Wildfire

Kelly Turnbull #3

by Kurt Schlichter

First came People’s Republic, then Indian Country Now, Kelly Turnbull returns, locked and loaded, in Wildfire. Blue America teeters on the edge of chaos and collapse, but that’s not ex-operator Kelly Turnbull’s problem anymore – until he is called out of retirement for a crucial job in Siberia that turns out to be a deadly trap. Now Turnbull must go deep undercover inside the crumbling People’s Republic’s secret police force to stop a jihadi threat that could kill millions in both red and blue America. Working alongside his sworn enemy, he has to put his trust where he always has – in his instincts and his .45 automatic as his bloody campaign of revenge takes him from Mexico City to Germany to the bowels of the urban jungle of the abandoned Pentagon where, MAC-10 in hand, Kelly Turnbull faces his deadliest enemy.

Genres: Fiction, Politics, Dystopia, Thriller

331 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 29, 2018

About the author

Kurt Schlichter is a trial lawyer, and a retired Army infantry colonel with a degree from the Army War College who writes twice a week as a Senior Columnist for Townhall.com. His new novel "People's Republic" is now available!

Kurt was personally recruited by Andrew Breitbart in 2009 to write for Big Hollywood. He is often on the air as a news source, an on-screen commentator, and as a guest on nationally syndicated radio programs discussing political, military and legal issues, including Fox News, HLN, CNN (Well, maybe not anymore), the Hugh Hewitt Show, the Dennis Miller Show, Geraldo, the Greg Garrison Show, the John Phillips Show, the Tony Katz Radio Spectacular, PJTV's The Conversation, The Delivery with Jimmie Bise, Jr., the Snark Factor, and WMAL's Mornings on the Mall with Larry O'Connor, among others.

He appears weekly on the Cam and Company Show with his own brand of caring conservative cultural commentary.

His previous book "Conservative Insurgency: The Struggle to Take America Back 2009-2041" was released in 2014 from Post Tree Press

As a stand-up comic for several years, he has gathered a large and devoted following in the world of social media for his amusing and often biting conservative commentary. He is an active user of Twitter (@KurtSchlichter) with over 71,000 followers, which led to his #1 selling Amazon "Political Humor" ebooks "I Am a Conservative: Uncensored, Undiluted and Absolutely Un-PC," "I Am a Liberal: A Conservative's Guide to Dealing With Nature's Most Irritating Mistake," "Fetch My Latte: Sharing Feelings With Stupid People," and "50 Shades of Liberal."

Kurt is also a successful trial lawyer based in the Los Angeles area representing companies and individuals in matters ranging from routine business cases to confidential Hollywood and entertainment industry disputes and transactions. A member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, which recognizes attorneys who have won verdicts in excess of $1 million, his litigation strategy and legal analysis articles regularly run in such legal publications such as the Los Angeles Daily Journal and California Lawyer.

Kurt is a 1994 graduate of Loyola Law School, where he was a law review editor. He majored in Communications and Political Science as an undergraduate at the University of California, San Diego, where he also edited the conservative student paper California Review while writing a regular column in the student humor paper the Koala. He also drank a lot of Coors.

Kurt rose to the rank of Army infantry colonel on active duty and in the California Army National Guard. He wears the silver "jump wings" of a qualified paratrooper and commanded the elite 1st Squadron, 18th Cavalry Regiment. A veteran of both the Persian Gulf War and Operation Enduring Freedom (Kosovo), as well as the Los Angeles riots, the Northridge earthquake and the 2007 San Diego fires mobilizations, he is a graduate of the Army's Combined Arms Staff Service School, the Command and General Staff College, and the United States Army War College, where he received a master of Strategic Studies degree.

