Book picks similar to
Transformation by Thomas Cardin


she-geeks-strong-female-protagonist
superheroes
ade-s-sci-fi
drama

The Uglies


Thomas Burchfield - 2012
    The time: closer than we may realize.Unemployment is in high double-digits. The acrid stench of civil war smokes the air. The 1930s Great Depression all over . . . just a little more high-tech.Arch and Tess Uglias are blue-collar residents of the desolate Rust Belt city of Gary, Indiana. Arch, an unemployed auto-plant worker and ex-race car driver, and Tess, an unemployed nurse, are both staring homelessness and starvation in face.Meanwhile, Frank Regis, an aging disciple of the legendary bank robber Willie Sutton, is masterminding a string of bank robberies throughout Indiana. The Regis gang is a fractious collage of professional criminals, like Frank, and once law-abiding folks who have turned to crime out of desperation.After one of their drivers is killed during a getaway, the Regis gang goes in search of a replacement, a road that leads them to Arch Uglias. Though a law-abiding citizen and square guy his whole life, Arch, like some of the other gang members, feels compelled to take the wheel. And Tess becomes an outspoken, unwilling, uncooperative part of the package.From there, it’s a boisterous, bawdy and dangerous drive through a desperate world for the Regis gang, from the ruins of the Midwest to the ruins of the West Coast with ruthless law enforcement in pursuit and mistrust and murder blossoming among them. In the end, the war that has been raging at the edges suddenly draws them into its bloody vortex, leading to a fierce climax of double cross and desperate escape.“The Uglies,” an original screenplay by Thomas Burchfield (“Dragon’s Ark,” “Whackers”), drives the same perilous roads as such classics as “Bonnie and Clyde” and “The Getaway. It is a wild, bawdy, and action-packed saga about crime and pursuit, friendship and survival. It’s also the story of people who realize the need to stick together as the world around them falls to pieces.

Superteam (Raptors #2)


Jaime Castle - 2021
    Trust me.If you did…Wow. Who saw that coming? I know I didn’t.As you know, I’m the Red Raptor. Now that things have… changed, I’ve asked my friend Amy to help tell the story. No, seriously, she’s just a friend. I mean—I guess if it were up to me? But… no.Okay, so there’s a new threat—a bunch of punks called the Neon Knights. They’re causing mayhem, armed with some kind of plasma-photon-light weapons that I can’t even begin to understand, and as usual, I’ve gotta stop them.However, this time I’ve got help. That’s right, I formed my own superteam. One for the ages.But first, I’ve gotta do my shift at Big Frankie Junior’s. What? You like eating burgers, right? Well, someone has to cook them. We can’t be heroes all the time.From Washington Post Bestseller Jaime Castle and CJ Valin comes the next installment from the best new superhero universe, perfect for fans of both DC and Marvel. Actually, its for fans of anything superhero-related. You’re gonna like it. Promise.

Heroic: The Golden Age


Evan Currie - 2021
    No once noticed. We were invaded. No one realized. We fought back. No one... cared. In the last moments before defeat, our enemy deployed a bioweapon, spreading an invisible pandemic to the winds.The world just wanted to go back to normal.A third of the population have the genetic code needed to activate the Quantum Virus. Billions of people, waiting to wake up one morning with powers. Abilities. Enhancements beyond that of mortal men.The aliens bet on us destroying ourselves in the ensuing madness, but not all humans revel in destruction. When Order and Chaos go to war, Chaos always wins in the short term... but heroes know how to play the long game.Looking back, will this be the beginning of the end, or the start of the Golden Age?

The Watchers Trilogy Box Set: The Watchers of Eden, City of Stone, War at the Wall


T.C. Edge - 2016
     *** Her gift is her curse. Her world is her prison. Her fate is bigger than she knows... In the hot and harsh farming world of Agricola, Cyra Drayton prepares to be tested. Along with all 16 year olds, she’s about to discover what duty she’ll hold for life. For most, their paths are set – they’ll follow in their parents’ footsteps. For Cyra, however, the little world she knows is about to become a whole lot different. Because Cyra isn’t just a normal girl. She’s got a special gift, a powerful ability, locked deep down inside. She doesn’t know it yet, but she’s to be sent to Eden, the most powerful of the sea cities. There, her true purpose will be discovered, a purpose that will change her world forever. And in time, she might just change the world for everyone else as well… *** Sign up to the author’s email list, and you’ll also get a free novella, told from the perspective of Jackson, one of the main characters. This novella is a perfect accompaniment for the series, and isn’t available anywhere else!

