James Axler

Deathlands — (1986-2011) Publisher: On a January day, a Presidential inauguration day, a one-megaton blast ripped through the Soviet embassy in Washington, D.C. Subsequent explosions around the globe changed the face and the shape of the earth forever. Out of the ruins emerged Deathlands. In this blasted heart of the new America, a group of people plan desperately to escape the eerie wastes and mutated life forms of their environment. Three warriors — the tough, intelligent Ryan Cawdor, a 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.

Find the rest of the Deathlands series here (There are more than 100 of them).

Pilgrimage to Hell

Pilgrimage to Hell is the first book in the long running Deathlands series. There are 100 volumes of Deathlands, written by 12 different authors under the house name James Axler. Pilgrimage to Hell was started by Christopher Lowder under the pen name Jack Adrian, but Lowder became ill and Laurence James stepped in to finish it under the penname James Axler. Pilgrimage to Hell is the one that started it all, and I've waited a long time to be able to read it.

Life as we know it was obliterated in a nuclear apocalypse in 2001. Pilgrimage to Hell takes place several generations after the nukes destroyed civilization. Ryan Cowdar and Krysty Wroth are the protagonists, though there is an array of supporting characters. Ryan is a mysterious bad ass with an eye patch, and Krysty is a tall, big-boobed, combat-trained, red-headed beauty. Together with their team of warrior merchants they take on the ruthless baron of a "Plague Pit" town.

I enjoy a good literary art piece as much as the next book nerd, but sometimes the old gray matter needs a break... well here it is. I've been looking for a good action Mad Max-like post-apocalyptic book for quite awhile. A literary masterpiece this most certainly isn't. Instead, Pilgrimage to Hell is exactly what you would expect it to be.

There is lots of bloody action and over-the-top characters, with some bawdy and macabre humor tossed in. If there were a template to be made for "Books for Dudes" this would be the mold to start with. The men are manly, the women are beautiful. Sex is brief and very "Dude-centric." It was the first time I'd seen the word "pumping" used to describe the act of intercourse. Mutants (Muties) and Cannibals (Cannies) are the common foe in the Deathlands.

Pilgrimage to Hell is awesome for the very same reasons that Chuck Norris, Rambo, and demolition derbies are awesome.  —Justin Blazier