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Wholesale Slaughter #2
Terminus Cut
Mercenaries with a mission. Logan Conner has given up the life of a warrior prince to become Jonathan Slaughter, a mercenary captain of a rough-and-ready band of mech-jocks for hire. Already legendary throughout the Periphery, their next job brings them head-to-head with the Jeuta, militant aliens who seek to loot and plunder isolated human colony worlds. The fearsome Jeuta raiders will task Logan to his limits, but they’re only a sideshow to Wholesale Slaughter’s real operation objective—locating a treasure trove at the legendary Terminus Cut outpost containing enough ancient Imperial technology to give his people a fighting chance. Don’t miss book 2 in this explosive new Military Sci-fi series! Also Available on Audible, narrated by the award-winning Marc Vietor.
286 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 11, 2019
412 people are currently reading
101 people want to read
About the author
Rick Partlow
211 books373 followersRick Partlow is that rarest of species, a native Floridian. Born in Tampa, he attended Florida Southern College and graduated with a degree in History and a commission in the US Army as an Infantry officer.
His lifelong love of science fiction began with Have Space Suit---Will Travel and the other Heinlein juveniles and traveled through Clifford Simak, Asimov, Clarke and on to William Gibson, Walter Jon Williams and Peter F Hamilton. And somewhere, submerged in the worlds of others, Rick began to create his own worlds.
He has written over 70 books in over a dozen different series, and his short stories have been included in many different anthologies.
He currently lives in norther Wyoming with his wife and their dog. Besides writing and reading science fiction and fantasy, he enjoys outdoor photography, hiking and camping.
His lifelong love of science fiction began with Have Space Suit---Will Travel and the other Heinlein juveniles and traveled through Clifford Simak, Asimov, Clarke and on to William Gibson, Walter Jon Williams and Peter F Hamilton. And somewhere, submerged in the worlds of others, Rick began to create his own worlds.
He has written over 70 books in over a dozen different series, and his short stories have been included in many different anthologies.
He currently lives in norther Wyoming with his wife and their dog. Besides writing and reading science fiction and fantasy, he enjoys outdoor photography, hiking and camping.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 5, 2022
The ‘Wholesale Slaughter’ crew have a new mission which starts with a modicum of planning, however the author soon abandons this in favour of writing a frantic Hollywood blockbuster action script.
A pattern is beginning to emerge with these books, with Jonathan in a damaged Mecha charging into overwhelming odds. In this case leading two-dozen missiles, which would certainly look impressive coming out of a big screen in a cinema.
The author also likes to lead a character up to the point where they are about to die and then quickly moves on leaving a mini cliff-hanger. This would be fine, adding a little tension and suspense if it didn't keep happening over and over again. Added to this, there was still the issue of the author over describing everything.
Also I thought too many things felt contrived, whether it was equipment failing just at the wrong moment, timings not matching or characters being incredible stupid e.g.
There were a few things I liked about the book, there was an attempt to develop the main characters and although too much of the action was just a ‘slugfest’ there were a few interesting moments. However in the end there were just too many things that irritated me about the author, my problem is I still feel the urge to carry on with the story. So even though I may have been tempted to give only one star, I gave two.
A pattern is beginning to emerge with these books, with Jonathan in a damaged Mecha charging into overwhelming odds. In this case leading two-dozen missiles, which would certainly look impressive coming out of a big screen in a cinema.
The author also likes to lead a character up to the point where they are about to die and then quickly moves on leaving a mini cliff-hanger. This would be fine, adding a little tension and suspense if it didn't keep happening over and over again. Added to this, there was still the issue of the author over describing everything.
Also I thought too many things felt contrived, whether it was equipment failing just at the wrong moment, timings not matching or characters being incredible stupid e.g.
There were a few things I liked about the book, there was an attempt to develop the main characters and although too much of the action was just a ‘slugfest’ there were a few interesting moments. However in the end there were just too many things that irritated me about the author, my problem is I still feel the urge to carry on with the story. So even though I may have been tempted to give only one star, I gave two.
August 10, 2020
Another excellent story from this series. As you know from the last book, Captain Jonathan Slaughter, a.k.a. Logan Conner, son of the Lord Guardian has been put in-charge of a very secret mission to find the place/planet called “Terminus Cut”. It’s some where out in the far reaches of space, beyond the five Dominions, but in order to get out there you have cross at least two of those Domininons. They don’t take kindly to people passing through their territory, especially Spartans!
