The Collapse

Arisen: Raiders #1

by Michael Stephen Fuchs

Two teams of pipe-hitting special-operations Marines, left to die in the fall of North America.
One nuclear supercarrier strike group, humanity's last best hope for survival.
And seven billion ravening dead guys, rampaging across an overrun planet.

Start the blistering new series now, and experience the horrors and glories of two years of Zulu Alpha on the high seas and the fallen world's ports and coasts, for the JFK strike group and its MARSOC guardians. Now, their story will finally be told.

Welcome to the Zulu Alpha

ARISEN
Hope Never Dies.

Genres: Zombies, Horror, Fiction, Dystopia, Audiobook, Military Fiction, Science Fiction

287 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 27, 2020

About the author

MICHAEL STEPHEN FUCHS is author of the #1 bestselling epic ARISEN series of special-operations military ZA novels, which have repeatedly been Amazon #1 bestsellers in Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction, #1 in Dystopian Science Fiction, #1 in Military Science Fiction, #1 in War Fiction, and #1 in War & Military Action Fiction, as well as Amazon overall Top 100 bestsellers. The series as a whole has sold over 1.5 million copies. The audiobook editions, performed by R.C. Bray, have generated over $5 million in revenue. He is also author of the D-Boys series of high-tech special-operations military adventure novels, which include D-Boys , Counter-Assault , and Close Quarters Battle (coming in 2026); as well as the existential cyberthrillers The Manuscript and Pandora’s Sisters , both published worldwide by Macmillan in hardback, paperback and all e-book formats (and in translation). He lives in London and blogs at www.michaelfuchs.org/razorsedge. You can follow him on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, or by e-mail.

Reviews

[Vickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrilled to be back in the ZA world with my favorite military crew and my book crush, Fick.😍

[Jon Dorr · Rating 2 out of 5]

I need to start off by saying that I am not a veteran so some of my criticism of things may very well be how things are done in an analogous setting to what is in the books. Also I realize that what is considered a "good" story is subjective. With that being said, I have to confess the last ten percent of the second book was a real slog because I can see where this series is going. Not in a story sense which it barely has since it's mostly just an excuse to have a bunch of Marines shoot zombies. That isn't a bad thing, as I wasn't looking for the next Great American novel or anything. I just wanted something fun to listen to while I'm working to help pass the time. Honestly the battle scenes are described well enough and it kept me engaged for the most part. In the end though, the writing by the halfway point of the second book got so lazy that like I said above, I can see where this series is going and it's nowhere good.

Let's start with the more subjective parts first, since these aren't the worst problems. First the side characters are rather generic. You have the really foul mouthed veteran. The steady level headed one, and the new lieutenant who has to grow into his command, and honestly those are the only ones I can really remember and I only stopped listening to the book a couple hours ago. They're nothing new and it's not like having this cast of characters that we've all seen a hundred times before is what drags the books down. Next, the setting is one that I find to be under utilized in zombie apocalypse fiction, with its focus on a US naval remnant. However one the problems I ran into rather quickly, is the author decides he's got to reference everything related to zombies and popular culture. The references get to the point where it seems like the author truly has no skill in writing or is too lazy to put in the time to actually write and so they use the pop culture references as a short hand to try and set the scene. Now I think this can work if the author put time in to developing the scene more, or it can be used in an outline so you know what it is you want to evoke in the reader but the author doesn't do either of these things and leaves the references to do the work for them. From all the movie quotes the author throws at you, at a certain point you'd just rather watch the movie being referenced since the author doesn't really do anything to make the setting more interesting.

