Book picks similar to
Defiance by William H. Weber


apocalypse
dystopian
apocalyptic
fiction

SurviRal


Ken Benton - 2014
    A Denver couple tries to escape the chaos of the city after a killer manmade virus causes the economic collapse of society.

No Direction Home


Mike Sheridan - 2017
    An Irish couple on their dream vacation in Orlando. A bank robber in an Atlanta prison...what do they all have in common? They are survivors of vPx073, the most deadly virus ever to be unleashed on the planet. One that has brought civilization to a standstill. Haunted by the tragic death of his Gulf War veteran father, Cody Parsons is a struggling student at UTK when the pandemic hits Knoxville. Soon the sharpshooting skills his father taught him as a fourteen-year-old are put to good use --- especially when an ex-US army combat engineer takes him under his wing. As food and water runs out, and roving gangs take over the cities, the paths of some very determined survivors are destined to meet...with surprising consequences. With strong, original characters that jump off the page, this is a fast-paced story that fans of post-apocalyptic survival fiction will appreciate.

Fuel


Nathan Jones - 2015
    When a major attack cripples the US's oil refining capabilities and destroys a significant portion of US fuel reserves, the nation practically runs out of gas overnight. It's time to see if the preparations he and his cousin Lewis Halsson have made in their hometown of Aspen Hill are enough to carry them through the disaster. His friend Matt Larson isn't quite so fortunate, caught unprepared and unaware of the grim reality of the situation when a society completely dependent on fuel runs out. He finds himself struggling to adjust as everything falls apart around him, fleeing one step ahead of the chaos to reach Aspen Hill. Now he must depend on his own strength and ingenuity and the help of family and friends to see him through. Yet even Matt can consider himself lucky compared to most. The vast majority of people living in the nation's cities are on the move, fleeing population centers in all directions with no food and nowhere to go as starvation looms. Meanwhile emergency services scramble to stay ahead of the disaster with insufficient resources, faced with the impossible prospect of aiding tens or even hundreds of millions of desperate refugees. A number of those refugees are making their way to Aspen Hill, which presents a crisis of its own for a town that has nothing to spare and is struggling to care for its citizens.

The Tide


Anthony J. Melchiorri - 2015
    He’s taken them to all corners of the earth to protect the United States from biological and chemical warfare. When his CIA handler, Meredith Webb, gives him a mission to investigate a disturbing lead on a laboratory based out of an abandoned oil rig, they discover the most terrifying threat to mankind they’ve ever faced—a genetically engineered biological weapon called the Oni Agent. Back in the United States, Meredith discovers a frightening connection between the CIA and the Oni Agent. But her investigations are short-lived when the Agent spreads and brings mankind to its knees. Cities burn as it turns humans into warped creatures hell-bent on destruction. Dominic and Meredith vow to do everything they can to combat the Agent and find a cure. But will their efforts be enough to turn the tide—or is humanity’s fate already sealed?

The Shock


Scott Nicholson - 2012
    While the remaining humans are struggling to adapt and survive, they notice that some among them have...changed.Rachel Wheeler finds herself alone in the city, where violent survivors known as "Zapheads" roam the streets, killing and destroying. Her only hope is to reach the mountains, where her grandfather, a legendary survivalist, established a compound in preparation for Doomsday.Other survivors are fleeing the city, but Zapheads aren't the only danger. Rogue bands of military soldiers want to impose their own order in the crumbling ruins of civilization. When Rachel discovers a 10-year-old boy, she vows to care for him even at the risk of her own life.And the Zapheads are evolving, developing communal skills even as they lay waste to the society they will eventually replace.

Secession: The Storm


Joe Nobody - 2014
    Working a series of heinous crimes, Zach uncovers a dark, treacherous secret – a conspiracy that could alter America’s future and result in the secession of Texas. Co-authored by P.A. Troit and bestselling writer Joe Nobody, Secession explores a world where a hopelessly gridlocked government fuels an ever-deepening divide between right and left. The public’s frustration with the country’s direction forces desperate leaders on both sides of the political spectrum to consider splitting the union.Based on actual historic events, current economic realities, and a growing global trend, Secession immerses the reader in a lifelike scenario that could be America’s future.

Frontier Justice


Arthur T. Bradley - 2013
    Governments have collapsed. Cities have become graveyards filled with unspeakable horror. People have resorted to scavenging from the dead, or taking from the living. The entire industrialized world has become a wasteland of abandoned cars, decaying bodies, and feral animals. To stay alive, U.S. Deputy Marshal Mason Raines must forage for food, water, and gasoline while outgunning those who seek to take advantage of the apocalyptic anarchy. Together with his giant Irish wolfhound, Bowie, he aligns with survivors of the town of Boone in a life and death struggle against a gang of violent criminals. With each deadly encounter, Mason is forced to accept his place as one of the nation's few remaining lawmen. In a world now populated by escaped convicts, paranoid mutants, and government hit squads, his only hope to save the townspeople is to enforce his own brand of frontier justice.

Wormwood


Micah Ackerman - 2014
    Regularly suffering from panic attacks triggered by news reports of world catastrophes, he can barely handle his everyday life even when rationally, the events should not affect him. Nate becomes a prepper to help him cope with the anxiety, stocking a makeshift shelter. So when nuclear disaster actually strikes home, Nate must employ truly heroic courage or fold to his fears. But in the aftermath of the bombs, it quickly becomes apparent that surviving the attack is just the beginning—there is far worse yet to come. Wormwood is a taut, post-apocalyptic thriller told from the perspective of three main characters: flawed hero Nate; Jeanette, his intelligent love interest; and Simon, the unstable leader of their survivor community.

Trail of Misery


N.A. Broadley - 2019
    Now forced to set out on the Appalachian Trail with only her backpack, two guns and a turkey carving knife. Will it be enough for one woman alone in the wilds?On a mission to find safety and a place to survive, Beth finds others in an unlikely trio struggling to find a new life. A young girl, mute with eyes blue as glass, a convict with a rage against evil, and a dog left abandoned by the merciless virus. But… There are others on the trail. And they have more sinister motives. They're on a mission, too - to take whatever they can from whomever they find. They won't give up the chase until they get what they want.And they want everything."

The Decay


Roger Hayden - 2014
    It was a normal Friday afternoon shattered after an unexpected terrorist attack on the New York Stock Exchange. While the country focuses on the shocking aftermath of the Wall Street bombing, they lose communications—cell phones, Internet—and electricity, as a result of the nation’s downed power grids. Paul Hayden is a thirty-five year old man who just wants to pick up his step-daughter from school and go home while avoiding the busy afternoon traffic. While driving, he notices a mushroom cloud in the distance. The bright radiance of the sky sends the townspeople into a panic, and mass soon evacuation follows. Through this, Paul has one thing on his mind: protect his step-daughter, Julie, and get to his wife, Samantha, who is out of town on business. Through his journey, however, they will find that sometimes the stakes are just too high. Don’t miss the first installment of the exciting new dystopian science fiction thriller destined to bring you into a strange new world of apocalyptic visions.

Infection


M.P. McDonald - 2016
    Not only is it deadly, but it changes victims' behavior in order to spread the disease before they die. When Cole Evans first heard about the flu outbreak at a military base on a remote island, he felt a little uneasy. He had worked at that base as an epidemiologist while serving in the Navy and knew the kind of diseases they studied there.If this was the disease he thought it was, the entire world could be facing a global pandemic like nothing it had seen before. Cole must find a way to protect his family from a disease that could wipe mankind from the face of the earth...

EMP: Equipping Modern Patriots: A Story of Survival


Jonathan Hollerman - 2013
    Can you imagine a world with no phones, no TV, no internet, and no way to access your bank account? Without the electric grid, there would be no lights, no heating or air conditioning in your house, no public water, and the sewer would likely back up into your home. Without modern vehicles or interstate trucking, the supermarkets would quickly run out of food and supplies. Unprepared, the government would be helpless to feed the masses and maintain order. Our humanity is questioned when survival of the fittest becomes reality. Jonathan Hollerman paints a vivid and disturbing picture of society falling apart after an Electromagnetic Pulse attack against our nation. This is not only a thrilling story, but offers practical life-saving advice for an imminent threat. If you enjoyed "Patriots" by James Wesley Rawles or "One Second After" by William Forstchen, then you will enjoy this story of survival.2nd Edition (Jan 8th, 2014) has been professionally edited.

It Hit The Fan: Piney River Apocalypse


John Sullins - 2019
    When a Missouri school teacher is fired from his job, he heads to a small river to get away from his problems and the virus. It might be the best decision he ever made.

This Plague of Days, Season 1


Robert Chazz Chute - 2013
    While governments lie to their citizens to quarantine victims and isolate cities, the inexorable mind virus brings civilization as we know it to an end. Sutr-X sweeps away all we knew, but the plague doesn't stop there. As the virus mutates to become Sutr-Z, Britain falls as the zombies rise.The war for the future has begun and the greater numbers are on the side of the infected. Terrorists created the plague that made ordinary civilians into rabid bio-weapons. The Ungrateful Living and the rabid cannibals all share one thing in common: they are just like you.

Survive the Fall


Grace Hamilton - 2020
    The hunting trip is merely a ploy contrived by his wife and mother to force Greg and his father to end their estrangement. Not even Greg’s teenage daughter or his father’s hunting buddies along for the ride will be enough of a buffer to heal the rift of long-standing resentments. But the helicopter has barely dropped them in the remote Canadian wilderness when they discover their new equipment is dead with no explanation. Now they’ll have to rely on each other and resort to Old West ingenuity to find their way home—before the hunter becomes the hunted.For seventeen-year-old Darryl Healy, things aren’t much easier on his grandparents’ cattle ranch. Not when his highly intelligent and successful mother keeps hounding him about college applications. But college quickly loses its allure when the lights go out after a cyberattack. Frightening responsibilities fall squarely on Darryl’s unproven shoulders as a power-hungry politician is determined to confiscate the ranch’s resources—by any means necessary.Danger and death await the Healy family as each group attempts to navigate this terrifying new post-apocalyptic world while the vast wilderness separates them. When deceit arises from within their ranks, they’ll face threats as lethal as the grizzly bears and mountain lions lurking in the shadows.And in order to survive the nightmare, a deal with the devil might be their only saving grace.