What do you think?
Rate this book
SSG Vanhorn #5
Occupation
Stranded on an alien planet...
Outnumbered by scores of enemy troopers...
Staff Sergeant Eli Vanhorn is right at home.
He sacrificed everything to help his friends, and he’s duty bound to keep tabs on the Orrkasi occupying the underground city of Havvar, but Van knows that one simple mistake could spell his doom. With Mook at his side, the TAC Team operator will have to use all his training just to stay alive.
You won’t believe what happens in Occupation (SSG Vanhorn Series Book 5). It’s a non-stop thrill ride, with twists and turns you won’t see coming. Occupation is the fifth book in the best selling military Sci-Fi adventure series by master storyteller Toby Neighbors. Jump into the action, and be prepared to keep turning pages all through the night!
Outnumbered by scores of enemy troopers...
Staff Sergeant Eli Vanhorn is right at home.
He sacrificed everything to help his friends, and he’s duty bound to keep tabs on the Orrkasi occupying the underground city of Havvar, but Van knows that one simple mistake could spell his doom. With Mook at his side, the TAC Team operator will have to use all his training just to stay alive.
You won’t believe what happens in Occupation (SSG Vanhorn Series Book 5). It’s a non-stop thrill ride, with twists and turns you won’t see coming. Occupation is the fifth book in the best selling military Sci-Fi adventure series by master storyteller Toby Neighbors. Jump into the action, and be prepared to keep turning pages all through the night!
- GenresScience Fiction
236 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 4, 2021
51 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 25, 2021
This is one of my favorite series. I like reading stories about personal soldiers, sailors and Marines. In this one we get very personal with SSG Vanhorn who is not only a Marine, but a Terrestrial Advance Combat (TAC) Marine. He was also a disable veteran of several recent battles. His initial assignment aboard the Fleet Ship Rhila was as the Armorer for the TAC Marine detachment. This meant that he wasn't to see ground combat at all. Yet, as you've read, that ship was meant to explore this new system and then report back to Earth their findings about the planets they found. Yet, before they could come to a stable orbit around Leonis B, the ship was shot at and destroyed by the Orrkasi. Prior to this, they Earth wasn't aware that the Orrkasi had developed a ground based weapon capable of shooting at ships in orbit. That's why the Rhila got so close. She didn't even know there were Orrkasi on the planet.
So, SSG Vanhorn found himself blasted down to the planet in an escape pod which was the armory which he and another Marine occupied when the ship blew up. He has been gathering the survivors of the Rhila and has successfully built up a defensive force that has kept the Orrkasi at bay even though they have tried repeatedly to capture or kill all of the humans. SSG Vanhorn had himself once been captured, but the Orrkasi, or Orcs for short, aren't very bright and he was able to escape. While SSG Vanhorn has been classified as "disabled" from his previous combat injuries, he's been on planet Leonis B fighting these Orcs for so long that his body has started repairing itself. With all the "exercise" he's been getting moving throughout the mountains and hiding in caves, he's almost back to 100% of what he previously was. He still has some physical limitations, but he's doing far, far better than he thought he ever would.
Now he and the survivors of the Rhila have made contact with a Fleet Ship Venator. It got caught in some space battles with the Orrakasi fleet over the planet and has suffered some damages. They say they can't send anyone down to the planet until the repairs are done. But, the Orrakasi are about to overrun the hidden cave city of Havvar where SSG Vanhorn and his survivors were hidden, so they plan to capture an Orrkasi transport ship and get back up to orbit so the Venator can pick them up there. That plan works until the Orcs find out what's going on and SSG Vanhorn needs to create a diversion so the transport can escape the planet. He does this successfully, but he doesn't make it back to the ship in time so they had to leave without him.
Now stuck on the planet by himself, he's going to have to manage once again to stay alive against terrible odds. SSG Vanhorn has already killed hundreds of Orcs so he knows what he's doing. He has an alien companion called Mook, who is a Ploytrot, an intelligent alien that was brought to this planet by the Orcs. Mook can understand some of what SSG Vanhorn says and he can speak some words in English so they do have a limited ability to communicate with each other. Mook is a scavenger/hunter so he's able to go out at night and find small animals that he brings back for him and Vanhorn to eat. Mook eats his meat raw while Vanhorn obviously prefers his cooked.
