Book picks similar to
Crucible by Ryan W. Aslesen
horror
military
science-fiction
thriller
Departure
A.G. Riddle - 2014
The world's past and future rests in the hands of five unwitting strangers. En route to London from New York, Flight 305 suddenly loses power and crash-lands in the English countryside, plunging a group of strangers into a mysterious adventure that will have repercussions for all of humankind. Struggling to stay alive, the survivors soon realize that the world they've crashed in is very different from the one they left. But where are they? Why are they here? And how will they get back home? Five passengers seem to hold clues about what's really going on: writer Harper Lane, venture capitalist Nick Stone, German genetic researcher Sabrina Schröder, computer scientist Yul Tan, and Grayson Shaw, the son of a billionaire philanthropist.As more facts about the crash emerge, it becomes clear that some in this group know more than they're letting on, answers that will lead Harper and Nick to uncover a far-reaching conspiracy involving their own lives. As they begin to piece together the truth, they discover they have the power to change the future and the past-to save our world... or end it.
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.
Combat Wizard
Jack L. Knapp - 2014
But there are unintended consequences, including PTSD. And the psychokinetic abilities grow stronger with practice...
Cold Welcome
Elizabeth Moon - 2017
But instead she is thrown into danger unlike any other she has faced and finds herself isolated, unable to communicate with the outside world, commanding a motley group of unfamiliar troops, and struggling day by day to survive in a deadly environment with sabotaged gear. Only her undeniable talent for command can give her ragtag band a fighting chance.Yet even as Ky leads her team from one crisis to another, her family and friends refuse to give up hope, endeavoring to mount a rescue from halfway around the planet—a task that is complicated as Ky and her supporters find secrets others will kill to protect: a conspiracy infecting both government and military that threatens not only her own group’s survival but her entire home planet.
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.
Afterlife
Marcus Sakey - 2017
He wakes without a scratch. The building is in ruins. His team is gone. Outside, Chicago is dark. Cars lie abandoned. No planes cross the sky. He’s relieved to spot other people — until he sees they’re carrying machetes.Welcome to the afterlife.Claire McCoy stands over the body of Will Brody. As head of an FBI task force, she hasn’t had a decent night’s sleep in weeks. A terrorist has claimed eighteen lives and thrown the nation into panic. Against this horror, something reckless and beautiful happened. She fell in love… with Will Brody. But the line between life and death is narrower than any of us suspect — and all that matters to Will and Claire is getting back to each other.From the author of the million-copy bestselling Brilliance Trilogy comes a mind-bending thriller that explores our most haunting and fundamental question: What if death is just the beginning?
The Gray Man
Mark Greaney - 2009
But he’s a great assassin. To those who lurk in the shadows, he’s known as the Gray Man. He is a legend in the covert realm, moving silently from job to job, accomplishing the impossible and then fading away. And he always hits his target. Always. But there are forces more lethal than Gentry in the world. Forces like money. And power. And there are men who hold these as the only currency worth fighting for. And in their eyes, Gentry has just outlived his usefulness. But Court Gentry is going to prove that, for him, there’s no gray area between killing for a living and killing to stay alive…
Fatal Reaction: The Beginning
M.A. Hollstein - 2016
People are trying to escape the unknown sickness, but there is nowhere to run… nowhere to hide… The only chance for the survival of the human race is to stay and fight. However, they're unaware of what they're fighting. What they're up against is much greater than anything they could ever imagine. This is just the beginning... Could this be the end of humanity?
The Pilot
Michael R. Cole - 2019
But upon arrival, they discover ravaged military equipment, a mass grave, and a platoon of hostile forces already in retreat. As the team investigates, they uncover the secret that the island has contained for centuries. For the first time, modern man will come face-to-face with a being from beyond the stars. A member of a deadly intergalactic invasive species, the beast is ravenous, cunning, lacking emotion or empathy. With his team dwindling, Seymour must fight to keep the beast from leaving the island, and to save humanity from the terrifying extraterrestrial known as The Pilot.
