeah. Not great, but it was also what I wanted. I have very little tolerance for authors who put female characters in weird sexual situations, and very little tolerance for authors who make every female character über fuckable, but sometimes, you need an awful book.

[Pam Shelton-Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

While some of the writing style is a little uneven, overall this was a good book. Since the main character and the two that tag with him are going back to her troubled hometown, it is easy to see some of the coming conflict. Good start to a series. There is mystery about the background of Bunker. that will be revealed at some point.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Enjoyable Book

I don't do very reviews, but I enjoyed reading this book and hoped to encourage other EOTWAWKI fans to give this fairly new series a try.I
Being the first book, there wasn't a whole lot of action, but I enjoyed reading it, and I look forward to reading the next book.

[Karina Halt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good beginning to a new series! I really liked to get to know Bunker, it sounds like he has a past, and it makes one wonder what that could be, but he has left the past behind to become a better person, and he is doing a good job of it so far. Looking forward to reading the rest of the story!

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, but I felt like the prepping stuff was shoehorned in and conveniently delivered in all the right spots. And not getting to know ANYTHING about Bunker’s past, other than a few cryptic comments, just pissed me off. Lol. I just needed a little bit of solid information. Anything to pull me into the next book. Didn’t happen.

[Neal Hogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well conceived a and written thriller

This is a well conceived and written thriller serialized in the style of W.E.B. Griffin. This first volume foreshadows the future conflicts while concealing the identity of the principal villain. The detail and pacing lure the reader into the story and purchasing the next installment.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book this is a series that need to be read in order. Translation - 1 long book divided into a series. So far this series has grabbed my attention I got through the first book in 1 day! It is similar to the book 1 second after which is one of my favourites, so we will see how the rest of the series plays out.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

An attack has knocked out all technology and electronics in Clearwater, CO. Jack Bunker just happens to be passing through when he finds himself thrust into the rescue of a bunch of children on a school bus.

He has a mysterious past that he doesn't want anyone to know about but he is willing to help where he can.

I enjoyed this short listen. Hope to read more.

[Jose M. Adams · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book is awful. I got a free copy on audiobook and feel like I overpaid.

I made it through 57 chapters before I just could not go on.

It’s like 3%’er fanfic and the quality of the writing is exactly what you’d expect from that.

I’m sure there’s an audience for it, that audience is not me.

[Barakiel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved the setting. This apoc book starts on a train. Not something you see everyday. Then an EMP hits and stuff happens. Fun! Wooh!

Pros:
1. Mystery. You don't know who the POV character is. His history is a secret.
2. Action + some heroic stuff
3. Apocalypse.

Book2, not so great. Will continue to see if it picks up.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good premise for a book, survival following a mysterious EMP pulse. However, character development is very shallow and stereotyped, robbing the story of its potential. Women are sex objects and children are whiny and incapable. Hero is likeable but mysterious, very little background on him given in first book, just clues. Book one is very short, more like a novella.

[ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than average

A decent start to a series. Good grammar and sentence structure. Seems a little slow, though and not much information for a survivalist novel. Maybe you should read some of James W. Rawles' books.

[Tim kaskes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exciting thrilling worth every page

I found the characters are well written, interesting, exciting and the development it's something I'm looking forward to seeing through hope these character succeed in the New World