Machine Guns & Mottis

Winter Sniper #5

by James Mullins

In Karelia, deep behind enemy lines, Hale is reunited with Leo. Together, they must battle their way through occupied territory to reach the Mannerheim Line. Once the pair of snipers reach the line, they will have to devise a way to sneak through the Soviet 7th Army whose forces stretch across the entire Karelian Isthmus. To succeed in their mission the pair will have to slip through the one hundred and thirty thousand invaders assaulting the Mannerheim line. If successful, the pair will face an even greater danger, friendly fire from their fellow Finns as they cross through the no man’s land that separates the two armies. Will Hale and Leo survive?

Outside of Suomassalmi, on the Raate Road, Pekka, Kivi, and the men of the 27th Regiment’s E company have the unenviable task of holding a little piece of the road against the overwhelming forces of the Soviet Union’s 44th Motorized Rifle Division. If they can find a way to succeed, and hold off the hordes of attacking Soviets, they will buy valuable time. The time is needed for Colonel Siilasvuo and Finnish 27th Regiment to finish off the Soviet 163rd division currently surrounded in Suomassalmi. If they fail in their assignment, the surviving forces of the 27th will be caught in-between two Soviet divisions guaranteeing the unit’s destruction, and the loss of Central Finland. Can Pekka and Kivi hold?

362 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 15, 2022

About the author

I was born into a military family in the United States. At a very early age I was able to travel the world. One of the first places my father was stationed at was Germany. Europe was a magnificent land dotted with castles and history. This invoked within me first a curiosity about history, and later a passion. I became captivated with tales of history.

After my experience abroad, history was filed in the back of my mind. We returned to the United States and went about our lives. School, a trip to Italy with my Grandparents to become acquainted with my Italian cousins, and finally my own tour in the military took me to more wondrous places full of history the Middle East and Iceland. These new experiences helped bring the love of history to the forefront of my thoughts once again.

As life always does, living life got in the way of my passion. More school, and several jobs later history came crashing back to the forefront of my thoughts. I read extensively of several authors here on Goodreads. Some of my favorites being Gordon Doherty, Simon Scarrow, and Griff Hosker to name a few, but my real inspiration was Harry Turtledove - a master of alternate history. This time was different. This time not only did I love reading, but tales of my own began to form in my mind. For my first book, Scourge of Byzantium, I combined my love of history with a more recent passion the walking undead.

My mind imagined a world in which the infection did not take place in the modern world, but during the later Roman Empire or Byzantium as that nation is known. Imagine how much better equipped a Roman Army is to deal with this problem. Now imagine how much harder it is to kill a zombie wearing armor! I hope you enjoy my first tale about Athos and his company of friends as they deal with changes to their world.

Thanks for Reading!

James Mullins

Reviews

[GERALD TOMLIN · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful series of books

Great wonderful fantastic exciting scary, extremely intence, shacks fright, makes you feel like you are hungry tired and freezing while very very angry.

[Jim Purcell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Russia continues its invasion of Finland, prior to WW2, with horrendous casualties on both sides in this grim but compelling series. Snipers on both sides are key participants who continue to scout and kill, very effectively.