Now on to the really big stuff that really makes these books horrible. First the main character. Now before I got the book I checked out the reviews and when one of the first ones was "the main character needs to die" that should have been a red flag. The main character is a Navy corpsman and just a Navy corpsman, and they have him on a SEAL team. Now like I said I'm not a veteran, let alone a veteran of special forces but I'm pretty sure you don't get put on any type of special forces team without going through special forces training. Now the first book starts out with him being part of a SEAL team in the middle east. The team comes under fire, and near the end of the engagement the main character sees a young kid picking up a rifle and he can't bring himself to shoot the kid. This is where things really start going into the land of the unbelievable.Now like I said I'm not a veteran, but I'm pretty sure if you're going to be on a SEAL team you have to go through some type of psychological evaluation to make sure you're cut out for that type of position. Now I truly can't imagine being in that kind of situation and realize how horrible it must be, but again they don't let just anyone on a SEAL team, and like I said above about having to go through the training and be screened psychologically it seems next to impossible that this guy would ever be put in with special forces. Now maybe they don't do that, and it is an unrealistic expectation but the author compounds the problem when the rest of the team don't report what happened and so he's just reassigned to a different front line unit like that solves the problem and wouldn't put his new unit at risk. Now granted the zombies started coming for the brains of the living soon after so maybe the paperwork got lost when something went down, but there's clearly a decent amount of time that lapses before he gets to the Marine unit he's reassigned to, and all hell breaking loose so I find it incredibly unbelievable that he wouldn't get pulled out pending some type of investigation to see if he's fit to serve and as such its unlikely he'd be going to the raider unit.


After that and through the first and second book he continues to do things that put the rest of his comrades at risk. A perfect example is near the end of the second book there's a major battle with local gangsters who have got their hands on military weapons. The main character is ordered to provide security for a machine gunner so no one sneaks up on them, but he decides to go off and abandons his comrade who then gets snuck up on and killed. Another example is in the first book where he gets some type of major head injury, and lies to the doctor in the fleet and ends up passing out or fainting in the field. Not only does he go out in the field knowing he probably isn't physically fit to, but one of the sergeants in his unit finds out, talks to him about it and doesn't say anything about it. This is completely unrealistic. I truly find it nearly impossible to believe a senior NCO would let someone go out into a potentially dangerous situation where not only is the main character supposed to be responsible for keeping people alive, but also allow them to do so when they aren't physically fit and him being there would put others at risk.

Next the author makes everyone stupid because they can't seem to find a better way to drive the action of the book. What I mean by this is that the Naval remnant that serves as the setting is a large carrier group. Meaning they have aircraft that have anti personnel weapons and smaller ships that have naval guns that can be used as such. The problem is they don't use them even though it would help the Marines and the shore parties they are supposed to protect. From what I can remember the reasons for this in the story are extremely weak. So if I remember correctly one reason is that the use of such weapons would put the sailors and Marines at risk due to the virus being spread through bodily fluids and blowing up zombies would drench people in blood and get them infected. Ok fair enough, but if there's a hoard of a few hundred or a couple thousand zombies baring down on the people on shore I think targeting the rear of the zombies would help thin them out and give the people on the ground fighting a better chance of not running out of ammunition and then being overrun. Second, in a throw away line it's mentioned that the air wing doesn't have a lot of experience with providing close air support and so that isn't an option. Seriously? That is the dumbest reason I can think of. Look, again I'm not from a military background so I can't say that's not a valid reason air support wouldn't be used but this is the freaking end of the world, and these Marines are this fleet's security and extremely important as they protect the shore parties when they have to go ashore to scavenge for supplies. These guys have training that makes them invaluable to the safety of the fleet and can't be replaced and you're just going to say that since the pilots and by extension the people who can fire the guns on the destroyers haven't practiced doing that you're just not going to use them, even if it can turn the tide in a fight. That is some of the weakest reasoning I've ever seen in any kind of story. If the Marine raiders are so important, then it would stand to reason that the air crews and gunners should practice, and the training should be implemented right away. Let's contrast this with a couple of movies. Master and commander is a movie set during the Napoleonic wars. It's about a small British ship going after a larger and more heavily armed French Privateer. Now in that movie they make a point of showing the gun crews practicing shooting at a floating target made of barrels. Now am I truly supposed to believe that nowhere in this fleet can anything be found or the crews of all the ships in the fleet can't think of any way to practice providing close air support, or a fire mission from one of the destroyers. Additionally, am I really supposed to believe that even though crews are inexperienced that close air support or a fire mission wouldn't be done anyway. Surely these people should have had some training in these things, and even if they are inexperienced their training should allow them to carry out the mission successfully.


