Book picks similar to
Stand - To by Andy Farman


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military-fiction
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alternate-history

The New Recruit: Episode 1


Andy McNab - 2012
    The Army Foundation College in Harrogate is a long way from home for Liam Scott. The training is intense; has he got what it takes to stay in the game when he's faced with CS gas and the firing range?Full story available in hardback and ebook formats.

The War in 2020


Ralph Peters - 1991
    Their only hope is America's Seventh Cavalry, who plunge into the horrors of war in the new millennium. "The military counterpart of Orwell's 1984. . . . is not for the fainthearted. . . ".--New York Times Book Review.

Operation Anadyr


James Philip - 2014
    On Saturday 27th October 1962 American and Soviet geopolitical brinkmanship resulted in the most terrible war in human history. The forever changed world that remained when the thermonuclear fires had burned themselves out is the world of ‘Timeline 10/27/62’. ‘Operation Anadyr’ is Book 1 of the alternative history series Timeline 10/27/62. ‘Operation Anadyr’ is about the first hours of that alternative history of the world. It is about living through the cataclysm, and wondering how it happened. How did the unthinkable happen? How could our leaders let it happen? How does one quantify the magnitude of the disaster? And what of the survivors living with the aftermath of a world gone mad? ‘Operation Anadyr’ confronts these questions. In ‘Operation Anadyr’ the anatomy of the disaster is writ plain and the men and women who survive it begin to find their voices. * * * Why Timeline 10/27/62? Because that date is a very significant date in my life and in the lives of everybody else in the world alive today because on Saturday 27th October 1962 World War III almost started. World War III probably wouldn’t have lasted very long because one side would have been swiftly obliterated in the first 24 hours of a cataclysm that would have left vast tracts of the Northern Hemisphere uninhabited and uninhabitable for decades to come. Perhaps, a quarter of the world’s population would have died in the firestorm or in the starvation and the plagues that would have ensued in the following weeks and months. In the October War of 1962 the hammer of the gods would have fallen upon the territories of the Soviet Union, central and Western Europe, and to a lesser extent, upon the extremities of continental North America. In the Soviet Union and in Europe from Paris to Warsaw, from Prague to Berlin, from the Alps to the Baltic, across the Low Countries and parts of the United Kingdom the thermonuclear fire would have burned with a merciless flame. Scandinavia might have escaped relatively untouched, likewise southern France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, Ireland and possibly parts of England, Wales and Scotland. The ‘Cuban Missiles’ War would have been a Man made global catastrophe like no other in human history. In the aftermath, the USA, mourning the dead in half-a-dozen wrecked cities would have been the last major industrial and military power left standing. That world could never, ever be the world we know today. How close did we actually come to the edge of the abyss? Much closer than most people like to contemplate. On Saturday 27th October 1962, north east of Cuba, the commander of Soviet submarine B-59 had to be talked out of firing a nuclear-tipped torpedo at the American destroyer USS Beale. That’s how close we came to World War III! The Captain of the B-59 was a man called Valentin Grigorievitch Savitsky. He gave the order for a nuclear warhead to be fitted to a torpedo. In that era Soviet naval doctrine governing the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons onboard a warship at sea required the authorisation of three officers: the captain, the executive officer, and the vessel’s political officer. B-59’s political officer, Ivan Semonovich Maslennikov signed off on starting World War III but fortunately for us all, the submarine’s second-in-command, Captain 2nd Rank Vasili Arkhipov, dissented and Armageddon was narrowly averted. Timeline 10/27/62 is an alternative history of the modern world in which nobody ever got to know the name of Vasili Arkhipov because he died in the first act of the most terrible war in history.

