Showing results by author "Jamie McFarlane" in All Categories

If you like your space adventures with a side of sarcasm and a cargo hold full of questionable life choices, Ray Guns and Late Fees delivers. Ride shotgun with a pair of blue-collar spacers as they sail through the stars, patching together jobs with duct tape and stubborn optimism. Out here, pirates aren’t legends, they’re coworkers you haven’t shot at yet. Every deal comes with fine print written in plasma fire, every port hides someone looking to cheat you, and every “simple haul” has a nasty habit of turning into a running gunfight before the coffee gets cold.

Albert Jenkins and his friends have enjoyed several months of peace, which is why when a Rosengul spaceship crash-lands into his new house, he's not exactly surprised. From the wreckage, a pair of ordinarily reclusive small Rosengul emerge and spin a tale of kidnapping and deceit. Of course, AJ, not always the most sensitive, asks the pertinent question of how that involves him and his friends. The simple answer is that AJ and crew have developed a reputation of getting things done, probably because his methods skirt Galactic Empire rules.

Rix Banner thought his fighting days ended with World War II. Back home in Cranberry Cove, he just wants to fix cars, drink coffee, and put the past behind him. But when a broken-down starship crash-lands in a Wisconsin cornfield, Rix discovers the universe isn’t done with him yet. The Galactic Empire doesn’t care about Earth’s isolation. They want their ship back—and the fugitive who stole it. Rix isn’t a soldier anymore, but he’s the only one standing between his town and an alien war.

Separated as a child from his family, Theo has always had a feeling that he’s made for something bigger than the suburban life he seems to be headed for. When a bully threatens his best friend, he can’t help but step in the way. The problem is that Theo’s just not much of a fighter. Bruised and broken, Theo wakes up to a massive headache and what appears to be floating game text inviting him to become a dragon. While ludicrous, no matter how often he rejects the prompt, it simply returns. Knowing that his life can’t get any worse, he finally accepts...

Knocking at death’s door. Bargaining for a second chance. Seems like a heck of a way to find out about an alien invasion.... Vietnam vet Albert Jenkins is battling a bulging waistline and a passion for drink. So when a towering pile of scrap rocket parts falls and crushes the stubborn curmudgeon, he thinks it’s finally the end. But just as he’s about to take one final breath, a snarky alien parasite offers him a deal: His life in return for sharing his body.

On the pastoral, backwater planet of Fimil Alpha, something or someone is eradicating the tribespeople of the Gauder Plains. Back on Earth, Albert Jenkins and his crew are enjoying the short-lived fame that accompanied their last adventure. What they don’t know is that by bringing back life-saving technologies to Earth, they’ve made powerful enemies who will do anything to see them quieted forever. With a target on their back, AJ’s team needs to make themselves scares.

Albert Jenkins would like nothing more than to putter around his junkyard, selling parts and working on old cars. When an alien spacecraft is shot down by US Air Defense and crash-lands on his newly rebuilt home, he’s dragged back into the fight of his life. Light years away, a war for the control of Earth looms, and humanity’s freedom hangs in the balance. Previously kicked off Earth, the Korgul are back, and they are willing to destroy any who stand in their way.

Rix Banner just wants three things out of life: a working coffeemaker, a ship that doesn’t try to kill him, and maybe—just maybe—a full night of sleep without someone pounding on his hatch asking for “one tiny repair.” Naturally, he gets none of them. Between duct-taping patched coolant lines, arguing with an ancient navigation computer, and wrangling Patience Station’s maintenance headaches, Rix can barely keep ahead of the chaos. His shop is overflowing with broken photonic barrier generators, impounded cruisers, and a growing list of “favors” he apparently owes half the station.

If Nick James is right, the Tipperary solar system is about to become the busiest trading hub in the galaxy. To sweeten the pot, the cloud-city of Lèger Nuage is offering free warehouse space to qualified traders. Of course, nothing's as simple as it seems. Just like Earth's Old West, the Tipperary system is as full of promise as it is Buccaneers who are happy to prey on the weak. No one expects it to be easy, but deceit, piracy, and murder kindle the pioneering spirit in each of them.

Captain Liam Hoffen aims to expand Elea Station into a thriving community. But after an enemy armada attacks his struggling station, limited resources threaten the entire population. With no other options, Hoffen must abandon his people in search of supplies deep in marauder territory. Barely surviving his first battle, the bold captain is forced to partner with a double-dealing pirate to navigate treacherous space. But his fears multiply, when he discovers the scarce provisions he needs demand trade with a once-defeated nemesis he swore never to trust.

Celina Dontal just escaped 18 months of captivity at the hands of Alexander Boyarov and his crew, members of the brutal Red Houzi Clan. That should have been the hard part. It was only the beginning. When she tried to contact her younger sister, Jenny, Celina received shocking news. The one person in the universe that Celina loved and lived for was missing, and no one could tell her what happened. Fool Me Once, a standalone novella, is the second story in Jamie McFarlane's Privateer Tales.

Albert Jenkins never cared much for bureaucrats and politicians. So, when the Galactic Congress refuses to act on the illegal invasion of Earth by parasitic aliens, he does what any self-respecting vet would do - he steals a spaceship. But when AJ and a snarky pop culture-loving alien companion are pursued by space cops, he does the only rational thing he can come up with. He strategically crash-lands on a junkyard moon.

Vietnam vet Albert Jenkins, faces one of his most dangerous missions yet. When a high-ranking Galactic Empire diplomat named Cer vanishes while investigating a suspicious buildup of enemy forces on the neutral planet Gnarz-2, the stakes couldn't be higher. AJ is tasked with tracking down Cer and uncovering the truth behind his mysterious disappearance. As AJ and his crew follow the trail, they uncover a tangled web of deceit and conspiracy that stretches far beyond a simple disappearance. The planet of Gnarz-2, long considered neutral ground, harbors darker intentions.

The US Army’s Zebra Company has been tasked with an impossible, secret mission to establish a presence on planet Fimil Prime. With a no-holds-barred budget, and the help of friendly alien allies, Mission Black Turtle is launched, sending the fortress-class Angry Arc and 200 of Earth’s finest soldiers into the great unknown. A living embodiment of SNAFU, the mission falls off the rails when the highly advanced Quarr challenge Zebra Company’s arrival by fielding a host of genetically engineered warriors to ruin the day.

Trapped in a far-off galaxy, Liam Hoffen receives news that a massive Kroerak fleet has found its way to Earth. Knowing an invasion is imminent stuns our explorers, but there's nothing they can do when they discover the interplanetary Trans Loc system has been shut down to stem the tide of invading bugs. When a chance discovery that could end Earth's desperate war comes to light, our heroes find they will stop at nothing to return home.

Separated at birth, orphaned twins Peyton and Jai Foster’s lives couldn’t be more different. Raised by a billionaire, Peyton Foster has been taught that anything other than first place is failure. With her adoptive family’s name dangled like a carrot, she’ll need to not only get accepted to Space Academy but finish at the top of her class. Raised in a group shelter one step from the streets, Jai Foster has earned every meal he’s ever eaten. Discovering early that his penchant for technology gave him an undeniable advantage, Jai manages to earn a spot to the academy.

Junkyard Saboteur is a pulse-pounding military espionage thriller where sabotage, deep-cover deception, and personal stakes collide. Packed with covert operations, tactical improvisation, and high-tech warfare, it’s a story of loyalty tested in the shadows and a veteran who knows that sometimes the dirtiest jobs fall to the man with nothing left to lose.

Liam Hoffen thought saving the world would cut him and his friends some slack. Instead, they're bankrupt, shipwrecked, and fugitives on a backwater planet. So much for gratitude.... But, after discovering an ancient Kroerak ship, Liam sees an opportunity to locate the home world of the vicious alien species. When they set out to uncover the mysteries of the ship, things are looking up until he finds out the truth: Every other crew who tried to solve the mystery was never heard from again....

Someone is killing off the old team of vets who repelled Earth’s first Korgul invasion. With the end of a war precious few even knew was happening, life’s been peaceful. Of course, Albert Jenkins isn’t a bit surprised when that peace is shattered by the sounds of rocket-propelled grenades fired over the Georgia swamps. To make matters worse, when he reports the alien’s foiled attack to the army, he’s ordered to keep things quiet and stop causing trouble.

If the Kroerak Empire had a soft spot, Liam Hoffen would have found it by now. After years of fighting the blasted bug invaders, he’s all but thrown in the towel. To make matters worse, intercepted enemy plans show the empire’s next attack could wipe them off the map. Rumors of a Kroerak weakness are their world’s only hope of survival. It’s too bad the keepers of the secret have long since turned into space dust. With time running out and alien bounty hunters in hot pursuit, Liam and his crew must venture to a long-forgotten planet. They’ll risk everything for a long-shot defense against certain annihilation.