Book picks similar to
8th Street Power & Light by Eric Shonkwiler
fiction
not-purchased
dystopian-apocalyptic-fiction
crime-mystery-thriller
High and Inside
Russell Rowland - 2013
But he may be the first to arrive in Montana with a World Series ring, a three-legged dog, and a thirst for self-destruction. High and Inside documents, with stark clarity, one man's struggle with the dark side of fame, as well as his internal battles with alcoholism and a crumbling sense of self-worth. A community of people who love him and a generous inheritance aren't enough to counterbalance Pete's apparent determination to sabotage every healthy aspect of his life. It's a downward spiral that won't end until he's forced to confront not only his own ugly past but his unfulfilled future as well. With wit and compassion, sharp humor and startling insight, author Russell Rowland gives us not only a portrait of fame and addiction, but also an indispensable glimpse into the character of the modern West. "Rowland's people are on a search, and he writes them with wit, humility, and a satisfying sense of trajectory." Leif Enger Author of Peace Like a RiverYou don t have to love baseball to love this story about one (aging) boy of summer who is brought to a bittersweet reckoning with his past. I found myself laughing, cringing, and knuckling down Kim Barnes Author of "In the Kingdom of Men"an elegant and potent investigation of community and home, of healing and forgiveness this wonderful novel is a grand slam of indelible characters and infectious drama, and a flat-out great read. Alan Heathcock Author of "Volt"
Stalin's War: Volume One: The World in Flames Trilogy
Jack Strain - 2014
This alternative history tells the story of the great leaders of the day, Churchill, FDR, Stalin, Truman, Eisenhower, Zhukov, and numerous other historical figures, as well as, a cast of characters from courageous Polish Freedom Fighters engaged in a near hopeless bid for survival to former Nazi SS officers desperate and willing to do anything to ignite a conflict between the two emerging superpowers to save the Fatherland. But at the heart of this story lies one man's obsessions, paranoia, and desire to dominate the globe...Josef Stalin...the most powerful man on the planet with the largest army in the history of man sees treachery everywhere, yet he misses the one true threat to all of his plans and in one moment of pure terror everything he had long planned nearly comes to an end...leading him to make a momentous decision to crush the Motherland's enemies without mercy once and for all.This fast paced thriller takes readers from the rubble of Berlin to politics in the White House and Kremlin, and ultimately to fields of battle as two great armies move towards an inevitable clash of arms that will determine not only the fate of Europe, but perhaps freedom itself.
Firework
Eugene Marten - 2010
. . . Here, said I, in wild proclamation, is one for history and a half."— Gordon LishFirework is the story of a man who, though ill-equipped to help himself, attempts to help someone else, and the beautifully rendered, perhaps necessary catastrophe that results. Unequaled in intensity and often blackly humorous, it is also an exhilarating expression of the all-too-human impulse to become more than what we seem to be.Eugene Marten is the author of In the Blind and Waste.
The Crime Code
Michael Cordy - 2007
Violent crime has become a global epidemic, nowhere more so than in the United States. Everything from the death penalty to liberal reforms has failed. Nothing has been effective. Until now.Project Conscience promises to be the solution. It is a bold attempt by a powerful group of scientists, politicians and senior law-enforcement personnel to use gene therapy to treat male criminals and cure violent crime. But among their number are those with a more sinister agenda, who would go further and turn the dream of Project Conscience into the nightmare of Crime Zero.Luke Decker, a criminal psychologist disillusioned with the growing dependence on genetic science, is on the verge of resigning from the FBI when a death-row killer's whispered revelation threatens everything he believes in and catapults him into the heart of the conspiracy. Decker's only ally is Dr Kathy Kerr, an old flame and ideological adversary, and the geneticist behind the original Project Conscience.Together they must put aside their differences to fight against a scheme so ruthless in intent and so vast in scope that it will irrevocably change the evolution of mankind itself.Crime Zero is a terrifyingly credible thriller based on technological developments that are already with us. At its core is the story of one man's desperate fight for self-determination and free will in a world where such qualities are in danger of imminent extinction . . .
Tilted Axis
David Ryker - 2019
To who, Michael 'Ward' Miller isn't exactly sure. Whoever killed his partner was a pro. She was shot at an impossible distance, by a weapon that isn't supposed to exist. But Sadler wasn't just his partner, she was the best person he knew. Now she's dead, and Ward won't rest until he finds out who was responsible. But on Mars, 2342 AD, anyone could be the killer. The Solar System is awash with spies, mercenaries and powerful, unaccountable corporations. After powerful aliens arrived a hundred years before, colonizing the red planet, our system was thrown into chaos. The Martians were stronger, more advanced, and remorseless. They could have wiped us out. Instead we struck a fragile, uneasy truce. And now someone wants to blow the whole thing up. And maybe, take humanity with it. Ward was supposed to be out of the espionage business. Now he has seven days to uncover the conspiracy that killed his partner. Or let the entire system go up in flames...
