Book picks similar to
Sunstone by Holly Barbo


steampunk
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Gone


Julie Elizabeth Powell - 2007
    It’s an adventure, a mystery and an imaginative fairytale for adults.Gone was a story motivated by a true event.***Cover Design: Julie Elizabeth PowellSource Photo: Angel Feather Wing by taeya18 (Free Digital Photos)

Chasing the Star Garden


Melanie Karsak - 2013
    An infamous poet living in self-imposed exile. An ancient treasure about to fall into the wrong hands.Melanie Karsak's Chasing the Star Garden takes readers on a thrilling adventure from the gritty opium dens of gaslamp London to the gem-coloured waters of the ancient world. Lily Stargazer, a loveable but reckless airship racer with a famous lover and shattered past, reluctantly plunges into a centuries-old mystery in a romantic adventure best described as Dan Brown meets Mary Shelley.It all begins on one of the worst days of Lily’s life. She just lost the London leg of the 1823 Airship Grand Prix. To top it off, a harlequin fleeing from constables shoved a kaleidoscope down her pants, told her to fly to Venice, then threw himself from her airship tower. What’s a girl to do? For Lily, the answer is easy: drink absinthe and smoke opium. Lily’s lover, Lord Byron, encourages her to make the trip to Venice. Lily soon finds herself at the heart of an ancient mystery which has her running from her past and chasing true love and the stars along the way.

The Unearthing


Steve Karmazenuk - 2006
    Before its existence can be concealed, the object unearths itself and news of the discovery is leaked to the international media. As religious leaders strive to reconcile the artifactas existence with their faiths, and governments wrestle over its many secrets and how to exploit them, ordinary men and women around the world struggle to make sense of a perpetual onslaught of live and unfiltered news broadcasts about the object. When a survey team is sent in to examine and explore it, they discover that not only is the artifact still operational, but it is conscious and has been waiting for tens of millions of yearsa]

Rushed


Brian Harmon - 2013
    With no idea how to cure himself of this odd new compulsion, he decides to let it take its course and go for a drive, hoping that once he proves to himself that there is nowhere to go, he can return to his normal life. Instead, he finds himself hurled headlong into a nightmare adventure across a fractured Wisconsin as the dream reveals itself one heart-pounding detail at a time. <br><br>Horror, science fiction, dark fantasy. From the author of The Temple of the Blind. 84,000 words.

The Case Files of Aldicus Vescard


Mark William Chase - 2021
    He is, after all, a monster himself. Cursed in his errant past, his body now harbors a blazing fiend of pure, elemental chaos—kept in check by the bonds that smother his own magical abilities.But crime ever turns in the Clockwork City, and none are better suited to investigate those most sinister deeds of inscrutable sorcery than Corradon’s greatest detective magus. With his loyal apprentice, Keldon Veldanor, and a host of street-smart allies, Aldicus will face a crucible of sorcery and villainy with only his wits and the science of forensic alchemy to aid him.Yet, in the decaying depths of the Underworks far below the tick-tock city, there festers an even greater evil—a darkness that threatens not only the unsuspecting denizens of Corradon, but the fate of their entire world.

Extinct


Ike Hamill - 2013
    What comes is a blinding blizzard, and a mass disappearance of nearly every person Robby Pierce knows. He and his family flee, trying to escape the snow and the invisible forces stealing people right from the street.Miles away, Brad Jenkins battles the same storm. Alone, he attempts to survive as snow envelops his house. When the storm breaks, Brad makes his way south to where the snow ends and the world lies empty. Join Brad, Robby, and the other survivors as they fight to find the truth about the apocalypse and discover how to live in their new world.

Wired


Douglas E. Richards - 2005
    But what if this transcendent level of intelligence brings with it a ruthless megalomania? David Desh left the special forces after his team was brutally butchered in Iran. Now he has been reactivated for one last mission: find Kira Miller, the enigmatic genius behind a bioterror plot that threatens millions. But when Desh learns that the bioterror plot is just the tip of the iceberg, he is thrust into a byzantine maze of deception and intrigue, and he becomes a key player in a deadly game he can't begin to understand. A game that is certain to have a dramatic impact on the future course of human history. . .

The Eye of Minds


James Dashner - 2013
    And like most gamers, he almost spends more time on the VirtNet than in the actual world. The VirtNet offers total mind and body immersion, and it’s addictive. Thanks to technology, anyone with enough money can experience fantasy worlds, risk their life without the chance of death, or just hang around with Virt-friends. And the more hacking skills you have, the more fun. Why bother following the rules when most of them are dumb, anyway?But some rules were made for a reason. Some technology is too dangerous to fool with. And recent reports claim that one gamer is going beyond what any gamer has done before: he’s holding players hostage inside the VirtNet. The effects are horrific—the hostages have all been declared brain-dead. Yet the gamer’s motives are a mystery.The government knows that to catch a hacker, you need a hacker.And they’ve been watching Michael. They want him on their team.But the risk is enormous. If he accepts their challenge, Michael will need to go off the VirtNet grid. There are back alleys and corners in the system human eyes have never seen and predators he can’t even fathom—and there’s the possibility that the line between game and reality will be blurred forever.