So, Logan Conner has taken on the role of mercenary calling his new “company”, Wholesale Slaughter. Having successfully demonstrated their capabilities agains a band of bandits called “The Red Brotherhood”, Slaughter and company were headed to a new job, one that will take them to the edge of Starkad Supremacy space called the Dagda system. The Starkad Dominion was one of the five Dominions in competition with the Sparta Dominion for scarce resources. All were about evenly matched in technology, but that tech was considerably far behind what had once been the norm in the old Empire. Still, their ultimate objective was beyond Starkad space and to get there they had to build up a legitimate mercenary reputation.
But, this mission was going to be very difficult. Humanity had encountered at least on hostile alien civilization called the Jeuta. While there currently was peace between humanity and the Jeuta, an apparent separate group of Jeuta were out on their own and terrorizing the Dagad system. That system was to far out in nowhere for the Starkad Supremecy to care about so the people of that region had to defend themselves or hire mercenaries. It was going to be a profitable setup for Wholesale Slaughter if the all didn’t die trying to accomplish this contract!
While this was getting started, there was an interesting crew member of the Shakak. He was a Jeuta! That was very unusual since this species didn’t get along with humans very well. But, this one had apparently been abandoned during the war and Captain Osceloa found him in really bad shape, brought him back to health and offered him a position on his ship. The Jeuta knew that his people wouldn’t ever accept him back so he took the job as Chief of Security for the Shakak. Not everyone trusted this Jeuta and now that they were going to have to do battle with a contingent of Jeuta, someone should have probably kept an eye on this one in particular.
Fighting against the Jeuta isn’t going to be like fighting against a band of pirates. These Jeuta were accustomed to warfare and knew how to fight. Jonathan had better have a good plan of attack if he was going to be successful in this mission. He didn’t!
And that is just the beginning of this story. After this mission they now have to head straight through Starkad Supremacy space. As long as Captain Osceloa and the Shakak weren’t on a wanted list, they shouldn’t have a problem passing through customs. Worst case, they’d be asked for a customs inspection, but all their paperwork was in order backed up by the Sparta Intelligence Agency. They were what they said they were and shouldn’t have a problem as long as whomever did the inspection didn’t recognize Jonathan (Logan). Well, someone did, but he wanted to see what they were up to so they were allowed to continue on their mission.
They finally reached Terminus Cut and the mission was quickly coming to an end. Were they going to find a treasure trove of high tech equipment and data to back it up? Possibly, but one thing was known for sure and that was the Supremacy Chief of Intelligence was shadowing them the entire way and now he also knew the location of Terminus Cut!
So, Logan Conner has taken on the role of mercenary calling his new “company”, Wholesale Slaughter. Having successfully demonstrated their capabilities agains a band of bandits called “The Red Brotherhood”, Slaughter and company were headed to a new job, one that will take them to the edge of Starkad Supremacy space called the Dagda system. The Starkad Dominion was one of the five Dominions in competition with the Sparta Dominion for scarce resources. All were about evenly matched in technology, but that tech was considerably far behind what had once been the norm in the old Empire. Still, their ultimate objective was beyond Starkad space and to get there they had to build up a legitimate mercenary reputation.
But, this mission was going to be very difficult. Humanity had encountered at least on hostile alien civilization called the Jeuta. While there currently was peace between humanity and the Jeuta, an apparent separate group of Jeuta were out on their own and terrorizing the Dagad system. That system was to far out in nowhere for the Starkad Supremecy to care about so the people of that region had to defend themselves or hire mercenaries. It was going to be a profitable setup for Wholesale Slaughter if the all didn’t die trying to accomplish this contract!
While this was getting started, there was an interesting crew member of the Shakak. He was a Jeuta! That was very unusual since this species didn’t get along with humans very well. But, this one had apparently been abandoned during the war and Captain Osceloa found him in really bad shape, brought him back to health and offered him a position on his ship. The Jeuta knew that his people wouldn’t ever accept him back so he took the job as Chief of Security for the Shakak. Not everyone trusted this Jeuta and now that they were going to have to do battle with a contingent of Jeuta, someone should have probably kept an eye on this one in particular.
