Vanguard Strike

Publisher
Publication Year
Writer
Second Sky
2025

A vast battlecruiser moves silently through space—a ghost ship, abandoned decades ago. There could be treasure inside… or monsters.

I’m the sucker who’s going to find out.

Once I was a hero. An elite soldier fighting for the Paragon military. Now the Paragon’s wars are won and I’m nobody—a gun for hire, working illegal salvage operations.

There’s money to be made out in the dark. Ships filled with valuable tech, left to drift between the stars. A smart salvage crew can get rich. Or at least die trying.

Because there’s a damn good reason these ships are abandoned. Rippers. Crafted in Paragon labs, rippers are living weapons—terrifying creatures with steel claws that tear into any human they see. They can clear a ship in minutes. And a planet in a week.

I’ve fought rippers before. I’ve got the scars and the nightmares to prove it. But this mission is different…

When an old friend and his beautiful, deadly new boss break me out of prison and ask me to join their crew, I know right away there has to be a catch.

They’re searching for a lost warship that contains a priceless secret. But this is a fully armed Paragon battlecruiser, a maze of passageways and advanced defence systems, all of it infested with rippers. It’s a suicide mission. Impossible. But if it could be done…

Whoever raids that ship will hold the fate of the galaxy in their hands.

An absolutely thrilling science-fiction adventure of tension, intrigue and hard-hitting action, Vanguard Strike is perfect for fans of James S.A. Corey, Marko Kloos and Craig Alanson.

“Compelling and vivid… A high-powered, electric story… will keep military SF fans reading!” —Jeremy Szal, author of Stormblood

“Heists, super-soldiers, monsters, mysteries, there’s something for everyone here… with a verve and energy that sweeps you along.” —M.R. Carey, bestselling author of The Girl With All the Gifts