Reviews
Review by Jamie Michele for READERS FAVORITE
Review Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers’ Favorite
Scott Franz’s Patriots of the King’s Table is set in a 2034 United States controlled by an authoritarian regime, where former outdoorsman Nick Ehrlich becomes the last surviving courier for a secret archive exposing decades of coordinated political manipulation inside the American government. After longtime friends Arty Mesner and Shawn Reynolds are murdered during a covert meeting, Nick escapes into the Appalachian wilderness carrying the Document they died protecting. Regime commander Rolf Visser launches a nationwide manhunt because the papers allegedly prove that manufactured national emergencies allowed powerful officials to dismantle constitutional freedoms over thirty-three years. While hiding in remote mountain territory, Nick encounters environmental scientist Gwen Walker, whose accidental involvement places her directly in the regime’s path. Their journey changes from simple survival into an effort to take the Document across the Canadian border before Visser captures them. Every death, ambush, betrayal, and sacrifice is linked to that single mission.
Scott Franz’s Patriots of the King’s Table is a brilliant American pursuit story, and the author is masterful in piling on the thrills, whether it is a fist-pump moment of destroying a military helicopter with an RPG launcher or hiding inside a transport trailer loaded with frozen beef carcasses. Nick is a fully fleshed out and likeable character. Under extreme circumstances, his humanity and decency are never stripped away, especially toward people risking their lives to help him. Franz gives ancillary characters equal treatment, and I love retired marine officer James Bergman and his calm generosity, arranging multi-state transport through Patriot resistance contacts. The landscapes and settings are utterly cinematic, from the wilderness refuge of King’s Table and its twin waterfalls and enormous limestone cliffs, to a Minneapolis resistance bunker where fugitives survive in constant fear of surveillance patrols. Readers who adore wilderness survival fiction, anti-authoritarian thrillers, armed resistance stories, and fugitive pursuits across rural America will like this book. Very highly recommended.
June 4, 2026
EXPLORE AUTHORS MAGAZINE — REVIEW By ELIJAH BRENT
Truth. Definition: the real facts about a situation, event, or person.
The truth is a powerful tool. No matter how hard someone tries to bury it, no matter how long it takes, the truth is eventually revealed, which is precisely why authoritarian regimes despise it. Once the truth comes out, everything built upon the initial deception falls apart. But uncovering it requires immense bravery, even in the face of death.
Three friends discovered a secret capable of bringing down the authoritarian Regime until they were found out. When the dust settled, only Nick Ehrlich is left alive. With the memories of his friends and the truth in his arms, Nick must get himself and the world-altering documents across the border and out of the hands of the Regime’s vicious hunters or else the truth dies in the dark…
Author, science communicator, and journalist, Matthew S. Williams, once said, “The true test of one’s mettle is whether or not they will cling to what they believe in, even in the face of impending death.” And in Patriots of the King’s Table by Scott Franz, readers will see how hard both sides will cling to their beliefs, and how much they lose because of it.
Patriots of the King’s Table takes place in an alternate version of the United States of America in 2034, thirty years after the Regime came into power and held a vice grip on the American people after several calamities ultimately weakened the country from the inside out.
What sets this novel apart from its contemporaries is how terrifyingly plausible it is.
Unlike his contemporaries, who rely on far-flung, fantastical technology to achieve a conspiracy of this grand a scale, Franz crafts a conspiracy that is set in a grounded, tangible reality, which adds a realistic layer to a terrifying conspiracy that feels entirely believable.
While Nick is a compelling protagonist, the supporting cast also get their time in the spotlight. We meet Gwen Walker, an EPA geologist who unwittingly kickstarts the plot, Uncle Larry, aka Lawrence Walker, Gwen’s world-weary survivalist uncle, and Rolf Visser, Hunter of the Regime and the sadistic Javert to Nick’s Valjea.
While the plot moves at a quick pace due to the cat-and-mouse game between Visser and Nick, Franz manages to keep each character’s voice distinct and consistent throughout the novel. This quick pace also makes the quieter moments in the novel, where the character building between Nick, Gwen, and Larry, and the eventual romance between Nick and Gwen, more impactful.
Special mention must go to how Franz handles the memory of Arty and Shawn. Too often in fiction, deceased loved ones are forgotten as the plot progresses and new characters are introduced as their replacements.
Franz avoids this trope.
Through Nick’s memories, we learn who Arty and Shawn were, how their bond formed, and how each of them discovered the truth of the Regime, all leading up to the trio’s official introduction at the beginning. Witnessing the trio share one final laugh at the beginning of the book, knowing how it ends for two of them, is heartbreaking and is reminiscent of the tragic end to the friendship between the protagonist Arisu and his two friends Karube and Chota of Alice in Borderland. Even until the very end, Arty and Shawn, and the memories Nick had of them, remain at the forefront of the story until the very end.
With likable characters, a terrifyingly realistic plot, well-written action scenes, and a cliffhanger conclusion that leaves you wanting more, Patriots of the King’s Table is a gripping start to a new series and a solid addition to any bookshelf, and it gains a great recommendation from me. ★★★★★ – Elijah B. (Explore Authors Magazine)
Appearance: (Cover): ★★★★
Characterization: ★★★★★ (Character development and growth. Are the characters interesting?)
Chapters: ★★★★★
Formatting: ★★★★★
Marketability: ★★★★★
Plot: ★★★★★
Story Development: ★★★★★