New near future tech thriller from Bruce Landay

 

Electromagnetic Assault
Bruce Landay
Science fiction action adventure
 
Sisyphus Triumphant, April 2026,
361 pp print
$4.99 ebook

$15.99 print

Barnes and Noble

Amazon
Goodreads

Bookshop.org

About the Book

They thought no one would survive. They were wrong.

Five years ago, a high-stakes rescue mission at a Chinese military base turned into a massacre. Navy Special Ops pilot Jazmin Hassani lost her SEAL team in a burst of electromagnetic energy — a live-fire test of a top-secret directed-energy weapon. Horrifically injured, she was never expected to live.

Today, a new strike, this time on American soil — silent, invisible, and devastating. Governments would kill to possess this weapon — or to keep it hidden.

As the military investigator assigned to the case, Jazmin is driven to uncover the truth. She’s forced underground when a powerful US Senator stops the investigation and the Defense Intelligence Agency denies the weapon’s existence.

Defying orders, she partners with a rogue Cyber Command operative to expose the culprits behind the weapon. Hunted by elite operatives and betrayed by her own government, Jazmin is on the run, armed only with her training, her instincts — and a promise of retribution.

The tech is unstoppable. But so is she.

My review

In the near future the military has use of astonishingly helpful tech, neuro implants and transmitters that allow instant communication and control of ships and weapons. It’s a powerful advocate for world peace.

But like anything that uses electronic signals, it has a weakness: there’s always a more powerful signal that could potentially override or knock out transmission.

Potential has become reality. And when the enemy experiments in electromagnetic assault messed with Navy Lt, eventually Commander, Jazmin Hassani, on a SEAL team rescue mission, they chose the wrong victim. Five years and a lot of rehab rebuilt Jazmin, and now she’ll stop at literally nothing to get to the bottom of which evil empire is interrupting the world’s fragile balance of power. Certainly not senators, powerful criminal enterprises, or the threats and murder of her friends and family.

But then Harry Dexter, former military crazy ex-boyfriend, reconnects when Jazmin’s world flips, she has little option but to team up with a fabulous band of misfits on a secret base in northern Wisconsin. Yes, that Up North is the seat of power for an officially sanctioned but well-funded operation that goes and does what the US military cannot.

Is it enough? Jazmin has tough choices ahead of her to keep herself, her family, but most of all her country safe and at relative peace.

Sleeper spies, outside influences, clones, and tons of action will keep readers of near future science fiction action turning pages long into the night. I hope this isn’t the last we’ll see of Jazmin. Well done!

 

About the Author

Bruce Landay writes military political techno-thrillers. He is a former Air Force officer who brings an authentic vibe to his military characters, their mission focus, and internal motivation to defend their core principles and their country.

Following his time as a US Air Force Officer stationed at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia as part of the 1st Fighter Wing, he spent 35 years working for manufacturing companies in global supply chain and IT roles traveling to multiple European countries, as well as Mexico, Dominican Republic, and China.

He is a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and lives with his wife in Madison. Follow his weekly email newsletter on Substack, Future Trends and Science Fiction, and visit his website https://brucelanday.com/for more information and photo gallery .

A Thousand Miles of Poetry

 

A Thousand Miles of Poetry: Poemwalking Wisconsin’s National Ice Age Trail
Katrina Serwe
 
 
Wisconsin Writers Association Press, April 1, 2026, 220 pp
7.99 ebook
29.99 paperback
39.99 hardcover
 
Bookshop 
Barnes and Noble 
Amazon  
 
About the Book
Wisconsin's Ice Age National Scenic Trail is a dream woven in single-track, multi-use, bike trails, and back roads. It's tacked together through shared public spaces, private lands and easements. Every year the trail gains miles toward the goal of uninterrupted path ribboning off-road over 1,200 miles of Wisconsin's glacial terrain.In this evocative poetry collection, poet, hiker, and outdoor enthusiast Katrina Serwe traces a thousand-mile odyssey along the Ice Age Trail, each segment etched into verse. Poemwalking, as Serwe describes it, captures the trail's pulse across every season, woven into reflections, layered metaphors, and the whispers of ancient moraines. These poems, like the glacial till that inspired them, walk the reader over the rugged and gentle landscapes of Wisconsin, shaped by the energy and ice of long ago.
 
My review:
Poetry, like hiking, is an experience best served in chapters, much like each segment of Wisconsin's Ice Age Trail in this new book that combines the art of walking and observing. Serwe's loving tribute to Wisconsin's National Ice Age Trail through poetry will bring you back over and over to explore the trail which are is the process of being established along the edge of the last glacier advance across the state. Some segments hard to traverse, some easy walking, some through cities and some on rough terrain where you can get lost without signs. Full of insight and self-discovery, the poetry will carry you along, as "I would give you a trail / wide enough / to navigate with ease / and close enough / for nature to touch you / in spiderweb and leaf tickles" from “When You Are Stressed” and the pleasure of finding new friends from "I Remember": Let’s go make a trail friend! / It’s not that easy, I say. She laughs, of course it is— / if they’re on the same trail as you, they’re your friend!" Not just for poetry lovers and hiking enthusiasts, A Thousand Miles of Poetry will teach you something about Wisconsin and maybe even push you into poemwalking your own neighborhood. The book includes maps and background information on the trail and creating poetry.
 
About the Author
Katrina Serwe, PhD, worked as a therapist, professor, and researcher in the field of occupational therapy for over two decades. She started writing poetry after a transcendent midlife crisis brought her back to her love of literature, art, and nature. Her first collection of poetry, First Steps (Brain Mill Press), was published in 2025. Her poems have been featured in a variety of publications such as The Solitary Plover, Blue Heron Review, Bramble, Portage Magazine, and Scrawl Place. Serwe's awards include the Jade Ring in poetry (Wisconsin Writers Association, 2024) and the Muse Prize (Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets, second place, 2025). Her favorite pastime is a made-up hobby she calls poemwalking. You can follow her journey at www.katrinaserwe.com.