The national bestselling author of Battle Hymn delivers a high-velocity sci-fi thriller in which a lone lawman must take down those who would topple an empire…

For centuries, the Uman Empire has ruled the civilized universe. But not all of the alien races who were “invited” to join the Empire have done so willingly. To deal with these alien species, the Xeno Corps was formed—bio-engineered humans with extra-sensory enhancements who can hunt down, capture or eliminate all such threats to Pax Umana.

Jak Cato is a one of them—but he’s far from a perfect specimen. Saddled with a dislike for authority and a penchant for self-destructive behavior, only his devotion to duty and sense of honor have kept him afloat in the Corps.

When he and his comrades are waylaid on a remote planet while transferring a lethal, shapeshifting Sagathi prisoner, Cato is sent into town for supplies, only to end up drunk, beaten and robbed. But worse news awaits him when he wakes. His entire detachment has been mercilessly slaughtered and the Sagathi is gone.

Now Cato must use all his innate skills to hunt down the fugitive and pay back the bastards who murdered his team. But what he doesn’t know is that his pursuit will lead him outside the law and into a shadowy world of Imperial intrigue—where those who seek justice rarely get it, and rarely survive…

From the national bestselling author of Battle Hymn comes the conclusion to the electrifying sci-fi thriller duology begun with At Empire’s Edge…

On the surface, the Uman Empire seems as glorious as ever, with its citizens reveling in their proud civilization, the Legions defending its borders, and the Emperor ruling benevolently over all. Yet it is a facade. In truth, the alien Vord are pushing deeper into Uman space even as the noble families maneuver for power within a waning Empire.

But for Xeno Corps Centurion Jak Cato, all that matters is that he’s still alive. After a disastrous mission that almost cost him everything, he’s returning to the Imperial capital of Corin with his beloved Alamy for some well-deserved down time—which soon becomes no time.

For as Cato watches a grand procession, he catches a glimpse of his mighty Emperor—and in one horrifying instant, Cato’s enhanced senses recognize that while the Emperor looks the same, it is not him. It is Fiss Verafti, the murderous Sagathi shape-changer Cato had just hunted down. The creature he thought was dead!

As the Empire strains under attacks from within and without, Cato doggedly investigates the mystery of how Verafti made his way from the grave to the throne and who is behind the astounding plot. And when he does discover the truth, it will change Cato—and the entire galaxy—forever…

THEIR FINEST HOUR,
OR THEIR FINAL DAYS...

The First Empire has entered what may very well be its last crisis: the Emperor is dead by assassination and has left an infant heir. Worse, the imperial mystique is but a fading memory: nobody believes in empire anymore. Indeed nobody believes in much of anything beyond the boundaries of self. There are exceptions, of course, and to those few falls the self-appointed duty of maintaining a military-civil order that is corrupt, despotic—and infinitely preferable to the barbarous chaos that will accompany its fall.

One such is commander Anson Merikur.
This is his story.

Enslaved after the slaughter of billions by a violent race of aliens called the Saurons, Earth’s few remaining humans are forced into back breaking labor building mysterious temples for their new masters. The captors claim that these temples, once finished, will allow them to leave Earth in peace once again. They enlist Alexander Franklin, former governor of Washington, as the head of their puppet government to help manage their mission. Meanwhile, a group of escaped slaves form a resistance movement which grows with each passing day.

When former government bodyguard Jack Manning, well-versed in the art of survival, finds himself placed in the center of power as security for Franklin, he learns the brutal truth behind the temples. He faces an agonizing choice: to stay where he is, alongside the woman he loves, or to aid the rebels and their fight for freedom. The survival of the human race hangs in the balance.

With intense, fast paced action, an unforgettable hero and a riveting story, DeathDay is the first book in a series by bestselling science fiction author William C. Dietz.

After the vicious, insect-like aliens called the Saurons invaded Earth and killed billions, they enslaved the survivors, forcing them to build mysterious temples under brutal conditions. In an effort to control their human slaves, the Saurons install a puppet president to keep them under control.

