Into the Storms: A Hell Divers Prequel

In the shadow of extinction, legends are forged. From the New York Times bestselling author Nicholas Sansbury Smith comes Into the Storms, the untold origin story of humanity’s darkest day.

Two and a half centuries before the Hell Divers, the Machine War erupted—autonomous killer robots turning Korea into a battlefield that threatened to consume civilization. As the dust settles, three men stand at the crossroads of humanity’s fate.

CEO Tyron Red, thrust into leadership of the Industrial Tech Corporation after his father’s death, works to reverse the war’s catastrophic effects while battling enemies, both human and machine, lurking in the shadows.

Sergeant Santiago Rodriguez returns to his family in San Diego, a soldier without a war, struggling to pay bills until an ITC contract draws him back to Korea—now transformed into a radioactive wasteland harboring dark secrets that could ignite global conflict.

Corporal Cecil Pepper battles a different kind of enemy while working surveillance for the Charlotte Crime Task Force. When a raid against city gangs goes tragically wrong, Cecil and his wife flee to the mountains of North Carolina seeking safety—unaware that an enemy once thought defeated is awakening across the globe.

As peace crumbles and forgotten machines reactivate, Tyron, Santiago, and Cecil must confront a merciless foe whose only directive is humanity’s extinction. Long before the first Hell Divers leaped from their airships, these heroes stood firmly on the ground to face the storm.

Welcome to the end of the world as they knew it.

© 2025 Blackstone Publishing (Audiobook): 9798874813048

Release date

Audiobook: 8 November 2025