Book picks similar to
Deviations by Crystal C. Johnson


young-adult
dystopia
sci-fi
no-thanks-sir-dystopia-scifi-stpnk

The Chemist


Stephenie Meyer - 2016
    She used to work for the U.S. government, but very few people ever knew that. An expert in her field, she was one of the darkest secrets of an agency so clandestine it doesn't even have a name. And when they decided she was a liability, they came for her without warning. Now she rarely stays in the same place or uses the same name for long. They've killed the only other person she trusted, but something she knows still poses a threat. They want her dead, and soon. When her former handler offers her a way out, she realizes it's her only chance to erase the giant target on her back. But it means taking one last job for her ex-employers. To her horror, the information she acquires only makes her situation more dangerous. Resolving to meet the threat head-on, she prepares for the toughest fight of her life but finds herself falling for a man who can only complicate her likelihood of survival. As she sees her choices being rapidly whittled down, she must apply her unique talents in ways she never dreamed of. In this tautly plotted novel, Meyer creates a fierce and fascinating new heroine with a very specialized skill set. And she shows once again why she's one of the world's bestselling authors.

The Killing Fog


Jeff Wheeler - 2020
    Now the nobleman, and collector of rare artifacts, has entrusted Bingmei and the skilled team with a treacherous assignment: brave the wilderness’s dangers to retrieve the treasures of a lost palace buried in a glacier valley. But upsetting its tombs has a price.Echion, emperor of the Grave Kingdom, ruler of darkness, Dragon of Night, has long been entombed. Now Bingmei has unwittingly awakened him and is answerable to a legendary prophecy. Destroying the dark lord before he reclaims the kingdoms of the living is her inherited mission. Killing Bingmei before she fulfills it is Echion’s. Thrust unprepared into the role of savior, urged on by a renegade prince, and possessing a magic that is her destiny, Bingmei knows what she must do. But what must she risk to honor her ancestors? Bingmei’s fateful choice is one that neither her friends nor her enemies can foretell, as Echion’s dark war for control unfolds.

Across the Creek


Jeremy Asher - 2012
    An unlikely childhood romance between a poor boy and a wealthy girl began the day Jesse decided to do the impossible and cross the creek. A love was born, one that would become their shelter, protecting them from the storms of their lives, until the day Jesse witnessed his mother’s murder, forcing him to leave his childhood home…and first love. Ten years later, life has finally gotten better for Jesse. He has a loving family, a charming pet shop to run, and one semester left before graduating with a degree in architecture. Everything is great, until the day fate intervenes and his long-lost love walks into his shop and back into his life.Sarah, engaged to a budding attorney, is struggling to keep everything together. Her father, diagnosed with terminal cancer, is running out of time. Sarah races to build their dream business while planning her wedding in time for her father to walk her down the aisle.Their brief encounter starts a series of events that neither Jesse nor Sarah expects. After a decade of running, Jesse is now forced to face the demons from his past, while Sarah has to choose between her handsome attorney and her first love. Just when they think love has given them a second chance, Jesse is faced with an impossible decision, one that will change their lives forever.Across the Creek is the first in a 2-book series. Beneath the Willow is the second.

Open Minds


Susan Kaye Quinn - 2011
    Zeros are outcasts who can’t be trusted, leaving her no chance with Raf, a regular mindreader and the best friend she secretly loves. When she accidentally controls Raf’s mind and nearly kills him, Kira tries to hide her frightening new ability from her family and an increasingly suspicious Raf. But lies tangle around her, and she’s dragged deep into a hidden world of mindjackers, where having to mind control everyone she loves is just the beginning of the deadly choices before her.TOP 5 FINALIST for 2012 Best Indie Book, Young Adult Fiction - The Kindle Book ReviewMINDJACK SERIES READING ORDEROpen Minds (Book 1)Closed Hearts (Book 2)Free Souls (Book 3)Locked Tight (Book 4)Cracked Open (Book 5)Broken Wide (Book 6)Mindjack Short Story Collection (Book 7)The Locksmith is a standalone novella that can be read independently of the trilogy and novellas.

Yesterday


C.K. Kelly Martin - 2012
    THEN: The formation of the UNA, the high threat of eco-terrorism, the mammoth rates of unemployment and subsequent escape into a world of virtual reality are things any student can read about in their 21st century textbooks and part of the normal background noise to Freya Kallas's life. Until that world starts to crumble. NOW: It's 1985. Freya Kallas has just moved across the world and into a new life. On the outside, she fits in at her new high school, but Freya feels nothing but removed. Her mother blames it on the grief over her father's death, but how does that explain the headaches and why do her memories feel so foggy? When Freya lays eyes on Garren Lowe, she can't get him out of her head. She's sure that she knows him, despite his insistence that they've never met. As Freya follows her instincts and pushes towards hidden truths, the two of them unveil a strange and dangerous world where their days may be numbered. Unsure who to trust, Freya and Garren go on the run from powerful forces determined to tear them apart and keep them from discovering the truth about their shared pasts (and futures), her visions, and the time and place they really came from.

Land


Theresa Shaver - 2012
    An EMP over North America has destroyed everything electronic. No cars, no planes, no phones, no electricity. Refusing to wait for someone else to help them, ten courageous young people take charge of their future and choose to begin the long journey home. 1500 miles of adventure and lawless country await. Will their determination be enough?Alex, Quinn, Josh, Cooper and Dara - setting out on foot with nothing more than some soon to be worthless cash and a little advice from a trusted teacher, they walk through a burning city that has come to a halt. The devastation they see as they make their way out of the city is a small part of the horror that the nation will become. As the days go by with no food deliveries and no water flowing from taps, civilization will start to crumble and it will be survival of the fittest. With five States and half a Province to cross they will need to plan well, count on each other and pray for a little luck. Even with that, chances are slim of getting home when you are Stranded.

Gateway to Fourline


Pam Brondos - 2015
    Sending one young woman through may be the key to survival for the kingdom of Fourline. Strapped for cash, college student Natalie Barns agrees to take a job at a costume shop. Sure, Estos—her classmate who works in the shop—is a little odd, but Nat needs the money for her tuition.Then she stumbles through the mysterious door behind the shop—and her entire universe transforms.Discovering there’s far more to Estos than she ever imagined, Nat gets swept up in an adventure to save his homeland, an incredible world filled with decaying magic, deadly creatures, and a noble resistance of exiled warriors battling dark forces. As she struggles with her role in an epic conflict and wrestles with her growing affection for a young rebel, Soris, Nat quickly learns that nothing may go as planned…and her biggest challenge may be surviving long enough to make it home.

Ametsapolis Rising


Shaun Myandee - 2013
    Advanced implanted technology provides the only means of survival in this harsh new world, and also a means of oppression and control unlike any other in human history.Jonas Evermount is born in the wilderness, but his discovery of his own incredible powers bring him to the attention of powerful forces within the shadowy Zorastran Order.Emmanuelle Rouseau is a prominent scientist conducting ground-breaking research into human augmentation and adaptation, research which threatens the ruling elite’s grip on the city.Zachary Montague has spent his life in the Zorastran Order, teaching its young students to harness powerful implants for decades, but is growing despondent and disillusioned with the suffering in the city at large.Together these three strangers will come to shape a revolution that will change the face of Ametsapolis forever.

The First Word


Isley Robson - 2017
    Her job as a pediatric occupational therapist is the perfect distraction from the unspeakable tragedy she experienced as a child. But when she meets alternative-energy magnate Rhys Griffiths and his autistic toddler, Will, she quickly realizes her heart will never be the same. Especially when her name becomes Will’s first word.After accepting a position as a live-in therapist for Will, Andie steels herself against the appeal of the disconcertingly attractive—and attracted—Rhys. But their chemistry can no longer be denied, and their heated affair seems destined for happily ever after. A destiny Andie’s terrified to embrace.When Andie’s guilt, Rhys’s awkwardness, and the abrupt appearance of an erratic ex threaten to dismantle their delicately blooming relationship, they must decide if love is worth the challenge. Can Andie and Rhys find their way back to each other? Or will the demons of the past simply prove too strong?