Fighting against the Jeuta isn’t going to be like fighting against a band of pirates. These Jeuta were accustomed to warfare and knew how to fight. Jonathan had better have a good plan of attack if he was going to be successful in this mission. He didn’t!
And that is just the beginning of this story. After this mission they now have to head straight through Starkad Supremacy space. As long as Captain Osceloa and the Shakak weren’t on a wanted list, they shouldn’t have a problem passing through customs. Worst case, they’d be asked for a customs inspection, but all their paperwork was in order backed up by the Sparta Intelligence Agency. They were what they said they were and shouldn’t have a problem as long as whomever did the inspection didn’t recognize Jonathan (Logan). Well, someone did, but he wanted to see what they were up to so they were allowed to continue on their mission.
They finally reached Terminus Cut and the mission was quickly coming to an end. Were they going to find a treasure trove of high tech equipment and data to back it up? Possibly, but one thing was known for sure and that was the Supremacy Chief of Intelligence was shadowing them the entire way and now he also knew the location of Terminus Cut!
August 13, 2019
I'm enjoying this series because I like the characters. The protagonist is a kind of a prince who becomes a Colonel. Logan Connor becomes a merc, and forms a company named Wholesale Slaughter. There are a number of fragments of a former Empire, and each of their leaders secretly aspires to reunite the Empire under his leadership.
In particular, Logan has problems with the "Starkad Supremacy." He has done well against them through four episodes, of which this is the second. It's not a spoiler if I tell you in Book 2 that there is a Book 4 with the same main character, is it? It's not a state law that you can't kill off the main character early, but unless you're George RR Martin you won't be killing off Robert and Ned in Book 1.
If you like action in your space opera, take this journey.
In particular, Logan has problems with the "Starkad Supremacy." He has done well against them through four episodes, of which this is the second. It's not a spoiler if I tell you in Book 2 that there is a Book 4 with the same main character, is it? It's not a state law that you can't kill off the main character early, but unless you're George RR Martin you won't be killing off Robert and Ned in Book 1.
If you like action in your space opera, take this journey.
April 6, 2023
More differences than I realized
The universe that this is set in is not the universe occupied by the Marines and other forces in Partlow’s previous work. It is a complex mix that has completely different mythology, history and technology. Some of the tech that they use is at least somewhat similar to the powered battle suits used in the past books. But they lack the medical expertise and instead of the predecessors they have the semi mythical Empire that fell hundreds of years ago.
The story is still interesting and I want to see what happens next for the Wholesale Slaughter Company.
The universe that this is set in is not the universe occupied by the Marines and other forces in Partlow’s previous work. It is a complex mix that has completely different mythology, history and technology. Some of the tech that they use is at least somewhat similar to the powered battle suits used in the past books. But they lack the medical expertise and instead of the predecessors they have the semi mythical Empire that fell hundreds of years ago.
The story is still interesting and I want to see what happens next for the Wholesale Slaughter Company.
July 15, 2019
Terminus Cut
Story starting to lose my interest. First book was better. Didn't understand some of the plot points at all. And the tech. New tech is antimatter based and unusable but they can patch a much less powerful damaged fusion core into an antimatter powered starship and it works fine. A ship captain makes a man not even part of his crew determine the fate of his crewmember?
Story starting to lose my interest. First book was better. Didn't understand some of the plot points at all. And the tech. New tech is antimatter based and unusable but they can patch a much less powerful damaged fusion core into an antimatter powered starship and it works fine. A ship captain makes a man not even part of his crew determine the fate of his crewmember?
December 28, 2021
This was an exciting book BUT the battles may have lasted a little to long for me. Still, I like Logan Connor and his crew. He went from being Logan Connor to being Jonathan Slaughter, a mercenary captain, on his way to the Terminus Cut, in search of ancient weapons, that have been there for hundreds of years. They battled the Jeuta and Colonel Aleksandr Kuryakin, both in some serious battles.
No sex and the F-bomb was used 61 times.
As for the narration: Marc Vietor did a fabulous job.
No sex and the F-bomb was used 61 times.
As for the narration: Marc Vietor did a fabulous job.
October 6, 2019
Interesting sophomore effort in the series.
