THE FREEHOLDERS RETURN in Book 7 of the nationally best‑selling Freehold Universe series. A return to the libertarian world of Grainne and its battle against an Earth government that will not let the Freeholders remain free!

Angie Kaneshiro never planned to be a spy. She was a veteran of the Freehold Forces of Grainne, and was now a tramp freighter crew‑woman who hadn’t set foot on the dirt of a world in ten years. Angie was free, and that was the way she liked it.

Then the war with Earth started. One thing Angie knew was human space. She knew where the UN troops garrisoned, the methods they used to scan and chip their own to control them. Even better, she had a mental map of the access conduits, the dive bars, and the make‑out cubbies people used to get around restrictions.

The UN forces may hold most of the stations, the docks, and the jump points, but now the Freehold of Grainne has its own lethal weapon: Angie Kaneshiro. The Intelligence branch sends a freighter crewed with Blazers, special forces troops. All Angie has to do is lead them through the holes. Responsibility for the explosions and wreckage will be theirs. But war is complicated, and heroes can be forged in its crucible—even if the hero turns out to be a tramp freighter crew‑woman determined to fight for the freedom she loves.

THEY WERE THE
TOUGHEST, DEADLIEST
MERCENARIES IN THAT PART
OF THE GALAXY...
AND THEY'D BEEN DOUBLE-CROSSED!

Celadon, a poor nation on a poor planet, engaged in civil war and a haven for every type of villainy in space, is ripe for cleanup. The military could pacify it handily, but it would take a statesman to fix it.

But statesmen have ethics, which politicians and megacorps find inconvenient. Celadon's President Bishwanath compounded the sin by being astute, ambitious and capable. Something had to be done, because a working nation isn't much use for pork and graft.

When the word comes down to replace him, the politicians move on with a new plan, reallocating resources, and finding a more pliable president to put in place.

There are three problems with this solution. Bishwanath does not want to be replaced. His mercenary bodyguards are more loyal than the politicians. And if they're not on contract—there are no rules.

The Galactic Rumble Is On!

First contact with an alien species—and, surprise, the human race is far from united.  The Freeholders want trade.  The U.N. wants to manage.  The eco-warriors want "purity" at all costs. Humans—you gotta love ‘em!  Once again, a historic meeting between potential friends is about to turn into a free-fire zone!  A stand-out entry in the "Freehold" saga by Michael Z. Williamson, co-author with New York Times best-seller John Ringo of "Posleen War" hit, Hero.

"Williamson's military expertise is impressive."
—SF Reviews

The Prescot family were miners. At one time, they were contracted to develop technology for a mineral rich but uninhabitable system. Gradually, all the investors shied away. Then the Prescots broke through with the technology needed to exploit entire planets, and incidentally develop domed playgrounds for the perversely rich, including indoor ski slopes and cable cars over megavolcanos, casinos and rides. This created the economic problem of being the richest people in the universe, having more money than most governments and effectively unlimited resources.

Money is a small blessing when enemies are quite willing to spend billions for the chance at trillions. Bryan Prescot and his daughter might as well have targets painted on their backs for the thugs, kidnappers and assassins their cmpetitors would throw at them. Bodyguards were necessary—Highly trained bodyguards who could be bought once and be utterly loyal no matter the circumstances.

The altercation comes to a head inside the domes and mines of Govannon, with their enemy desperate to do anything to save their own lives, now that the gloves are off. Caron Prescot has only six bodyguards against an army, but she has two aces in the hole: The miners are on her side, and Elke, Ripple Creek's psychotic demolition expert, has a nuke.

The problem with Elke having a nuke is that Elke WILL use it.

Sergeant Kendra Pacelli is innocent, but that doesn't matter to the repressive government pursuing her. Mistakes might be made, but they are never acknowledged, especially when billions of embezzled dollars earned from illegal weapons sales are at stake. But where does one run when all Earth and most settled planets are under the aegis of one government? Answer: The Freehold of Grainne. There, one may seek asylum and build a new life in a society that doesn't track its residents every move, which is just what Pacelli has done. But now things are about to go royally to hell. Because Earth's government has found out where she is, and they want her back. Or dead.

This all-new offering contains Michael Z. Williamson’s brilliant novel Freehold plus three new stories along with a complete new novella—each set within the legendary Freehold series universe. Contains these additional stories: "Humans Call It Duty," "The Price,” "Soft Casualty," and novella “The Brute Force Approach."