The Trash Haulers


Richard Herman - 2015
     Over an action-packed 24 hours, three lives collide amidst war and violence. Captain Mark Warren and his crew are trash haulers, airlifting supplies and personnel on their C-130 Hercules, the workhorse of tactical airlift. Flying a Huey, the helicopter that symbolizes mobile warfare in Vietnam, Wilson Tanner is a Dust Off pilot who risks all to rescue the wounded. At Se Pang, Colonel Tran Sang Quan comes into conflict with inept superiors as they initiate the People’s Army of Vietnam’s long-planned General Offensive and Uprising. This is the beginning of the Tet Offensive. Both sides face more than the enemy as superior officers manoeuver for political advantage, and where cowardice, prejudice and treachery infiltrate the ranks – on both sides. In the air and on the land, raw courage, tenacity, and honor are the marks of humanity that deal with the wreckage of war. Fast-paced and gripping, ‘The Trash Haulers’ is an exciting aviation thriller from a master of the genre, and, in the telling, paints a rare portrait of the war. Praise for Richard Herman: “One of the best adventure writers around.” - Clive Cussler “Too many of today’s geopolitical thrillers ring false, but not Herman’s.” - San Francisco Examiner “Herman shines when he describes combat tactics… But it’s his characters that carry the story.” - Air & Space “Simply great characters… His descriptions of the political posturing in Washington and an the international scene ring true.” - Chicago Tribune “A skilled storyteller… Richard Herman knows how to describe the pressure and unpredictability of battle… He has a sure command of what it takes to hold the reader.” - Sacramento Bee “Herman is a master.” - Florida Times-Union “Intricately woven…solid entertainment… Herman deftly negotiates murderous chicanery, political hanky-panky, gripping air combat, and steamy sex in a sweeping political epic of post-Cold War power struggles.” - Publisher’s Weekly “Suspenseful…well-drawn characters…an action-packed plot.” - Norfolk Virginian-Pilot Richard Herman is a retired Air Force officer who flew C-130s and F-4s. While on active duty, he logged over 240 combat missions. He also taught at the Air Force Academy and served as an operations plans officer. After retiring, he turned to writing about the aircraft he loves, and is the author of fourteen novels – including critically acclaimed ‘The Warbirds’ and ‘Force of Eagles’.

Lions of the Sky


Paco Chierici - 2019
    A Top Gun for the new millennium, LIONS OF THE SKY propels us into a realm in which friendship, loyalty, and skill are tested, battles won and lost in an instant, and lives irrevocably changed in the time it takes to plug in your afterburners. Sam Richardson is a fighter pilot’s pilot, a reluctant legend with a gut-eating secret. He is in the last span of his tour as an instructor, yearning to get back to the real action of the Fleet, when he is ordered to take on one last class—a class that will force him to confront his carefully quarantined demons. Brash, carefree, and naturally gifted, Keely Silvers is the embodiment of all that grates on him. After years of single-minded dedication, she and her classmates can see the finish line. They are months away from achieving their life-long dream, flying Navy F/A-18 fighters. They are smart and hard-working, but they’re just kids with expensive new toys. They’re eager to rush through training and escape to the freedom of the world beyond, a world they view as a playground full of fast jets and exotic locales. But Sam knows there is a darker side to the profession he loves. There is trouble brewing in the East with global implications. If they make it past him they will be cast into a dangerous world where enemy planes cruise the skies over the South China Sea like sharks, loaded with real weapons and hidden intentions. Early Praise for Lions of the Sky Paco Chierici has written a humdinger of a book. Through vividly drawn characters, he takes us inside a Navy fighter squadron showing their incredibly difficult day to day lives, including the obstacles women still face in this tight knit community. ...a terrific window into a world very few people see. —The Honorable Ray Mabus, 75th United States Secretary of the Navy Lions of the Sky is gripping, fast paced, and authentic. If you want a real, edge of the envelope thriller, look no further! — Brandon Webb former Navy SEAL, pilot and New York Times Bestselling author. I was BLOWN away! Paco put me right back in the cockpit and the Ready Room. Lions of the Sky is intense, and personal, and thrilling, especially the ending. A must read! —Lea Gabrielle. Journalist and F/A-18 Naval Aviator Francesco “Paco” Chierici made flying some of the U.S. Navy’s most treacherous fighters look easy. But it’s his deep and lasting infatuation with that deadly aerial artistry — and his ability to describe it so accurately and vividly – that set him apart as an aviator, a documentary film producer, and writer. Paco’s eye for detail, salty irreverence, and skill as both an aviator and a writer, make this fictional work very real. Strap in for an unforgettable ride. — Dave Hirschman, Author of Hijacked – The True Story of the Heroes of Flight 705, and AOPA Pilot Editor at Large An experienced fighter pilot, Paco Chierici knows what he’s writing about here. Fans of military fiction, strap into your favorite ejection seat and get ready for a high speed, G-pulling, missile-shooting thrill ride. — Ward Carroll, author of Punk’s War, Punk’s Wing, and Punk’s Fight Paco Chierici’s debut novel is an unforgettable story of pride, lust, loss, betrayal and redemption...set today in a carrier-based fighter squadron in combat. Timely and gripping, Lions of the Sky is an exciting supersonic techno-thriller with well-written g-spikes of human drama that kept me turning the pages.

