They're called Mr. No One and Mr. Nobody, and wherever they go, death follows.
Lee Harden is out for blood.
After a month, the cartel is looking over their shoulders and jumping at shadows, worried about the madmen in their backyard, who seem obsessed with little else but killing cartel members. Lee continues to claw his way towards revenge, searching for a target to strike at, or a person to destroy, that will force his enemies to reveal themselves. And nothing is going to stop him. Not even Abe.
In the United Eastern States, things are crumbling around Angela. Safe Zones are dropping out of communication, and no one seems to have any faith in her since the fall of Fort Bragg. Carl Gilliard's methods of purging the dissenters grow harsher and harsher, and Angela is forced to run interference for him, denying allegations of misconduct. She needs to get them back to Fort Bragg, to show that they aren't losing this war. But she's not sure they can get there before everything falls apart.
Working fast--and sometimes unsafely--to secure the route back to Fort Bragg, Sam Ryder and his squad make a grim discovery that might be the start of an evolutionary jump for the primals--and a threat to the survival of the human race.
In this thrilling and gritty third installment to the Lee Harden Series, the only thing you can be certain of is that things are about to change.
D.J. Molles became a New York Times and USA today bestselling author while working full time as a police officer. He's since traded his badge for a keyboard to produce over 20 titles. When he's not writing, he's taking steps to make his North Carolina property self-sustainable, and training to be at least half as hard to kill as Lee Harden (his most popular protagonist).
Molles also enjoys playing his guitar and drums, drawing, cooking, and “shredding that green pow” on his Onewheel.
Most nights you can find him sitting on the couch surrounded by his dogs and family, trying to stream an hour of Netflix with his really sketchy satellite internet connection.
Are you interested in becoming a writer? I've started a video series called "Lessons in Writing" which you can find on all my socials.
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'Primal' highlights Lee's unraveling mental state and how dangerously close he is to letting go of his last shreds of humanity. The final straw occurred after losing - in a most dishonorable manner - his remaining trusted friend and beloved brother in arms to the human enemies. He is out for revenge at all costs, and is more than willing to sacrifice his life in this pursuit. There is nothing more fearsome than a man who believes he has nothing left to lose.... The Primals are quickly reproducing their most savage and insidious forces to date (and with disturbing calculation) by matching-up their strongest and brightest to procreate an army of wily super predators- and hastening their singleminded quest to conquer the humans. So hooked.
*chants* "write for ever" clap, clap, clap "write for ever"
DJ, honestly, write for ever. I beg you. I feel like an addict, I need more of this series, pump it into my veins. I love the brutality and the honesty between the characters. The point-of-view of our very own Punisher, Lee Harden in this instalment was a tough one, had me on the edge of my seat as usual but had me feeling quite emotional too. To think of everything he has seen has been through. Its tough. The guy is death incarnate and those last few chapters had me thinking of The White Buffalo's - The Woods song.
"They all strive to deviate from the norm But collectively swarm to be all the same"
What, another 5 star rating for a Lee Harden book by renowned author DJ Molles?
YES!!!
This was exactly like all of Mr. Molles' other books for me, where I got it in, and finished it in two sittings. It's a phenomenal, fast-paced book where you get into it and completely lose track of time. In fact, I'd say that's the ONLY issue with these books (and which goes for all of The Remaining series as well). The book comes out, you blow through it, and then you're stuck waiting until the author can finish the next book. All in all, it's a good problem to have, all things considered.
So, onto Primal. Hooooo boy, it's a doozy. Let's get into it.
In this book, we find ourselves some months past the disastrous ending of the last book, where Lee and company got caught in a trap by Cornerstone (the mercenary PMC behind the bad guy President up in Greeley) and nearly everyone was killed. Lee has turned into a hardened, murderous beaten-but-not-broken piece of steel and is on a personal mission to kill everyone involved with that ambush where so many of his men and friends died. He and his friend Abe have become like ghosts, hunting the Nuevas Frontieras (sp) Cartel men and have developed quite the infamy in so doing. They kill a lot of Cartel men, and meet up with some allies who made it out of the carnage of the ambush at the power plant from the last book who help them out along the way. The book culminates in a major spaghetti western-style showdown at the end with the head of the Cartel as well as the head of the mercenary PMC that had ambushed them in the last book, which leaves Lee standing victorious.