He loves military history, red meat and the Second Amendment. His favorite caliber is .45.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, terrible proofreading

Great book as was the first two in the series but whoever proofread the book did a terrible job. Noticed maybe one error in the first 2/3 of the book which was fine. Then it was like they gave up on the end. Multiple misspellings or complete wrong words. Great story and writing but next time proofread the whole book.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Great Addition to the Series

“Wildfire” is an enjoying addition to the “People’s Republic” series, taking us inside the People’s Republic and to Europe on an adventure that stands up well with other examples of the action-thriller genre. While the premise - the dissolution of the United States and the establishment of a totalitarian dictatorship in part of its former territory - can hardly be described as “fun”, this book certainly is.

[Jeff P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lot's of action, funny, but also sobering as a precautionary tale.

[John Nevola · Rating 3 out of 5]

As much as I loved the first two books in this series and as much as I like the author and most of his writings, this book just didn’t make it for me. Schlichter invented a great backdrop to entertain and inform Americans about the dangers of the far-left socialist philosophy by presenting an America split into two countries. He creatively exploited this plot device in his first two novels. So far so good. I liked them both. So, what does he do in Wildfire? He sends his hero Kelly Turnbull to Siberia, The People’s Republic and Germany in search of the inventor of a deathly pathogen before it can destroy humanity. Turnbull even collaborates with his nemesis in the first two novels, Martin Rios-Parkinson. All of a sudden, I’m reading a cross between The Walking Dead and The Andromeda Strain. In addition, this was an extremely poorly edited work with whole paragraphs being repeated, spurious sentences in random places and missing words. The plot and the writing seemed rushed and somehow compromised. I expected better from the author. I believe his audience would rather see his speculation on the saga of the split America’s, the economies, state border issues, military foreign relations, especially with Mexico, Canada, Iran and NATO and the brewing rebellions in the people’s Republic. And perhaps a path to reuniting the country?
John E Nevola - Author of The Last Jump and The Final Flag
U.S. Army Veteran – SP/5
Military Writer's Society of America

[Chuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Future Shock

If you are not reading Kurt Schichter the i don't really want to know you and your opinion on everything is worthless.

[William Speers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good story

Good, fun, story for those who see the USA as deteriorating into two cultures heading towards becoming two nations with one being “progressive” and the other being conservative. Lots of errors of grammar and diction. The PC parody is entertaining; the simplistic straw-man plot is a little thin.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

LEFTISTS BEWARE. THIS BOOK CONTAINS LETHAL DOSES OF MALE TOXICITY.

Kurt Schlichter has come out with the third adventure in the Kelly Turnbull series, and this one is just as much fun to read as the first two.

For those of you who are unacquainted with the series, Schlichter has developed a "what-if" scenario set slightly in the future where the current U.S. splits into two countries due to the ever-increasing inability of the Right and Left to have any kind of civil discourse.

The new USA is composed of the "Red States" with Dallas as the capital. The People's Republic is composed of the East and West Coast along with the Northern Rust Belt states. The Red States are a free market, pro-gun, pro-God nation and home of the Normals. The People's Republic is a socialist "utopia" where all hate speech is outlawed and the government controls everything. President De Blasio eventually moves the PR's capital from Washington to New York City.

The U.S.A. and the Peoples Republic are constantly engaged in low-level warfare ranging from behind the lines guerrilla actions to full up clashes between armored and mechanized forces.

Kelly Turnbull is the Special Fores trained "go-to" guy for the U.S government. He is put into play for the toughest and most critical clandestine operations. You the reader have the pleasure of joining him on rescue and sabotage operations behind enemy lines throughout the world. So far he has raised and trained resistance groups in southern Indiana. He has led search and destroy missions into Iraq, Siberia, Munich and Washington. Turnbull has even rescued a damsel in distress (and the latest Silicon Valley encryption technology) from the depths of Communist California.

Schlichter does a great job of painting a picture of what "might be" if the present efforts of the Left to inflict chaos continue unabated. The People's Republic is laughably believable given how far off the rails some far-left wing zealots go.

