The story arc continues as some of the villains from The King of Plagues are behind a new threat to the world based in the Middle East. In Iran for a rescue mission, Echo team and Joe Ledger are tipped off that seven, or more, nukes are in the hands of an ancient order known as the Red Knights and are currently planted around the world. With an end game that intends to turn the world into a radioactive mess the DMS has very little time to come up to speed and formulate a response. With Ghost at his side, Joe Ledger starts to reveal just who these Red Knights are and he is having a hard time believing what he finds. After all, vampires aren't real, right?

​​​​​​​The King of Plagues brings back some baddies from a prior book as the Department of Military Sciences discovers the existence of the Seven Kings. They are a powerful cabal bent on causing chaos throughout the world and profiting from it. The Seven Kings use their knowledge of the upcoming chaos they will cause to make money on various fronts as wars and catastrophes impact the world markets. Ruled over by "The Goddess" there are seven members of the cabal each with an advisor who acts as their "conscience." It turns out that they have a vacancy and are in need of a new King of Plagues.

Mankind has lived among the stars for generations with interstellar trade primarily occurring through a series of space stations that connect Earth and the outer worlds. These stations were created by the Sol Corporation, known as the Earth Company, one after the other slowly extending mankind's reach out into the universe. Merchant ships that travel between the stations are run by families that have spent generations in space and the same is true for the inhabitants of the stations. These generations of space faring humans have developed social structures completely independent of Earth and eventually this causes the human race to begin to splinter. The long standing earth centric society is now breaking down as the outer planets exert their influence. They have now created their own military fleet and are rejecting the company, and earth centric, way of life. As the company military fleet falls back the conflict coalesces around Pell station which is in orbit around the planet Downbelow.

The Dragon Factory picks up shortly after the events of Patient Zero as the Department of Military Sciences is faced with a new, completely different threat. This time around there is no zombie plague but rather a planned extinction wave targeted to wipe out a specific large portion of the human population. With the concepts of eugenics, genetic manipulation, and disease weaponization all taken to mad scientist levels the DMS must beat the clock to figure out who is behind the threat and neutralize it before the Extinction Clock counts down to zero. The story is a bit more complex than the first book and therefore starts slower but it eventually comes together and builds to a satisfying crescendo.

It is tough to find the right kind of funny when it comes to books and even harder when it comes to humorous sci-fi. I dip my toes in these waters often and usually come away perplexed as to why other reviewers thought the book was funny. I took a similar chance on this one and while I do like the main character Hank the overall story leaves a lot to be desired. Steven Campbell tells a meandering tale that fluctuates between interesting and mind numbing and Hank's humorous outlook on life just wasn't enough to carry the day with this one.

Some books take a while to find their legs and get going but this is not one of them. Right from the beginning I found my curiosity piqued and I was rooting for Joe Ledger even though I still didn't know too much about him. Jonathan Maberry does an excellent job of story telling in Patient Zero by the manner in which he reveals the bigger picture while at the same time providing increased insight into the man that is Joe Ledger. Patient Zero is a bit of a mash-up of 24 with a zombie apocalypse and things remain interesting from cover to cover.

The Engines of God was my introduction to Jack McDevitt and I could hardly put it down. I really got caught up in both the stunning scenery and the action sequences. Its almost like a cross between Star Trek and Game of Thrones; they explore fascinating new worlds, go where no human has gone before, and in true GoT fashion not all characters make it out alive. We call them the Monument Makers. Throughout the galaxy they build amazing structures, the purpose of which we can only speculate. Priscilla Hutchison is a pilot for the Academy and her current assignment is with a group of xenoarcheologists. They've made an amazing discovery about the monument makers and following a single clue, she pilots a ship in search of the Monument Makers. To say more about the plot might ruin it.

It's a scenario most online gamers are familiar with, two teams of five trying to outwit, outshoot, and outplay the opposing team to move up in the rankings. Overworld is clearly a descendant of League of Legends and Heroes of the Storm but it's played in an immersive virtual reality accessed through your djinni, an implant in your brain. For Marisa, "Heartbeat" and her four friends that make up the Cherry Dogs the game is more important than reality. They aren't high in the rankings but Marisa has made a few radical plays that have generated some buzz in the community and they hope to be invited to upcoming tournament. When they aren't playing matches they're training, replaying the matches of their competition, and at night they go clubbing and party hard. Typical slacker teenagers until one of the Cherry Dogs uses a new "drug" called Bluescreen.

​​​​​​​Chains of Command picks up the story about one year after the end of Angles of Attack and Earth is still hanging on. Andrew Grayson finds himself training new recruits to backfill the depleted ranks of the space borne infantry but it is obviously too little too late. The Lankies retain control of Mars and regularly send siege ships toward Earth. The rag tag remnants of the NAC and SRA space fleets are barely able to repel them and every encounter is successful by only the slimmest of margins. Unfortunately, mankind knows it is losing the overall war of attrition and the status quo is unsustainable. This leaves only two choices available for regaining our solar system and they both involve attacking Mars. Take a chance and launch the assault now with what remains of the space navy or risk a blind raid in an attempt to recover the modern warships that were taken when the former NAC military and political leadership jumped away leaving everyone else behind to die.

​​​​​​​Things have gone to hell for humanity. We have been driven back time and time again by the Lankies and we have no colonies left beyond 30 light years from Earth. As we set up defenses on the new border the Lankies suddenly jump all the way to our solar system and deal us a crushing blow by taking Mars. This wipes out the majority of our fleet and effectively cuts off our remaining colonies from Earth. Staff sergeant Andrew Grayson is now stranded on the colony moon of New Svalbard along with a small task force of ships and little food. Caught between a rock and a hard place Andrew knows they will all starve to death if they stay where they are but they would be blindly jumping into an unwinnable space battle if they try to go home.