But President Alexander Franklin and Chief of Security Jack Manning aren't about to play along. Rebellion is in the air, and the fight for freedom is spreading far and wide, from the center of activity in Washington to the distant lands of Guatemala. A diverse group of rebels, including an ex-FBI agent, a doctor inside the heart of enemy territory, and the president will have to band together with a host of other insurgents from across war-torn Earth to overcome impossible odds if they're to save what's left of humankind.

With non-stop action and a remarkable cast of characters, the epic conclusion to William C. Dietz’s DeathDay is a thrilling tale of adversity, rebellion, strength and humanity in a futuristic world where the survival of the many lies in the hands of the brave few.

Professor Paul McCracken’s final message to parasitologist Dr. Sara Devlin is brutal, but clear: he’d rather die than let the alien parasite within him live. For Devlin, the shock of McCracken’s suicide is quickly replaced by the horror it reveals—the existence of a microscopic extraterrestrial organism with the ability to infect and control its human hosts. McCracken wasn't the first person to be infected. There are others. Many others, extending back to the dawn of mankind.

At first, Devlin believes the authorities are slow to recognize the alien threat and respond to it. But the truth is far worse—rather than stop the parasite, there are those seeking to replicate it, control it…and even weaponize it. Working with McCracken’s research and a fractured network of allies, Devlin must outmaneuver secret government organizations, foreign military agencies, and the growing legion of infected hosts to thwart an extraterrestrial invasion thousands of years in the making.

Scientists spent decades scanning the universe for signs of alien life, but they should have been searching closer to home...

The best action-packed military science fiction—FIVE BY FIVE showcases work by bestselling, award-winning authors: Five novellas covering battlefields across the galaxy. It’s a war out there!

LEGIO PATRIA NOSTRA—by William C. Dietz. An interstellar war is raging, the insectoid Ramanthians have occupied Earth, and the Confederacy of Sentient Beings needs assistance from the xenophobic Hudathans in order to survive. But some Hudathan relics have been stolen, and the Hudathans won't join the Confederacy unless Legion Captain Deacon Smith can get them back. And that's going to be difficult because the thieves are ex-legionnaires—and they have a platoon of heavily armed cyborgs! A Legion of the Damned® story.

PRISONER OF WAR—by Kevin J. Anderson. Set in the world of Harlan Ellison’s classic Outer Limits episode “Soldier,” this is a tale about a set of warriors in a never-ending future war, men bred for nothing but the battleground—and how they cope with the horrors of…peace.

REARDON’S LAW—by Brad R. Torgersen. When expensive, classified shipments of military hardware go missing, Conflux Armed Forces policewoman Kalliope Reardon is called in to work the case. She gets way more than she bargained for, as the trail takes her far outside the boundaries of the civilized galaxy, and into the heart of occupied enemy territory.

DAGGER TEAM SEVEN—by R.M. Meluch. The evidence is clear and damning—A.C. Cade was a fraud. Cade’s son makes himself into the man he used to believe his father was—a pilot of an elite Dagger Team, defending Earth against a desperate alien invader which has no use for humankind and absolutely nothing to lose.

COFFEE-BLACK SEA—by Aaron Allston. The saga of the Dollgangers from “Big Plush” (Five by Five Vol. 1) continues. Bow, BeeBee, Lina, and new ’gangers escalate the risks of their quest for survival...by turning their eyes to the stars.

After interstellar courier Jak Rebo agrees to deliver a powerful artificial intelligence named Logos to a distant planet, he quickly comes to realize that it’s no ordinary assignment. Logos has the power to not only reactivate the ancient stargates, but to restore interstellar travel, and bring the far flung remnants of humanity back together again.

Some, like the members of the ruthless Techno Society, want to harness Logos and control it. Others, including those who fear technology, seek to destroy it.

Together with Lonni Norr, the beautiful clairvoyant who can channel spirits from the afterlife, and the bodyguard Hoggles, Rebo will have to outrun his many enemies, and prevent Logos from falling into the wrong hands if he is to prevent humanity from falling into oblivion.

With electrifying action, unstoppable heroes and gripping adventure, Logos Run is the thrilling conclusion to Runner by acclaimed military science fiction author William C. Dietz.