Helton Strom is a just guy between contracts when he runs afoul of officialdom and pirates. He is left with nothing but the clothes on his back, not even citizenship to his name. Is the ancient, broken down military surplus starship and the young lady living aboard it the key to a bright future, or will his repairs and new mercenary friends reawaken the demons lurking in the ship’s murky and lethal past to come back and deliver a world of destruction? The Stars Came Back is part space-western, the story of folks just trying stay alive and get things working, finding jobs to earn money for repairs to get to the next job, with action and adventure along the way. Part mystery, because it is not obvious where it’s all going, and not everything is as it seems to the characters. Part military sci-fi, with a company of mercenaries, spaceship combat, mortar and rifle combat, spear and shield battle, and PTSD. Part philosophical investigation, pondering the lessons of Achilles, whether a computer can have a soul, what does freedom mean, and how do you stop a bar fight with earplugs? Written in something much like a screenplay format, the book includes several graphics, including "blueprints" of the ship.

Helton Strom is just a guy between contracts when he runs afoul of both planetary officialdom and space pirates. He is left with nothing but the clothes on his back, and not even a citizenship to his name. Is the ancient, broken-down military surplus starship and the young lady living aboard it the key to a bright future, or will his repairs and new mercenary friends reawaken the demons lurking in the ship’s murky and lethal past? BACK FROM THE DEAD is the first book in The Stars Came Back series. It is a space western, the story of regular folks just trying stay alive, seeking work to earn money for repairs to get to the next job, with no shortage of action and adventure along the way. It is military sci-fi, featuring a company of mercenaries, spaceship combat, mortar and rifle combat, spear-and-shield battle, and post-traumatic stress disorder. And it is a philosophical investigation, pondering everything from the lessons of Achilles to how one stops a bar fight with earplugs. IMPORTANT: note that BACK FROM THE DEAD is the prose version of the first half of the screenplay-format original THE STARS CAME BACK. **