Book picks similar to
Solstice by Donna Burgess
zombies
horror
zombie
young-adult
The Bane
Keary Taylor - 2011
It had the ability to grow new organs and limbs, to heal the world. Until it evolved out of control and spread like the common cold. The machine took over, the soul vanished, and the Bane were born. The Bane won't stop until every last person has been infected. With less than two percent of the human population left, mankind is on the brink of extinction.Eve knows the stories of the Evolution, the time before she wandered into the colony of Eden, unable to recall anything but her name. But she doesn't need memories to know this world is her reality. This is a world that is quickly losing its humanity, one Bane at a time.Fighting to keep one of the last remaining human colonies alive, Eve finds herself torn between her dedication to the colony, and the discovery of love. There is Avian and West – one a soldier, one a keeper of secrets. And in the end, Eve will make a choice that will change the future of mankind.The Bane is The Terminator meets The Walking Dead with a heart-twisting romance.Previously published as Eden, due to reader demand it has been revamped and rereleased as The Bane: book one in The Eden Trilogy.
The First Days
Rhiannon Frater - 2008
Before the sun has set, they have become more than just friends and allies—they are bonded as tightly as any two people who have been to war together. During their cross-Texas odyssey to find and rescue Jenni’s oldest son, Jenni discovers the joy of watching a zombie’s head explode when she shoots its brains out. Katie learns that she’s a terrific tactician—and a pretty good shot. A chance encounter puts them on the road to an isolated, fortified town, besieged by zombies, where fewer than one hundred people cling to the shreds of civilization. It looks like the end of the world. But Katie and Jenni and many others will do whatever they have to to stay alive. Run, fight, pick each other up when they stumble, fall in love…anything is possible at the end of the world.
This is Not a Test
Courtney Summers - 2012
Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won't stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self. To Sloane Price, that doesn't sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed and since then, she's failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up. As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she's forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live. But as the days crawl by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways and soon the group's fate is determined less and less by what's happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life—and death—inside. When everything is gone, what do you hold on to?
Germination
Jamie Thornton - 2015
Powerful enemies, twisted memories, a government willing to do anything for control. Find out how it all began…
ONCE UPON A TIME A PLAGUE ENDED THE WORLD.
Mary knows how to thrive on the street. She makes it her mission to keep other kids away from everyday monsters. But when she’s attacked by a crazed man clutching a bloody heart she realizes—there’s a new kind of monster in town.A single drop of blood, and now Mary’s one of the infected. Unless she can stop the virus and save her friends, the new monster in town might just be her.
"Thrilling...keeps you reading and wanting more.""I couldn't put this down.""This left me hungry for the next book."
Interview with the Author
Q - What makes the Zombies are Human series special?
An epidemic ravaging the human population. A world spiraling into chaos. People doing whatever it takes to survive. I wanted to write something I would love to read. I've always been drawn to the post-apocalyptic genre and thought about end-of-the-world books I’ve loved--Stephen King's The Stand, Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower. But also recent stories like The Girl With All the Gifts, The Passage, and even Stranger Things. I’ve always found stories with big epidemics/events that reinvent the world so thrilling. I also love getting into some of the science, like the genetic engineering, that would make the situations plausible.
Zombies are Human gives you some of that classic Walking Dead zombie fare, but...without giving too much away...I guarantee you've never read a zombie series like Zombies are Human before.
Even though my cast of characters are teenagers I’ve definitely had plenty of adults write me about how much they’ve enjoyed the series. I think Zombies are Human hits the sweet spot of older Young Adult that will appeal to plenty of adults too. No matter what your age, the Zombies are Human series is designed to keep you furiously turning those pages.
Q - What order should I read the books in?
I think the complete series would be most enjoyable in the following sequence:--Germination (prequel short novel) --Contamination--Infestation--Eradication
Q - Why should readers give these books a try?
