Holding Their Own Books in Order

Economic crisis and coordinated terrorist attacks bring down American infrastructure and government. A middle-class couple must rely on their preparedness and adaptability as they travel through a society sliding into anarchy, where familiar assumptions about safety no longer apply.

Bishop and Terri are pulled away from their West Texas retreat as rival groups compete to direct America's recovery. With federal authority weakened and military loyalties divided, the couple must navigate a dangerous struggle over who will rebuild the country.

As the federal government struggles to maintain order after society's collapse, an opposition movement creates the possibility of civil war. Bishop and Terri become entangled in the conflict while trying to rescue an old friend and protect their country's future.

The Alliance's communities are rebuilding, but approaching war and internal treachery threaten their progress. Bishop undertakes an especially difficult mission through the dangerous post-collapse landscape, while he and Terri confront obstacles to creating a more secure life.

The recovery of the Texas town of Alpha attracts both support and hostile ambition. Competition over electricity becomes a flashpoint as Bishop, Terri, and their neighbors struggle to rebuild amid political rivalries that threaten to revive the violence of old range wars.

With the president dead and competing military forces threatening civil war, Bishop and Terri hope to retreat to West Texas and prepare for their growing family. Instead, a struggle to control the country's remains draws them back into danger.

Treachery turns Bishop into an outlaw, forcing him and his family into exile while friends attempt to clear his name. Crossing a fractured landscape of struggling communities, they seek shelter as the Alliance faces threats to its unity.

As the federal government withdraws from Texas, the Alliance establishes priorities for rebuilding energy, agriculture, transport, communications, and security. Three linked novelettes follow Bishop, Terri, and their companions as they attempt to prevent famine and anarchy among millions of survivors.

Bishop's effort to give Terri a break from Alliance leadership leaves them caught in a modern range war. Meanwhile, Nick's mission to integrate another community exposes dictatorship and sparks a manhunt, threatening the recovery they have worked to sustain.

Pressure on the Alliance's leadership creates opportunities for revenge as its rebuilding efforts demand difficult decisions. Bishop and Terri become caught in a conspiracy threatening their relationship and the republic, where mistrust within their own circle may prove especially destructive.

Bishop and Terri hope for a quiet ranch life as Texas rebuilds after government collapse. New dangers threaten the Alliance's stability, placing leadership responsibilities back on the couple as they balance their family's needs with the survival of their wider community.

A massacre near the Rio Grande sends Bishop's team into a politically fraught investigation. When Butter becomes entangled with a woman needing help and faces a death sentence, Bishop and Terri must rescue him without provoking a disastrous conflict.

Diana's reelection campaign becomes a bitter struggle as a ruthless challenger exploits divisions within the Alliance. At the same time, Bishop investigates a spreading crime wave and discovers treachery capable of pushing the recovering nation toward civil war.

Terri remains deeply affected by events in Forest Mist, and Bishop struggles to help her recover. Evidence that Blackjack Jones survives sends him and old friends on a dangerous mission against a criminal leader protected by an empire of violence.

Bishop and Terri combine an anniversary journey with a search for building materials in the lumber town of Forest Mist. Instead of a peaceful trip, they encounter a local struggle that challenges their values and threatens the Alliance's cohesion.

Before society's collapse, Bishop's assignment protecting company assets in Ukraine draws him into a plot against the government in Kyiv. Fleeing across Europe with an injured woman central to the conspiracy tests skills he and Terri will later need to survive.

An attack on Pete's Meraton bar draws Bishop into a struggle against an organized criminal force threatening post-apocalyptic Texas. Terri joins him as intimidation and corruption spread, placing their friend's livelihood and the Alliance's recovery at risk.

A range war reaches Texas and pulls Bishop between a ruthless gang and determined adversaries willing to stop it at any cost. Arrested and outmaneuvered, he calls on former comrades as the conflict threatens the town of Meraton.