SSG Vanhorn does finally get into contact with the orbiting Fleet Ship Venator, but that contact doesn't work very well. It seems that there is a Fleet Admiral who wants to make a name for himself so he's not going to tell anyone back on Earth about this planet and the discovery of a special mineral found in the cave city of Havvar until he can say he has captured the planet and rid it of Orrkasi. Yet, he's not willing to send down more TAC Marines because he knows how dangerous the planet can be. So, he orders SSG Vanhorn to exterminate all the remaining Orcs on planet Leonis B. He's willing to send some supply drops to SSG Vanhorn, but for some reason, that's all he's willing to commit to. So, Vanhorn can use anything that have especially more ammo and a drop is scheduled.
Then he loses communications with the ship. Still he sees a supply drop coming down with it's parachutes full, but it also has a bright blinking red light on top. It's going to draw all the Orcs in the area to the same place he has to go. So, how's SSG Vanhorn going to get these supplies? That's only a small part of the problems he faces alone on this planet. The fact that a fleet ship is in orbit with additional TAC Marines aboard, but won't send any down to help is a mystery to SSG Vanhorn.
Still SSG Vanhorn has a mission and he's going to get it done one way or another. After this, surely there couldn't be anything standing in his way to get rescued, right? Well, there is a lot more to the story than you first thing. It seems that there is another alien species interested in planet Leonis B. They are the ones that built the cave city Havvar. Now they have returned and they want their city and their planet back. Is this just another alien species that SSG Vanhorn will have to fight. It certainly looks that way after he has to killed the leader of the alien contingent.
This book is a very fast read. I thought it was going to be short after getting into it and finding SSG Vanhorn taking care of business as well as he did. I couldn't believe how stupid this Fleet Admiral turns out and I'm certainly not impressed by the shipboard TAC Marines. They seem to be led by a Major who is a borderline coward! While there's a lot to this story, I seemed to have gone through the book really fast. That only makes me want to read more. Book 6, "Extraction" is available on Amazon and I've already added it to my reading list.
So, SSG Vanhorn found himself blasted down to the planet in an escape pod which was the armory which he and another Marine occupied when the ship blew up. He has been gathering the survivors of the Rhila and has successfully built up a defensive force that has kept the Orrkasi at bay even though they have tried repeatedly to capture or kill all of the humans. SSG Vanhorn had himself once been captured, but the Orrkasi, or Orcs for short, aren't very bright and he was able to escape. While SSG Vanhorn has been classified as "disabled" from his previous combat injuries, he's been on planet Leonis B fighting these Orcs for so long that his body has started repairing itself. With all the "exercise" he's been getting moving throughout the mountains and hiding in caves, he's almost back to 100% of what he previously was. He still has some physical limitations, but he's doing far, far better than he thought he ever would.
Now he and the survivors of the Rhila have made contact with a Fleet Ship Venator. It got caught in some space battles with the Orrakasi fleet over the planet and has suffered some damages. They say they can't send anyone down to the planet until the repairs are done. But, the Orrakasi are about to overrun the hidden cave city of Havvar where SSG Vanhorn and his survivors were hidden, so they plan to capture an Orrkasi transport ship and get back up to orbit so the Venator can pick them up there. That plan works until the Orcs find out what's going on and SSG Vanhorn needs to create a diversion so the transport can escape the planet. He does this successfully, but he doesn't make it back to the ship in time so they had to leave without him.
Now stuck on the planet by himself, he's going to have to manage once again to stay alive against terrible odds. SSG Vanhorn has already killed hundreds of Orcs so he knows what he's doing. He has an alien companion called Mook, who is a Ploytrot, an intelligent alien that was brought to this planet by the Orcs. Mook can understand some of what SSG Vanhorn says and he can speak some words in English so they do have a limited ability to communicate with each other. Mook is a scavenger/hunter so he's able to go out at night and find small animals that he brings back for him and Vanhorn to eat. Mook eats his meat raw while Vanhorn obviously prefers his cooked.
SSG Vanhorn does finally get into contact with the orbiting Fleet Ship Venator, but that contact doesn't work very well. It seems that there is a Fleet Admiral who wants to make a name for himself so he's not going to tell anyone back on Earth about this planet and the discovery of a special mineral found in the cave city of Havvar until he can say he has captured the planet and rid it of Orrkasi. Yet, he's not willing to send down more TAC Marines because he knows how dangerous the planet can be. So, he orders SSG Vanhorn to exterminate all the remaining Orcs on planet Leonis B. He's willing to send some supply drops to SSG Vanhorn, but for some reason, that's all he's willing to commit to. So, Vanhorn can use anything that have especially more ammo and a drop is scheduled.
Then he loses communications with the ship. Still he sees a supply drop coming down with it's parachutes full, but it also has a bright blinking red light on top. It's going to draw all the Orcs in the area to the same place he has to go. So, how's SSG Vanhorn going to get these supplies? That's only a small part of the problems he faces alone on this planet. The fact that a fleet ship is in orbit with additional TAC Marines aboard, but won't send any down to help is a mystery to SSG Vanhorn.
