The Counterstrike

Annihilation #2

by Joshua T. Calvert, Michael Braun (Narrator)

A Military Sci-Fi Alien Invasion Series
Earth is dying...

Cities and landscapes that have not yet been destroyed by crashed spaceships and orbiting debris are being devastated by radiation and localized changes in the laws of physics near the alien ship remnants.

While extraterrestrial spaceships divide and exploit the solar system among themselves, Europe desperately tries to preserve it's chances of survival for the remnants of humanity.

They have a pawn in hand that they must play. When they finally do, an opportunity opens up that humanity must immediately seize...but at what cost?

Book 2 in Bestseller Joshua T. Calvert's next Science Fiction epic. A story of survival, invasion, and war that's perfect for fans of Jay Allan, Joshua Dalzelle, and S.M. Anderson.

Genres: Science Fiction, Audiobook

Audiobook

First published May 1, 2022

About the author

Joshua T. Calvert has traveled the world--on foot, by Jeep, by bicycle, by motorcycle, and lots of other ways besides. As you might imagine, he's seen many things most people never see - including an Iranian prison cell, from the inside! In Kyrgyzstan, he fared slightly better, narrowly avoiding being kidnapped for ransom. Skydiver, scuba diver, martial artist, adventurer - his goal is to experience everything possible, and then make it real to you in his books. And he's made a good run of it so far: in the Philippines, he did police training on multiple types of firearms (despite being no fan of guns himself); dove in Asian waters among sharks and shipwrecks; and patrolled with Sumatran jungle rangers.

That's what defines Calvert's approach to method writing: pushing himself beyond his own limits, to experience first-hand what his characters experience, to make your immersion in his stories as deep as it can be.

For Ganymede Rises, after a slight detour with some smugglers in the deserts of Uzbekistan and the steppes of Mongolia, he traveled by dogsled and snowshoe to the Arctic Circle to experience first-hand what it's like to be utterly isolated in the coldest place on Earth. For his book The Fossil, he sat with professional pilots in flight simulators for Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft to learn what it's like to fly a passenger jet. His latest adventure: a parabolic flight with European Space Agency astronauts, to experience zero-gravity. All so he can describe it to you, in his own words.

Reviews

[dave]

Very, very badly translated , so bad that I could not finish it .

[Leo]

Ugh

I really do not like military Sci-Fi. Book 1 was interesting; sure there was a bit of German commandos doing their thing in the book, but for the most part it was a study on how humanity would respond to aliens crash landing on our doorsteps. This book is a couple months after the initial crash, and the humans have been convinced of obtaining shiny new toys if they go blow something up. A military armada is from and away they go to the other side of the Milky Way to go blow something up, no questions asked. It's this part of the book that I disliked. The military offers were unrealistic, the shoot first and never ask questions type of grunts. Even the most senior leaders put zero thought into their orders. They were all so gunwhole, that the general was practically pointing the direction to march with his death wish boner, because he sure as heck was using his main head to give commands. It was also unrealistic, that this commander would suddenly do an about face because a civilian with no authority, told him to. The road to the Siberian black site was not much better. I ended up skipping paragraphs/chapters in this book.

I will finish the series, but I hope it will be more SCI-FI and less fo-military nonsense.

[Darren]

great sci-fi

I loved the characters. This series is something completely different from any other novel or series I’ve read in the past. It was a quick and easy read that keeps your attention throughout. The intensity of the situations that the humans face draws the read in. I can’t wait to read the next book.

[Rick]

Another excellent book, 2nd in the trilogy. Mr. Calvert’s writing seems to improve with each book. Many of the descriptions of alien environments were reminiscent of HG Wells. Looking forward to reading the next installment.

[Janina s. Asselin]

The story continues

The story continues with surprises and twists. Feels like spy verses spy. Characters remain true and story flows smoothly in spite of the tension between situations. Love yjis!

[Robert Smith]

Great story

I'm amazed at Mr Calvert's imagination. The things he thought of to describe the aliens and their ships and armaments. The cast of characters just blew me away. I couldn't put it down. I recommend reading this to all that love science fiction.

[jane brooks]

Good story and lots of action.

The story is easy to follow and the characters are interesting. The story is compelling and hopeful there is compassion in our existence. Recommend it's message is there is hope.

[Steven Hatfield]

Continued to be Amazed

Again I thank you for this continued trip into time
My time
Your Journey
A very nice adventure
Thanks
Steven

[Oleg]

couldn't get past page 20

[Roger Sparrowhawk]

Black Hole to Alien World

Battles with Aliens only to discover something amazing
later on German soldiers are fighting the X world biology to survive

[Steven M.]

great sequel

Fast paced sequel with interesting concept and likable characters. Jumping right into number three in the series.
I highly recommend this trilogy.

[Joliette Hernandez]

Captivating Read!!!

Joshua Calvert has done it again! Couldn't put books 1 and 2 down. So looking forward to getting sucked into number 3.

[Susan Graham]

Good Read

Finally the good aliens and the bad aliens are figured out. But did earth choose the wrong side and is it to late to switch?

[Milinda Barklow]

Unique story

Fascinating story with believable characters. Interesting possible theory of mankind's origins. I was pleasantly surprised along the way through the story.

[c]

Couldn’t finish the book much less this series. Just found the characters and storyline to be uncompelling.

[Shyanne Jones]

I love this series.

This is a novel idea for the first contact story. I am enjoying the series immensely. You won’t be disappointed.

[John Smith]

good story line.

Fun and development of great story of structure ( borg ) vs prime directive of evolutionary history
Nice to see recurring themes

[Richard]

This story proposes one solution to the Fermi Paradox.
Calvert performs the story well and does much to keep you involved.