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Galactic Mercenaries #1
Steel for Hire
Some jobs turn you into a zombie. Literally.
Captain Jayde Thrin of the cargo ship Determination has one goal: make enough money to retire in style. Her small mercenary crew travels the universe taking on odd jobs, but when a botched gig lands them in hot water, it’s up to Jayde to figure out their escape – and their survival.
The nearby mining planet M44 provides an opportunity to refuel and make a quick buck, but there’s more going on in the mines than anyone realizes. What Jayde expects to be an easy job turns out to be one of the hardest yet, especially with the outpost overrun with the undead.
Steel for Hire is the first episode of Galactic Mercenaries, a space opera series about zombies, space battles, alien invasion, and a misfit crew trying to survive in a dangerous universe.
77 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 23, 2019
46 people are currently reading
71 people want to read
About the author
Richard Fierce
131 books115 followersRichard Fierce is a fantasy author best known for his novella The Last Page. He's been writing since childhood, but became seriously vested in it in 2007. Since then, he's written several novels and a few short stories.
In 2000, Richard won Poet of the Year for his poem The Darkness. He's also one of the creative brains behind the Allatoona Book Festival, a literary event in Acworth, Georgia.
A recovering retail worker, he now works in the tech industry when he's not busy writing.
He has three step-daughters, three huskies and two cats.
His love affair with fantasy was born in high school when a friend's mother gave him a copy of Dragons of Spring Dawning by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.
In 2000, Richard won Poet of the Year for his poem The Darkness. He's also one of the creative brains behind the Allatoona Book Festival, a literary event in Acworth, Georgia.
A recovering retail worker, he now works in the tech industry when he's not busy writing.
He has three step-daughters, three huskies and two cats.
His love affair with fantasy was born in high school when a friend's mother gave him a copy of Dragons of Spring Dawning by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 22, 2020
To be up front all three books should have been on and the author leaves hanging at the end of the third book. The concept of aliens spreading a virus that causes zombies or as in the book dregs.
Mankind has gone out and colonized other planets and really did try to make friends but enemies. And now one alien group has created a virus the is deadly to humans and starts using on earth colonies and taking the survivors as slaves.
the characters all thru thus series are mercenaries who are for hire the captain is Jayda and her mismatched crew of four. You will love this group nothing ever works for them and everything that looks easy turns out not to be.
Mankind has gone out and colonized other planets and really did try to make friends but enemies. And now one alien group has created a virus the is deadly to humans and starts using on earth colonies and taking the survivors as slaves.
the characters all thru thus series are mercenaries who are for hire the captain is Jayda and her mismatched crew of four. You will love this group nothing ever works for them and everything that looks easy turns out not to be.
September 19, 2023
She was the queen of her own empire. Well, maybe not queen, but she was Captain Jayde Thrin of her cargo ship, the Determination. A ship that is armed and defended, that is used to carrying around her crew of misfit mercenaries more than cargo. A ship that is in need of serious repairs after a run-in with their last employer. You see, her pilot slept with his daughter, and if it weren’t for her fast thinking, they all would have been executed planet-side. But he was not happy they were getting away and tried to shoot them down in space, with his own Inquisitor ship, as they tried to escape. Jayde did not like getting fired upon, and hearing that the Lord of the planet intended to blast her out of space, she used her ship to destroy his. Now, she was worried about her decision to kill a Lord of the Convocation and put a bounty upon all of their heads, but to put that to the back of her mind, she went to the engine room, where she found out her ship had lost an engine. She was out of money and fuel, so now she needed to find a place to repair and refuel, and hopefully, they had some work to be done that could pay for it.
I like this idea. But this series starter was released like it was just a draft of an idea. This book is not formatted well, if at all. There are inconsistent font heights and lines between paragraphs. While the contents list chapters, I find none in the text. I feel like the blank lines are used more as a filler to bulk up the number of pages. Were you paid by the page count? Like I said, I like this idea. There is not enough of it to go around. The physical world-building does just fine in the character’s vision range, and the ethereal world-building is top-notch in places. The character interaction is done well when the crew talks among themselves, but it seems a little forced with unknown people. And the formatting shows that some dialogue between the characters was an afterthought, like it was some iteration of drafts.
I like this story, and I think the author could flesh it out more. Make it more novella length than a short story length. I give this story four stars out of five stars.
I like this idea. But this series starter was released like it was just a draft of an idea. This book is not formatted well, if at all. There are inconsistent font heights and lines between paragraphs. While the contents list chapters, I find none in the text. I feel like the blank lines are used more as a filler to bulk up the number of pages. Were you paid by the page count? Like I said, I like this idea. There is not enough of it to go around. The physical world-building does just fine in the character’s vision range, and the ethereal world-building is top-notch in places. The character interaction is done well when the crew talks among themselves, but it seems a little forced with unknown people. And the formatting shows that some dialogue between the characters was an afterthought, like it was some iteration of drafts.
