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Silent Order #1

Silent Order: Iron Hand

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The galaxy is at war, but wars are won and lost in the shadows.

To the galaxy at large, Jack March is a privateer of the interstellar Kingdom of Calaskar and a former Iron Hand commando of the malevolent Final Consciousness. In truth, he is an alpha operative of the Silent Order, the most efficient and feared intelligence organization in human space. When there is a crisis, Jack March is the man to call.

But there are many forces that wish to enslave or destroy humanity.

And when a mission leads March to a lawless asteroid space station, he might be the only one left to stop those forces...

210 pages, Paperback

Published September 24, 2017

409 people are currently reading
327 people want to read

About the author

Jonathan Moeller

405 books669 followers
Standing over six feet tall, USA Today bestselling author Jonathan Moeller has the piercing blue eyes of a Conan of Cimmeria, the bronze-colored hair of a Visigothic warrior-king, and the stern visage of a captain of men, none of which are useful in his career as a computer repairman, alas.

He has written the DEMONSOULED series of sword-and-sorcery novels, and continues to write THE GHOSTS sequence about assassin and spy Caina Amalas, the COMPUTER BEGINNER'S GUIDE series of computer books, and numerous other works. His books have sold over one million copies worldwide.

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5 stars
300 (43%)
4 stars
226 (33%)
3 stars
121 (17%)
2 stars
27 (3%)
1 star
9 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
Profile Image for Joshua Buller.
Author 10 books5 followers
October 8, 2017
Solid Sci-fi

Iron Hand is a strong opening for Jonathan Moeller's first foray outside the realm of fantasy. With a strong protagonist in Jack March and an interesting take on science fiction, it's a refreshing change of pace from the author that still carries his distinct style. Definitely recommended.
Profile Image for Susan.
1,455 reviews
February 9, 2018
Iron Hand is the first book in the Silent Order series. You can read this book as a standalone, but it does end in a soft cliffhanger for the next book. There is a lot of violence. This storyline is somewhat different and I'm interested enough to read the next book.
Profile Image for Tony Hisgett.
3,002 reviews36 followers
September 21, 2018
A really interesting SciFi novel, the plot was a bit simplistic, but Jack March was a great main character.
The only slight niggle was the way the main protagonist Simon Lorre kept managing to escape. The author created situations were he shouldn’t have survived, but he obviously wanted to keep him going for future books.
Profile Image for Tim.
152 reviews14 followers
May 5, 2021
Good space opera and a good read. A few typos in my version which caused the lack a 5*, but good anyway, Hope there is more of an expansion of Jack's character in subsequent books.
5 reviews
January 5, 2020
Too simplistic plot and dumb decisions by the main characters to make this story believable. The book is fine for a quick read before falling asleep.
Profile Image for Space Cowgirl.
4,133 reviews144 followers
July 5, 2018
The Biggest Badass🐺🔪🔫💥 In the Room

Jack March🐺🔪🔫💥, Alpha member of the Silent Order, privateer and former Iron Hand commando, has a dangerous job of escorting Lady Roanna Vindex💃💋 to a far flung space station for a meeting, where she Will try to bargain to get her brother back from the Machinists. Did he join the terrorist group on his own, or was he kidnapped?
March🐺🔪🔫💥 is the biggest badass in the room, every time. He knows almost everything about the tactics of the Machinists, and how to stop them, but Lady Roanna💃💋 and her protector, Heath, keep getting in the way.

This is solid sci-fi with great 🌎world building and descriptions of the incredible robotic weapons of the Machinists.

This is the first book about Jack March🐺🔪🔫💥 I have read and it won't be the last. Recommend!
156 reviews
November 10, 2020
SO #1

This book kicks off the series starring Jack March. His mission is to grab a pair of young nobles who have gotten caught up in scheme of the Machinists. The mission goes sideway from the start when the Machinists send their version of March, Simon Lorre, to intercept. The fun never stops as these two elite operatives try to outfox one another and win the prize.

Moeller turns his talent toward sci-fi with this series and I’m eager to explore the universe. One thing that I found frightening was the capabilities of the Machinists. I’m curious to learn how March was able to break away from the hive mind and defect to his current employer.

This is a great start with lots to build upon. I know it’s gonna be a fun ride.
124 reviews2 followers
February 3, 2018
A nice surprise

This was my first read of a book by Moeller and I am impressed. Great lead character in Jack March and an interesting nemesis in the Foundation, a collective consciousness aiming to take over all worlds. Well written and well worth a look.
Profile Image for Jefrois.
481 reviews4 followers
July 9, 2022
.

Book is okay but:

COMES REPLETE WITH “sipping,” and “a bar,” and “bad dreams,” and “beer” and they do things “ around his cigar,” and they have “coffee,” and a hollowed out “asteroid,” a space “station,” and “he fell asleep at once,” and “washed it down,” and “his stomach rumbled,” and a “beautiful” princess, and “eggs and bacon,” and “accepted,” and “if truth be told,” and “he chewed,” and a “pretty girl,” and

—all the other usual TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE TRITE

FOKKING Hollywood-Type mindless bllsht tricks to keep the ripped-off TRITE story going.

MISSING (and this is what saves the book): the partially female of couleur who is not partial to whatever sex, and who is the smartest, most brilliant, most moral, strongest, most powerful, bestest fighter, most beautiful, best pilot, and bestest shot in the whole Galaxy!

OMG! I WISH I WAS HER! Except she’s not in this one book, out of maybe 634 others i looked at.

Book is okay.
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294 reviews
April 24, 2022
Iron Hand by Jonathan Moeller
Silent Order #1

A strong story set in space about agents with the Silent Order; the hidden ‘spies’ that defend one aspect of humans against a cybernetic aspect.
Jack March is one of these spies. He is required to assist a twin to rescue the other from a group linked to the cybernetic mob. It introduces; The Navy, both asteroidal & man-made worlds, mechanical enhanced people, along with a little bit of romance (just a little:)
I’ve read this is Jon Moeller’s first Science Fiction story and while it has his usual quality style & construction, needs a bit more beefing up (more locations, variety) in the SF genre. Not quite to his usual high standard Fantasy he has delivered in the past.
Characters are well fleshed out, looking forward to more backstory for the future. Tale rolls out consistently and at a good pace. There are only a couple of locations involved but they are easy to imagine.
Iron Hand by Jonathan Moeller
Silent Order #1
A good story 3/5

Key: bad 1/5, ok 2/5, good 3/5, great 4/5, unusually outstanding 5/5
Profile Image for Wayne McKinstry.
Author 7 books12 followers
November 11, 2021
Silent Order: Iron Hand is an excellent space adventure story. The hero is steely-eyed and determined with just enough weakness to make him human. If you like space wars, I don’t know what else you could want. There is an evil empire determined to kill and enslave everyone. Our protagonist escaped from their clutches so he knows what he is talking about.

There are a lot of action scenes, interspersed with narrative. I found that the people have a good amount of depth, with believable motives. The bad guys have been captured into a hive mind, which most everyone would find very creepy.

If you like space stories with spies, this is for you.
668 reviews5 followers
October 6, 2023
The day Jack March turned away from the Machinists to work instead for the Silent Order of the Calaskar Kingdom, was also the day a heck of a lot of people started breathing easier and would continue to do so.
But an arch enemy by the name of Lorre also started making a name for himself and having kidnapped a young lordling set into motion a heck of a lot of action, suspense and intrigue as wheels within wheels started grinding away to a surprise ending on Rustbelt.
Writer Jonathan Moeller set quite a high standard with Silent Order:I ron Hand for any book in the series to follow. I can foresee quite a few rather late nights to follow now for me with the next book in line.
Enjoy
Profile Image for Francis Chamberland.
113 reviews
December 24, 2017
Silent Order: Iron Hand Review

Dear Jonathan, well by finishing this book I have completed reading the whole series in an interesting order. I do not recommend reading the series unless it is in order as written. The adventures Jack March is an excellent story and I look forward to reading the next book in the series. This series is adult reading that I highly recommend reading to anyone interested in reading a great story. As always, thank you for the exciting and adventurous time.
Profile Image for Jānis.
462 reviews37 followers
May 9, 2025
Tāltālā nākotnē, kad visumā izplatījušies cilvēki un esot arī citplanētieši, aģents (spiegs) Marčs saņem uzdevumu aizlidot līdz attālai kosmosa stacijai, savākt tur divus augstdzimušos un atvest mājās. Pats viņš ir izbijis mašīnistu marionete, kas tagad aktīvi cīnās pret tiem... Viens no augstdzimušajiem esot pārgājis mašīnistu pusē.

Nanotehnoloģijas, pūļa apziņa, distopija - tur viss ir. Pietiekami viegla, ātri lasāma un izklaidējoša. Ja būtu viena no pirmajām manām sci-fi grāmatām, noteikti pavilktos uz visu sēriju, bet šoreiz laikam neturpināšu.
Profile Image for Gabby.
2,532 reviews26 followers
May 31, 2018
Space spies.