Now for the big clincher. (Spoilers ahead)
In the second book the fleet has to sail to Singapore in order collect munitions from a base the US has that is used to store munitions for the Pacific fleet. However there is a gang on the island that is trying to break in and steal everything for themselves. Now for some reason that I can't remember, when the fleet sent a drone out to do recon of the area around the storage facility they failed to identify or even observe some of the gang members on the island. On top of that the main character lapses into complacency and lets some one go off on their own who then gets killed by a gang member and gives them a chance to break in and this is what kicks off the major battle. Again let's compare this to another movie. Near the half way point and the end of the movie Aliens, Hicks who is in charge of a small group of Marines sends two other characters out together to complete tasks. This guy realizes that regardless of whether they are in a "secure" area or not you don't send or even let people wander around alone.


Now I know bad shit just happens sometimes, and that sometimes people just get lucky. The problem here is that the author sets up all these scenarios by making these highly trained special forces Marines, and the other Naval service members come off as just incompetent. I mean it's established in the books that the zombies are attracted to noises and other things but these people can't even think of using some type of subterfuge to draw zombies away from where the people need to be.

Honestly, if it were only a few of these or some of the other things, (especially the stupid things that I read that they do later in one of the other two books) by themselves I think I would have been able to keep going with the series. It's nothing spectacular, but I wasn't expecting it to be. The problem is this is all just sloppy and lazy. Earlier I mentioned the last part of the book was a slog because I can tell where this is all going. What I mean by that is that there seems to be this growing trend in media where writers make the protagonists of their stories incompetent and stupid to drive their narrative. On top of that I'm seeing that characters don't grow and certainly never learn from their mistakes. Taking for example this show from a few years ago called The Last Ship. It's pretty much the same story as this except there's no zombies. Now the reason I stopped watching was these sailors and Marines kept getting fooled by and jumped by yokels, in ways and places where it shouldn't happen to military personnel. It just got to a point where the leaps they were expecting me to make in my suspension of disbelief were just too much. That's where this series is going. This author is just going to keep making these people dumb, incompetent, or just make the bad guys so extremely lucky to keep the books going and the money from the publisher coming in. In all honesty the only way I could recommend reading these books is if you get them second hand so the author and publisher don't get any money from you, and maybe we can start getting authors to actually put some effort into their books, and stories that are just a little more clever because we truly deserve better than this.

[Michael Keller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life in the Zulu Alpha with Gunny Fick

And so begins the decline of the human race into a cluster jack fest, according to the inimitable Master Gunnery Sergeant Fick. Aircraft Carrier JFK and her Carrier Group are the Tip of the Spear against the virus causing the mutations. Infected people were instantaneously gifted with an overwhelming hunger for uninfected flesh. Two fifteen-man Marine spec-ops teams – Teams 1 and 2, A Company, 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion were MARSOC Marines drawn from the Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance community – the very best of what’s already a smart, deadly, elite outfit. Special Amphibious Reconnaissance Corpsman Thomas J. Yaskiewicz, 'Yaz', did his best to keep his charges healthy and operating as only these Devil Dogs could. Tip of the Spear, baby! Tip of the Spear.

I've missed Gunny Fick, Juice, Predator, Winslet and Handon. Like old friends, you want to catch up on where they been, what they've done, but you never really have time for chitchat when the feces strikes the bladed appliance. Just do your job. Plenty of time for the rest when you're dead. That's life in the Zulu Alpha.

The characters are exceptional, the jargon and action authentic, and the storyline is as fast-paced as expected. A welcome addition to the Arisen library! Great read!

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Series

The first series was nonstop action and it is fantastic to have another Series set in this ZA. Follow Yaz the marine combat medic who is so much more as he and Mastery Gunnery Fuck try and survive day one of the outbreak. The action in this book was unbelievable and kept me glued to the pages. Yaz becomes part of the group as his fast thinking and last minute plans impress even Fick. If you enjoyed the first series you are in for a treat as the Devil Dogs try and survive San Fransisco. Great Read and looking forward to book 2.