What's very interesting about this book is that we see a lot of Lee's internal emotional struggle and turmoil as he does his very best to burn all emotion from himself, and keep any sort of attachment to others from stopping him from doing what he needs to do, namely take revenge on the Cartel and the forces from Greeley (in the form of Cornerstone). The book's main plotline with Lee weaves its way through the book and ends with the bad guys dead, and the setup for the next book in full swing. As a sidenote, Lee and Deuce are reunited in a scene that's actually much more heartbreaking than it might at first seem, because Lee has distanced himself emotionally from everything to the point where he's unable to feel joy at being reunited with his faithful dog. At the end, though, they're together again and we can see Lee beginning to come back to himself, now that the primary goal of revenge has been accomplished and he's now able to turn his energy back to the overarching goals at hand, namely getting the United Eastern States on its feet.
Now then, the secondary plot, namely that of the Primals, is also starting to heat up. In a very "Meanwhile, back at the ranch..." sort of way, we catch up with the defeated remains of the UES who have fallen back to a small safezone after the catastrophic consequences from the fall of the Ft. Bragg safezone at the hands of the Lincolnists. Several thousand people all crammed into one small safezone, but not to worry because Angela (the President), Carl, and the Marine Commander (can't recall his name immediately) have been sending out armed teams of young soldiers to start clearing the way back to Ft. Bragg. They hit a snag in Augusta, GA when one of the squads is ambushed as a result of a highway being blockaded by cars. This is entirely new behavior, and so a couple more fireteams are sent to investigate, resulting in them being ambushed as well, and the members of one team dragged away by Primals. Fast forward a bit, and the squads are sent back in force and they find the leader of the kidnapped fireteam who's badly hurt. They get him back to base, where he recovers enough to share vital information: there's a new threat, introduced in the form of a new sort of Primal. These are female Primals which look almost human, and are much smarter than the low animal cunning previously seen. To make matters worse, the Primals have begun a breeding eugenics-style program, where they are taking their strongest Pack leaders, and mating them with these smart female Primals. It's revealed that the female "brain" Primals are now capable of utilizing basic tactics (hence having learned to use cars to block the highway in order to funnel the fireteams into an ambush) and are going to get smarter. It was revealed in the last book that Primals have incredibly quick gestation periods, where they are born and grow to maturity within a few short years, so that they are able to give birth to more, thus increasing their numbers exponentially. Clearly, this is a Big Problem. Our heroes discover that Augusta is essentially a giant breeding ground after the fireteams are swarmed by thousands of Primals, narrowly escaping back to the safezone to plan their next move. The good news is that the book ends with Lee coming back to himself, and a new major fuel source has been secured so I expect the next book will probably focus more on this coming fight against a quickly growing Primal threat.
And they ARE a threat. Previously, they were a mindless hoard who could be shot down like rabid dogs, and escaped from with a pickup truck. These new evolved Primals are larger and much stronger than a normal Human, and now with this new development that they are getting smarter, the threat level is high. Can't wait to see where it goes!!
Lastly, this book is another display of DJ Molles' mastery of the gun-fight action scene. Mag changes, CQB entry tactics, snipers saving the day, it never gets stale. Yes, that last one is a bit of a trope, the old "Hero is about to be executed by Chief Bad Guy, when suddenly his head explodes from a round fired from a quarter mile away, allowing the hero to free himself and fight back in the sudden confusion" routine, but it still feels fresh because it was so unexpected in that moment. In fact, I think that's what really continues to make these books feel so engaging. Lee could die at any moment. HE HASN'T, obviously, but I genuinely feel like there are always these moments where you absolutely do not know whether or not Lee will finally meet his match. That's the best part about these books, Lee is beaten, shot, stabbed, burned, bruised, battered, and still gets up, still goes on. He's not an invincible shining superhero. He's been running on something like 60-70% capacity for the last two books. Constantly tired, beaten down, not enough food, not enough water, never enough rest. But he gets up, he moves forward, because if he doesn't, his friends will die and the world will end. It's that simple for him. It's tremendous. He goes to that dark place in his soul where many of us will never go, to steel himself to do things that are absolutely inhumane. Just engaging, outstanding writing.
In closing, DJ Molles has once again crushed it with this book, and has left us in a place where we're ready to move forward. Lee has accomplished his immediate goals, and now has new ones on the horizon. The Primals are moving back to the fore as an immediate threat, but Lee will also have to deal with the danger that the US Government in Greeley still poses. They will have been badly hurt by the loss of the Cartel and the oil pipeline, and Cornerstone, but don't count them out. There's a lot left to do before Lee can lay down his head (and his rifle) and sleep.
I can't wait to read the next book, only a year away!!!
Another fantastic thrill ride by DJ Molles! This one is my favorite in the series so far. Filled with that on-the-edge-of-your-seat action, as usual, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. And this story was SO utterly satisfying! Without spoiling anything, I'll just say, "YOU GO Lee and Abe!" This reader received a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
So after reading Southlands, I expected Lee Harden to go off like Rambo in this one, leaving every page drenched with blood and cartoon violence. But what I discovered was (OK there was a bit of that! BUT...) Primal was similar to the author's others books: very well written, masterfully controlled and with numerous characters and story arcs to keep track of. Still, somehow this one was a tad bit more intense. At times when I was reading The Remaining series (and actually book 1 of the Harden series) the character development felt like waiting for water to come to a boil. Primal to me felt different. It felt like the water was always at least simmering and at times the lid was bouncing around and the water was pouring over the side, hissing as it hit the burner. Highly recommended 5/5
Awesome culmination of a man dealing with his deamons in the appocolypse. Give us more!
Love the series. Liked the dark path that Lee's chouces to the evil in the world created in him. DJ Molles allowed it to play out and you need to read it to find out if Lee finds self redemption or self damnation. Hope we get more books!
I'm so glad that the author is continuing to write in the Remaining world that he created. Awesome, pulse-pounding story that is so real that you can smell the creatures and taste/feel the desert grit crunching in your teeth.
The primal and Canadian storylines are interesting. But I'm honestly bored to tears by the cartel plot and Sam as a character. For me the weakest in the Harden series so far. 3.5 Stars
I just finished this book after reading all the previous books and in this one I was Amazed. Where I live,Augusta GA was the center of a primal colony. I knew exactly where the author was Writing about,Augusta Technical College and 520. Those guys were less than a mile from where I live now. The whole series is spot on and seems I have been binge reading the whole series one book after another. This author is Amazing how he entertains the characters and the action. I am probably going to buy this book as hard copy. I when cried when Julia Died. Awesome reads. Awesome characters. Awesome writing. Awesome action.
The title is a double sided coin because it tells us of the primals and it tells about Harden, who has gone primal seeking vengeance. As usual, the story never stops rushing headlong into the next situation and they are some nail biters! Really enjoyed Sam’s viewpoint and how he is learning street smarts from a veteran soldier as well as learning that he belongs now. Between Sam and Lee, we can see the entire spectrum of a soldier’s life. Fascinating and shocking.
Another day and many deaths....many from primals, more from betrayals, and then the ones simply for the right to survive. Another chapter in the struggle to rebuild and this one ending in hope for a possible chance at a future....but again no certainties and always the specter of the ever evolving primals and the power hungry pretender sitting on his throne in Colorado. Peace has a price but will it ever be reached and is it possibly unattainable? 5+ stars
No One and Nobody were eliminating cartel members like bodyless ghosts leaving destruction and mayhem
Lee and Abe were creating havoc and fear among the Cartel members, as they planned. Fighting off the primals was bad enough without having to battle two forces along with them. The Greely folk in Colorado and the Nuevas Fronteras bunch are scrambling for power - electric, fuel and people - and the United Eastern States need to control all three. Gonna be a Hell of a fight!
Excellent storyline, terrific characters provide a page burner that continues the Lee Harden story. Get it! Read it! Love it!
It's late, I've read the past two nights, rushing to find out what happens. I loved the action, you feel as if you're in the thick of it. As if you can feel the shrapnel grazing past your skin and the pure grit, iron will the main character exudes with every breath. Fantastic read!
Really plowing through this series. Might need to take a break as I am starting to experience battle fatigue. So many gun and fights. Even though I am reading these stories I feel like I am losing my hearing. So much noise.
But overall. Solid ++. Good writer. Complex characters, monsters, and a dystopian future ala Mad Max.
Molles moves me from civilian to soldier in this fast paced thriller. It’s like a speeding roller coaster of a dramatic action, where every decision is a “best option,” rather than perfect solution. Easy to believe the conflicts and strategies of people trying to re-establish life in the world after the shit hits the fan.
Good followup to book two. The critters are getting smarter and scarier, there's lots of fighting, bodies flying everywhere and a few of the bad guys are dealt with. Unfortunately, some of the good guys buy the farm in this one as well. It will be interesting to see what happens next.
Personally comparing this series to Bernard Cornwells epic heros Richard Sharpe and Utred of Bebbanburg. Not historical fiction but just as gripping in character development and battle scenes. Lee has to survive just to battle on.
Molles killed it again. I was crying, red faced angry and overall just fully engaged in this story. Thanks for keeping the story going can't wait to see what twists you got up your sleeve.
Lee and Abe get some payback on the cartel. Angela and Carl have to deal with the Lincolnist threat. A new threat emerges from the Primals, they are getting smarter. Things get hot in Greely for Briggs. A lot of stuff starts to get figured out by Lee and Angela. Lot of info here if you have been reading this series you know exactly what I am talking about.