Secrets in Stone
Rebecca A. Engel - 2014
An unrequited crush. A break-in and near assault.Life wasn't going too well for Joyce Manning. Given her circumstances, it wasn't surprising that she was willing to accept the strange condition in the will of a heretofore-unknown relative. Joyce would inherit a house, and an income, if she lives in the property for two years. Joyce doesn't hesitate to leave Chicago for upstate New York. It's not until she's almost there that she begins to worry that the house might be a rickety shack with no lights or running water, and filled with feral cats.It's not. In some ways, it's worse. The house is like something out of a nightmare, crawling with gargoyles and grotesques. The nearest neighbor to the isolated house, depending on who you talk to, is a spa -- or a mental asylum.But it's not all bad. The interior of the house, thankfully, doesn't match the outside. Not one but two local men actively pursue Joyce -- more attention than she garnered in Chicago. And not having to work for a living is a dream come true.Things would be great, if it weren't for the odd occurrences in the house, and the changes on its outside that make Joyce wonder whether her imagination is too vivid or if she's losing her mind. Will Joyce realize that when something seems too good to be true, it usually is? Because the house has a horrifying secret, and there was a special -- and sinister -- reason Joyce was lured there.
The Loop
Jeremy Robert Johnson - 2020
When an inexplicable outbreak rapidly develops, this idyllic town becomes the epicenter of an epidemic of violence as the teenaged children of several executives from the local biotech firm become ill and aggressively murderous. Suddenly the town is on edge, and Lucy and her friends must do everything it takes just to fight through the night.
Apache Dawn
Marcus Richardson - 2014
One man holds the key to stopping the deadly outbreak in its tracks and the governments of the world--including his own--will stop at nothing to find him. From Los Angeles to Boston, to the Northern Rockies--follow Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, and average Americans as they struggle to save America and themselves. Apache Dawn is the story of America's fight for survival against a terrible virus, foreign invasion, and political intrigue.
PRIMAL Mirza
Jack Silkstone - 2014
It reveals the back-story of Mirza Mansoor, a former Indian Special Forces soldier turned PRIMAL operative. *** The year is 1999 and tensions between Pakistan and India are at breaking point. When critical intelligence prompts a cross border raid Indian Para Commandos arrive too late to prevent the deployment of a team of Lashkar terrorists. Mirza Mansoor, a Special Group operative and his partner Himesh Arjun, are all that stands between highly trained jihadists and their sinister objectives. As they track their quarry from the mountains of Kashmir to India’s capital they realize that terrorism is not the only threat they face. In the poverty-stricken slums of New Delhi crime and terror have free reign, greed is king, life is cheap, and heroes are few and far between. *** FROM THE AUTHOR This story is set just after the Kargil war between India and Pakistan, the closest these two nuclear-armed states have come to full-scale conflict. Having been defeated at Kargil, ISI and terrorist proxies escalated operations against India, which culminated in the 2008 Mumbai attack, resulting in over 600 casualties. During this time, the NSG, India’s lead counter-terrorism response unit, was severely under-resourced and -equipped. It’s in this setting of extreme contrasts, corruption, and terrorist threat that I’ve crafted a backstory for one of PRIMAL’s favorite characters.
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 Genius Plague
David Walton - 2017
Neil Johns has just started his dream job as a code breaker in the NSA when his brother, Paul, a mycologist, goes missing on a trip to collect samples in the Amazon jungle. Paul returns with a gap in his memory and a fungal infection that almost kills him. But once he recuperates, he has enhanced communication, memory, and pattern recognition. Meanwhile, something is happening in South America; others, like Paul, have also fallen ill and recovered with abilities they didn't have before. But that's not the only pattern--the survivors, from entire remote Brazilian tribes to American tourists, all seem to be working toward a common, and deadly, goal. Neil soon uncovers a secret and unexplained alliance between governments that have traditionally been enemies. Meanwhile Paul becomes increasingly secretive and erratic. Paul sees the fungus as the next stage of human evolution, while Neil is convinced that it is driving its human hosts to destruction. Brother must oppose brother on an increasingly fraught international stage, with the stakes: the free will of every human on earth. Can humanity use this force for good, or are we becoming the pawns of an utterly alien intelligence?