The Best of the Worst

By Blaine L. Pardoe

"Take me to the Brig. I want to see the 'real Marines.'"
--Lieutenant General Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller

Aliens have invaded Earth. They rose from the oceans, fielded biologically evolved armies, and hit every coast on the globe at once. This is not a war the Pentagon planned for. The United States has taken devastating losses, and most coastal cities are already swarming with the enemy.

Staff Sergeant Chet Chisholm has orders from the top of the Marine Corps: go to the brig, find the right personnel, and offer them a deal--fight, and their criminal records disappear. The Corps needs bodies. It needs killers. It needs men and women who already know how to break rules and survive the consequences.

Can anyone turn a squad of the Marine Corps' worst into a combat unit? When the shooting starts, will they stand and fight--or turn tail and run? Chisholm will need every dirty trick in the book to beat these reprobates into shape. The odds are against him. Then again, Chisholm doesn't play by the rules any more than his Black Sheep do.

The Best of the Worst is Book 1 of Chisolm's Black Sheep--a new entry-level series into Blaine L. Pardoe's bestselling LAND&SEA universe of oceanic alien invasion, near-future military science fiction, and hard-hitting unit-level combat. Perfect for readers who want dirty-dozen Marines, coastal warfare, and aliens that don't come from the stars--they come from the sea.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0H5JJWFYW
• ISBN13: 9798889221760
• Release Date: June 2026
• Publisher: Wargate Nova
• Length: 278 Pages