Shiplord: A First Contact Technothriller (Earth's Last Gambit Book 3)

Damaged and left for dead, one spaceship must stop an alien planet-killer headed for Earth.

As the alien vessel once known as the MOAD turns its deadly sights towards Earth, the survivors of the first human mission to Europa face their greatest trial yet. Stranded, and under constant attack, acting commander Jack Kildare is determined to return the Spirit of Destiny safely to Earth. But when his desperate warnings go unheeded at home, Jack is forced to confront the reality that he and his crew will have no place to return to if the alien ship arrives at Earth unchallenged.

Forgotten, alone and left to die without any assistance from Earth, Jack and his surviving crewmates have no choice. Embarking on a life-or-death pursuit of the alien behemoth that now has Earth in its crosshairs, they find help in the oddest of places… a group of dissident aliens brought on board the Spirit of Destiny. Unfortunately for the crew, the alien passengers dangerously overload the ship's life-support capacity, and Jack must fight off challenges to his authority from the very people he's trying to save.

With the heavily burdened Spirit of Destiny launched into a perilous homewards trajectory, the chase is on. Can Jack and his ragtag crew manage to beat the impossible odds of catching up to the alien planet-killer? Or will his ship and crew’s survival be imperiled by his generous decision to help the refugees? The future of humanity depends on the Spirit of Destiny ... if it can reach Earth in time ... and if there's anyone left alive on board when it gets there.

ABOUT SHIPLORD: Shiplord is the third book of a fast-paced quartet of technothrillers. It contains hard science fiction elements in the tradition of The Martian and other science-based thrillers. You won't need a calculator to follow the story, but if you'd like to build a spaceship to the Spirit of Destiny's specifications, it really will take you to Jupiter! ($300 billion budget not included.)

Killshot, the last book in the Earth's Last Gambit Quartet, will be published soon.