[Michael J. Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This is a cracking good yarn. Action and more action with some insanely good characters. I wasn't expecting much, but this pulled me in right away. My only slight quibble was I was not happy the way he treated the Coast Guard. Don't get me wrong---he had the details right, but being a CG vet, I'd like to think we would have acquitted ourselves better than the author thinks. Highly recommended!

[John Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whew.. I need to catch my breath after reading this book. Even though the events of this book take place in less than a 24 hour period, the action is so full on, and non-stop that it feels like a week or so passes in the time it took me to read this.

Readers of the original series know well the story of the USS John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier and her crew, and the team of MARSOC Marine Raiders who are on board. This story is the prequel to all that, starting off in the early days of the zombie apocalypse, with the MARSOC team tasked with rescuing the Secretary of Defense General Mattis from San Francisco. As usual, disaster after disaster follows as they try to escape by helo, then by foot, then by climbing onto the Golden Gate bridge and rappelling onto a Navy ship below, then once again by foot before finally managing to escape by boat, only to be refused to board the Kennedy until after they have safely passed quarantine.

As usual, Gunnery Master Chief Fick has some of the best lines, and some of the other Marines are movie fans who quote lines from Aliens, the Titanic, Saving Private Ryan and others along the way, but Fick and his Fickism's are always a joy to read.

[Nigel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Raiders series is taking readers of Arisen back to the begining and focuses on the crew of the JFK at the start of the acopalypse. This first story of the Raiders series takes place right at the begining when most people haven't yet come to terms with the fact that this is a full blown Zombie Apocalypse. The MARSOC marines stationed on the JFK are tasked with heading to the Presidio in San Francisco and retireve the Secretary of Defence who was there attending a conference. One disaster soon follows on from another an the teams are left struggling not only to get back to the JFK but remain alive. Gunnery Seargen Frick as readers of the main Arisen series will not be surprised is front and centre of the action and is full of his famous one-liners. Fast paced and full of military action, a very enjoyable read.

[Zombie Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its always great to read a new MS Fuch's book (especially when the Audible is read by RC Bray). Fuch's is a master story teller whose writing is well researched and engaging. Arisen Collapsed #1 is another feather in his cap. I read a lot of indy horror with varying levels of skill in the art of writing.
Its always refreshing to read something from a highly capable writer who can, and does, spin an intriguing yarn. In the Arisen universe no one is safe and things can always get worse for the main characters. Collapse follows a group of special operations Marines (Raiders), aboard the US JFK aircraft carrier, as they survive and fight back as the zompoc emerges and world order falls. Well worth the read!! Get some!

[Peter Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll start with a confession. I've already read the whole Arisen series. After taking a break to gasp for air, I decided to engage again with Arisen: Raiders. This is the first book in what is a prequel series focusing on the early days of Fick and his Marines at the start of the outbreak. If you want more military zombie action, then you definitely cannot go wrong with this one. Having read all of the Arisen series I had the usual benefit of seeing characters before they really understood was happening and the start of some back stories hinted at in the main Arisen series. If you liked Arisen you will like Arisen: Raiders Book 1.

[Arienne M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read. Awesome series, awesome writer

Michael Fuchs is one of the most creative writers in this genre. His novels are full of heart-stopping action, well-written characters, great dialogue. I read the entire Arisen series and wondered if this new series would live up to expectations. Answer: Yes and then some. Sit down and enjoy the ride. And, if you haven't read the original series, place that next on your list. P.S.: kudos to the editor.

[James Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harmless fun but way too many plot devices

I like a good Zombie novel and this one was fun but not really good. Just too many things going on, Zombies, limo Zombies, helicopter zombies, helicopter crash, bridge on fire, bridge hit by plane, bridge collapses on ship, another separate ship hits collapsed bridge. If it ever slowed down a freaking Zombie falls out of the sky and causes havoc. Silly stuff, but again fun

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great entry in the series

I have read all of the Arisen series and they are all very good. They set the bar very high for Zombie Fiction. They aren’t great literature but they have great characters and are a lot of fun to read. It is a predictable formula but the author has mastered it and makes it work every single time.

