About the Series
Montana is a big, not particularly bright former criminal who dies and wakes up in a fantasy world with a stat system. He picks a warrior class and proceeds to hit things until they stop moving, accumulating power through straightforward combat. The progression is transparent: fight, level up, allocate stats, get stronger, fight harder things.
The appeal is pure book crack. The Good Guys doesn’t try to be deep, literary, or innovative. It delivers the Number Go Up dopamine loop at maximum frequency across fifteen books. Montana’s simple approach to problems (can I hit it? then I will hit it) creates a readable momentum that carries through the entire series. There’s humor in his self-awareness about not being the smartest person in the room.
This is for readers who want completed, high-volume, fast-paced progression without complexity. Fifteen books of consistent output with a definitive conclusion. The tradeoff: the writing is repetitive. The combat descriptions blur together across books. Montana doesn’t develop much as a character beyond getting bigger numbers. If you need sophisticated prose, deep characters, or innovative system design, this isn’t it. If you want the literary equivalent of comfort food — predictable, satisfying, and available in large quantities — this is one of the best options in the genre, and it’s done.
Reading Order
- One More Last Time (2018)
- Axe to Grind (2019)
- Short Straw (2019)
- Bull Rush (2019)
- Tough Luck (2019)
- Big Fish (2020)
- Dark Horse (2020)
- Cold Snap (2020)
- Hard Knock (2020)
- High Noon (2021)
- Last Stand (2021)
- Dead Heat (2021)
- Long Shot (2022)
- No Quarter (2022)
- End Game (2023)
Related series:
– The Bad Guys (10 books, completed) — Same world, villain-class protagonist. Can be read independently or alongside.
If You Like This Series
- The Bad Guys by Eric Ugland — Same world, same pace, different class and moral alignment
- Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman — Better writing with similar fast pace; darker humor, ongoing
- Azarinth Healer by Rhaegar — Same “fight everything constantly” loop; female MC, even longer
- Life Reset by Shemer Kuznits — LitRPG with base-building; completed, similar “simple pleasures” appeal
- System Apocalypse by Tao Wong — If you want the system progression in a more plot-driven framework; completed