Part of Hell Divers, book 0.5
First published 2025
Two and a half centuries before the Hell Divers took to the skies, autonomous war machines nearly destroyed civilization in Korea. Now CEO Tyron Red inherits control of Industrial Tech Corporation after his father dies, racing to undo the Machine War's damage while enemies hunt him from every direction. Former Sergeant Santiago Rodriguez struggles to support his San Diego family until an ITC contract pulls him back to Korea's radioactive ruins, where buried secrets threaten to restart global warfare. Meanwhile, Corporal Cecil Pepper works surveillance for Charlotte's Crime Task Force until a gang raid turns deadly, forcing him and his wife to escape into North Carolina's mountains. Across the world, dormant machines begin stirring to life again. The three men must stop an enemy programmed for one purpose: human extinction. This origin story reveals how heroes fought the storm that reshaped their world.
Genres: science-fiction, adventure, action, alternate-history
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Korea, San Diego, North Carolina
Period: 21st-century, 2.5 centuries before Hell Divers
540 pages · Paperback · Blackstone Publishing, Inc.
Content warnings: violence