[Darren Pearce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zombies (of the slow dumb variety), lots of guns, lots of action, basically like reading the plot of a first person shooter and sometimes that is just what it required in a book. This one does it expertly. Came into this series reading the spin-off before the main storyline but found it enjoyable and am glad there is more zombie killing to be read when I run out of this series.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Out-f-ing-standing! Can literally never get enough of Master Gunny Fick. The author does such an outstanding job on the characters and dialogue it cannot be overstated. The plot and the action never leaves you disappointed, and Fick alone will have you cracking up laughing wherever you happen to be listening/reading at the time. This author/series is definitely in my top 3 zombie series'.

[Jacinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick moving virus has decimated the world turning people to zombies. A group of navy seals enter san Francisco to rescue colleagues and an important political figure. Told largely threw the eyes of medic, new to the group and finding his way. Fast paced, lots of action, situations and surroundings well described.

[John Cheeseman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book with every fibre of my being and to have some new characters to care about was a joyous thing. Michael Stephen Fuchs hasnt lost his touch as stretching out the action and the suspension of disbelief and in fact it was quite nice not to have some of the super zombies that tarnished the end of Arisen for me.

[Roland Laking · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstandingly brilliant and the next book will be as good

Brilliantly written plot and is a preview of the story of these service driven professionals and I have been unable to put this book down

[Corinne Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great story. Absolutely thrilling and fast paced the whole way through. The Raiders are a great bunch and especially love Yaz and Fick. Very strong start to this series and can't wait for the next book.

[Christopher Piehota · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad but could have been a better story

This could have been a much better story without all of the nonsense with Mattis at the Presidio. Tone down the Fick nonsense. Make him more hard core and get rid of all of the silly "Fickisms".

[john fulkerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Monkeys and coconuts

Can this adventure get any better??? Can fick get any funnier?? You read the books, you know the tempo...and if you don't then you are the suck!! I won't bore you with details, just read the damn book or you'll die wanting.

[Andrew Ritchie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Action packed

You can’t help but turn the pages to find out if the characters you live make it through. Plenty of gallows humor too. If you’re possibly seconds from death what else can you do but laugh.

[John C. Lange · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not simply a redo of the original series

Non-stop action. I like the perspective through a corpsman's eyes rather than just following some formulaic approach from a pipe hitters view.

[Angela Verdenius · Rating 5 out of 5]

This first volume of a new series set in the familiar Arisen world is a thrill ride full of action, zombies and brotherhood - exactly what I've come to expect from Fuchs! Highly recommend it. Warning: you'll need lots of coffee to ride out the adrenaline while reading this LOL.

[Michael Geraci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series.

The spin off is a great tie in to the main series but I’ve noticed one thing the author does that tends to irk me. Every plan fails every time it feels like. It would be nice to vary things so that every now and then the good guys plan survives first contact.

[Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too much "Bad luck"

Too many bad things happened that just made it seem like the author was trying to dial up the excitement to get readers on the edge of there seat. Crazy things can happen in a setting such as this ones', but it was just too much.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid series.

Definitely worth reading the second in the series. The action starts in the first chapter and doesn’t let up. If you like Z stories you know there are a many poorly written books. This is a solid, worth the read.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great addition to the collection. Same complaint as before. The author spends way too much time with the technical names of all....and I mean all the fire arms and munitions the characters use. It's unnecessary.

[Joe Luebbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another awesome read

This story grabs you by the throat from the get go and drags you along on a rollercoaster ride that makes you laugh out loud one minute and the next has you scared to death never letting go of the grip on your throat.

[juliette dempsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh how I missed this series

A welcome return to the ZA. Full of play along guess the movie lines and balls to the wall action.
Great characters with realistic situations and lots of action.
I look forward to the next one 😀

[virgil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Action Series Continues

This prequel is full of gritty action just like the Arisen series. The storyline is intense and fast paced and includes some very funny gallows humor. Totally entertaining!