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New Releases!
Howdy, y’all!
Quick announcement about two new releases.
First, there is my latest novel, Drop Team Zero! Set in the same universe as Salvage Merc One, this novel is part of a companion series, but isn’t a sequel to SM1. New characters and totally separate story.
With the War treaty signed, the Galactic Fleet is now on permanent stand down. But a treaty doesn’t mean an end to the violence, corruption, piracy, or tyranny in the galaxy. The Galactic Fleet’s solution is a crack team of Special Ops Marines: Drop Team Zero.
Made up of the absolute fighting best from humans, alien races, hybrids, and even AI androids, Drop Team Zero is called on to handle the worst of the worst, missions that others would tag as pure suicide. But when Drop Team Zero arrives, the only threat of suicide is for the ones that stand in their way.
The next new release is the audiobook of Dead Team Alpha! Lots of teams happening today! I know folks have been waiting patiently for this to be in audio format, so thanks for sticking with me, y’all!
In the post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested wasteland, there is one beacon of safety in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains: The Stronghold.
For decades, the inhabitants have fortified and defended the Stronghold from zombie hordes, building their society and culture on military precision.
And chosen from the best of the best is Denver Team Alpha. DTA is the elite strike force used to rescue survivors and refugees that have made it to the hellish wasteland of Denver below. But because of the unbelievable risks, and high mortality rate, DTA has come to stand for something else: Dead Team Alpha.
Now DTA will be put to the test as something far worse than zombies comes at them out of the wasteland.
And if you’d like to keep up to date on new releases and what’s happening with Jake Bible Fiction then please sign up for my newsletter! No spam, I promise!
Wow, this post is just chock full of exclamation points! !!!!
From Z-Burbia to Dead Mech to A Fistful of Mechs and Beyond: The Progression Of The Jake Bible Fiction Apocalypse
[updated 8/11/2023]
A long time ago, in an office far, far away, a novel called Dead Mech was begun…
Okay, it was 2008, so not that log ago. And the office is in downtown Asheville, or was, which is only a twenty-five minute drive from my house. I was being hyperbolic with that opening sentence. I was going for an attention grabber. Did it grab ya? Did it grab your attention?
So, without ever truly planning it, I have created a universe that stretches from the first Z-Burbia novelall the way out into space. How? Well, keep reading and I will tell you how it all came together.
When I first wrote Z-Burbia, I expected it to be a completely separate world from the zombie apocalypse that is already history in Dead Mech. Z-Burbia was a series that should never have been able to fit with the narrative presented in Dead Mech. From what was told in DM, the zombies came about in totally different ways. The histories didn’t match.
Except I noticed a nice nugget of storytelling that allowed them to match. Or specifically allowed them not to match and yet fit together perfectly. You see, the prologue in DM makes it very clear that history has been tampered with. That the “truth” is relative and solely controlled by those that tell it. What should be a solid background to how the zombie apocalypse happened, quickly becomes propaganda when the reader realizes that maybe, just maybe, what they have been told isn’t exactly how it went down.
I also noticed I had a way to incorporate that misdirection in the Z-Burbia series. By the third book, it becomes very apparent that the survivors in Asheville, NC are part of something way bigger than their little mountain valley. It becomes obvious that major players are moving pieces on a board that the Stanfords and everyone else didn’t even know they were on.
Bam, continuity achieved!
How does this fit with A Fistful of Mechs, which is a far-future mech western that doesn’t have a zombie in sight (or does it?)? Well, I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’m not going to go into detail. What I am going to do is talk a little about the element that binds everything together then give y’all a handy-dandy list of the novels in their chronological order.
What is the element that binds them? The Stronghold. Some of you may have noticed that already, but for others that are hopping in here and there, it may not be so obvious. The Stronghold is mentioned in the Z-Burbia novels, and becomes a major part of the characters’ journey by the end of Estate of the Dead. It is also a pretty important factor in the Apex Trilogy (Dead Mech, The Americans, Metal & Ash). And don’t get me started on No Easy Dead! Those two novels are nothing but the Stronghold!
A sanctuary, a place where military ethos becomes the foundation for the survivors’ new society, the Stronghold stands as the thread that runs through all of the novels. It may not be mentioned in A Fistful of Mechs, but there is a second novel, so stay tuned!
Once I realized that I could tie everything together by using a specific place, it suddenly opened up the entire geography of the long narrative. I realized there were so many stories that could be told, about all kinds of different subjects, if I just moved the timeline along. Want to change what the landscape looks like? Just add a couple hundred years and viola! Need to tweak the history of something? Add another massive continental war! The victors control how history is remembered and maybe those victors aren’t exactly being honest. Feel like switching up the genre completely? Add a few more hundred years and take out the zombies (maybe)!
Time and the Stronghold. Those are my secrets to how a good portion of my novels became part of one long timeline. What is that timeline? I’m glad you asked! Below you will find a list of the novels, from first to last, and how they all fit together. The absolute great thing is that a reader can hop in at any point and not get lost. Want to start with NED instead of DM? Go for it! Only want to read Z-Burbia? No problem! Each series stands on its own yet is easily connected to the others. It’s been kind of fun to write and watch it all unfold.
So check out the timeline and if you have missed some of these gems then maybe grab one up and dive in. It’s almost like you are a genre archeologist. Almost. Okay, maybe not. Oh, shut up and read the timeline.
Z-Burbia series:
Books 1-6- The story of the Stanford family and their fellow survivors as they deal with the recent zombie apocalypse.
Books 7-?- I retconned Book 7. It wasn’t one I wanted to write, but my publisher did. I’ll revisit at some point…
No Easy Day series:
Books 1 & 2- A hundred years after what happens in Z-Burbia. The Stronghold is built and thrives as a culture and sanctuary that is structured like a military organization. There might be a major connection with a certain character from the Z-Burbia books.
The Apex Trilogy:
Dead Mech– Hundreds of years after Dead Team Alpha, where society has rebuilt itself with the help of fifty-foot tall battle mechs. Still a ton of zombies. A ton. And some of them are in the mechs! Bam!
The Americans– Sidequel to Dead Mech. It tells the story of what is happening in the rest of the world, not just North America. Still, there be zombies, but they are not your Romero zombies!
Metal & Ash– The coming together of the storylines of Dead Mech and The Americans. Epic conclusion to the trilogy.
A Fistful of Mechs series– Hundreds of years after the Apex Trilogy, A Fistful of Mechs is all about the mechs. Are there zombies? Mmmmm, maybe. But they may not show up for a couple books in this series. Like I said, this is all about the mechs. And it’s a western! I kid you not, people, it is a full on, totally awesome western!
Mech Corps- We skip ahead again and this is the point where humanity has mastered space flight. Now they are off looking for a new planet because they’ve screwed up Earth so much! This is the bridge between A Fistful of Mechs and–
Salvage Merc One– Now we are way, way, way, way to the Nth power in the future! Aliens and intergalactic space flight are normal. This universe of books includes not just SMO, but Drop Team Zero, Outpost Hell, and the Roak: Galactic Bounty Hunter novels. You can read these in any order. They are not sequels (except for the obvious direct sequels with specific titles). I have simply built a universe I now get to play in. Have fun!
As for any of my other novels, if they aren’t on this list then they aren’t connected. The kaiju novels aren’t related to Team Grendel, AntiBio, etc.
Hope this helps. If you have questions, well, read some of the novels you haven’t read and see if they answer those questions. If not, then I guess I better get back to writing so more is revealed!
Cheers!
New Release! Z-Burbia 7: Sisters of the Apocalypse!
That’s right, folks, there is another novel in the Z-Burbia series! But, this time it’s Elsbeth’s turn to tell the tale of the zombie apocalypse. Y’all are gonna love this!
The end of the world is close. The dead walk the Earth, feasting on the living. Rogue bands of crazies, gangs of cannibals, and evil organizations fight for what is left of civilization. Blood and violence are the laws of the land. Those that survive must do things that no sane person should be forced to do.
Good thing Elsbeth isn’t exactly sane.
The savior of, and saved by, the Stanford family, Elsbeth now fights for the Stronghold. She has friends and allies willing to fight right along side her. Most of all, she has family.
She has sisters.
And it ain’t the sisters that need to watch out for the apocalypse. It’s the apocalypse that needs to watch out for the sisters!
The bestselling Z-Burbia series continues, but now it is Elsbeth’s turn to tell the story. Hang on for one crazy ride with a cannibal savant and her battle-hardened sisters as they tear through the wasteland and turn the zombie apocalypse on its undead head!
New Release! Metal & Ash audiobook now available!
That is right, folks! Metal & Ash is finally available in audio form!
The third book in the Apex Trilogy is now ready for your listening pleasure. I know it has been a long time coming, so I am sure there are several of you out there that have been waiting in anticipation for this release. Anticipate no longer!
Get to the clickety-clack and pick this baby up! Also, lest we forget, audiobooks make GREAT holiday gifts! Give the gift of Jake this season!
Cheers!
What began in the wasteland of Dead Mech, and continued alongside Europe and Asia in The Americans, now has its epic conclusion in Metal and Ash.
Commander James Capreze and his team of mech pilots must no longer battle just zombies, cannibals, religious cults, and the ever-dreaded dead mechs. Now, they will be put to the test by the forces of the Three, as the evil alliance bent on dominating every inch of the world attacks from two fronts, forcing Capreze to split his forces and make alliances with those he had been sworn to defeat. The wasteland becomes the setting for an epic fight for basic human survival like it hasn’t seen in hundreds of years.
Will 50-foot battle mechs be enough against hundreds of thousands of techno-zombies ready to wipe everything living off the scorched map that is the wasteland? Join Capreze, his mech pilots, the refugee Americans, end every denizen of the wasteland as they make one final stand to keep the Three from bringing humanity’s downfall. Alliances are formed and broken, mech pilots are made and murdered, secrets are revealed and agendas destroyed, and thousands of bodies fall and rise again in the Apex trilogy finale: Metal and Ash.
New Release! Dead Team Alpha 2: The Stronghold!
That’s right, folks, there is a new DTA available now! Dead Team Alpha 2: The Stronghold!
This sequel to Dead Team Alpha picks up where the last novel left off. And, AND, it has a very special character in it that should have my Z-Burbia fans going cuckoo for cocoa puffs!
So get to the clicking and buy yourself an early Holiday present! DO IT NOW!
The Stronghold.
A fortified survivor pocket tucked into the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in the former Boulder, Colorado. A culture based on military training and strength, the Stronghold is now the last bastion for the living. For nearly a century the Stronghold has thrived, rebuilding a small slice of civilization in the midst of a zombie infested wasteland.
But that is all about to change.
The pride of the Stronghold, Dead Team Alpha, the elite strike force that helps keep not just the Zs, but crazies, cannibals, and cults from overrunning the walled sanctuary, is being put to the ultimate test- banding together with one of the community’s most deadly enemies in order for all of humanity to survive.
Why would DTA need to put its trust in a crazy cult that almost killed them all? Because the Z herds are not lessening, they are getting bigger and stronger!
It is a race against time, as DTA struggles to defend the Stronghold from the millions of undead that march towards them, hungry for the last bits of living flesh left in a land that is nothing but death for as far as the eyes can see!
Jake Bible Fiction 