Still SSG Vanhorn has a mission and he's going to get it done one way or another. After this, surely there couldn't be anything standing in his way to get rescued, right? Well, there is a lot more to the story than you first thing. It seems that there is another alien species interested in planet Leonis B. They are the ones that built the cave city Havvar. Now they have returned and they want their city and their planet back. Is this just another alien species that SSG Vanhorn will have to fight. It certainly looks that way after he has to killed the leader of the alien contingent.
This book is a very fast read. I thought it was going to be short after getting into it and finding SSG Vanhorn taking care of business as well as he did. I couldn't believe how stupid this Fleet Admiral turns out and I'm certainly not impressed by the shipboard TAC Marines. They seem to be led by a Major who is a borderline coward! While there's a lot to this story, I seemed to have gone through the book really fast. That only makes me want to read more. Book 6, "Extraction" is available on Amazon and I've already added it to my reading list.
September 29, 2021
This is a great series, even if the author had to contrive a reason to extend it beyond book 4.
Now we're in book 5, and Eli is doing his best to survive against the Orkassi. It's not going well. Left alone by his own choice, he's expecting to wait for rescue, but is instead given insane orders by an egocentric admiral.
His orders: to eliminate all the Orkassi. By himself.
Even if he didn't want to, the Orcs find him as care packages are dropped with much needed food, water and weapons. He kills close to a hundred orcs to secure the shipment, and then he's off on his real mission.
Going back to Havvar where the orcs are holed up and taking them out.
I won't spoil what comes next, but it's interesting. The ending feels like a reboot of the first four books, but I'm hoping that's not the case.
Now, having said all that there are a few issues. In book one Eli could barely get around on his own two feet without popping a pain pill. Now he's acting like someone ten years younger. I get that he's the focal point of the story, but maybe if he hadn't been as injured as he was from Leyten C, it would be more believable.
I also wondered about the state of the military. All the officers, with few exceptions, are glory hogging egotistical @#$! They care nothing about their troops, and it is later revealed that there were marines on the ship that rescued them. Why didn't they send them down to help Eli?
I have no idea, and it's not really explained. I have a lot of respect for the military, but not this version.
5/5* despite the issues.
Now we're in book 5, and Eli is doing his best to survive against the Orkassi. It's not going well. Left alone by his own choice, he's expecting to wait for rescue, but is instead given insane orders by an egocentric admiral.
His orders: to eliminate all the Orkassi. By himself.
Even if he didn't want to, the Orcs find him as care packages are dropped with much needed food, water and weapons. He kills close to a hundred orcs to secure the shipment, and then he's off on his real mission.
Going back to Havvar where the orcs are holed up and taking them out.
I won't spoil what comes next, but it's interesting. The ending feels like a reboot of the first four books, but I'm hoping that's not the case.
Now, having said all that there are a few issues. In book one Eli could barely get around on his own two feet without popping a pain pill. Now he's acting like someone ten years younger. I get that he's the focal point of the story, but maybe if he hadn't been as injured as he was from Leyten C, it would be more believable.
I also wondered about the state of the military. All the officers, with few exceptions, are glory hogging egotistical @#$! They care nothing about their troops, and it is later revealed that there were marines on the ship that rescued them. Why didn't they send them down to help Eli?
I have no idea, and it's not really explained. I have a lot of respect for the military, but not this version.
5/5* despite the issues.
May 14, 2023
I’ve continued reading this series, but I’m not enamoured with the way the author manipulates a storyline.
I was really annoyed with the last book, the author wanted ‘Vanhorn’ to have to take on an army, basically by himself. To do this he decided three battleships full of troops wouldn’t be able to help in any way. This was so ridiculous as to make the whole story unbelievable. Then to compound matters early in this book he has Admiral King send these orders to ‘Vanhorn’;
“As you are surely aware, the alien city discovered by the survivors of the Rihla is an invaluable site and must be cleared of the Orrkasi infestation. Unfortunately, at this time, we cannot send reinforcements, so the job falls to you, Staff Sergeant. “
This order has just labelled the Admiral an incompetent coward to the entire navy. Later in the story it becomes clear he wants credit for the finds, how can doing nothing when it was far easier to provide help, contribute towards getting credit for the discoveries?
It seemed that the nature of the story was changing when a new set of aliens appear about halfway through, but it doesn’t take long before we are back into the old routine of ‘Vanhorn’ against overwhelming odds. It's a pity that the author can't think of something more original.
