Deathlands Series by James Axler
Deathlands #1
Pilgrimage to Hell d-1
James Axler
On a crisp January day, a Presidential Inauguration day, a one-megaton blast ripped through the Soviet embassy in Washington DC. Subsequent explosions around the globe changed the face and the shape of the earth forever. Out of the ruins emerged Deathlands, a world that conspired against survival. In the blasted heart of the new America, a group of men and women plan desperately to escape the eerie wastes and mutated life forms of their nuclear hell. Three Warriors — the tough, intelligent Ryan Cawdor, an enigmatic beauty called Krysty Wroth, and the armorer J.B. Dix, — set out on a harrowing journey to find a rumored enclave high in the mountains. Their aim: to unlock the secrets of pre-war scientific experiments that could hold the answer to survival in the Deathlands of the future.
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Deathlands #2
Red Holocaust d-2
James Axler
When all is lost, there’s always the future. But the future is a world shrouded in the radioactive red dust clouds of a generation — old global nuclear war depends on finding hidden caches of food, weapons, and technology — the legacy of a pre-holocaust society — stashed in lonely outposts known as redoubts. When Ryan Cawdor discovers a redoubt in the bitter freakish wasteland that now passes for Alaska, he also uncovers a new threat to a slowly re-emerging America. Roaming bands of survivors have crossed the Bering strait from Russia to pillage Alaska and use it as the staging ground for an impending invasion of America. In Deathlands, the war for domination is over, but the struggle for survival continues.
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Deathlands #3
Neutron Solstice d-3
James Axler
A generation after a global nuclear war Louisiana is a fetid, sullen landscape of impenetrable swamps and grotesquely mutated wildlife. Above the gnarled bayous, radioactive red dust clouds race across the sky on nuclear winds: below, thick mud sucks at a man’s boots. Now and then a biting acid rain falls, swept in on the boiling winds from the Gulf. In the reeking swampland that was the Mississippi basin, neutron bombs have left barren cityscapes the territories of small groups of bitterly opposed survivors. Ryan Cawdor and his companions Krysty Wroth and J.B. Dix come upon one such group who are striving to revive life on earth the way it was before the bombs fell. But they’re up against a postholocaust feudal lord who’s just as determined to wipe them out. In the Deathlands, the world blew out in 2001. The future is emerging.
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Deathlands #4
Crater Lake d-4
James Axler
Near what was one the Pacific Northwest, Ryan Cawdor and his roving band of post-holocaust survivors discover a beautiful valley untouched by the nuclear blast that changed the earth forever. Resisting the temptation to settle in that idyllic land, the group is captured and forced deep beneath an extinct volcano to an isolated community of in-bred scientists. These psychopathic descendants of a twentieth-century government research team are blindly laboring to find better ways of genocide, unaware that the world they are striving to destroy has already died. In a frantic race to stop this bizarre society from testing its horrific weapons, Ryan realizes that if he fails an already nuke— scorched Earth faces another Armageddon. In the Deathlands the past and the future are clashing with frightening force.
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Deathlands #5
Homeward Bound d-5
James Axler
Ryan Cawdor’s post holocaust odyssey across America is about to come full circle — Ryan Cawdor is going home. Forced away from Front Royal years earlier by a power-mad brother who had already committed fratricide, Ryan had roamed a devastated America searching out the small pockets of life where civilization was being reborn. Emerging from a gateway in the ruins of New York City, Ryan decides to put his own house in order — it’s time to avenge the deaths of his father and older brother. Accompanied by Krysty Wroth and J.B. Dix, Ryan Cawdor comes face to face with the harsh reality of post holocaust America. In the Deathlands, honor and fair play are words of the past. Vengeance is a word to live by.
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Deathlands #7
Dectra Chain d-7
James Axler
The world blew out in 2001. Vast areas of what was the United States lie beneath an umbrella of noxious dust and radioactive debris, a mantel of destruction drawn over a land of doom. Much of the east coast has been obliterated; the Southwest is a land of fire; cities of smoldering ash have given birth to horrifically mutated life forms. Such is the Deathlands, legacy of global annihilation. But there were survivors, struggling to overcome a dark new age of plague, radiation sickness, barbarism and madness. Out of the ruins come Ryan Cawdor and his band of post holocaust survivors, whose odyssey of discovery takes them in search of other pockets of civilization. Emerging from a gateway in Maine, Ryan confronts a ruthless and brutal sea captain, a woman prepared to go to any lengths to get what she wants…
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Deathlands #8
Ice and Fire d-8
James Axler
Snakefish, California, is rich in the currency of post-holocaust America. Gasoline. Almost leveled by the soviet missiles that annihilated most of the West Coast, Snakefish is in the midst of a reconstruction, financed by a commodity far more valuable than the usual Deathlands jack. But greed and man's lust for power threaten to shatter the hard won peace and tranquillity of this fledgling community as disparate factions that fight for control of the substance that will give them wealth beyond their wildest dreams. Ryan Cawdor and his companions emerge from a gateway and step into the path of a smoldering war for power.
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Deathlands #9
Red Equinox d-9
James Axler
Three generations after nuclear blasts all but vaporized the Earth, a group of warrior survivalists led by a charismatic man named Ryan Cawdor roam the hostile environment called Deathlands. Their quest becomes a grim struggle for survival as they search for a better life beyond the nuke-ravaged cities. And it is one such harrowing journey that brings them to the heart of Moscow. Beneath a mantle of chemical clouds an strontium snow, the former jewel in Russia's crown is teeming with a bizarre mix of mutated beings and old enemies all intent on killing Ryan and his band of post-holocaust survivors. A new dark age has dawned with the hope of a promised land. But in the Deathlands, hope is not enough.
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Deathlands #10
Northstar Rising d-10
James Axler
A generation after a global nuclear catastrophe, Minnesota is a steamy tropical environment of lush plants and horrifically mutated insects. Emerging torn and battered after a triple jump through the gateways, Ryan Cawdor and his band of post-holocaust survivors discover an abandoned cyronics complex — a doomed fantasy begun a century before in a world far away from Deathlands. Dr. Mildred Wyeth is successfully revived from subzero suspended animation and joins the team of warrior survivalists. In the jungles of Minnesota, the group discovers yet another freakish legacy of a world gone hideously wrong: Vikings. In the Deathlands, the past and the future are clashing with frightening force.
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Deathlands #67
Death Hunt
James Axler
LIMITED TENUREThe treacherous new world of post-nuclear America guarantees no inalienable rights—no promises of freedom, liberty or justice for all. Instead, chaos and bloodlust thrive—but so do the innate strengths of the human spirit, and the virtues of honor and courage. Ryan Cawdor has endured the worst that Deathlands has to offer and continues to push on, leading his companions through a land of madness and treachery, seizing each new day with a deep, primal hope that refuses to die
.SURVIVAL OF THE FITTESTRyan's razor-sharp edge has been dulled by the loss of his son, Dean—but grief is an emotion he cannot indulge if the band is to escape the chains of sadistic Baron Ethan. His thriving ville offers a special commodity: blood sport. Now with the group's armorer, JB Dix, imprisoned and near death, Ryan and the others are forced to join Ethan's hunt—as the hunted. But the perverse and powerful baron has changed the rules. Skilled in mind control, he ensures the warriors will not be tracked by high-paying thrill-seekers. Instead, they will hunt each other—to the death. In the Deathlands, the odds of survival just got worse
.
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Deathlands #69
Black Harvest
James Axler
GRIM AWAKENINGShockwaves of atomic destruction turned 22nd-century America into a hellzone, but in the ruins the human spirit remains unconquerable. Daily survival depends on raw courage and a deadly aim, and with his warrior band Ryan Cawdor roams the forbidding new frontier known as Deathlands, determined to unlock its secrets
.RELENTLESS GRIPEmerging from a gateway in the midwest, Ryan senses trouble within the well-fortified ville of a local baron, whose understanding of pre-Dark medicine may be their one chance to save a wounded Jak. But while his whitecoats can make the drugs that heal, the baron knows the real power and money is in the hardcore Deathlands jolt. And where drugs and riches go, death shadows every step, no matter which side of a firefight you stand on
. In the Deathlands, tomorrow is never just another day.
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Deathlands #70
Vengeance Trail
James Axler
DAWN AFTER DARKAs megalomaniac barons and savage anarchy compete to lay claim to post-nuclear America, perseverance and a will to live are what keep Ryan Cawdor and his band of warrior survivalists roving through the worst and best of a new world. Armed with secrets of pre-Dark tech, they possess what few in Deathlands can imagine: hope for a better tomorrow.END OF THE LINERyan Cawdor is gunned down and left for dead by the new provisional U.S. Army, commanded by a brilliant general with a propensity for casual mass murder and a vision to rebuild America. Waging war from his pre-Dark, fusion-powered armored locomotive, he's poised to unlock the secrets of the Gateways—as the rest of Ryan's group stand powerless. All except one. Hope may be lost for Krysty Wroth. But revenge is enough. In the Deathlands, vengeance is the only justice.
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Deathlands #73
Labyrinth
James Axler
No Time to Lose It took only minutes for human history to derail in a mushroom cloud -- now more than a century later, whatever destiny lies ahead for humanity is bound by the rules that have governed survival since the dawn of time: part luck, part skill and part hard experience. For Ryan Cawdor and his band, survival in Deathlands means keeping hold of what you have -- or losing it along with your life. Born to Die In the ancient canyons of New Mexico, the citizens of Little Pueblo prepare to sacrifice Ryan and his companions to demons locked inside a twentieth-century dam project. But in a world where nuke-spawned predators feed upon weak and srong alike, Ryan knows avenging eternal spirits aren't a part of the game. Especially when these freaks spit yellow acid -- and their creators are the whitecoat masterminds of genetic recombination, destroyed by theri mutant offspring born of sin and science gone horribly wrong...
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Deathlands #77
Cannibal Moon
James Axler
POUND OF FLESHIn the hostile new world of postnuclear America, there are many ways to die, but few are clean or quick. Long ago Ryan Cawdor and his band threw in their lot together—to do or die trying. It was a pact sealed in blood, one of selflessness and sacrifice that put a premium on the value of loyalty, friendship and honor—and the blind faith that survival is a better option than certain death.FEEDING FRENZYCompassion is a luxury in a brutal land where life is cheap, but Dr. Mildred Wyeth holds fast to her physician's oath to show mercy. Now she's stricken by a plague that brings on a deep craving for human flesh. Unwilling to lose one of their own to this pervasive pestilence without a fight, the companions follow the trail to Cajun country, where the mysterious queen of the Cannies is rumored to possess the only antidote to the grim fate that awaits Mildred
and perhaps her warrior friends.
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Deathlands #81
Desert Kings
James Axler
BURNING EMBRACEMore than a century past the fiery dawn of post-nuclear America, Ryan Cawdor and his companions journey across a land lost yet reborn, where lawless violence and human perseverance clash, and unsolved mysteries hint at redemption. Though hope lingers under the blood and the dust, looking blindly toward the future is the surest way to get killed. Staying hard and cold for today is the only way to survive....NEMESIS RISINGTraversing the terrain of Utah, Ryan Cawdor and his warrior survivalists find new evidence that the past is alive and dangerous--with a score to settle. Once before they'd battled and destroyed the brilliant and cunning cyborg known as Delphi, but he's reborn and ready to continue his drive for domination. His vast understanding of preDark tech, his cadre of well-armed cutthroats and his legions of worshippers make him monstrous in his quest for power. And he's eager for the keys to the kingdom that only the legendary Deathlands survivors--and their secrets--can help him attain.
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Deathlands #84
Plague Lords (Empire of Xibalba, #1)
James Axler
After a century of chaos following the nukes, Deathlands is forming pockets of civilization, aided by predark stockpiles of weapons, fuel and pieces of 21st-century knowledge. But these troves are hard to come by, and survival remains a blood quest. For Ryan Cawdor and his warrior survivalists, luck is sparse, chances slimmer, yet hope drives them onward.The sulphur-teeming Gulf of Mexico is the poisoned end of the earth, but loaded cargo ships ruined by skydark lure doomie and cutthroat alike. Here, Ryan and the others glean rumors of whole cities deep in South America that survived the blast intact. But as the companions contemplate a course of action that may divide them, a new horror approaches unseen on the horizon. The Lords of Death are Mexican pirates raiding stockpiles with a grim vengeance. When civilization hits rock bottom, a new stone age will emerge, with its own personal day of blood reckoning.In the Deathlands, the future could always be worse. Now it is....