I, Neil: An Alice in Deadland Adventure (Alice, No. 8)


Mainak Dhar - 2014
    That's the only name I have known for a long time. My mission is to follow and protect the yellow-haired girl called Alice. She was the one who gave us freedom, who united us, who showed that those like me, the ones you call Biters, are not monsters to be feared or animals to be hunted down. We live together now, us and the humans, in a place you know as Wonderland. The name doesn't matter. All I know is that I finally have a place I can call home. I have fought many battles and suffered many scars, and as new enemies threaten Alice and my home, I will have to fight again. But now I must fight the toughest battle I have fought yet. The battle to remember who I once was. For you see, now I remember I was someone before I became Bunny Ears.I am Neil and this is my story.

Killer Geezer


T. Jackson King - 2019
    Moments later he is able to set fire to one mugger, melt down a second, knife a third and knock out a fourth. All before 6 a.m.! Jack likes the psychic powers that are suddenly making him powerful and almost invulnerable. But are these powers natural or supernatural? And why did they come to him? Follow his adventures and his discovery the world is not as it seems to be!

How to Become a Henchman: The Henchman's Survival Guide


J. Bennett - 2019
    Just another delightful day in Big Little City. As I huddle on the floor, I know I shouldn't complain. After all, the regular villain attacks keep the rent low, and the City Council even subsidizes the local college tuition. It's the only reason I can afford to get my degree.   The problem is that the heroes are better at showboating for the cameras than trying to save us hapless civilians. As if to make my point, a hero leaps through the window just above me. When the glass shower is over, I peek between my fingers and get an eyeful of glowing orange boots and a muscled body wrapped in the most highly modified suit that crypto currency can buy.   As I pick glass out of my hair, the hero bellows, "Worry not, young lady. Shine is here to save you!"    Ugh. Save your cheesy lines for a different damsel! Welcome to Big Little City, a semi-reality town where everyone who isn’t already a hero or a villain wants to become one. Well, almost everyone... Alice just needs to keep her head down, earn her college degree, and then she’ll finally be able to escape this crazy place and find a real job. Too bad a super scary villain just blew up the restaurant where she works and her paycheck along with it! Now Alice finds herself running low on funds and employment options. Her tuition bill is due, and the university doesn't take promises or tales of woe.   As luck would have it, one of the town’s most famous villains is holding henchmen auditions. The gig would earn Alice the money she needs; all she has to do is betray every instinct and play the "Fame Game" she despises.   Oh, and she’s also got to beat out the other competitors who might just kill for the limited henchmen spots.   Author J Bennett is back with a brand new, action-packed superhero series. With a keen social eye and her trademark wit, J Bennett weaves a story of a futuristic world where good and evil are both beholden to ratings. Is Alice willing to risk life, limb, and her integrity to land the role of a lifetime and the juicy paycheck it brings?   Find out why it's so much fun to root for the henchman!

Stephen King The Dark Tower The Long Road Home #4


Peter David
    And for the last of the line of Eld there may be no way out. Meanwhile, on Mid-World, Alain and Cuthbert desperately struggle to protect Roland's unconscious form, and themselves, against a pack of ravening wolves.

The Promised Neverland - Chapter 5 (She got us!)


Kaiu Shirai
    

A Boy Called Hawk


Kate Stradling - 2010
    Unfortunately for him, Hawk, Hummer, Honey, and Happy West did not leave on a whim, and they have no intention of returning quietly. With the help of the powerful Government-Civilian Alliance, Oliver and his handler Emily must track down the truants before they can wreak havoc across the southwestern United States. Submit now, dear children. The state demands it.

The Birthmarked Trilogy


Caragh M. O'Brien - 2014
    . . Perfect for fans new to the series, the three books of Caragh O'Brien's Birthmarked Trilogy are available together in this bundle. Birthmarked : Gaia has always believed it is her duty, with her mother, to hand over a small quota of babies to the Enclave. But when Gaia's mother and father are arrested by the very people they so dutifully serve, Gaia is forced to question everything she has been taught to believe. Prized: Striking out into the wasteland with nothing but her baby sister and a rumor to guide her, Gaia survives only to be captured by the people of Sylum, a dystopian society where women rule the men who drastically outnumber them, and a kiss is a crime. In order to see her sister again, Gaia must submit to their strict social code, but how can she deny her sense of justice, her curiosity, and everything in her heart that makes her whole?Promised: After defying the ruthless Enclave, surviving the wasteland, and upending the rigid matriarchy of Sylum, Gaia now faces her biggest challenge ever. She must lead the people of Sylum back to the Enclave and persuade the Protectorat to grant them refuge from the wasteland. Is Gaia ready, as a leader, to sacrifice what—or whom—she loves most?Includes bonus chapters from Caragh O'Brien's Vault of Dreamers!

Take Good Care


Ella King - 2021
    Or a reckless act?What makes a good mother? Maddie feels there's no such thing, and while her own style may be controversial, it works for her family and that's all that matters.Until one day she makes a fateful decision that has devastating consequences for another parent, and suddenly the world is lining up to vilify her.As the court of public opinion closes in, now she must defend every parental choice she's ever made - in a court of law.But this is not just a trial; it's a witch hunt - and everybody has an opinion.Is she a terrible mother? Or faced with the choice, might you have done the same?

The Withering


Joshua Jacobs - 2015
    Unlike the millions before her, she survives. Afraid she is a carrier of the disease, Alice abandons her family and disappears into what remains of the world. Bodies litter the streets. Cities lie in waste. The government ceases to exist. What the Withering doesn't destroy, the Clan kills, cleansing the world of those they hold responsible. Those like Alice.Then one night Alice meets Brandon. He brings word of a rural town untouched by the sickness. He promises a future. He reminds her of what it means to feel... of what it means to love.Yet the Clan is watching. They're always watching.

The Moon Hunters


Anya Pavelle - 2019
    A group of survivors finds an island sanctuary.Three generations later, no one has heard from the outside world in years. The old radio only crackles with static. The Pestilence either finished its job or the world tore itself apart.In the Village of Lehom, Leilani has been called to court as a Virtue by the King. Going to court means losing her independence and self-respect. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have a choice.Leilani decides to take a stand; the King be damned. She plans a daring escape and sets in motion a series of events that will shake the foundation of her village and the island to its core.

Cloudwalkers


Mark Wayne McGinnis - 2018
    Organic life forms are all but obliterated, and the human race is reduced to a tiny fraction of its population. This event is known as the Ruin. But five centuries later, humanity still survives. Cloudwalkers tells the story of Conn Brataich, a young man who lives a privileged life above the cloudbank, relying on his noble heritage—and the abilities it provides—to guide him through his beautiful but treacherous realm in the New York skylands, and Misty Casper, a Grounder who lives an arduous and somber life hundreds of feet below in the former subway tunnels of crumbling midtown Manhattan. Their two cultures live in uneasy, segregated codependence, rarely interacting until late one fall evening when, mysteriously, an experienced Cloudwalker of noble blood falls five hundred feet to his death. Conn is sent to recover the body in secret, but he doesn’t expect to encounter Misty on the dangerous streets of the dying city. Their chance encounter triggers a domino effect that throws them both headlong into a struggle for their very survival. Conn and Misty soon discover that only by working together can they succeed, but first they’ll have to put aside their preconceived notions about one another. Dark forces, long thought to have been expunged, have returned and are threatening to destroy both their ways of life. Through love, loss, and the looming threat of war, Misty and Conn will be forced to face their greatest fears for the sake of their very world and each other.