Punish the System, Book 2

A LitRPG Sci-Fantasy Apocalypse Adventure

By: Cassius Lange, Malory, LitForge Press

Narrated by: Jack Fields, Justin Thomas James, Annie Ellicott, Jeff Hays

In a buggy apocalypse, Connor Keene has become the ultimate bug remover. Connor’s Punisher class has evolved, and every pull of his trigger now files a Summary Judgment that permanently deletes his enemies from the System, especially the Outsiders. However, killing them hasn't bought Earth a moment's peace. It’s just put Connor Keene on a fast track to the world’s most wanted list, and right on the High Houses' agenda.

While the awakening System continues its experimental "improvements" to humanity, the real threat has escalated from random dungeons and rampaging monsters to turning Earth into a desolate landscape stripped of all resources and life. The true architects of the apocalypse want their mission on Earth wrapped up double-quick, and they don’t really mind how genocidally that is achieved. As if this all weren’t enough, there's another problem — the more law Connor lays down, the more of a monster he becomes to the public.

With his reputation circling the drain and a new strategist on his team who considers allies entirely expendable, Connor is both more powerful and more isolated than ever before. He can’t save the world, but he will damn well try and embrace being the villain everyone already thinks he is.

About the series: The Punisher meets LitRPG in this weak-to-strong System Apocalypse and Integration series set on Earth. It features a System, stats-go-up, an MC with a unique class, gear crafting, dungeon diving, an end-of-the-world scenario, a rich cast, and expansive world-building. Follow Connor's fight to stop the Outsiders from fully awakening the System and stripping Earth of all resources and life.

©2026 LitForge Press (P)2026 Soundbooth Theater

Fun but wordy

The words in this story are beautifully written, but there are too many and they dip and weave and curve too much to be understood.

In several places I got lost following the flow of the words but completely missing the meaning. Somewhere around the middle of the book, I just had to go with it and assume it was scenery. I think it was a good call because the story stands up pretty well even when chunks are completely indecipherable.

I’m excited for the sequel. The ending was surprising and I’m curious to see how it plays out.

The narration is top notch as SBT is wont to create. But I do take great offense from the loss of Conner’s honorific early on in the book. Annie (Izzy) says his name so precisely I was starting to think of it much like Agent Smith talking to Neo… “Mr. Anderson”. It tickled me greatly. It was not a good choice to stop using it, if only because the narration of it is iconic.