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Deathlands #85
Dark Resurrection
James Axler
Postnuclear America has changed little since the primal leveling of the twenty-first century. Warrior survivalists Ryan Cawdor and his band live by a code that honors the kind of absolute freedom only a raw frontier can provide. Until rumors of a wider, more prosperous world than the Deathlands thriving deep in Mexico, untouched by the nukecaust, lure them into uncharted waters..Captured by the pirate foot soldiers of the mysterious Lords of Death, Ryan Cawdor and his companions sail into a surreal world where electric lights blaze but blood terror reigns. In Veracruz, Mexico, Ryan is marked for slaughter, his effigy linked to an ancient deity. Helpless, Krysty, Dix and the others await a horrifying fate at the hands of whitecoats manipulating pre-dark plague warfare. As the Lords of Death unleash their demonic vision, hope - for Ryan, the others and nascent civilization - appears irrevocably lost.
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Deathlands #98
Tainted Cascade
James Axler
PRIMAL SALVAGEThe blighted aftermath of a global nuclear showdown, Deathlands exacts a blood price. The living pay it; the dead don't care. For one legendary band of warriors, this barbaric new world holds a chance for redemption: the secrets of the past. They roam a disfigured America, searching for pre-dark tech...seeking the path to a future worth living.VICTORY SPOILSUtah's Great Salt Lake Desert remains a death pit of scorching heat, cannies and grim odds. Ryan Cawdor and his group survive the trek there, only to be drugged, robbed and left for the slave trade. Escaping their captors leaves them alive but stripped of their prized gear: their weps, J. B. Dix's glasses, Dr. Mildred Wyeth's medical kit and, worse, her secret codex. The companions must rely on each other to challenge their enemy and settle the score.
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Deathlands #104
Palaces of Light
James Axler
LOST VISTAS Remnants of America's past are littered across the postapocalyptic landscape, but little remains of the predark ideals of law and order. Survival is a blood quest, and lethal force the means to power. Still, a handful retains their humanity among thecoldhearts, and in a world where nothing lasts forever, hope is a commodity as precious as jack. DIVIDE AND CONQUER Steeped in beauty and mysticism, the canyons of Mesa Verde, Colorado, survived the blast that altered the American west. Hired to track a group of missing children, Ryan Cawdor and his band follow the trail to a legendary city carved in stone, older and stronger than the nukecaust. The inhabitants of the palaces of light are more than warriors and survivors; they are masters of mind games that prey on illusion. And true believers in a metaphysical end game poised to push the companions over the edge of reality...into certain death.
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Deathlands #108
Nemesis
James Axler
CRUEL DISPENSATION Burying the past in a nuclear cull, Deathlands spares no one from its punishing assault. In this grim new reality, there's little to live-or die-for, except the possibility of unlocking the mysteries of the past. Ryan Cawdor and his group of fellow survivors scour the perilous land for sanctuary in a world where nothing is guaranteed but death.PAROLE OF THE DAMNEDHiring on as crew to a merchant's wag-train, Ryan and his companions anticipate trouble as they head west toward what was once Montana. The terrain is treacherous, but the company is worse as anger, jealousy and male rivalry erupt into chaos and death. But as they get closer to their destination, the true nature of the journey unfolds. There's a map to a mysterious valley rich with predark stockpiles. But is it the promised land they've been seeking...or the dead end they never saw coming?
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Deathlands #113
Motherlode
James Axler
COERCION VORTEX The cost of living disintegrated after America's nuclear cull, and a life in Deathlands—any life—is dirt cheap. But those few who manage to stay alive in the savage new reality must travel the hellgrounds any way they can. For Ryan Cawdor and his fellow survivors, that means denying the pull toward savagery, and clinging to what little humanity they have left, when they can afford it. SEEDS OF SUSTAINABLITY Desperately short of supplies, Ryan and his companions are forced to seek help at the prosperous-looking ville of Amity Springs. Hired on to retrieve a stolen relic, they quickly become caught up in an escalating power struggle between two strong-willed lady barons. Each woman covets the cache of predark goods buried in the ville's backyard. But they are not alone in their desire. And all that stands between a motherlode of buried bounty and the destructive power of unchecked greed is Ryan's grim determination to survive another day. The final frontier isn't in space…it's in Deathlands.**
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