The prequel hit #5 on the New York Times and #8 on the USA Today bestseller lists. I've gotten tons of emails from readers letting me know how much they loved Zombies are Human (stay-up-all-night-even-with-work-the-next-day love). But more than that, as a reader myself, I am always looking for the next Stranger Things, The Passage, The Girl With All The Gifts. THAT'S the kind of story I hope you'll find in Zombies are Human. Smart. Dangerous. Gritty. With rip-your-heart-out intensity (literally and figuratively in some cases). Zombies are Human is a fast, dark apocalyptic ride. Just remember...nothing is what it seems.
Darkness Falls
Jessica Sorensen - 2012
The Colony is hidden deep underground, far away from the vampires—humans that were transformed by the disease. The vampires are hideous, starving, and they will kill any human they come across.Seventeen-year-old Kayla is a Bellator, a warrior that protects The Colony. In order to survive, there are three rules she must follow:Rule #1—Never go out after dark.Rule #2—Always carry a weapon.Rule #3—No matter what, never EVER get bitten.But what happens when the rules Kayla has always lived by can no longer apply? The Highers run The Colony and accept nothing less than perfection. One slip up can mean death. Kayla has always worked hard to follow the rules and strive for perfection. But during a moment of weakness, she lets her imperfections show. Her punishment is worse than death. She is chosen for The Gathering and is thrown out into a world full of starving vampires. No one has ever survived The Gathering, at least that’s what Kayla’s been told. But when she runs into a group who insist they were once part of The Gathering, Kayla discovers the Highers have been keeping secrets. Secrets that could lead to a cure.
Taste
Kate Evangelista - 2012
Phoenix McKay soon finds out why when she is left behind at sunset. A group calling themselves night students threaten to taste her flesh until she is saved by a mysterious, alluring boy. With his pale skin, dark eyes, and mesmerizing voice, Demitri is both irresistible and impenetrable. He warns her to stay away from his dangerous world of flesh eaters. Unfortunately, the gorgeous and playful Luka has other plans. When Phoenix is caught between her physical and her emotional attraction, she becomes the keeper of a deadly secret that will rock the foundations of an ancient civilization living beneath Barinkoff Academy. Phoenix doesn't realize until it is too late that the closer she gets to both Demitri and Luka the more she is plunging them all into a centuries old feud.
Into the Shadows
Karly Kirkpatrick - 2010
This is the first book in the Into the Shadows Trilogy.Paivi Anderson has it all - friends, a spot on the varsity basketball team, wonderful parents, and quite possibly, her first boyfriend. It was everything a freshman in high school could ask for. Her perfect life begins to crumble when she discovers her name on a list distributed by a power-hungry presidential candidate. How could anyone think of Paivi as an Enemy of the State? Could it be because of her special powers? No one was supposed to know about them, but the mysterious messages in her tater tots say otherwise. In INTO THE SHADOWS, Paivi quickly learns who her friends are and is forced into a reality she didn’t see coming.
Broken Symmetry
Dan Rix - 2013
To her, a mirror feels like a film of honey. She can reach through it, grab things…even step inside.On the other side she lives every teenager’s fantasy: a universe all her own, zero consequences. She can kiss the hot guy, break into La Jolla mansions, steal things…even kill. When finished, she just steps back into reality and smashes the mirror—and in an instant erases every stupid thing she did. Gone. It never happened.But breaking symmetry is also dangerous. First there’s the drug-like rush she gets when passing through the glass, like a shot of adrenaline. She suspects it’s degrading her body, making a new copy of her each time. A reflection of a reflection, each one a little hazier. Then, of course, there’s the risk of getting cut off from reality.When she narrowly escapes a military quarantine zone with the San Diego Police Department hot on her heels only to discover her escape mirror littering the floor in shards, her worst fear is realized. Now, trapped in a broken reflection, she must flee through a mind-bending maze of mirrors, going deeper into the nightmare as she struggles to grasp a betrayal, uncover the chilling truth about her ability, and somehow find a way out of a dead-end universe that “never happened.”Somehow, she must find a way home.