There are just so many great passages and commentary included in this novel. Below is a sampling with a few of my comments:

Sadly, but not improbably, Schlicther sees the Leftists turning Arlington National Cemetery into a landfill and the Pentagon into a public housing project (aka: a ghetto).

Jeff Bezos does not escape the depredations of the socialists either...

"in the ruins of the old Amazon Complex.” The merchandise giant had opened an enormous new headquarters campus there just before the Split. Not long afterwards, the blue government could no longer contain its greed. President Elizabeth Warren declared the company a “profit crime enterprise,” and what assets that had not been relocated into the red at the corporation’s new headquarters in Atlanta were seized. The company founder, Jeff Bezos, became a fugitive from the People’s Republic, and he still resided in the Caribbean Island nation of Grenada, which he bought in 2026."

A major anti-gun advocate from California also finds a place in this speculative history...

"...then-obscure Congressman from the San Francisco Bay Area named Eric Swalwell suggested for American citizens who insisted upon their rights. At the time, a nuclear strike on an unruly American city seemed extreme. It turned out he was a visionary of petty tyranny. Swalwell would go on to run the People’s Bureau of Investigation after the Split, and he pioneered the building of the network of reeducation and reintegration camps that dotted the rural reaches of the People’s Republic. They housed the social criminals, such as gun owners and dedicated Christians and Jews, who were not lucky enough to be executed. The camps were heavy on reeducation, mostly through labor, fear and..."

...along with another hero of today's Democrat party...

"People’s Republic’s first “Minister of Restorative Justice,” Maxine Waters,"

There are also some great jabs at Political Correctness run amok...

"She was holding a pot and wearing her waitress gear – they still called them “waitresses” in Texas. Being home was always so much easier since you didn’t have to constantly navigate through the verbal minefields that surrounded every human interaction in the People’s Republic. Just having a limited number of pronouns to worry about made life exponentially simpler."

"The jet made its final approach over the northern Virginia region south of the old capital – no one called it “Washington” anymore because the Father of the Former Country both owned slaves and had a penis, and these disqualified him from being remembered. And “District of Columbia” was obviously a non-starter. So, since all the suggested alternatives were likewise disqualified, the People’s Republic of North America government re-named it “Capital City.” Then it moved the capital to New York City."

On top of being an an exciting novel, this is an insightful and well-informed analysis of the inevitable arc of today's Progressive movement. I found it to be one of those stories I just couldn't out down until I'd read it all the way through.

I highly recommend this book to intelligent readers.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another interesting book from Kurt Schlichter. Again, one that I can only recommend to other old vets.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can’t wait for the sequel!

As a subscriber to kindle Unlimited, I hate like hell to pay for a book, but KAS really nails it. Great action, witty repartee, prophetic politics, the series has been a non-stop page turner. Sadly, as fun as his books are, I’m afraid they accurately predict a dismal future. At 71, I may dodge the bullet of the coming civil war, but I don’t foresee a detente. Born and bred a Texan, from San Antonio, I moved to California in the 60’s to go to college and follow a teen romance (sadly long gone). California was still part of the US then, a little whacky, but fun and happening for a fuzz faced college boy in love. Alas, that California is long gone. I watched it crumble like a sand castle in a rising tide. It truly is the People’s Republic now in the blue metro sectors. I fled the deep blue SF Bay Area (when I retired) for the red part of the state (like the rest of the country, California is geographically mostly red, but we are ruled over by the tyrants in the blue margins). Arm up, my friends, we face a violent future unless we bend the knee to the socialist dictatorship in store for this sickly country. Live free or die!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but found the plot to be more convoluted than either of the previous ones in the series. I was confused by the relationship between Kelly and his blue state partner, as well as Kelly and the waitress. Also, the privilege system is backwards by the logic of today's left. In the story, people with higher privilege levels are considered more oppressed and therefore get more stuff, but in real life it would be that the people with the least privilege are considered more oppressed, and should get more stuff.

