Book picks similar to
Finding AJ by Russ Melrose


zombies
serial-killers
action-and-adventure
thriller-suspense

Sabriel


Garth Nix - 1995
    But during her final semester, her father, the Abhorsen, goes missing, and Sabriel knows she must enter the Old Kingdom to find him. With Sabriel, the first installment in the Abhorsen series, Garth Nix exploded onto the fantasy scene as a rising star, in a novel that takes readers to a world where the line between the living and the dead isn't always clear—and sometimes disappears altogether.

Winchester: Over


Dave Lund - 2014
     The chemtrails brought them back to life. When the end came, it was swift and brutal. The EMP from atmospheric detonations occurred just before Christmas. Chinese bombs spreading poison on major metropolitan centers follow, only hours later. Then the dead began to walk… and to kill with terrifying speed. The government, from the President to the foot soldier, fell in three days. Nine out of ten – maybe more – were dead before Valentine’s Day. Only a hardy few, those who were had prepared for the worst, lived long enough to see what happened next. Winchester: Over tells the stories of the many who fell and the handful who survived. It follows former motor-cop Bexar Reed and his family, along with their lifelong friends and fellow preppers, as they fight their way to relative safety in rural Texas… and the story of a highly trained government agent who has to fight his own way out of an infected airport, to the last barely functioning military installation, hidden beneath the ground at Area 51. They are stories of courage and combat, guns and battle tech, the secret history of humanity, ancient artifacts and the Nazi occult, and always, always, the ravenous walking dead, as the last brave humans teeter on the edge of extinction. The “reanimates” relentless destruction of civilization is only the beginning. The bestial remnants of humanity are only one shuffling step behind. "If you shook this book, gunpowder and testosterone would fall out." -Chris Philbrook, Author of Adrian's Undead Diary Look for Prey, Book 2 of The Winchester Undead, coming in June 2015. And learn more about Dave Lund, his work, and his world view at www.winchesterundead.com

The One That Got Away


Simon Wood - 2015
    But something goes terribly wrong on their way home, and the last time Zoë sees her, Holli is in the clutches of a sadistic killer. Zoë flees with her life, changed forever.A year later and still tortured with guilt, Zoë latches on to a police investigation where the crime eerily resembles her abduction. Along with a zealous detective, she retraces the steps of that fateful night in the desert, hoping that her memory will return and help them find justice for Holli. Her abductor—labeled the “Tally Man” by a fascinated media—lies in wait for Zoë. For him, she is not a survivor but simply the one that got away.With an unforgettable heroine, a chillingly disturbed psychopath, and a story that moves at breakneck speed, The One That Got Away is thriller writer Simon Wood at his finest.

The Hellbreakers


James N. Cook - 2018
     Alexander Muir, a once-renowned professional fighter, has spent the last six years surviving the only way he knows how: on his own. In a land where the golden rule is to make allies or die, he has stayed alive against all odds. But now, his self-imposed exile is over. In other parts of the world, those who survived the Outbreak have banded together to form militant groups with a single mission: to reclaim what is theirs. One intrepid band, the Third Colorado Volunteer Militia, has decided to challenge a place where even the bravest fear to tread—Phoenix, Arizona. And now, these two worlds—the barren isolation of a lone survivor and the emerging force of a fledgling government—are set to collide. Together, they will take on a challenge bigger than all of them. But in this fight, the dead are not the only danger… Also by James N. Cook: Surviving the Dead Series: No Easy Hope This Shattered Land Warrior Within Fire in Winter The Passenger The Darkest Place Savages The Killing Line Storm of Ghosts

Divine: The Complete Series Box Set


M.R. Forbes - 2021
    Until now...My name is Landon Hamilton, and I’m what the Divine call a diuscrucis - a perfect balance of angel, demon, and human. It means I have a gift.And a destiny.Heaven and Hell have been at war for thousands of years, locked in a secret battle for the souls of humankind. And for thousands of years, humankind has had no one to fight for them. No one to maintain the equilibrium between good and evil. No one who remembers what it means to be human with the power to stand against the supernatural.Until now.So I’ve got to fight. To keep the balance. To prevent Armageddon. To do whatever it takes. My side is humanity’s side, Heaven be damned and Hell be blessed. I didn’t make the rules and I never asked for this job, but I’m the only one who can do it.Game on.Includes all seven books in the Divine series:1. Balance2. Betrayal3. Broken4. Bound5. Evolution6. Execution7. Extinction