Origins
Kristen Middleton - 2012
Seventeen year old Cassandra Wild thought living in the chaos of her mother’s home daycare and dealing with her developing feelings for Bryce, her new Martial Arts’ instructor, was a struggle, until the night her world turned upside down.When an untested vaccine kills more than just a rampant flu virus, Cassie learns how to survive in a world where the dead walk, and the living…run!
Kahayatle
Elle Casey - 2012
My name is Bryn Mathis. I'm seventeen years old, and I live in a neighborhood outside of Orlando, Florida. I’m here alone because my dad died almost a year ago, along with all the other adults in the world. I'm almost out of food, and the gangs of kids that roam around my town are getting more vicious by the day. It's time for me to leave and find another place to live ... a place where I can find food and shelter ... a place where they won't be able to find me. Alone, it might have been possible, but now I've got company. I'm worried that I don't have what it takes to get from here to my final destination, and I have no idea what might be waiting for me when I get there.
Through Glass: The Dark
Rebecca Ethington - 2013
Fighting monsters to save the world was not part of my five-year plan.I had it all figured out. Graduate high school and head to college. It was just icing that my college of choice also happened to be where my lifelong crush and the gorgeous boy next door, Cohen, was already attending. I had already been accepted. Everything was working out perfectly. The only problem was that ‘perfect’ didn’t involve a freakin’ invasion. So, when everything went dark and monsters, literal monsters, fell from the sky, I had no idea what to do.Hey, I’m not your perfect dystopian heroine. Hell, I’m not even your everyday human. It took some time, and a bit of work, but now instead of graduating and following Cohen to college I am now hunting massive winged demon... things. Worse yet, any chance of a happily-ever-after goes to pot when my demon hunting turns into boyfriend rescuing, and I have to risk it all and go into the Dark. Boys, am I right? One minute everything is on track, and the next… well, it’s the end of the world. My name is Lex, and I guess I hunt monsters now. Perfect.
The Thought Readers
Dima Zales - 2014
Everyone thinks I’m a genius. Everyone is wrong. Sure, I finished Harvard at eighteen and now make crazy money at a hedge fund. But that’s not because I’m unusually smart or hard-working. It’s because I cheat. You see, I have a unique ability. I can go outside time into my own personal version of reality—the place I call “the Quiet”—where I can explore my surroundings while the rest of the world stands still. I thought I was the only one who could do this—until I met her. My name is Darren, and this is how I became entangled with all the Russians and learned that I’m a Reader.
Arcadium
Sarah Gray - 2012
Mostly that means staying clear of all people, the healthy ones on the run and the infected ones hungry for human flesh. But when she meets a man that speaks no English and a defiant set of brothers, Florence will be forced to question her ways. Because there’s only so far you can go alone, right?Arcadium is a heart-stopping journey of hope across a ravaged urban land where survival always comes at a heavy price.
Love and Decay, Episode One
Rachel Higginson - 2013
Now, two years later, and in need of a serious shower, she’s just over the entire concept of a soul mate- or really, any kind of mate.Well, mostly anyway. When she runs- literally- into a group of boys holed up in a relative utopia of peanut butter and bottled water, maybe all hope in the love department is not lost.But at the end of the world, nothing can be simple. And with a horde of Zombies after her, Reagan is going to have to schedule falling in love between hunting and surviving. Hopefully she can last long enough find out if true love can still exist when everything else has started to fall apart.Love and Decay, Episode One, the first in a novella series in a Dystopian Romance about Zombies, the end of the world and finding someone to share it with.This story takes place over multiple episodes, with a release date every two weeks. Approximately 20,000 words.
Raising Stony Mayhall
Daryl Gregory - 2011
Wrapped in the woman’s arms is a baby, stone-cold, not breathing, and without a pulse. But then his eyes open and look up at Wanda — and he begins to move.The family hides the child — whom they name Stony — rather than turn him over to authorities that would destroy him. Against all scientific reason, the undead boy begins to grow. For years his adoptive mother and sisters manage to keep his existence a secret — until one terrifying night when Stony is forced to run and he learns that he is not the only living dead boy left in the world.