XBestia


Melissa Conway - 2011
    Grafts of animal skin have replaced tattoos in popularity, which gives rise to a unique new demographic: xenofreaks. Bryn Vega's father is head of the Pure Human Society and when she's kidnapped by the Bestia Butcher, the most notorious of the criminal xenosurgeons, she assumes it's payback for her father's anti-xeno activities. Scott Harding is her taciturn jailer-called Cougar because of the claws replacing his fingers-but Scott is not who he seems. Deep under cover for the Xenofreak Intelligence Agency, he's been given unprecedented immunity to find the Bestia Butcher's lair and do whatever it takes to bring him to justice. When Bryn is forced to undergo a radical xenoalteration, she discovers a terrible secret: her father is using The Pure Human Society as a front for his own purposes. His willingness to sacrifice his daughter to accomplish them sends her running to Scott for protection, and into the hard-core underground subculture of the very xenofreak society she once despised. Winner, 2012 Global eBook Awards in the category of Speculative Fiction - Science Fiction.

Enigma Black


Sara Furlong Burr - 2012
    Struggling with picking up the pieces, she's haunted by the memory of that day and her promise of retribution against those responsible for her misery. But just as she seems to be getting her life back on track, an encounter with a mysterious stranger promises her the vengeance she desires, ultimately turning the former target into the assassin.However, as she soon learns, all choices come with consequences. And the consequence of her choice threatens to destroy the very fabric of her being.

Collapse


R.J. Infantino - 2016
    Thrust into a conspiracy that is centuries old, he can choose to run or stand up and fight. After an earthquake cuts the school off from the rest of the world, Chase has to figure out who’s a friend, who’s an enemy, and if there’s really any difference at all. As the world starts to collapse, trusting the wrong person can have deadly consequences. Caught between his classmates and the professors’ schemes, he can’t afford to choose wrong. It would all be a lot easier if Taylor and Maya weren’t pulling him in opposite directions.Is it really the apocalypse? Or is it something much worse?

Awakening


Jeremy Laszlo - 2013
    But he never came back. With supplies running out and vital life support systems failing, Jack, Samantha, and Will have no choice but to ignore their father’s warnings and leave the vault. With no knowledge of what befell the world outside, or what they might expect once the door is opened, they find themselves in a world they do not recognize. Thrust into the remains of the world they remember, how will they survive on their own, not knowing what or who else remains amongst the ruins?

Dark Days: The Long Road Home


L.M. May - 2013
    She was wrong. When she ends up trapped in the city after an event that devastates society, Gemma has to trust the man who broke her heart as they set out on the long journey back home in a world that will never be the same again.GEMMA: before her best friend died, Gemma made her a promise. Leaving four-year-old CJ with his grandmother, she catches the train to a law firm in the city to fulfill it.CHRISTOPHER: scarred by a disastrous marriage, and the secret weighing him down, Christopher steers clear of women looking for a commitment. Then Gemma turns up at his office, and drops a bombshell that will have him questioning everything he believed.They have no idea what is about to happen ... THE PULSE: while Gemma is still in Christopher's office, the country is devastated by an event that wipes out electricity, communication, and most forms of transport. By the end of the night, the city is in chaos.THE JOURNEY: Over three hundred miles from home, Gemma's only concern is getting back to young CJ, and his grandmother.Christopher is worried about his own family, and there was no way in good conscience he could let Gemma travel so far alone in a world that had suddenly changed.Together they set out for home, terrified of what the future holds.A story of love, survival, desperation, compassion, and loss: a story of never-ending hopeA story of love, survival, desperation, compassion and loss: a story of never-ending hope.Part romance, part suspense/thriller, part apocalyptic fictionComing soon to paperbackFor a free sample on goodreads: Dark Days: The Long Road HomeNow available as an ebook for $0.99 Amazon: Dark Days: The Long Road HomeSmashwords:Dark Days: The Long Road Home

The Wolf Road


Beth Lewis - 2016
    She was just seven years old, wandering lost and hungry in the wilderness, when the solitary hunter took her in. In the years since then, he's taught her how to survive in this desolate land where civilization has been destroyed and men are at the mercy of the elements and each other.But the man Elka thought she knew has been harboring a terrible secret. He's a killer. A monster. And now that Elka knows the truth, she may be his next victim.Armed with nothing but her knife and the hard lessons Trapper's drilled into her, Elka flees into the frozen north in search of her real parents. But judging by the trail of blood dogging her footsteps, she hasn't left Trapper behind--and he won't be letting his little girl go without a fight. If she's going to survive, Elka will have to turn and confront not just him, but the truth about the dark road she's been set on.The Wolf Road is an intimate cat-and-mouse tale of revenge and redemption, played out against a vast, unforgiving landscape--told by an indomitable young heroine fighting to escape her past and rejoin humanity.