[Conrad · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick, ‘fun’ read in these interesting times as we watch the unraveling of the Bill of Rights in Blue States under the guise of “protection” by power-hungry Governors and other petty officials. I did note (as other have mentioned), a number of typos that should have been picked up by an Editor or proofreader. I look forward to reading ‘Collapse’ and seeing what becomes of the People’s Republic. Hope the proofreading is better!

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pleasantly surprising

The whole concept of the book was unique. Guesses like DeBlasio becoming President and other people we all know in high positions is novel. Makes me happy that none of it came true!
Turnbull is a real no-nonsense character that’s easy to root for. I’ll be eagerly awaiting the fourth book, “Crisis”.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third book by publication and (as of this review) the fifth book chronologically of the Kelly Turnbull series, Wildfire is probably the best yet. While the United States and the People's Republic are still at odds, I like that this book takes a step off the continent and plays out the internal attack on the West in Europe, and what that looks like more specifically in Germany.

It was also interesting to see the east coast of the People's Republic for the first time after seeing both the west coast and midwest sections in previous books and I can see where the story is going as I head into the next book.

Wildfire is the name of a disease in this book, which was written in 2018. The disease is incredibly horrific, more along the lines of ebola, but after what we witnessed in 2020, I think it almost would have been more interesting to see Schlichter's interpretation of how the People's Republic could/would have weaponized an even milder disease (*ahem* Coof *ahem*)

The Mad Max world living inside the pentagon seemed a little out there for me. I guess this was set ten years after 'The Split' and cultural memory apparently does seem to fade quicker than I realize, but the regressive, savage nature of the warriors in the Pentagon seemed a little extreme to me, at least after only a decade.

I also think Schlichter needed at least one more once over or an editor. I can excuse a few spelling/grammar errors in a self-publish, but there were quite a few in this one. He also really needs to work on his formatting. It was really hard to tell where some of his section breaks are within chapters. The story is good. The cover is nice. But the internal text layout, does need some serious work.

Overall though, because of the storyline, I do look forward to reading the next book.

[Stuart Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good action story with plenty of jabs at the PC dialectic.

Was it prescient or coincidence the author describes a potential pandemic due to a manufactured virus with the capability to affect major sectors of the population, and the government's inability to rise above petty politics to address it? It was written Pre-COVID, but there's enough coincidence in the story to make one wonder. Either way, the fate of the nation once again is in Kelly Turnbull's hands, and somehow manages to pull it off. Lots of good dialog with his blue state partner, who's been thoroughly schooled in their rhetoric, dialectic, and revisionist history. Did you know the Nazis orginated in the Red States?
The story turns on a bio weapon attack that turns infected people onto rabid zombies, and the enemies of America plan to introduce it,
The pace was good, the dialog kept things interesting, I just felt the ending was a little to quick wrapped up, without the same detail and story flow as the rest of the book. This series is enjoyable to me, because it pokes fun at the attitudes of the PC elites, and takes the opportunity to contrast what living would be like after a Red/Blue split up of the American States.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This ended up being a quick, fun, one-day read, good for a day off from work. A worthy successor to the first two books in the Kelly Turnbull series, and not quite so over the top in terms of its treatment of political correctness; Schlichter took care of that in People's Republic and Indian Country. This book *can* stand alone, but definitely works better if one is familiar with the near-future universe the author creates; one should read at least "PR" before getting into this book. The story is a bit Clancy-ish, but nowhere near as dense and the series' backstory adds twists to just about everything.

[Leslie L. Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kurt Schlicter is always good reading!

I chose this rating because while this was a funny, madcap read, it's my least favorite of the Kelly Turnbull series. Having said that, it was still fast paced, hardcore and a frightening cautionary tale of what our country could become if we don't stop allowing our Constitutional rights to be trampled. Kelly Turnbull is the secret agent that we all hope is behind the curtain defending our country from all threats foreign and domestic. Don't start this book or this series unless you have nothing to do and no place to be!