I was really annoyed with the last book, the author wanted ‘Vanhorn’ to have to take on an army, basically by himself. To do this he decided three battleships full of troops wouldn’t be able to help in any way. This was so ridiculous as to make the whole story unbelievable. Then to compound matters early in this book he has Admiral King send these orders to ‘Vanhorn’;
“As you are surely aware, the alien city discovered by the survivors of the Rihla is an invaluable site and must be cleared of the Orrkasi infestation. Unfortunately, at this time, we cannot send reinforcements, so the job falls to you, Staff Sergeant. “
This order has just labelled the Admiral an incompetent coward to the entire navy. Later in the story it becomes clear he wants credit for the finds, how can doing nothing when it was far easier to provide help, contribute towards getting credit for the discoveries?
It seemed that the nature of the story was changing when a new set of aliens appear about halfway through, but it doesn’t take long before we are back into the old routine of ‘Vanhorn’ against overwhelming odds. It's a pity that the author can't think of something more original.
February 24, 2022
Read it
Read it I am sure you will enjoy. It will leave you wanting I know I am. I was surprised just how quick I have read it, I even checked on another device to make I had read every page. I am normally downloading the next book by time I have done these reviews but this time I am so shocked how quick I have finished this book I have not had time to think yet. Sorry if this review rambled on but just so surprised how good the book was and how quick I had finished it. Read and enjoy
Read it I am sure you will enjoy. It will leave you wanting I know I am. I was surprised just how quick I have read it, I even checked on another device to make I had read every page. I am normally downloading the next book by time I have done these reviews but this time I am so shocked how quick I have finished this book I have not had time to think yet. Sorry if this review rambled on but just so surprised how good the book was and how quick I had finished it. Read and enjoy
December 5, 2021
Outstanding
Definitely an interesting story enjoyable very but we can excellent multi-series movie or by series of episodes but it would definitely excellent video experience my opinion and many times I think people overlook a lot of potato issues but Seriously I think it's just the heart the content of story that is it's beneficial it's enjoyable I enjoyed I enjoy the thought behind it how it works how it have like delivers the story
Definitely an interesting story enjoyable very but we can excellent multi-series movie or by series of episodes but it would definitely excellent video experience my opinion and many times I think people overlook a lot of potato issues but Seriously I think it's just the heart the content of story that is it's beneficial it's enjoyable I enjoyed I enjoy the thought behind it how it works how it have like delivers the story
September 7, 2021
Usual great story from Tony neighbors
Well,what can I say other than another excellent book from this Author! I generally can not afford to purchase books over around £2 each , but will always try to buy Tony Neighbors quality reads. Hey Toby, have you thought about going on to the Amazon Unlimited . It will cost me £nothing then! Take care fellah. Thank you
Well,what can I say other than another excellent book from this Author! I generally can not afford to purchase books over around £2 each , but will always try to buy Tony Neighbors quality reads. Hey Toby, have you thought about going on to the Amazon Unlimited . It will cost me £nothing then! Take care fellah. Thank you
September 15, 2021
Fantastic and entertaining
Entertaining story that holds you attention and interest in a surprisingly strong way. This installment of the vanhorne saga has some twists that are thought provoking. I am really enjoying these stories.
Entertaining story that holds you attention and interest in a surprisingly strong way. This installment of the vanhorne saga has some twists that are thought provoking. I am really enjoying these stories.
February 13, 2022
some new problems
SSG Vanhorn has continued to improvise, adapt and overcome despite his being alone except for the Polytrot Mook.
We also get a new wrinkle of another player complicating things.
SSG Vanhorn has continued to improvise, adapt and overcome despite his being alone except for the Polytrot Mook.
We also get a new wrinkle of another player complicating things.
April 19, 2022
Fast moving military action!
Very vivid action followed by post action personal thoughts of the main character about his having to kill. A visceral side of combat and the physical and mental affects on those in combat.
Very vivid action followed by post action personal thoughts of the main character about his having to kill. A visceral side of combat and the physical and mental affects on those in combat.
September 13, 2021
Keep it coming!
This serie was un unexpected discovery, and i am now facing the lng wait in between books. Please keep it coming!
This serie was un unexpected discovery, and i am now facing the lng wait in between books. Please keep it coming!
September 28, 2021
An intriguing series
This series of books has an interesting storyline as well as intriguing characters that will keep you interested and wanting more
This series of books has an interesting storyline as well as intriguing characters that will keep you interested and wanting more
November 15, 2021
Great book!
This book was wonderful! Best in the series and it's an amazing series with a MC that is truly worth his grit.
This book was wonderful! Best in the series and it's an amazing series with a MC that is truly worth his grit.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews