Brilliance


Marcus Sakey - 2013
    In New York, a man sensing patterns in the stock market racks up $300 billion. In Chicago, a woman can go invisible by being where no one is looking. They’re called "brilliants," and since 1980, one percent of people have been born this way. Nick Cooper is among them; a federal agent, Cooper has gifts rendering him exceptional at hunting terrorists. His latest target may be the most dangerous man alive, a brilliant drenched in blood and intent on provoking civil war. But to catch him, Cooper will have to violate everything he believes in - and betray his own kind.From Marcus Sakey, "a modern master of suspense" (Chicago Sun-Times) and "one of our best storytellers" (Michael Connelly), comes an adventure that’s at once breakneck thriller and shrewd social commentary; a gripping tale of a world fundamentally different and yet horrifyingly similar to our own, where being born gifted can be a terrible curse.

Mercury's Bane


Nick Webb - 2017
    We remember them like yesterday: pieces of our stolen heritage. Things like NASA. Football. Parades and pies. Good things, comfortable things. We remember a time when we were alone in the universe, safe and oblivious. But it's all gone now. We called them the Telestines, and in the face of their ruthless invasion we were powerless. By 2040, all the world's governments and militaries had fallen, and the remnants of humanity exiled to the solar system. We looked down on our blue planet, so close to our birthplace, so close to our home. But the miles may as well have been lightyears. Our anger smoldered in the darkness of space. On Mars. On Ganymede. In the dank crowded filth of the asteroids. We swore: we will take our planet back. And today, it begins. Our fleet is ready. Our soldiers determined. Earth will be ours again.

Out of the Dark


David Weber - 2010
    So when the Hegemony Survey Force encountered a world whose so-called "sentients" "humans," they called themselves—were almost as bad as the Shongairi themselves, it seemed reasonable to use the Shongairi to neutralize them before they could become a second threat to galactic peace. And if the Shongairi took a few knocks in the process, all the better. Now, Earth is conquered. The Shongairi have arrived in force, and humanity's cities lie in radioactive ruins. In mere minutes, more than half the human race has died. Master Sergeant Stephen Buchevsky, who thought he was being rotated home from his latest tour in Afghanistan, finds himself instead prowling the back country of the Balkans, dodging alien patrols and trying to organize scattered survivors without getting killed. And in the southeastern US, firearms instructor and former Marine Dave Dvorak finds himself at the center of a growing network of resistance putting his extended family at lethal risk, but what else can you do? On the face of it, Buchevsky's and Dvorak's chances look bleak, as do prospects for the rest of the surviving human race. But it may well be that Shongairi and the Hegemony alike have underestimated the inhabitants of that strange planet called Earth

The Dig


Michael Siemsen - 2010
    Mystified experts, confounded by the impossible timeline they receive from traditional dating methods, call upon a stubborn twenty-something with a unique talent. Matthew Turner's gift is also his curse: whenever he touches an object, his consciousness is flooded with the thoughts and feelings of those who touched it before him, be it last week or centuries ago. It's a talent that many covet, some fear, and almost no one understands. Despite being exploited as a child and tormented by the unpleasant experiences imprinted on him from the various items he's "read," Matt agrees to travel from New York to the forests of Kenya. There, threatened by unknown enemies, and helped by a beautiful but prickly ally who begins to understand his strange ability, his mind journeys back in geological time to make a discovery so shocking that it forces us to rewrite all human history.

14


Peter Clines - 2012
    Strange light fixtures. Mutant cockroaches. There are some odd things about Nate’s new apartment.Of course, he has other things on his mind. He hates his job. He has no money in the bank. No girlfriend. No plans for the future. So while his new home isn’t perfect, it’s livable. The rent is low, the property managers are friendly, and the odd little mysteries don’t nag at him too much.At least, not until he meets Mandy, his neighbour across the hall, and notices something unusual about her apartment. And Xela’s apartment. And Tim’s. And Veek’s. Because every room in this old Los Angeles brownstone has a mystery or two. Mysteries that stretch back over a hundred years. Some of them are in plain sight. Some are behind locked doors. And all together these mysteries could mean the end of Nate and his friends. Or the end of everything...

Blood Games


Dan Abnett - 2015
    Tasked with a new mission, he is sent to the hives of Hy Brasil to check on the loyalty of a notorious troublemaker. With the galaxy at war and half the Imperium’s armies in rebellion, any hint of heresy on the Throneworld must be stamped out. Amon’s mission draws him into a web of deceit and betrayal, where no one can be trusted and nothing is at it seems. Can he unravel the truth and secure Terra for the Emperor?It's an in-depth look at Terra itself, and how treachery lurked at the Imperium's heart even as the Heresy began. There's also a fantastic, action-packed look at what the Custodians do when they're not out fighting.Running time 1 hour and 27 minutes. Read by Jonathan Keeble

Humanity's Edge: The Complete Trilogy


Paul B. Kohler - 2018
    Can civilization survive ... and escape from the Edge of Humanity?3 books & nearly 800 pages of non-stop zombie action that readers are calling "fresh" with "dollops of violence" to satisfy even the most discriminating post-apocalyptic fan. From an Amazon bestselling author.BOOK 1: Turn -- A town on the run ... The Crazed that wants their flesh. Will they make it out alive?When a meteorite crashes to earth it catapults a small Utopian town into an archaic nightmare. It's up to one man to protect them, not only from the flesh-eating monsters but also from the maniacal colonel who storms in, barking orders for immediate evacuation. Clay Dobbs is the small town sheriff about to, unknowingly, take on the end of the world. When the Crazed come for your flesh, how will you survive?BOOK 2: Detour -- Their escape was certain ... or so they thought. Their survival is, and forever will be, in question.With the nanite epidemic out of control, Clay leads his skeleton crew head first into the aftermath. The nightmare continues as he battles both the Crazed and the rouge, as well as his own inner demons. The once small town sheriff must find order where there is no law until he encounters his near equal at the end of the world. But, is she all that she seems? Will Clay unravel all the clues before it's too late?The road is a dark and chilling place. There is no time to rest if you want to survive.BOOK 3: Reversion -- At the end of the world ... never dismiss the unexpected. A surprise reunion. A forgotten friend. Long odds and determination reward Sheriff Clay Dobbs with a bit of what he wants most. But, he won't rest—he can't rest—not until he's dead. And he has no plans for that until he defeats the insane military General that has caused so much hardship. But, it's not as easy as he thinks, not when there's an even more neurotic psychopath standing in his way. Can Clay learn to control himself, and the undead around him?When the Crazed come for you, where will you hide?

Junkyard Cats


Faith Hunter - 2020
    But Shining is now something more than human. And the scrapyard is no longer just a scrapyard, but a place full of secrets that she has guarded for years.This life she has built, while empty, is predictable and safe. Until the only friend left from her previous life shows up, dead, in the back of a scrapped Tesla warplane, a note to her clutched in his fingers - a note warning her of a coming attack.Someone knows who she is. Someone knows what she is guarding. Will she be able to protect the scrapyard? Will she even survive? Or will she have to destroy everything she loves to keep her secrets out of the wrong hands?

SecondWorld


Jeremy Robinson - 2012
    A week into his stay, strange red flakes descend from the surface. Scores of fish are dead and dying, poisoned by the debris that turns to powder in Miller’s fingers and tastes like blood.Miller heads for the surface, ready to fight whoever is polluting on his watch. But he finds nothing. No ships. No polluters.No oxygen.Instead, he finds a cloudless sky full of red particles dropping like snow and coating the ocean with a thick film that stretches to the horizon. When a dead blue whale collides with Aquarius, Miller begins a harrowing race to escape the affected area.  Cut off from the rest of the world and surrounded by death, Miller makes his way to Miami where he discovers just one survivor, and the awful truth: the strange phenomenon that robbed the air of its life giving oxygen was an attack by an enemy reborn from the ashes of World War II. And they’re just getting started. Miami, Tel Aviv, and Tokyo have all been destroyed. Millions are dead.And if Miller can’t track down and stop those responsible in seven days, the rest of the world is next.

A Path of Ashes


Brian Parker - 2015
    Our world is a violent place. Murder, terrorism, racism and social inequality, these are some of the forces that attempt to destroy our society while the State is forced to increase its response to these actions. Our own annihilation is barely held at bay by the belief that we’ve somehow evolved beyond our ancestors’ base desires. From this cesspool of emotions emerges a madman, intent on leading the world into anarchy. When his group of computer hackers infiltrate the Department of Defense network, they initiate a nuclear war that will irrevocably alter our world. Aeric Gaines and his roommate Tyler Nordgren survive the devastation of the war, only to find that the quaint, politically correct world where they’d been raised was a lie. All humans have basic needs such as food, water and shelter…and we haven’t forgotten how to fight for what we desire. A Path of Ashes is the first book in an exciting new series about life in post-apocalyptic America, a nation devoid of leadership, electricity and human rights. The world as we know it may have burned, but humanity found a way to survive and this is their story.

The Breach


Patrick Lee - 2009
    It is the world's best-kept secret-and its most terrifying. Trying to regain his life in the Alaskan wilds, ex-con/ex-cop Travis Chase stumbles upon an impossible scene: a crashed 747 passenger jet filled with the murdered dead, including the wife of the [resident of the United States.Though a nightmare of monumental proportions, it pales before the terror to come, as Chase is dragged into a battle for the future that revolves around an amazing artifact. Allied with a beautiful covert operative whose life he saved, Chase must now play the role he's been destined for-a pawn of incomprehensible forces or humankind's final hope-as the race toward Apocalypse begins in earnest. Because something is loose in the world. And doomsday is not only possible...it is inevitable.

Admiral


Sean Danker - 2016
    I tried to look on the bright side.” He is the last to wake. The label on his sleeper pad identifies him as an admiral of the Evagardian Empire—a surprise as much to him as to the three recent recruits now under his command. He wears no uniform, and he is ignorant of military protocol, but the ship’s records confirm he is their superior officer. Whether he is an Evagardian admiral or a spy will be of little consequence if the crew members all end up dead. They are marooned on a strange world, their ship’s systems are failing one by one—and they are not alone.

The Android's Dream


John Scalzi - 2006
    Earth is on the verge of war with a vastly superior alien race. A lone man races against time and a host of enemies to find the one object that can save our planet and our people from alien enslavement...A sheep.That's right, a sheep. And if you think that's the most surprising thing about this book, wait until you read Chapter One. Welcome to The Android's Dream.For Harry Creek, it's quickly becoming a nightmare. All he wants is to do his uncomplicated mid-level diplomatic job with Earth's State Department. But his past training and skills get him tapped to save the planet--and to protect pet store owner Robin Baker, whose own past holds the key to the whereabouts of that lost sheep. Doing both will take him from lava-strewn battlefields to alien halls of power. All in a day's work. Maybe it's time for a raise.Throw in two-timing freelance mercenaries, political lobbyists with megalomaniac tendencies, aliens on a religious quest, and an artificial intelligence with unusual backstory, and you've got more than just your usual science fiction adventure story. You've got The Android's Dream.

Divided: Silent Nation Book One


Joseph Coley - 2019
    His grandmother died, his ex-fiancee was trying to take his daughter away, the snow was coming down, and he was on his way back from Ohio. Then something happened. As he stops at a rest stop in northwest Ohio, the power goes out. Not just the lights, but the cars, phones, and everything else that made up everyday life. He has to get home, and he has no idea how to do it. Stuck in the snow amid a cataclysmic event that no one can precisely explain, he sets out to help not only himself, but those trapped with him. He has to find a way to travel the 300+ miles home, and he needs to do it fast. His family at home is saddled with problems of their own, and they have no way of knowing what has happened to him. As the world slowly spirals out of control, Ben must try to make it home...or die trying. From the bestselling author of the Six Feet From Hell and Refuge From the Dead series comes a realistic take on TEOTWAWKI - the end of the world as we know it. No zombies this time, just pure survival.

Phoenix Rising


Pip Ballantine - 2011
    Clandestine Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences is forbidden to investigate. But Eliza Braun, with bulletproof corset, fondness for dynamite, remarkable devices, drags along timorous new partner Wellington Books, of encyclopedic brain, against Phoenix intent on enslaving Britons.