[W D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good as I remember James Bond

I will leave aside how much fun it is to read the entire, and now receding, woke, trans and socialist wave being sent up. I have read up to this book from the beginning, and I think Kurt has mastered Ian Fleming’s technique of putting the hero into situations he cannot possibly survive, and then realistically getting him out. This keeps up the fast pace and suspense without ever bogging down.

Plus, I love the Easter Eggs. Someday we need a list.

[Dennis E. Landry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Consider this review a review of Kurt's first three books; especially Peoples Republic and Indian Country. Kurt's books are todays update of Orwell's 1984. A cautionary tale that we are in the middle of experiencing. The books are written with good humor and more than a bit of appropriate snark. These books should, but probably will not, provoke some serious looks in the mirror about where we are heading as a country and as a culture.

[Steven Yoder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kelly Turnbull is on a mission with a People's Republic agent whom he has to school in killing bad guys. There is a deadly virus being spread by a Jihadist crazy and Turnbull has to shut it down. He and his partner Kristine Carter must travel from Mexico City to Arab dominated Germany to the People's Republic states to handle the job. Very enjoyable if you like the woke being mocked and bad guys getting waxed. This is not high literature.

[DJ Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read 'em all

Third in a series of good reads, the story and characters keep the readers interest. Along the way, the warning of extreme violence that war against those who want to take away the freedoms of western civilization comes through.

I do wish someone would proof read for the author. There's nothing like a good pair of human eyes to find the errors e-apps miss.

[David Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb read

This book has so many “real life scenarios” and possibilities that it is very scary. Scary because the “fools” are out there that will turn this greatest country that ever was into a piece of”flotsam.” Sad, but we have to fight their stupidity continuously to keep our country great. Fight on Mr S. Fight on

[Larry Konty · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Preview of Today’s Foibles?

A fast, fun read. With much of the fiction now becoming fact, the reader can only hope our real outcome saves America. But with Wu Flu, it’s possible the USA roller coaster is just now reaching the zenith of confusion before a plunge into . . . Some evil unknown? Or redemption and rebirth?

[David M. Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another rocking thriller

Kurt is a rock star!
What a resume...
The startling thing about his books are the Likelihood that the democrats and their nonsense continues to be more real every day.
Hopefully real Americans have had enough as demonstrated by the red wave in the recent elections and the discovery of rampant fraud. Patriots like Kurt keep the insanity at bay

[Kevin Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who does not like a good Zombie Killing story? Well this is a good one that you will not want to put down. Kelly is up to his old tricks with a new partner, I kind of like this one. Mr. Schlichter needs to write some more of this world, although I do not ever want to live there, it is "fun" going there from time to time.

[Dan Pass · Rating 5 out of 5]

I call this review Truth or Dare

Half comedy, half near-term reality, this is a great read. I fully intend to shamelessly steal some of the fix jargon in order to make my own social media comments more interesting. I
Read this. You will not be disappointed.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoy it and then take it seriously

A warning to those who might think that an identity-obsessed social justice warrior imbued with a risible sense of entitlement is somehow not dangerous on account of how absurd he/she/xe is. Don't be fooled. The PR might be coming.

[jim combs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh boy.

Go ahead, read all the reviews and then pick up the book anyway. I bought a copy for an economics professor I met and it red pilled him. Took the guy shooting last month and now he thinks Trump isn't so bad. Schlichter is a national treasure.

[Agnes Bullock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read great series

Five stars are not enough for this series- well written and thought provoking. Free up reading Alistair McLean and Colonel Schlichter is clearly his successor.

[William Dunshie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Political Action Thriller

Book 3 of this series was a good read, but a departure from the previous books; still a lot of action, but the story was a little awkward & forced, JMO. Characters were well developed, story was somewhat believable, but overall, a fun read.

[Bob Colvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A chilling look at what might be

Kelly Turnbull returns with determination and a .45. The third in the People's Republic series stops a manufactured plague and precursors the fall of the politically incorrect People's Republic.