Just Another Day at the Office


Jay Bonansinga - 2012
    In this exciting story that takes place between The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor and The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury, Philip unleashes his full fury on the previous leaders of the small walled-off town. This one-man-army, a man on his way to becoming the fearsome Governor who will eventually go up against Rick Grimes and company, single-handedly takes on all foes, both zombie and human alike.This story was originally published in issue 1 of The Walking Dead magazine.

Unleashed


Aaron Bunce - 2019
    Down on his luck and desperate to make quota, Jacoby happens upon a “cherry rock”. The kind that wouldn’t just meet his quota but put him into a sizeable financial bonus. But there’s a problem. A scan shows a sizeable hollow cavity inside, and company procedures are clear: voids must be drilled and tested for potentially explosive gases. That would mean handing it over to a specialty drilling team, and thus, kissing his payday goodbye. Refusing to hand his financial future away, Jacoby ignores his terminal’s warning and stakes his claim. Except, his saw cuts into more than just rock.Something was inside… something alive. Jacoby quickly learns that some rocks are hiding more than just precious minerals and trace metals. And when some things are set loose, there is no putting them back.Mankind will never be the same.

Jenny Undead


J.L. Murray - 2013
    In a world ravaged by disease and chaos, Jenny has a secret. She and her brother were part of a gruesome experiment conducted ten years earlier in an attempt to stop the zombie apocalypse. If the rumors are true, her mother was the hated pathologist who released the disease in the first place, leading to the destruction of government, civilization, and life as we know it.Despite the constant terror of the undead, Jenny is as happy as a post-apocalyptic girl can be. She has friends, she's good with a knife, and she has Declan Munro by her side. But when she hears her brother might still be alive and living with the Underground, a religious group hiding in the now-defunct subway, Jenny jumps at the chance to find him. She infiltrates the group to right the wrong she caused when she ran away, leaving him in that lab.When she finds him, though, Casey is not at all what she expected. He's been turned. And the impossible happens when Jenny is bitten. She and Casey are dead, but they're not like any other rotters. Their minds are still intact. And there are others: Thirteen children survived the mysterious experiments, and it’s up to Jenny to find them and bring an end to the plague. But not everyone wants the chaos to end. Between battling her hunger for living flesh and the all-encompassing rage that goes with it, and the realization that a killer is stalking both the living and the undead, Jenny has her hands full. Coming between a dead girl and the people she loves is a big mistake. Because if you can count on one thing, it's this: You wouldn't like her angry.

The Mesmerized


Rhiannon Frater - 2014
    When humanity is transformed into mindless drones by a terrifying supernatural event only Minji appears to be immune.Thousands die instantly, but the other affected people are drawn to the Nevada desert. Nothing stands in the way of the mesmerized. Not fire, not heights, not rubble. As the bodies pile in the streets and the relentless wave of the mesmerized plods into the deadly desert, Minji is trapped in a burning city attempting to rescue her affected family.Can one woman save her family and the world?

The In-Betweener


Ann Christy - 2015
    Two years after the end of the world, she talks to herself and smashes heads with her favorite sledgehammer. This is not the life she imagined for herself as her eighteenth birthday rolls past.It’s time for her to look beyond her safe, little hiding place to the world beyond. The madness of the apocalypse is ending, the dangerous in-betweeners - those no longer quite human, but not yet dead - are few and far between. The deaders that cover the world are going still, their senses dulled by time and the elements. The problem is that there are no people...none. Emily has found not a single living human when she's dared to step outside her safe-zone.As Emily weighs the heavy cost of surviving alone and begins to accept the inevitable, everything changes once again. One of the deaders at her gate turns out not to be a deader at all. He’s an in-betweener different from any other she has seen before, and he carries a message. If Emily has the courage to step beyond her gate and the skills to survive a perilous trip in a dead world, she might just have a chance at life...a life with humans...after all.The In-Betweener is book one in the thrilling post-apocalyptic adventure series, Between Life and Death.