I like this story, and I think the author could flesh it out more. Make it more novella length than a short story length. I give this story four stars out of five stars.
August 16, 2023
I recently saw a promotion for this series billing it as "Firefly" meets "The Walking Dead," two shows that I really enjoyed. And I haven't read a good sci-fi story in a while, so I figured this would be fun to try out. I'm glad I did. In this first book of the series, Fierce jumps right in, and the story takes off quickly. There's an interesting cast of characters, solid action, and a good build-up of tension. The paperback clocks under 100 pages, so I blew through it in about 4 days once I started it. Overall, my only qualms are that I wish there was a little more character description and a little more description of the sleepers (zombies). But then I'm a detail guy. Additionally, there seems to be another threat besides the sleepers on the horizon. So, as far as my interest goes, I'm definitely invested and eager to see how the story line in the next 2 books pans out.
September 19, 2023
Outstanding.
When an unknown virus turns everyone on her home planet into sleepers 13-year-old Jayde is one of the few to escape before the planet is destroyed by the military to stop the spread of the virus. Now many years later she's captain of her ship and the leader of a ragtag crew of mercenaries taking any job they can get, so when they're asked to clear a mining colony of vermin who feed on precious metals they're all in. It all starts well until they discover that the vermin are infected with the virus as it's all happening again. Nonstop action with a new take on a zombie apocalypse storyline great characters and twists you won't see coming, and four stars because it needs to be longer, great read, Baz.
When an unknown virus turns everyone on her home planet into sleepers 13-year-old Jayde is one of the few to escape before the planet is destroyed by the military to stop the spread of the virus. Now many years later she's captain of her ship and the leader of a ragtag crew of mercenaries taking any job they can get, so when they're asked to clear a mining colony of vermin who feed on precious metals they're all in. It all starts well until they discover that the vermin are infected with the virus as it's all happening again. Nonstop action with a new take on a zombie apocalypse storyline great characters and twists you won't see coming, and four stars because it needs to be longer, great read, Baz.
March 26, 2020
This is part one of a longer story. The narrator was great. A pleasure to listen. The story line didn't work for me. I think teenagers would enjoy this however. Zombies.
I received this book free in exchange for a review. My reviews are short because I hate when people give away too much of the plot.
I received this book free in exchange for a review. My reviews are short because I hate when people give away too much of the plot.
January 1, 2026
It lacked cohesion
I like Firefly it's my favorite show of all time. This isn't that. It tries to be but the emotional beats are off. There is not enough meat in the characters to make them anything but sketches. Amorous pilot, female captain, grizzled vet, mechanic and newbie. The whole story is bare bones. I don't think I care about it enough to read more.
I like Firefly it's my favorite show of all time. This isn't that. It tries to be but the emotional beats are off. There is not enough meat in the characters to make them anything but sketches. Amorous pilot, female captain, grizzled vet, mechanic and newbie. The whole story is bare bones. I don't think I care about it enough to read more.
August 17, 2020
Excellent first episode to the Galactic Mercenaries Series. The story is fast paced and just fun, the narrator really draws you into the story. Looking forward to listening to the next instalment! Would recommend giving it a listen to.
Read
November 1, 2021Episode one of a mercenaries vs space zombies epic.
Indie offering. Suitable for teens and adults. Fast moving , episode one. Jayde and her crew are doing penny ante work when they accidentally stumble upon a Nightmare.
Indie offering. Suitable for teens and adults. Fast moving , episode one. Jayde and her crew are doing penny ante work when they accidentally stumble upon a Nightmare.
November 5, 2023
Space opera turns into an alien zombie invasion. Purchased this edition on November 3, 2023, from Amazon for free.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 8, 2023
What? Zombies in space?
Whaaat? Zombies in space? Not to mention something worse than Zombies in space! Lots of chomping going on here, get help!
Whaaat? Zombies in space? Not to mention something worse than Zombies in space! Lots of chomping going on here, get help!
April 4, 2024
2.5/5*
July 29, 2024
How is a group of mercenaries so chronically unprepared.
October 15, 2023
Really short but good.
October 22, 2019
Poor writing, poor plot, very thin characters. Unbelievable situations
We have combat armor but no one has a first aid kit - "Does anyone have any cloth?"
An alien attacks one of the characters by attaching itself to his hand...and they get it off him by blasting it with...a flamethrower (not a precision instrument)...causing no harm to him, nor his hand which was just engulfed by gel on fire...
I had to stop. I just had to stop.
We have combat armor but no one has a first aid kit - "Does anyone have any cloth?"
An alien attacks one of the characters by attaching itself to his hand...and they get it off him by blasting it with...a flamethrower (not a precision instrument)...causing no harm to him, nor his hand which was just engulfed by gel on fire...
I had to stop. I just had to stop.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews