Book picks similar to
Prelude to Dystopia by John Lyman


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Ping: From the Apocalypse


Susan Lowry - 2011
    Barely clinging to life, she must wait for the snow to melt to find out if humanity has been completely wiped out.Then the pings arrive—desperate messages that won’t leave her mind. Are they a figment of her imagination, or a spark of hope? They feel more believable than the frozen corpses she encounters everywhere.Meanwhile, time is running out for six-year-old Travis. Stranded in the blazing heat of post-apocalyptic Texas, he pleads for help—communicating in the one way he can.

Get Out of Denver (Denver Burning Book 1)


Algor X. Dennison - 2015
    He can drop everything and run for his mountain retreat, or he can go back for the woman he's begun to care about. Carrie was never part of his plan, but without her his plan may lose its meaning. Before their journey is over, she will have a greater part to play than either of them suspected.Making their way out of a city in full societal meltdown and across the Colorado Rockies to the ranch where they hope to find refuge, McLean and Carrie's small band grapples with the dangers and obstacles of a world without order and a life in which the strength of individuals-- both physical and internal-- will define their ability to survive.

The Merrow of Lake Michigan


Claire Fahey - 2015
    The mayor of Chicago will be assassinated at the end of the week, and she is stuck in the year 1893. What she doesn’t know is how she landed 100 years back in time, or why Peter Hastings, the man trying to help her, shares some eerie similarities to her dead husband.When Joey, perhaps unwisely, revealed the year of her origins it didn’t sit well with her host. Her effort to convince him by predicting the mayor’s murder only made matters worse. Now her sanity is in question, and everything she does puts it further into doubt. One of the few bright spots in the whole situation is William, Peter’s five year-old son, but he is a stark reminder that she left a son of her own back in 1993. Stuck in the past and desperate to return to her own Chicago, Joey stumbles her way through a time when women had a barely-audible voice, and very few options. Armed with nothing but her wits, Joey must navigate the rigid waters of the Victorian era while she tries to prevent a murder and find her way home.

The Other Lives


Adrian J. Walker - 2018
    He can see into the mind of everyone he meets - a useful ability when you're job is to destroy celebrities on live television.But when he stumbles upon a hundred-year-old photograph in which he sees himself as a boy, Elliot's gift spirals out of control.His only hope to retain his sanity lies in the hands of a group of misfits who claim to have lived before...and who know Elliot very well.Can Elliot discover the secret of the photograph, and of who he really is, before he loses his mind forever?

The Secret Life of a Ninja: First Day of School (Ninja Kid #1)


Arnie Lightning - 2014
    It's his first day and one of the school bullies already found him as an easy target. Jason quickly sees how the bullies (a small gang called the Terror Squad) just do whatever they want to whomever they want. Can Anyone Stop Them? Most of the kids in school just accept things the way they are. They don't think anyone can stand up to the bullies. Jason confidently tells his new friend Amy that he believes things will change soon. Amy thinks he's crazy. Kick! Punch! POW! Ninja Kid to the Rescue! Read along and find out what happens when a secret ninja shows up to challenge the bullies! He has two Chinese throwing stars and nunchucks. He's fast as lightning. No one knows where he came from.. Will they back down or just smash Ninja Kid? Action, Adventure, and Ninja Stealth! 12+ Full Color Illustrations Free Membership to the Arnie Lightning Newsletter Scroll up and buy a copy today to find out what Ninja Boy is all about..

Preda's Voice


Carolyn Gross - 2015
     Preda Torrance is nearly eighteen, and her speechless existence has finally taken its toll. Every time someone becomes suspicious of her strange behavior, her dad packs up and moves them somewhere else—which only compounds Preda’s isolation even further. Her only companion? A one-eared alley cat named Fiver. One morning, a man breaks into the Torrance house—and only Fiver and a screaming Preda escape with their lives. Once again convinced that her voice can bring only destruction, the teen is surprised when Detective Fox seems to think she has a gift. Strangely aware of her history, the detective tells Preda that he knows her true origins…and that there is a community of people on the verge of war who desperately need her help. The first book in an empowering coming-of-age fantasy series, Preda’s Voice brilliantly blends young love with epic adventure while candidly recounting the inward journey of a teenage girl struggling to find her place in the world.

Girl at the Window


Declan Conner - 2017
    Only this family’s past is darker than most18-year-old Clara is trapped in an abusive life by her Pa who is hiding a dark secret. Home schooled and with no outside social contact – constantly on the move – she wishes him dead.After they move to a small town, local youths vie for her attention against his wishes. When her Pa is found murdered by the town sheriff, the circumstances point firmly to Clara as the guilty party. Assigned to the case, a personal conflict causes Detective Alana Bossé to dig deeper. As her suspect list grows, it looks as though there is a slim chance that Clara could be innocent.But is everything as it seems? Or should they lock Clara up and throw away the key?

Communion of Dreams


James Downey - 2012
    When an independent prospector on Saturn’s moon Titan discovers an alien artifact, assumptions that we are alone in the universe are called into question. Knowing that news of such a discovery could prompt chaos on Earth, a small team is sent to investigate and hopefully manage the situation. What they find is that there's more to human history, and human abilities, than any of them ever imagined. And that they will need all those insights, and all those abilities, to face the greatest threat yet to human survival.

A Distant Eden


Lloyd Tackitt - 2012
    Three hundred million Americans are suddenly faced with a survival situation. They have no water, electricity or fuel. Food rapidly disappears from the store shelves, not to be replaced. Only three percent will survive. Those three percent will have much in common. What does it take to be one of them?

The Man That Time Forgot


Paul Mitchell - 2013
    Just open any book or talk to any history professor and they’ll tell you that history is filled with nothing but glorious battles, great leaders, plagues, large fires, earthquakes, famous inventors, Egyptians and Louis Pasteur. This couldn’t be further from the truth. History, in fact, is filled with a whole lot of nothing. Andrew Adams knows that only too well. He’s an ordinary man living his life in the all too abundant and mundane spaces between those great moments. Just like all ordinary men he spends much of his life wondering what the point of it all is, struggling to form meaningful relationships or find his place in society. Andrew’s life follows a daily routine much like that of many others: he wakes up, does the minimum required to get himself through the day - careful not to learn too much or create a lasting impression on anyone - and then goes back to bed. There’s only one, ever-so-minor inconvenience that continually stands in the way of Andrew’s ignorantly blissful life Time-travel. Since before he can remember every time Andrew sleeps he’s randomly flung through time and space, never knowing where or when he’ll wake up. The only thing he can be certain of is that the location he arrives at won’t be anywhere exciting. He’s a cursed man who had no idea why this happens to him, clueless to how it all started or how it can be stopped. Rarely does he find a place to fit in and, on those rare occasions that he does, he can only stay there until he loses his fight against sleep. Andrew Adams has all but given up hope and given up on life.That is until he meets someone else like him who sets in motion a chain of events that will lead him on a journey of discovery and answers to questions that perhaps even he didn't want to know. With the help of a mysterious and tenacious woman, an old drunken priest and a seven-foot, psychopathic assassin Andrews life is about to be given a purpose. Finally he might start to view his abilities as a gift instead of a curse and perhaps learn that there’s always something to be thankful for. Whether he wants to or not

California Blood


Pete Palamountain - 2011
    Baldy.• Suicide of a wandering derelict.• Murder of a wealthy matriarch.• Murder of a charismatic Catholic priest.

Blackout


Ryan Casey - 2016
    An impossible journey...Will Stuartson is having the worst month of his life. His wife is leaving him, he can't see his daughter anymore, and he has been kicked out of the family home. He sees no better opportunity to take a trip into the Scottish wilderness with his trusty dog, Bouncer. And a bottle or two of whisky.But Will's retreat is interrupted when a devastating series of EMP strikes hit the country. All electrical and battery power, from cars to watches, is down. Will is cut off from society and forced into a world where survivalism is required to stay alive, and where the sudden lack of communication is driving the country to destruction.

Now, forced into a dangerous, primal world where the elements and other people all pose a threat, Will must make the long trek back down to Preston in order to find and save his wife and daughter.But even with a basic knowledge of survivalism, surviving is anything but simple in this harrowing new world...
Blackout is the first book in the After the Storm post apocalyptic series by Ryan Casey, author of Dead Days and Infection Z. It is sure to delight fans of the author's trademark complex characters, rapid pacing, and unexpected twists and turns.

GU: Justice Net


David Archer - 2016
    Gun violence is almost nonexistent, quality health care is available to everyone, food is abundant and accessible, and crime is all but unheard of. These problems were solved by the creation of the Global Union, a worldwide government that treats everyone as equals. Crime was lessened by one of the GU's most innovative new programs, known as Justice Net. Rather than languishing in prison cells, convicted criminals are sentenced to fight to the death on live TV. The more serious the crime, the more fights they must survive in order to be released. It's an incredibly successful program, since the vast majority of those convicted are unlikely to survive even their very first fight, while the public and the government make fortunes by betting on the outcomes. What happens, though, when an innocent man is framed for crimes he didn't commit? Professor Carson Pace, a gentle soul, finds himself the target of a madman who wants something he has, and before he knows it, he has been arrested as a serial rapist and the evidence against him is overwhelming. Convicted in a mockery of a trial, Carson is sent to Justice Net, where he will have to fight for his life. He has been sentenced to seventy bouts, and the only way he can survive is to kill every opponent he faces, but he's never been in a fight in his life. It all seems hopeless, until another convict, one who has already survived fifty bouts, takes Carson under his wing and begins to train him. Even more astounding, a cyber terrorist group that is bent on exposing corruption in the government learns about Carson''s case, and begins working to free him. In a world with more technology than we can even imagine today, it may take the hardest work they've ever known to bring Justice to Justice Net.

Healer's Ruin


Chris O'Mara - 2015
    As the Ten Plains King lays siege to the mysterious kingdom of the Riln, the Healer realises that if he is to survive, he has to think and fight like a soldier. But Chalos isn't a soldier. He doesn't even own a sword. To make matters worse, the famed Wielder of Aphazail, a mage of extraordinary power, has come to the aid of the Riln... and is slaughtering the invaders in droves. Empires clash, gods walk, kingdoms tremble and sorcery carves a bright and blazing path across an ancient and mysterious land... a path that leads to HEALER'S RUIN.

The Commander


C.J. Williams - 2016
    He wanted to live quietly and let old scars heal. But then a spaceship landed. The lone occupant, a guy named Sam, gave Luke the keys and said it was up to him to stop a massive alien invasion that was on the way. Luke wanted to believe it was a hoax. The problem was, Sam had the proof.