1776: The Washington Divergence


Andrew Hastie - 2018
    New York is on fire. The British fleet are in the harbor, and Special Agent John Anderson still can’t believe he’s here...It began when the FBI counter-terrorism system picked up suspicious activity at Mount Vernon. Anderson was assigned to find out why a crazy old man dressed as a British Redcoat was trying to break in and how the same guy could show up five minutes later at the Smithsonian.The Colonel claims he is trying to change the past and prevent the assassination of General Washington. Anderson assumes he’s just off his meds – until the old man runs into a broom closet and disappears.Infinity Engines: Missions takes you on a journey into an alternate history, one that might have been if it wasn’t for the work of the Oblivion Order and their mission to save the future, by changing the past.

Z 2134


Sean Platt - 2012
    And like most criminals, he has one chance at freedom — to participate in The Darwin Games, a televised survival show which pits two players from each city against one another in The Barrens, the uninhabited areas outside the City Walls.He’ll also have to face another enemy — the zombies which still roam The Barrens.As he fights for his freedom against impossible odds, his daughter, Anastasia, stumbles into people who have information about her father — information which will change her life forever.But it will also put her in the crosshairs of her father’s enemies.

Diffusion Box Set: An Alien First Contact Adventure Series


Stan C. Smith - 2018
    Over 1,200 pages to feed your sense of wonder. Something amazing lies hidden in the remote jungle wilderness of New Guinea. It is unremarkable in appearance yet beautiful in purpose. It is intelligent yet not human. It is a gift. But gifts always come at a price.Together in one box set for the first time, the Diffusion series is a story of first contact unlike any other. As one reviewer states, reading this series is “like entering a mystifying portal and attaching jumper cables to your imagination.”Books included in this complete box set:- Diffusion- Infusion- Profusion- Savage- Blue Arrow“Don't worry, you'll have time to breathe at the end! From the first word I was drawn into a vortex of action and tension! This did not abate until the last word was read. Whew, what a ride! Kudos Mr. Smith!”- Tammy, Amazon reviewer  ★★★★★“This whole series has been incredible not only to read, but to become immersed in the ongoing lives of all involved. Hopefully this is not the End! Stan Smith has an amazing gift that enables him to make his books on the edge of virtual reality.”- Claudia Riggs, Amazon reviewer  ★★★★★“You need to read this series! Underestimating the potential for destruction that the Lamotelokhai holds within, the actions of a misguided few come with potentially lethal consequences for the whole planet.- Mandy Walkden-Brown, Amazon reviewer  ★★★★★“New Favorite Author. This author just keeps on getting better with each book. I am enthralled with his world. The characters are well developed and entertaining. The action is non-stop.”- Linda W, Amazon reviewer  ★★★★★“This series has to be the most original concept in recent years, and is executed by an author who puts images into your head that will hold you in thrall.”- Walter Scott, Amazon reviewer  ★★★★★ Scroll up and grab this heavily discounted series!

Plague


Matthew James - 2016
    Its victims soon become violent, viciously attacking anything that wanders into their path.Logan Reed, a former Australian Special Forces soldier turned African game warden, is at the front line of this disastrous. Together with his team, including his sister, a Serengeti Zoologist, Logan searches for clues to the contagion's origin in hopes that knowing where it came from will help them stop it.And they'd better hurry.It’s spreading...

The Bone Collector


Jeffery Deaver - 1997
    But now a diabolical killer is challenging Rhyme to a terrifying and ingenious duel of wits. With police detective Amelia Sachs by his side, Rhyme must follow a labyrinth of clues that reaches back to a dark chapter in New York City's past -- and reach further into the darkness of the mind of a madman who won't stop until he has stripped life down to the bone.