I think I am beginning to see where the author is heading with this series and I like it. Wholesale Slaughter LLC has completed their assigned undercover mission with all of the finesse of a mercenary company, sort of. The important thing is that they found Terminus Cut but the cost in lives was almost too high.
I think I am beginning to see where the author is heading with this series and I like it. Wholesale Slaughter LLC has completed their assigned undercover mission with all of the finesse of a mercenary company, sort of. The important thing is that they found Terminus Cut but the cost in lives was almost too high.
March 29, 2021
Good Reading
What I liked about this book was first of all, it was science fiction. I really like science fiction. Second of all I like the characters. Third of all, I like the story. It appealed to me because the characters we're doing the good guy thing. I'm a lady oh, so the battles were not interesting to me.
What I liked about this book was first of all, it was science fiction. I really like science fiction. Second of all I like the characters. Third of all, I like the story. It appealed to me because the characters we're doing the good guy thing. I'm a lady oh, so the battles were not interesting to me.
July 29, 2021
Mission Completed for Wholesale Slaughter?
The continuation of Wholesale Slaughter has even more edge of your seat action and danger. Sneaking through the Starkand empire, Slaughter and company must rely on wit and courage to be successful in their search for Terminus, the alleged treasure trove of technology of the defunct Earth Empire. Great read, Partlow really delivers!
The continuation of Wholesale Slaughter has even more edge of your seat action and danger. Sneaking through the Starkand empire, Slaughter and company must rely on wit and courage to be successful in their search for Terminus, the alleged treasure trove of technology of the defunct Earth Empire. Great read, Partlow really delivers!
May 27, 2020
A thrilling sci-fi military action series
Loved this second book in series 😁.
Great characters with realistic situations and lots of action and adventure.I look forward to more from this series.
Loved this second book in series 😁.
Great characters with realistic situations and lots of action and adventure.I look forward to more from this series.
January 8, 2021
Good read
Another great book in this series. The characters are growing in experience and skill as you would expect in real life. The storyline grows too yet I really enjoy how each book can “almost” stand alone.
Another great book in this series. The characters are growing in experience and skill as you would expect in real life. The storyline grows too yet I really enjoy how each book can “almost” stand alone.
June 13, 2019
“Yes”
Definitely worth the wait! Read it in one sitting, just couldn’t put it down until I finished it! It’s now the wee hours in the morning & time for sleep!
Definitely worth the wait! Read it in one sitting, just couldn’t put it down until I finished it! It’s now the wee hours in the morning & time for sleep!
June 18, 2019
Great!
This was even better then the first book in the series. Looking forward to seeing where this goes. Big stompy mechs and lots of action. I read this on Kindle Unlimited.
This was even better then the first book in the series. Looking forward to seeing where this goes. Big stompy mechs and lots of action. I read this on Kindle Unlimited.
June 18, 2019
Very good
This book delivers.just what you want from a book keeper me up till I had read it all. Can not wait to see if they are going to be any more
This book delivers.just what you want from a book keeper me up till I had read it all. Can not wait to see if they are going to be any more
June 19, 2019
Ok read
Always nice to find 3 book series . Story is ok, characters are not quite 3d. Not a endless battle book, more of a quest
Always nice to find 3 book series . Story is ok, characters are not quite 3d. Not a endless battle book, more of a quest
May 11, 2020
Good action sci fi
This was a good read with the characters starting to fill out in the story. Worth reading more of these.
This was a good read with the characters starting to fill out in the story. Worth reading more of these.
May 11, 2020
Series really takes off in book 2
I liked book one, but it took a while before the plot really took hold. Book 2 was great. The author seems to have really hit his stride!
I liked book one, but it took a while before the plot really took hold. Book 2 was great. The author seems to have really hit his stride!
November 29, 2020
Tech cut
Always nice to discover Atlantis satire aside very well written with realistic characters and very good developments in the plot line
Always nice to discover Atlantis satire aside very well written with realistic characters and very good developments in the plot line
February 24, 2021
Just as fun as the first
December 30, 2020
An interesting series
This book has interesting characters as well as an intriguing storyline. With lots of action and suspense it will keep you interested
This book has interesting characters as well as an intriguing storyline. With lots of action and suspense it will keep you interested
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews