Stand Alone cover art

Stand Alone

Wolfhounds, Book 1

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Stand Alone

By: John Van Stry
Narrated by: Kyf Brewer
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About this listen

Chase had it all planned out.

Do a little time in one of the emperor's jails, say a four-year stretch, for getting rid of some trash that no one would miss, and when he got out, the path to leadership would be wide open. It wasn't enough to be one of the gang's rising stars, or better lieutenants. He needed jail time, serious jail time—not that juvie crap or just going to county, to garner the respect he needed and deserved.

Unfortunately, his bastard of a father, the same one who left his mother to die in poverty and him to run wild on the streets, took an interest. Seeing him sitting on the bench when his case went to court was a shock. But not as big a shock as being sentenced to ten years in the Imperial Navy.

That's just the first of Chase's nasty surprises as he finds himself among the Emperor's Own—The Wolfhounds. How and why his bastard father sent him there is a secret that only the base AI knows the answer to. When that same AI decides to use Chase to fulfill its own orders, Chase soon finds himself in a situation where if he doesn't die honorably in combat due to the enemy, his own side will arrange those circumstances for him.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, Chase is proving to be just as tough of a bastard as the man who sent him there.

©2023 John Van Stry (P)2024 Podium Audio
Adventure Military Science Fiction Space Opera Fiction Leadership

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All stars
Most relevant
I really don't know how to describe it apart from I want more amazing job

left me just wanting more

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The narrator lends no gravitas to the dialogue here; merrily chirping out lines that should have been afforded the dignity of professional, matter-of-fact delivery. He routinely misses implied inflections and ignorantly butchers the patently intended tone.

The story itself is enough to cock an incredulous eyebrow but the character interactions are where it really falls over. The author seems to hold female characters in the same regard as a horny teenager. This is perhaps in keeping with the protagonist's age and emotional maturity but utterly shatters any sense of credibility. Before long the story starts to shape up as a schoolboy's power fantasy and by the time it started getting a bit rapey I'd had quite enough.

Juvenile rubbish

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Iffy science, that is not how traits spread through populations *insert eye roll here*. Author uses this as an excuse for a male fantasy trope.

Iffy science

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