Book picks similar to
Rule Zero by Laurence Timms


fantasy
z
urban-fantasy
waste-of-time

A Terrible Fall of Angels


Laurell K. Hamilton - 2021
    Hamilton.Meet Detective Zaniel Havelock, a man with the special ability to communicate directly with angels. A former trained Angel speaker, he devoted his life to serving both the celestial beings and his fellow humans with his gift, but a terrible betrayal compelled him to leave that life behind. Now he’s a cop who is still working on the side of angels. But where there are angels, there are also demons. There’s no question that there’s evil at work when he’s called in to examine the murder scene of a college student—but is it just the evil that one human being can do to another, or is it something more? When demonic possession is a possibility, even angelic protection can only go so far. The race is on to stop a killer before he finds his next victim, as Zaniel is forced to confront his own very personal demons, and the past he never truly left behind.The first in a new series from the author of the Anita Blake and Merry Gentry series.

Nerves of Steel


Lee Hayton - 2017
    They bent men to their will and molded cities into hotbeds of depravity.Ha! Just kidding. Vampires are weaklings that catch fire if you push them into sunlight. As soon as humans found out they existed, they captured the suckers, enslaved them, and put the pallid creatures to work.So, imagine my surprise when a free vampire strolled into Joe's Bar just before closing. Fair enough if he's ditched his chains but walking around in public? That does not compute. As an escapee cyborg with a bounty on her head, I don't want to dig for trouble. Don’t see, don’t tell is the motto for survival on the empire’s rough streets.If it weren't for my best friend, I'd turn a blind eye. But I owe that thirteen-year-old vampire my freedom and most probably my life. If something is changing for his species, then he deserves to know.Sure, this investigation might open a seething can of bother, but if trouble comes for me, I'm ready. My body is 34% titanium, my skin is silicone polymer, and I’ve got nerves of steel.

Evolution


Kelly Carrero - 2012
    He knew what she was. And like him, she was born this way.Now if finding out that people like her shouldn’t exist was bad enough, Jades best friend is kidnapped by the psycho who’s terrorised her dreams. With the help of Aiden, she has to figure out how to saver her, before it’s too late.But what Jade doesn’t know, is not everything is what it seems. She is merely a puppet in a sadistic game to find out what she is truly capable of – and the game has only just begun.

The Long Way Down


Craig Schaefer - 2014
    When an old man comes seeking vengeance for his murdered granddaughter, what looks like a simple job quickly spirals out of control. Soon Daniel stands in the crossfire between a murderous porn director; a corrupt cop with a quick trigger finger; and his own former employer, a racket boss who isn't entirely human. Then there's Caitlin: brilliant, beautiful, and the lethal right hand of a demon prince. A man named Faust should know what happens when you rub shoulders with demons. Still Daniel can't resist being drawn to Caitlin's flame as they race to unlock the secret of the Etruscan Box, a relic that people all over town are dying -- and killing -- to get their hands on. As the bodies drop and the double-crosses pile up, Daniel will need every shred of his wits, courage and sheer ruthlessness just to survive. Daniel Faust knew he was standing with one foot over the brink of hell. He's about to find out just how far he can fall.

Legion


Brandon Sanderson - 2012
    As the story begins, Leeds and his 'aspects' are drawn into the search for the missing Balubal Razon, inventor of a camera whose astonishing properties could alter our understanding of human history and change the very structure of society"--From publisher's description

The Passage


Justin Cronin - 2010
    government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he's done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. Wolgast is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors, but for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—toward the time an place where she must finish what should never have begun.With The Passage, award-winning author Justin Cronin has written both a relentlessly suspenseful adventure and an epic chronicle of human endurance in the face of unprecedented catastrophe and unimaginable danger. Its inventive storytelling, masterly prose, and depth of human insight mark it as a crucial and transcendent work of modern fiction.

Artificial Evil


Colin F. Barnes - 2012
    Gerry Cardle reluctantly runs the Death Lottery. It's a job he despises, yet one which keeps his name off the list. Until one day, despite his agreement with The Family, his name is inexplicably drawn next.With his world crashing down around him and with just seven days left to live, Gerry realises that the system has been breached by a malicious artificial intelligence. In order to save his life and preserve the safety of those within the city, he must do the unthinkable: flee to the abandoned wastelands outside the dome. Bitter, resolute, and with nothing left to lose, Gerry will have to do whatever it takes to survive--even if it means sacrificing his freedom, and possibly worse--his life.

The Kingdom Saga Collection


Megan Linski - 2017
    ADVENTURE. ROMANCE. A princess becomes a warrior, indulges in forbidden romance, and rules an empire in an epic fantasy saga inspired by Aladdin and the 1001 Arabian Nights. Princess Bennua is betrothed to a foreigner in a far-away land -- until a prince of thieves comes to claim her for himself. Kidnapped and brought to a desert of mystery and wonder, Bennua finds herself the master of a djinn trapped within a magic lamp... and in love with a man who’s as secretive as he is dangerous. Her travels take her to lands of ancient pharaohs and dark crypts, to illustrious palaces and jungles filled with mythical beasts. Bennua finds herself in service of an ancient deity, a fire god who is at war with the devil, and in the middle of a war where angels battle kings and monsters devour men. Swords clash, magic ignites, and sultans fall. One girl has the power to save the world, and she will bring the desert to its knees with her bravery... her strength... and her love. With thousands of copies in the hands of readers, The Kingdom Saga is an emotional story of true love, redemption, and faith featuring a strong heroine, a handsome prince and a lovable djinn. Includes all four books in The Kingdom Saga series! Perfect for fans of The Wrath and the Dawn, The Hundredth Queen, and Rebel of the Sands. "I love everything about this series. This is a MUST READ!!!" - Brandy's Book Review★★★★★ "Be ready to pull an all-nighter. Filled with suspense. Will surely leave you awestruck." - Haniya Qamar, Books And Authors Spot.★★★★★ “An action-packed adventure that will have readers' emotions reeling with every turn of the page. - Kira Assad, Beta Omicron Loves Books★★★★★ "Amazing characters who show strength, love, kindness, and a great sense of adventure! The writing is exceptional: the scenes are described so well that you're ON their wonderful adventure!" - Kim Devall, The Wolf Pack★★★★★ One-click to start the romance today!