I will say I found this book a little harder to get into than the Ghosts series. I suppose as I am not a huge fan of sci-fi that may be the reason. However the characters are compelling, the villains interesting and the overarching subplot intriguing which all tie in nicely with a kidnapping ransom with many a twist. An interesting read when I finally got into it. A little repetitive at times but the battle concept and strategies were a good read.
12 reviews
December 15, 2022
A Bit Entertaining, A Bit Flat

I enjoy sci-fi thus I enjoyed this book. The storyline is simple and it lacks the flair and personality of other sci-fi books I have read, for example Backyard Starship. The writing could have been better as well, for example there are several passages where thoughts, sometimes almost complete sentences, are repeated. Worth a read but won't go higher than three stars.
133 reviews
September 26, 2023
interesting story

The pacing was good, as the story kept moving right along. Not sure I want to read more of this overall story though. Too much technology pops up at opportunistic moments. And of course my usual gripe….the editing could be better. It’s always a distraction for me when when there are words missing, or poorly written sentences, but there was also one inconsistency at one point that was a definite oversight by whoever read the final draft.
Profile Image for Larry B Gray.
Author 6 books155 followers
January 28, 2021
Awesome Read

Excellent fast paced adventure that makes putting this book down almost impossible. The storyline was easy to get into, but was full of twist and turns all the way to the end. I really like the characters the author created and found them easy to identify with. I really like this book and I highly recommend it.
Profile Image for Lyn.
21 reviews
February 11, 2021
Great premise marred by elementary writing

As the heading suggests, this story is set in a well conceived world but suffers from shallow characters and simple writing. Would love to see a rewrite in a few years. I pushed through to the end based on the strength of the plot, though I did have to stretch my goodwill a bit at times.
6,726 reviews5 followers
April 4, 2021
Wonderful fantasy reading

Due to eye issues Alexa reads to me, a will written fantasy Sci-Fi thriller novella. The characters are interesting and will developed. The story line is fast moving, a little romantic, and violent racing to rescue of a bother of a princess. I would recommend this to readers of fantasy Sci-Fi thrillers.Enjoy reading 🔰2021 😕
Profile Image for Natasa.
407 reviews23 followers
June 16, 2023
Silent Order: Iron Hand

Well, I'd love to see where the story goes for our characters. I would have loved to learn a bit more about the Final Consciousness. Also, I loved the scene with the nano bots and the terrorist attack. Hopefully, the future books will have more of these sci-fi scenes. A good start to a good series, I'm hoping so.
Profile Image for Stephen Carter.
Author 15 books6 followers
May 5, 2024
Well-Paced SciFi Action

The story moves along at a satisfying clip. And the characters resonate, March Roana Heath & Lorre, each very different & fully believable. The climax is suspenseful & absorbing. Finally there's appropriate dystopian ideology & frightening tech serving that shown. Great first novel in a series!
346 reviews7 followers
May 5, 2025
Enjoyable SF

March was once part of a militant cult trying to take over the galaxy. He was once a specialized an assassin, with a cybernetic arm. He managed to pull himself out, and he started working for the other side. This is the story of a rescue mission the new organization sent him on. Entertaining. Fun characters.
Profile Image for Megan Rivera.
2 reviews2 followers
January 23, 2018
Promising, but needs a lot of work.

Too many glaring plot holes and continuity errors to continue my suspension of disbelief. The author could be very successful in the future with more practice.

Profile Image for David.
196 reviews
June 1, 2018
Iron Hand

Great read, very different storyline from usual. The characters were all well put together and very believable. Tense moments abound, great build up to the final confrontation between the good and bad guys. It was a freebie too. Fab.
821 reviews3 followers
July 2, 2019
Book 1 iron hand

The book was a fun read and had errors throughout. Iron hand was a different pace in how it was written, but overall I liked the characters and plot. It was fast paced, but repeated information a lot. I look forward to book 2.
Profile Image for John Tyson.
187 reviews4 followers
January 3, 2021
Great start

Great start exciting, interesting, and no boring parts everything leads to the next segment some authors can't successfully transition but this was smooth as a good brandy kudos to the author I look forward to reading more of your stories
4,418 reviews37 followers
July 21, 2021
Excellent.

Author freebie and intro to series. Suitable for teens and adults. A military and espionage story. A rescue mission goes awry. Save the princess scenarios often do. Science suitable for a video game.
8 reviews
January 2, 2023
Exactly to formula

Super hero fnights bad guys
Super hero meets nemesis
Super hero meets gorgeous woman
The intended person to be saved has converted to bad guys
Super hero mostly saves the day but nemesis escapes
Blah blah blah
I figured out the ending halfway through
57 reviews
June 11, 2023
A good read

The story was well written with a good twist at the end. The characters were believable. The reason why only 4 stars is the amount of grammatical errors in the book which was frustrating.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews

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