All posts by daddybear71
Today’s Earworm
Posted by daddybear71 on September 26, 2025
https://daddybearsden.com/2025/09/26/todays-earworm-925/
Book Review – Relics of the Fallen
Relics of the Fallen, by Nick Nethery, is the first book in what promises to be an engaging, character driven series that has just enough action and tension to keep you turning pages.
Dan Kelly, a battle-hardened Army bomb tech on the brink of retirement, can’t shake the ghosts of his fallen team from a long-ago war zone. When a shadowy government outfit called Wormwood recruits him, he’s thrust into a world of enigmatic weapons—artifacts of unearthly power, scattered across Earth like forgotten relics. Alien remnants? Echoes of a vanished human empire? Wormwood hunts for answers, but they’re not alone; darker forces crave these devices for chaos.
As Dan grapples with tech that warps reality and inflicts unseen wounds, he uncovers a chilling link to his past tragedy. From cartel tunnels beneath the border to high-stakes raids on illicit arms hubs, missions blur the line between duty and vengeance. A leak within threatens everything, forcing Dan to root out betrayal before a final assault where old enemies await.
In this gritty fusion of military precision and otherworldly mystery, redemption comes at a price—one explosive secret at a time.
Nethery does an excellent job at painting Dan, EOD tech, father, and all around good man, in intricate detail without resorting to an infodump.
The other characters, his wife, coworkers, and friends, fill out a world that is just one step away from our own. If you’ve ever served in a small military unit or something similar, you’ll get the dynamics easily.
The story flows easily and quickly. This is more than a shoot-em-up military adventure, but has a lot of the good elements of military fiction.
Overall, this is an excellent introduction to the author’s work and a great beginning to what I hope is a long-lived series.
Posted by daddybear71 on September 24, 2025
https://daddybearsden.com/2025/09/24/book-review-relics-of-the-fallen/
Today’s Earworm
Posted by daddybear71 on September 21, 2025
https://daddybearsden.com/2025/09/21/todays-earworm-908/
Today’s Earworm
Posted by daddybear71 on September 20, 2025
https://daddybearsden.com/2025/09/20/todays-earworm-924/
Today’s Earworm
Posted by daddybear71 on September 19, 2025
https://daddybearsden.com/2025/09/19/todays-earworm-917/
New Short Story Collection – Battle Buddy
Just dropped a new collection of short stories – Battle Buddy.
Several of these stories have previously appeared in other anthologies, but I’ve also added in several new stories.
- Battle Buddy – Previously published in “Impossible Hope” – A young woman has an unexpected visitor.
- Spider Religion – The tale of a young arachnid who has a life changing adventure.
- Business Lunch – A businessman meets with a hostile reporter
- Pilgrims – Previously published in “Saints of Malta” by Raconteur Press – While their passage to Rome is interrupted, Paul and Luke encounter a Roman with a problem.
- A Yuletide Missive – Ruarin, the Lady of Eyre, updates the family on her families adventures as the year comes to an end.
- Labor of Love – Daddybear the Miniviandian goes on a quest for his king, but must also complete a quest of love and honor.
- Strangers from the Sea – At the end of his flight from Troy, Aeneus must find a new home for his people.
- Incident at Spurgle Station – Previously published in “Space Marines” III by Raconteur Press – A young corporal leads his team on his first mission in charge. When everything goes wrong, you find a way to get to right.
- 50 Word Winter Story – A little fun trying to put a complete story in a small package.
- Trial By Arms – Previously published in “You Again?” by Raconteur Press – An Eyrisch judge must find the truth in the stories given by two opposing forces.
Many thanks to everyone who has encouraged me to get back on the horse, especially those that helped me make these stories better through alpha and beta reads.
Hope y’all enjoy it!
Posted by daddybear71 on September 18, 2025
https://daddybearsden.com/2025/09/18/new-short-story-collection-battle-buddy/
Today’s Earworm
Posted by daddybear71 on September 17, 2025
https://daddybearsden.com/2025/09/17/todays-earworm-922/
Today’s Earworm
Posted by daddybear71 on September 16, 2025
https://daddybearsden.com/2025/09/16/todays-earworm-921/
Learn From Their Mistakes
By now, you’ve heard about the horrific, public murder of Charlie Kirk.
You’ve also seen the avalanche of media coverage, the speeches by prominent political and media folks, and even the heartbreaking broadcast given by his widow this weekend.
You’ve probably seen the almost hourly updates on the investigation and arrest of the alleged perpetrator. The “He’s one of you!” and “No, he’s one of you!” argument started before the barrel of the rifle cooled, and it’s likely to continue for quite some time.
I’ll leave all of those subjects for those more informed and elequent than me.
What I want to discuss here is the wave of folks who, in the aftermath of Mr. Kirk’s assassination, stampeded to media, be it social or traditional or both, to expound on their joy at his death, how he ‘earned’ his fate, and how they would appreciate a second helping of political murder to go with it.
To their surprise, folks who agreed with Mr. Kirk or at least have a soul, started figuring out who these folks are, contacted their employers, and let the consequences fall where they may. Starting about 24 hours after the assassination, we started seeing “I GOT FIRED!!!” videos pop up. First they came one or two at a time, but very soon a tidal wave of disbelief and hystrionics crashed upon the shores of social media.
Apparently, when the rules used during COVID times and after the January 6 debacle are applied to those who danced in the blood of a godly man, it’s rather upsetting to some.
Whether or not this is a good thing can be discussed at length elsewhere, again by those who can do it better than me.
What I want to do is caution the folks on my side – Learn from their downfall.
Someday, someone prominent and controversial on the left side of the aisle is going to die. I truly hope that they die peacefully in their sleep, not in the manner in which Charlie Kirk died. When that happens, we need to keep control of that devil on our left shoulder and refrain from trumpeting whatever evil thoughts run through our minds.
Besides the fact that celebrating the death of another human being, with very few exceptions, is a horrible thing to do, we also need to make sure that there is no “You came after us for what we said about Charlie Kirk, now we’re going to come after you!” excuse for the left.
When that day comes, and it will come, show some humanity and intelligence. If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.
Posted by daddybear71 on September 15, 2025
https://daddybearsden.com/2025/09/15/learn-from-their-mistakes/
Today’s Earworm
Posted by daddybear71 on September 15, 2025
https://daddybearsden.com/2025/09/15/todays-earworm-916/