Listen to the author discuss the book here on the Baen Free Radio Hour.

Everyone has a different war. For some in the UN Peacekeeping mission to Grainne, the struggle is just to survive. For others, it’s to remain sane, or keep one’s friends and comrades physically and mentally intact. When the rules of engagement are in constant flux, and orders are unclear or based on false information, just getting back inside the fence can be an accomplishment.

For the rebels of the Freehold of Grainne, they must form an organized force from the shattered remnants of their military, and from grimly determined, but underequipped and outnumbered insurgents. Their war is for their very way of life. They’ll do everything and anything to stop this invasion, using whatever means are available. They mean to make the enemy suffer. Quod vulnera curare potes. “Because physical wounds heal.”

NEW STORIES IN THE BEST-SELLING FREEHOLD SERIES, CREATED BY MICHAEL Z. WILLIAMSON. Featuring all-new stories by Larry Correia, Michael Z. Williamson, Brad R. Torgersen, Mike Massa, Kacey Ezell, and more!

When the UN invaded the Freehold of Grainne, the intent was simple: Force a noncompliant star nation back into the collective.

What the politicians hadn't accounted for was that the Freehold had spent 200 years as the haven for every independent, rebellious, self-reliant adventurer in human space.

Its military are scattered remnants, its bases smoking ruins, its cities occupied. But Grainne and its space habitats have resources beyond measure. Retired intelligence agents, disabled veterans, animal handlers, petty smugglers, half-lame computer specialists, research scientists, planetary engineers, all have one goal in mind: Make the invaders suffer for their presumption.

This isn't just resistance. It's vengeance.

Stories by:
Larry Correia
Michael Z. Williamson
Brad R. Torgersen
Mike Massa
Kacey Ezell
Robert E. Hampson
Aaron Haskins
John F. Holmes
Marisa Wolf
Justin Watson
Jason Cordova
Jamie Ibson
Jessica Schlenker
Christopher Dinote
Rob Reed
Chris Smith
Jaime DiNote
Philip Wohlrab

Kenneth Chinran commanded the elite unit assigned to take out an entire planet in a terrible war. Millions died; billions more perished in the aftermath. One doesn't send a sociopath on such a mission. A sociopath might not stop. Chinran did stop—but in the process nearly lost his sanity and his soul.

But one of Chinran's men was a sociopath going in. Now he's a trained sociopath with the knowledge and firepower to take out entire tactical teams, evaporate security cordons and change identity at will. Who do you send after a killer like that? There's only one answer: the man who trained him. The man who made him.

Mission: Sabotage a Planet, Survival Not Guaranteed . . .

Kenneth Chinran was a disaffected youth who joined the military and was recruited for an elite deep cover unit, surviving training and exercises so tough that several of the recruits did not survive. At the peak of his career, he was sent by his star nation to infiltrate a fascistic, militaristic planet--Earth.

He lived in deep cover for years, marrying and having a daughter. Then the Earth forces attacked his home system, and he and his team came out of hiding, attacking and destroying the infrastructure of the crowded planet, disabling transportation and communications and creating terror in city after city.

As a result of his attacks, billions died for lack of the food, water and power which the ravaged system could no longer supply. His sabotage was successful, but the deaths of so many weighed heavily on his mind, making him wonder if he was still sane. Then the secret police discovered his identity. With his daughter, the only thing in his life that had so far kept him human, he was on the run, while the resources of a planetwide police state were tracking him down. He could see no way to escape from the planet, no way to keep hiding, and if he and his daughter were caught, death was the very least that they could expect.

But Chinran is a warrior in his soul, and even if he loses this last battle, he won't go down without a fight that his pursuers--the ones who survive--will never forget.

High tech near-future mercenaries Ripple Creek Security must protect an obnoxious world government minister from the scores of enemies who want her dead—and killed in the worst possible way.

Alex Marlow and Ripple Creek Security's best personal security detail return to action. This time, they really don't like their principal, World Bureau Minister Joy Herman Highland—a highly placed bureaucrat with aspirations to elected office. But Highland's would-be assassins are up against the best security in the business—and Ripple Creek has no qualms about seeing their own explosions on galactic news. In fact, they kind of enjoy it.

Listen to the author discuss the book here on the Baen Free Radio Hour.