Book picks similar to
The Rain by Joseph A. Turkot


post-apocalyptic
sci-fi
dystopian
apocalyptic

Victim Zero


Joshua Guess - 2013
    He's a brilliant biologist and geneticist, a leading researcher in the constant fight against disease and death. He works in secret on a miraculous organism with the potential to change the world.But he isn't the only one.Victim Zero is a story about life and loss, self-awareness and the hard choices between what is right and what is necessary. As the world spirals down and the dead begin to rise, Kell must learn the difference between surviving and living.Set in the world of Living With the Dead, Victim Zero tells the story of how The Fall began. From before the outbreak itself, during the crisis and beyond, this novel chronicles the journey of a man who holds the weight of the entire human race on his shoulders.

The Wall


Jen Minkman - 2013
    The endless surface of the water extends to the horizon, whichever way I look.Our world is small. We’re on our own, and we only have ourselves to depend on. We rely on the Force deep within us as taught to us by our forefathers.If I were to walk westward from here, I’d come across a barrier - the Wall. Behind it, there are Fools. At least, that's what everyone says. I’ve never seen one.'Leia lives on an island where children leave their parents to take care of themselves when they’re just ten years old. Across the island runs a Wall that no one has ever crossed. The Fools living behind it should be shunned because they believe in salvation from across the sea. That's what The Book says, the only thing left to the Eastern Islanders by their ancestors.But when a strange man washes ashore and Leia meets a Fool face to face, her life will never be the same again. Walt, the boy from the other side of the Wall, isn’t as foolish as she was always led to believe. And as Leia and Walt set out to bring the truth about both their societies to light, all the things they once took for granted fall by the wayside.Their island world is about to change... for better or for worse.

Colony Z: The Complete Collection


Luke Shephard - 2013
    Follow the survivors of Colony Z through:The Island: Vol. 1When the Undead have taken over America, one group of survivors find safety by escaping to a remote, unsettled island.There they work to rebuild society, while trying to survive whatever it is that is after them.Alone and isolated, their relative peace and safety is shattered when a group of Others shows up on their island and their leaders must make life-altering choices in the blink of an eye.This is only the beginning. This is their story.The Albion Tribe: Vol. 2The Albion Tribe. A ragtag group of survivors. Traveling from camp to camp, trying to find somewhere safe to stay. All the while, battling whatever type of creatures are still out there. Danger lurks behind every tree and every building. Keeping everyone alive is not always a guarantee...First Days: Vol. 3Before they became the Albion Tribe, they were just normal people. Sons and daughters, Moms and Dads, families young and old. Living their lives, blissfully unaware of the shocking events that would soon shake them all. But now the threat is here...Follow each of them as they struggle to adapt to this new world, and all of the dangers that lurk around every corner...Beginning and End: Vol. 4Back to the very beginning. Before the Albion Tribe. Before the Zero Hour. Back when everything in the world was right. Until there was...an incident. One little thing that changes the course of human history. One thing that may lead to The End...Find out what started it all, and how the remaining survivors will try to move forward to a better life, in the breathtaking final chapter of Colony Z!The complete collection of the Colony Z series!This boxed set includes every Colony Z story! Follow their journey from beginning to end. Get started today!

The Borrowed World


Franklin Horton - 2015
    Life as we know it in America grinds to a halt as the electrical grid collapses, communication networks are damaged, critical bridges and dams are destroyed, and major fuel refineries go up in massive fiery clouds. When the government responds by immediately halting fuel sales to the public, Jim Powell finds himself in a terrifying predicament – trapped five hundred miles from home with a group of coworkers. With thousands of trapped travelers and scarce law enforcement, the miles between Jim and his family become a brutal gauntlet where the rules of civilized society no longer apply. As Jim puts his years of preparation and planning to the test, he is forced to ask himself if he has what it takes to make it home. Does he have the strength -- the brutality -- required to meet this new world toe-to-toe?

The Red King


Nick Cole - 2014
    As undead hordes and strange otherworldly monsters ravage what’s left of civilization, things begin to go from worse to weird as each survivor’s dark past unfolds, revealing that reality might be more than anyone ever thought, and that an ancient force from the outer dark has finally arrived to conquer. Stephen King’s The Stand meets Lost in an epic confrontation between good and evil that spans history, time, and space. The Red King is the first full story to be released in the wild world of Apocalypse Weird, and it is book one of the Apocalypse Weird - WYRD arc by Nick Cole.

Riser


Becca C. Smith - 2010
    She lives in a future where the world is overpopulated and a little pill makes you immortal. Where people are secretly being exterminated and serial killers are sanctioned by the government. When Chelsan's mother is killed by one of these exterminations, she vows to take down the man responsible.

Infection


Bryan James - 2010
     At least until the zombies showed up. From his cell in the asylum, he is suddenly thrust into a nightmare of unbelievable proportions when the dead rise, and rapidly become a horrific plague on the world of the living. From Long Island to the burbs to the country, Mike fights to stay alive, to recover his memories, and to retrieve a cure for the most threatening disease the world has ever known.