The Doloriad
Missouri Williams - 2022
--J. Robert Lennon, The New York Times Book ReviewNamed a Most Anticipated Book of 2022 by i-D, Cosmopolitan, Thrillist, Lit Reactor, and Lit Hub, and one of Nylon's March 2022 Books to Add to Your Reading ListMacabre, provocative, depraved, and unforgettable, The Doloriad marks the debut of Missouri Williams, a terrifyingly original new voice In the wake of a mysterious environmental cataclysm that has wiped out the rest of humankind, the Matriarch, her brother, and the family descended from their incest cling to existence on the edges of a deserted city. The Matriarch, ruling with fear and force, dreams of starting humanity over again, though her children are not so certain. Together the family scavenges supplies and attempts to cultivate the poisoned earth. For entertainment, they watch old VHS tapes of a TV show in which a problem-solving medieval saint faces down a sequence of logical and ethical dilemmas. But one day the Matriarch dreams of another group of survivors and sends away one of her daughters, the legless Dolores, as a marriage offering. When Dolores returns the next day, her reappearance triggers the breakdown of the Matriarch's fragile order, and the control she wields over their sprawling family begins to weaken.Told in extraordinary, intricate prose that moves with a life of its own, and at times striking with the power of physical force, Missouri Williams's debut novel is a blazingly original document of depravity and salvation. Gothic and strange, moving and disquieting, and often hilarious, The Doloriad stares down, with narrowed eyes, humanity's unbreakable commitment to life.
Literature Connections Sourcebook: A Wrinkle in Time and Related Readings
McDougal Littell - 1997
F250
Bud Smith - 2014
For now, he’s squatting in a collapsing house, working as a stone mason, driving a jacked up pickup truck that he crashes into everything. As a close friend Ods in his sleep, Lee falls into a three-way relationship with two college girls, June Doom and K Neon. F250 is a novel equal parts about growing up, and being torn apart."Bud Smith is Nick Hornby if you strapped him to a Tesla coil and launched him into a Sun made of Poetry." --Ben Loory, author of Stories for Nighttime and some for the Day
Repulse: Europe at War 2062-2064
Chris James - 2016
The climactic engagement of this war, Operation Repulse, took place from August 2063 to February 2064, and was the most significant clash of arms on European soil in four hundred years.
Last Days
Brian Evenson - 2009
The story follows Kline, a brutally dismembered detective forcibly recruited to solve a murder inside the cult. As Kline becomes more deeply involved with the group, he begins to realize the stakes are higher than he previously thought. Attempting to find his way through a maze of lies, threats, and misinformation, Kline discovers that his survival depends on an act of sheer will. Last Days was first published in 2003 as a limited edition novella titled The Brotherhood of Mutilation. Its success led Evenson to expand the story into a full-length novel. In doing so, he has created a work that’s disturbing, deeply satisfying, and completely original.
Stolen Futures (A Madeleine Porter Mystery)
John Nixon - 2014
Catherine requests the assistance of Madeleine Porter, family history researcher, and her friend and fellow researcher Ian Clay, to investigate this claim. Their enquiries reveal the shocking truth behind the tale; and the account, as related in an old journal, of two quite different Victorian families, divided by class, but connected by death.
Breaking Point
Aric Davis - 2013
Ken Richmond hits his breaking point when he puts a gun to his head and pulls the trigger. When his plan misfires—literally—he interprets the failed suicide as his calling to a higher purpose. Fueled by long-simmering hatred, Ken sets out on a murderous mission—but in order to get away with it, he’ll have to leave a trail of blood through the city.Detectives Dick Van Endel and Phil Nelson start chasing Ken toward a special spot in hell. But can the detectives put an end to the fiend’s sprees for good, before more bodies pile up?
Void Fate
Suren G. Hakobyan - 2021
A sunless and moonless sky is covered with an enormous barrier that prevents any view of the heavens.Nothing stirs. The air is oppressive and there is no wind, not even the softest breeze.It was supposed to be a typical day for the five friends, but they wake up to discover that they are left alone on earth. The world that they knew is gone. All that is left is silence, pervasive, absolute silence.What happened while they slept? Are they the only ones left? As the theories start to fly, and their imaginations run wild, they wonder if they are still on Earth at all, possibly abducted by aliens, trapped in a simulation, or claimed by the afterlife.Aram is the only one who can see deep into the silent world. That’s why, from the very beginning, he starts to look for a way out of this new reality. If he can convince his friends to stay focused, as the whispers begin, and fight against the evil of the silent world, the fog-shaped beings that wander the empty streets, they may stand a chance.If not, the only thing that lies ahead is the fate of the void.