Forever Road


Catie Rhodes - 2013
    A reluctant psychic medium. Destiny only knocks once—then it kicks down the door. Peri Jean Mace thinks seeing ghosts is a curse, but her murdered trailer trash cousin doesn’t care. She wants Peri Jean to expose her killer.Peri Jean figures out everyone in her one-stoplight East Texas town has something to hide. And one of them will kill to hide the truth. In over her head, Peri Jean has to face her curse or end up the next victim.Forever Road is the first book in the Peri Jean Mace Ghost Thriller series. If you like your urban fantasy served up with a heavy dose of goose bumps, a side of gut-busting laughs, and a fist-swinging heroine who will steal your heart, you’ll love Forever Road.

The Haunting of H. G. Wells


Robert Masello - 2020
    G. Wells could not have imagined. It’s 1914. The Great War grips the world—and from the Western Front a strange story emerges…a story of St. George and a brigade of angels descending from heaven to fight beside the beleaguered British troops. But can there be any truth to it?H. G. Wells, the most celebrated writer of his day—author of The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man—is dispatched to find out. There, he finds an eerie wasteland inhabited by the living, the dead, and those forever stranded somewhere in between…a no-man’s-land whose unhappy souls trail him home to London, where a deadly plot, one that could turn the tide of war, is rapidly unfolding.In league with his young love, the reporter and suffragette Rebecca West, Wells must do battle with diabolical forces—secret agents and depraved occultists—to save his sanity, his country, and ultimately the world.

Alone, Untouched, Soulless


Robert J. Crane - 2014
    (Approx. 185,000 words total.)Books included:1. Alone2. Untouched3. SoullessAloneSienna Nealon was a 17 year-old girl who had been held prisoner in her own house by her mother for twelve years. Then one day her mother vanished, and Sienna woke up to find two strange men in her home. On the run, unsure of who to turn to and discovering she possesses mysterious powers, Sienna finds herself pursued by a shadowy agency known as the Directorate and hunted by a vicious, bloodthirsty psychopath named Wolfe, each of which is determined to capture her for their own purposes...UntouchedStill haunted by her last encounter with Wolfe and searching for her mother, Sienna Nealon must put aside her personal struggles when a new threat emerges – Aleksandr Gavrikov, a metahuman so powerful, he could destroy entire cities – and he's focused on bringing the Directorate to its knees.SoullessAfter six months of intense training with the Directorate, Sienna Nealon finds herself on her first assignment - tracking a dangerous meta across the upper midwest. With Scott Byerly and Kat Forrest at her side, she'll face new enemies and receive help from unlikely allies as she stumbles across the truth behind the shadowy organization known only as Omega.Additional books not included in set:

The Devil's Alphabet


Daryl Gregory - 2009
    Then, as quickly and inexplicably as it had struck, the disease–dubbed Transcription Divergence Syndrome (TDS)–vanished, leaving behind a population divided into three new branches of humanity: giant gray-skinned argos, hairless seal-like betas, and grotesquely obese charlies.Paxton Abel Martin was fourteen when TDS struck, killing his mother, transforming his preacher father into a charlie, and changing one of his best friends, Jo Lynn, into a beta. But Pax was one of the few who didn’t change. He remained as normal as ever. At least on the outside.Having fled shortly after the pandemic, Pax now returns to Switchcreek fifteen years later, following the suicide of Jo Lynn. What he finds is a town seething with secrets, among which murder may well be numbered. But there are even darker–and far weirder–mysteries hiding below the surface that will threaten not only Pax’s future but the future of the whole human race.

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August


Claire North - 2014
    Harry August is on his deathbed. Again. No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. Nothing ever changes. Until now. As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears at his bedside. "I nearly missed you, Doctor August," she says. "I need to send a message." This is the story of what Harry does next, and what he did before, and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow.

Sorcerer


David Menon - 2013
    The house used to be a care home for teenage boys and Detective Superintendent Jeff Barton and his team uncover a history of horrifying brutality and abuse. Their investigations lead them to the former manager of the home and his wife who are now living in Spain. Their twisted family secrets are then exposed and Jeff, who's a single Dad following the death of his wife and balancing a demanding job with caring for his five year-old son Toby, begins to unravel an audacious plan by a former victim. But will it serve justice or revenge? And can Jeff and his team get to him before that decision is taken out of their hands?

The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter


Rod Duncan - 2014
    She is trying to solve the mystery of a disappearing aristocrat and a hoard of arcane machines. In her way stand the rogues, freaks and self-proclaimed alchemists of a travelling circus. But when she comes up against an agent of the all-powerful Patent Office, her life and the course of history will begin to change. And not necessarily for the better…