Cover Reveal – Hell Squad: Survivors

In the aftermath of a deadly alien invasion, a band of survivors fights on…

We’ve watched Hell Squad, Squad Nine, and the berserkers fighting back against the aliens. Now, as the final endgame of the Gizzida rushes to its conclusion, we’re taking a look at some other survivors outside the Enclave and in different parts of the world.

Today, I have the cover of the next Hell Squad book, Survivors, to show you. I LOVED being back in the Hell Squad world and writing these stories. This book contains a collection of three action-packed novellas (and you’ll get some glimpses of characters you know and love).

I also have a super fun giveaway to celebrate (dino earrings!!) Scroll down to enter.

Hell Squad: Survivors
Hell Squad #19
Release Date: Tuesday February 11th

Cover art by Melody Simmons

Survivors contain three novellas:

Nate — starring off-grid, loner Marine, Nate Caldwell. He lives alone in a cabin in the Blue Mountains avoiding the aliens and any survivors…until a young woman on the run from the raptors explodes into his life.

Dak — starring Captain Dak Vaughn, the head of security for Groom Lake Base in North America. He only has room for his job — keeping all the survivors alive — and no room for the tough, attractive new recruit who gets under his skin.

Alexander — starring engineer turned base leader, Alexander Erickson, brother of Hawk pilot Finn. He leads a tiny base of survivors in the snowy climes of Norway and has to join forces with an independent, older woman whose attention he’s been trying to capture.

Excerpt from Hell Squad: Dom featuring Nate Caldwell

Nate Caldwell made his way silently through the trees, his axe resting on his shoulder. As he neared the clearing ahead, he heard a sound overhead and froze.

A quadcopter shot by, an alien ship following closely behind. Laser fire arrowed through the air, and then he lost sight of them.

Quietly, he stayed in the shadow of the trees, waiting to see if he could glimpse or hear anything else. He’d heard the commotion to the north earlier. The humans had fought another skirmish with the aliens.

He hoped the soldiers had given the scaly bastards hell.

He stared into the sky where he’d seen the aircraft. A part of him, the warrior, wanted to grab his weapons and join the fight.

Fight. Kill. Protect.

Gritting his teeth, Nate tamped the battle urge back down. Thinking of soldiers made him think of his old team. For a second, the Blue Mountains disappeared, and instead there was hot desert sun, the sound of laser fire, the shouts of his fellow Marines.

Then there was pain and the rich scent of blood.

His fingers dug into the handle of his axe. He dragged in a deep breath. Then another. And another.

For the next few minutes, Nate worked through his breathing routine until his pulse rate slowed.

The breathing techniques were the only thing he’d taken from the short time he’d spent with a therapist after he’d left the Coalition Marines. That had been long ago. After a different, long-gone war.

That battle was long gone, like his fellow Marines.

Nate let out a sharp whistle and his dog bounded out of the trees. The blue heeler was lean and fit. He rubbed the dog’s head. “Come on, Blue. No more fighting for us.”

After several deployments in the Middle East, Nate had come back from war to his family home in Colorado. He’d had trouble adjusting and settling back into regular life. PTSD, they’d told him. There had been medication, group therapy, prolonged exposure therapy.

He shifted the axe, and crouched down to pick up the pile of wood he’d chopped earlier. He tucked the wood under his arm.

Nothing had helped him back then. He’d had horrific nightmares, angry outbursts at his worried family, then he’d started drinking. After that, he’d started fighting.

He blew out a breath

Nate had been drowning, and when he’d broken a man’s jaw and another man’s arm in a bar fight, he knew he was spiraling down and nothing could stop it.

Then he’d learned that he’d inherited a cabin in the Australian Blue Mountains, from a great-aunt. Old aunt Janine had been a battle-axe. The few times he’d seen her as a kid, she’d scowled at him and told him not to bring his dirty shoes inside her house.

He had no idea why she’d left the cabin to him, but she’d saved his life.

Through the trees, his cabin came into view. It was small, made from wood, with a tiny deck at the back. It hadn’t changed much from when Janine had lived here. He’d repaired parts of it, including most of the roof. He enjoyed working with his hands.

Pausing, Nate breathed deep, pulling in the crisp mountain air.

He’d come here just a few months before the alien invasion and gone off-grid. He’d disappeared from the regular world, keeping in touch with his family via email. He’d left all the responsibility and expectations of life behind. The cabin had a generator, water from a stream, well-used garden beds. It was completely self-contained.

Then the aliens had come and destroyed the world.

After the invasion, he’d followed the news on the radio until the stations had gone silent.

He’d tried to contact his family, but there’d been nothing.

Shit. He blindly scanned the trees and hoped his parents and brother and sister had survived. He wished he’d talked to them more. Wished he hadn’t caused them so much worry and heartache.

Nate had seen plenty of the aliens in the mountains. Luckily, the bastards didn’t like the trees. He’d done recon, gathering intel on them, but steering clear of their big ugly, scaled asses.

He dumped the wood by his back door.

He also knew about Blue Mountain Base, and the survivors who’d gathered there. He’d watched them, too. Knew about the squads.

He’d seen them fighting back. He’d watched the Hawks in the sky, seen the armor-clad soldiers. A part of him had yearned to help.

With a huge swing, he thrust the axe into the wood pile. Then he reached up and yanked his damp T-shirt over his head. He rubbed his sweaty face with it.

Nate barely had any body fat. Living off the land and what he hunted, as well as being active every day, kept him in better shape than his Marine days.

Sometimes he missed a beer with friends. Conversation. Sometimes he missed women—their soft bodies, sweet smells, and sliding his hard cock into warmth instead of his callused hand.

Shaking his head, he stomped up the steps and into his cabin.

Blue Mountain Base had been destroyed by the aliens months ago. The survivors had left in a convoy, and he assumed they’d found another shelter. He still saw Hawks in the sky on occasion, so he knew they hadn’t died.

The battle-hardened Marine in him rose up again. You could be helping, using your skills to fight.

No. He stomped over to the old-fashioned kitchen, pulled out one of Aunt Janine’s heavy, etched glasses, and filled it with water. He drank it in two large gulps.

 He’d done all the fighting he could. He was thirty-seven years old and still had nightmares. Even if he’d wanted to, he couldn’t face fighting the aliens on top of that.

Wrenching open a cupboard, he grabbed Blue’s bowl. He had to feed his damn dog. The blue heeler was sitting beside him, waiting patiently. He watched Nate with soulful, gold eyes.

“Just you and me, Blue.”

Blue’s tail thumped the faded, lino floor.

With a grunt, Nate dumped some meat from a rabbit he’d caught that morning onto the bowl and set it on the floor. Blue dove in.

Being alone kept Nate sane. He straightened, looking out of the window at the trees beyond. And alone was how he was going to stay.

Hell Squad Giveaway

I have a fun Hell Squad Giveaway to celebrate the cover reveal for Hell Squad: Survivors. FOUR winners will each win a Hell Squad trading card (signed by me!) and a funky set of dino earrings (or are they Gizzida earrings?!)

Use the Rafflecopter below to enter. Just select the options you’d like to use to enter.

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Hell Squad books at all Retailers

The first TWELVE Hell Squad books are now available at all retailers. Hell Squad: Devlin is now available and Hell Squad: Theron is currently going love at Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo etc. NOTE: the Hell Squad books will slowly move out to other retailers about one per month.

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Hell Squad Audiobooks

Don't miss out on Hell Squad narrated by Jeffrey Kafer and Samantha Cook!

Hell Squad Audio

Happy listening!