Team Yankee


Harold Coyle - 1987
    The awesome Russian invasion force smashes across the West German border, driving for a breakthrough. With M-1 tanks and a mechanized infantry division, Captian Sean Bannon's "Team Yankee" must defend their vital strategic post. They will engage the enemy with the ultimate in sophisticated weaponry. They will fight beyond all limits of human endurance - on the brink of World War III... "Team Yankee"

USS Stonewall Jackson


Stephen Makk - 2018
    Enough is enough. It’s time to take out this threat and take apart North Korea’s People’s Navy one boat at a time.They say cometh the hour, cometh the man. Cometh the foe, cometh the submarine.In exercises against allied diesel-electric boats, the United States Navy watched and learned. Its answer? The most powerful and silent diesel-electric boat ever to patrol the deeps: the USS Stonewall Jackson.It would require a cunning warrior of the seas to command such a boat. The USN has chosen its best young submariner: Commander Nathan Blake. He’ll need to employ stealth and guile to seek out the foe.The USS Stonewall Jackson is on her way; she’s mean and mad as hell. But will Nathan find that the Korean People’s Navy has a trick up its sleeve? Follow Nathan and the USS Stonewall Jackson into hell and damnation.

The Expendables


Leonard B. Scott - 1991
    This is the story of the men who fought with them -- and the 304 who didn't return.

Black Squadron


Michael Stephen Fuchs - 2021
    engagement from the invasion of Sicily to Black Hawk Down. The Rangers are upright, loyal, and never leave their brothers behind.But now the Rangers may be the only ones who can stop a rogue Black Squadron from leaving everyone bleeding out in the street – and also kicking off a shooting war between two nuclear powers.It’s Black Hawk Down meets Training Day in this explosive collision of two legendary special-operations units battling to survive and prevail in the most dangerous city on the planet.

Surprise Battle: A Different Outcome


Thomas Trimble - 2020
    He is the Captain of the USS Joseph Kane, a 2015 Virginia Class, Fast Attack Nuclear Submarine. The strange force has taken the boat and all the crew back to 1942 in the middle of WWII. In fact, the Navy Command at the time, not even knowing what a nuclear submarine is, ordered him into the middle of the battles near Guadalcanal during the amphibious landings. Starting with the Battle of Savo Island which in history was a harsh loss of brave Allied sailors. What will the outcome of the new battles be and will this cause the possible paradox in time? Come with Captain Richey and the crew and travel into an Alternate History.

The Foot Soldier


Mark Rubinstein - 2013
    The Foot Soldier brings you to the hell of jungle combat. Close your eyes and this novella takes you there. It conveys the terror and brutality of jungle warfare and their effect on the American riflemen--those who bore the greatest burden. It's every bit as compelling as The Things They Carried.

Covert Action


Dick Couch - 2005
    Now IFOR, the surgical strike team led by former Navy Seal Garrett Walker, returns in an adventure charged with authenticity and suspense.

Attack on Nantucket


Thad Dupper - 2017
     A modern-day, Clancy-like thriller -- the US president, Nantucket, a terrorist plot and the US Navy. An adrenaline ride with great authenticity. Andrew Russell, the 46th president of the United States, along with his wife and two young children have brought back a Kennedy-era feeling of Camelot to the White House. President Russell and his family are spending another vacation on the beautiful island of Nantucket. After three years of planning, the Islamic Front has embedded terrorist cells on the island in preparation for the arrival of President Russell and his family. With the resources of the US Navy at the ready -- the President, an ex-naval aviator, responds to the attack on his family with the focus, determination and aggressiveness that made him one of the best fighter pilots in the Fleet. The people of Nantucket, descendants of hardy New England stock, along with the combined military and intelligence assets of the US Government are about to be challenged by the events unleashed on the tiny picturesque island. Nantucket serves as the backdrop for this larger-than-life techno-thriller.

Prelude to World War III: The Rise of the Islamic Republic and the Rebirth of America


James Rosone - 2018
    The military is cut to a barebones level, and America’s leaders are focused on the nation’s internal struggles. The door has been left open for new powers to emerge on the world stage. In this power vacuum, a new Islamic Caliphate forms, sweeping quickly across the globe.China and Russia also flex their military muscles, and they have the most up-to-date technological innovations ready for battle: railguns, unmanned drone tank vehicles, exoskeleton suits and cyber-warfare.“Prelude to World War III” is the first book in this predictive World War III military thriller series. If you like pulse-pounding action and global politics, you’ll love Rosone and Watson’s novel.Can the new American president bring the country back from the brink?

Swordpoint: The WWII Collection


Max Hennessy - 1980
    Famous for its ancient hilltop monastery, Monte Cassino achieved a new and grimmer renown in the Second World War when it became a German bastion against the Allied advance through Italy.Even in February 1944, when the abbey buildings had been reduced to rubble by aerial bombardment, the mountain itself continued to command the adjoining river valleys and to block the road to Rome.Cassino had to be taken. Frontal assault had proved a costly failure, but now the highly ambitious Brigadier Heathfield had devised a plan for an outflanking operation. Total victory, or total defeat, could hinge on this single mission. A stirring and powerful thriller concerning the final years of the Second World War, perfect for fans of Alistair MacLean, David McDine and Jack Higgins.