Necrophobia


Jack Hamlyn - 2011
    The grass is green, the flowers are blooming. All is right with the world. Then the dead start rising. From cemetery and mortuary, funeral home and morgue, they flood into the streets until every town and city is infested with walking corpses, blank-eyed eating machines that exist to take down the living. The world is a graveyard. And when you have a family to protect, it's more than survival. It's war.

MUTINY: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller


Lee West - 2019
    On the last night of their cruise, while most of the passengers are sleep--the unthinkable occurs. A suspected electromagnetic pulse (EMP) damages most of the cruise ship's critical systems, forcing the crew to divert the remaining power to essential systems.While the massive ship struggles in rough seas, the seasick passengers grow increasingly uneasy about their situation. The flow of food and drinks has been significantly reduced, air-conditioning is non-existent and the ship's security team is visibly armed. What they don't know is that the ship has lost contact with the mainland, and their Captain is on the verge of making life-altering decision for all of them.Skeptical of the conditions onshore and unwilling to pull into the ship's homeport without the assistance of local pilot craft, the Captain elects to leave the area and seek safe harbor to the south. There's just one catch. The ship only carries enough food and fuel to last a few more days--and their destination remains uncertain. The geographical scope and magnitude of the damage caused by the mysterious event remains unknown to the crew.With Joe and Meg's prospect of returning home about to slip away, the Birch's face an agonizing choice. Stay with the ship and take a chance on the Captain--or steal a lifeboat and try to return home. Joined by likeminded passengers and a few salty crewmembers, they decide to make their own destiny--despite the unknown dangers.THE MUTINY chronicles this impossible, gut-wrenching journey to get home, where it quickly becomes obvious that THEIR STORY IS FAR FROM OVER!

The Park Service


Ryan Winfield - 2012
    That's what fifteen-year-old Aubrey VanHouten learns when he stumbles onto a post-apocalyptic paradise where the few remaining humans live on the run from deadly drones controlled by a mysterious Park Service. Torn between loyalty to his new best friend and trusting the girl of his dreams, Aubrey must learn to survive in a world he never dreamed existed while searching for answers to why everything he was taught is a lie. Beautifully written with challenging moral dilemmas and heart-melting friendships, The Park Service trilogy is an epic coming-of-age-story that will inspire and delight readers young and old.

The Flu


Jacqueline Druga - 2006
    Each year hundreds are active. Chances are, this year, you will catch one of those strains. You will cough, sneeze, and your body will ache. Without a second thought, you’ll take a double dose of green liquid, go to bed, and swear you’ll feel better in the morning. Not this time.In 1918 forty million people succumbed to a particular strain of swine flu. It appeared out of nowhere, and just as quickly as it surfaced, the Spanish Flu vanished. Gone for good. Or so we thought. Though mankind has anticipated its resurfacing for some time, mankind is ill prepared. Mutated and with a vengeance, the Spanish Flu returns.In a world blackened with plague, a glimmer of light exists in the small town of Lodi, Ohio. They shine as a sanctuary because they are ‘flu-free’ In the wake of the reality that they are spared, the spirit and strength of Lodi is tested. It becomes a fight against what is morally right or wrong in an increasingly difficult battle to stay healthy and alive until the flu has run its course.

Vaccination


Phillip Tomasso III - 2011
    Were lab workers diligent, or could the virus itself have been man-made? Chase McKinney works as a dispatcher at 9-1-1. Taking emergency calls, it becomes immediately obvious that the entire city is infected with the walking dead. His first goal is to reach and save his two children. Could the walls built by the U.S.A. to keep out illegal aliens, and the fact the Mexican government could not afford to vaccinate their citizens against the flu, make the southern border the only plausible destination for safety?

World Before (Ending)


Lindsey Pogue - 2018
    In a world changed by mutation and madness, the past reminds us of who we are, and our memories ground us to who we’ll become. My name is Zoe Cartwright, and I see people’s memories. They haunt me. I know things I shouldn’t about my friends and family--their experiences with love and loss, hope and fear--things that must never be forgotten. Stories that must be written down. The world has already changed so much; who knows what the future will hold.  These are our stories from the world before The Ending.

Noah's Ark: Survivors


Harry Dayle - 2013
    Almost, but not quite. Three thousand souls aboard a cruise ship visiting the north pole are spared by a freak of nature.The ship’s First Officer, Jake Noah, was looking forward to getting back to dry land once and for all. But then the world ended, and now he finds himself reluctantly in charge of the last handful of survivors of the human race.The limited resources on board mean that just staying alive will be a struggle. With the threat of mutiny ever present, can Jake rise to the challenge and lead his crew and their passengers on a quest for safety, or will he take the easy option and leave anarchy and chaos to prevail?

The Burn


Annie Oldham - 2011
    That's what Terra's father tells her. She has lived her whole life in comfort in a colony at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. She hates it. And she would pay any price to leave. But when Terra finally escapes the colony, she finds out her father is right.She finds a group of survivors that quickly become friends, and every day with them is a race for survival. When she witnesses and commits unspeakable acts, she has to decide where her loyalty lies: with the colony she despises or The Burn, where every day is filled with nightmares.