The Diviners


Libba Bray - 2012
    It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult. Evie worries her uncle will discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer. As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho is hiding a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened…

The House's Money (Indecent Fortunes)


Owen Sullivan - 2015
    Dressed to kill and running on pure ambition, he enters the ranks of mortgage-backed securities trader twice his age, for one of the most prestigious firms in San Francisco. Life couldn't be sweeter. Butt the roller coaster ride has only just begun. Upon meeting Stephanie, an equally enterprising young real estate appraiser, his dreams appear to be unstoppable. But unbridled love too often hides the truth in its shadow and not everything is as it appears. As he discovers the world of real estate investment, experiencing a soaring financial wave never seen before in the housing market, Matt is welcomed with open arms into a seductive arena almost too good to be true. When insatiable greed raises its ugly head, jealousy and betrayal follow quickly behind. In a moment of brutal clarity, his world shatters with the realization he is merely a pawn in someone else's wicked game. Just as quickly as it all begun, the housing bubble begins to burst and his dreams slip through his fingers as he desperately struggles to hold on to a world that never really existed.

Savannah Gone (A Ray Fontaine Mystery)


Doug Keeler - 2015
    Everyone except Marine Biologist Claire Robertson that is. When Claire goes missing, Private Investigator Ray Fontaine agrees to search for her. At first Ray thinks finding her will be an open and shut case. But behind Savannah's Gothic facade, everyone has a secret. As Ray begins to peel back the layers, he uncovers a growing list of suspects. To solve the case, Ray must put himself, and those he cares about, in mortal danger.

Spore


David Kristoph - 2020
    Intrusive thoughts begin invading John's mind. And the swirling blue liquid injected into their veins each night does not seem like part of any legitimate study.As the true motive for the research facility is revealed, John's focus shifts from his crippling insomnia to his own horrific imprisonment. Can he and his fellow subjects escape the facility alive, or are they doomed like all the test subjects before them?

The Lighthouse


Amy Cross - 2015
    I've always been able to see her.” While her friends head off to start new lives in London after university, Penny has a different idea. She's going to go and take a job at a remote lighthouse for a year, helping to keep the place running while she saves money. When she arrives at Culthorpe lighthouse, however, she quickly realizes that something is very wrong. Something is hiding nearby the lighthouse, something that only makes its presence felt at night. Meanwhile, Penny is concerned about one of her co-workers, a man whose memory seems to be almost non-existent. What is the dark secret of Culthorpe lighthouse? Is Penny really crazy, or has she been visited by a ghost since she was a child? And who or what is hidden beneath the hatch in the generator room? The Lighthouse is a horror novel about a girl who was taught to doubt herself, and about the refusal of dead souls to rest until all debts have been paid.

13


Amy Lignor - 2011
    In 2012, Leah Tallent is Head of Research at the New York Public Library. Stoic and stable, brilliant and cynical, she has forever enjoyed her existence among the book stacks. But even with her unparalleled intellect, there was no way to know that on the historic steps between America's famous lions, she would become involved with a crazy man on a fanatical quest.Gareth Lowery has spent his life searching for the ultimate artifact that he is certain exists. His life's pursuit has been to retrieve twelve keys hidden by men whose job it was to protect the single biggest secret ever kept. To find the keys he must enlist the help of an unwilling guide who, unfortunately, knows much more than he bargained for.From the first page to the last word, this fantastic duo become immersed in a whirlwind treasure hunt with historical and passionate repercussions. From the strange and eerie Winchester House to the blustery darkness of Loch Ness, Gareth and Leah will quickly learn that the theory of duality is correct: For every bad there is a good and, for Heaven, there most assuredly exists...Hell.

Flight For Control


Karlene Petitt - 2012
    But her husband, Captain Bill Jacobs, has his concerns. While her twin daughters are off at camp, and Bill is actively campaigning for the Pilot Union Presidency, Kathryn secretly begins her investigation. What she learns will shock the nation. Flight For Control is a thriller that reads like a mystery. But to Kathryn, there is no mystery on the condition of the airline industry—it’s broken. Planes are crashing. Pensions are lost. Pilots are financially and emotionally bankrupt due to fatigue, furloughs, and loss of seniority. It’s time that someone takes control before it’s too late—unless it already is. Your life is in your pilot’s hands. Do you know who’s flying your plane?