Book picks similar to
The Fall by Devon C. Ford


science-fiction
fiction
post-apocalyptic
apocalyptic

Invasion


Sean Platt - 2015
    The countdown has begun.First visible only as blips on a telescope image, the discovery of objects approaching from Jupiter orbit immediately sets humanity on edge. NASA doesn't even bother to deny the alien ships' existence. The popular Astral space app (broadcasting from the far side of the moon and accessible by anyone with internet) has already shown the populace what is coming. So the news has turned from evasion to triage, urging calm and offering the few facts they have: The objects are enormous, perfectly round spheres numbering in the dozens, maybe hundreds. They are on an approach vector for Earth. And they will arrive in six days. Fear simmers.Meyer Dempsey - mogul, wealthy entrepreneur, arrogant and always in charge - is in New York, on the phone with his ex-wife in LA when the news breaks. He can hear tension in the voices of reporters and experts chronicling all that's known and unknown. But even while those supposedly in charge restrain their own panic, Meyer finds he recognizes bits and pieces of what the world is facing. He's seen this in dreams - in visions of another place. He knows where he and his family must go. He has prepared … though he never knew until now what he'd been preparing for. He knows only they cannot hesitate. They must run to their safe haven in the Colorado mountains. Now. Before society shatters into chaos, and it all falls apart. Fear rises.Meyer has been taking steps for months, and has made preparations: a trove of supplies, a van stocked for the worst, a Gulfstream waiting at a small airstrip in Jersey. But he hasn't yet been able to take the final and most important step: moving the family to Colorado, where every contingency is covered. The networks stay on-air longer than expected, creating a farce of calm. But those with means have already begun to scramble as Meyer gathers his wife Piper and his two teenage children and begins their race toward that compound, toward safety. There is no time for hesitation, regret, or pity. Soon, pundits begin to ask questions hard enough to tip those who've thus far stayed calm out of their complacency, inciting chaos: What do the beings inside the ships want? What will they do when they arrive? And what if the scientists are wrong, and the spheres aren't decelerating? Will they strike the planet, raising clouds of extinction dust? Will they knock the Earth off its axis? Is this a prelude to an alien invasion? An alien war? An alien apocalypse? The first domino in the birth of a new alien empire? Fear erupts.Panic, once it breaches the thin crust of civilized society, spreads like a virus. Meyer knows only one thing, and it's a truth that has perched atop his mind like a psychic obsession: When the ships arrive, his family must be at the Colorado compound or all will be lost. The space fleet in itself doesn't matter. The disintegration on the surviving news outlets does not matter. Reports that Las Vegas has been set ablaze do not matter. The fate of humanity, in Meyer's eyes, doesn't matter.All that matters is Piper. Trevor. Delilah. And Meyer's ex-wife Heather, coming to the same destination from the west - a woman who remains his best friend, and his secret lover. Rioting spills into the highways as time ticks away. Unrest boils in both city and hinterlands. But Meyer's obsession to reach Vail is single-minded, guided with the focus of a far-seeing nightmare. Gangs can ground his plane, threaten his vehicles, and steal his belongings. But nothing will stand between Meyer's family and their haven … and Meyer will kill his way to Colorado if he has to. This relentless, page-turning tale of apocalyptic dawn is the first in the alien invasion series by masters of story Truant and Platt, authors of The Beam, Robot Proletariat, the Dream Engine series, and many more.

Caldwell's Homestead


Millie Copper - 2019
    They have tried to plan for everything, but they never imagined this would happen. Recently, personal tragedy nearly devastated Mollie and Jake, leaving them struggling to rebuild their relationship while they consider selling the farm.  Now, as disaster strikes, Mollie is away on business, leaving Jake and ten-year-old Malcolm to prepare for the worst. Daughter Katie, soon to start her final year of college and planning a mission trip afterward, is over a thousand miles from home. The older children, and their spouses, live within an easy drive—under normal times. In this first installment of the Havoc in Wyoming series, they'll soon find themselves in a chaotic new world, where nothing is normal or easy, it's downright dangerous. Will the Caldwells’ planning, provisions, and faith be enough? Or have the recent changes in their relationship been detrimental to the family's survival? The Havoc in Wyoming series has been described as “Cozy Apocalypse” and contains no profanity; gratuitous sex scenes; or gruesome, overly detailed death scenes. While set in an imagined future, the people of Bakerville face real-life obstacles, created by this new world and brought with them from their old world.

The Flu


Jacqueline Druga - 2006
    Each year hundreds are active. Chances are, this year, you will catch one of those strains. You will cough, sneeze, and your body will ache. Without a second thought, you’ll take a double dose of green liquid, go to bed, and swear you’ll feel better in the morning. Not this time.In 1918 forty million people succumbed to a particular strain of swine flu. It appeared out of nowhere, and just as quickly as it surfaced, the Spanish Flu vanished. Gone for good. Or so we thought. Though mankind has anticipated its resurfacing for some time, mankind is ill prepared. Mutated and with a vengeance, the Spanish Flu returns.In a world blackened with plague, a glimmer of light exists in the small town of Lodi, Ohio. They shine as a sanctuary because they are ‘flu-free’ In the wake of the reality that they are spared, the spirit and strength of Lodi is tested. It becomes a fight against what is morally right or wrong in an increasingly difficult battle to stay healthy and alive until the flu has run its course.

Soft Apocalypse


Will McIntosh - 2011
    This is how our world ends; with a whimper instead of a bang. New social structures and tribal connections spring up across America, as the previous social structures begin to dissolve. Locus Award finalist and John W. Campbell Memorial Award finalist Soft Apocalypse follows the journey across the Southeast of a tribe of formerly middle class Americans as they struggle to find a place for themselves and their children in a new, dangerous world that still carries the ghostly echoes of their previous lives.

Edge of Collapse: An EMP Post-Apocalyptic Survival Prepper Series (American Fallout Book 1)


Alex Gunwick - 2017
    In seconds, his routine business trip becomes a nightmarish struggle to survive. After narrowly escaping a nuclear explosion in San Francisco, the Navy SEAL must travel through a world without rule of law. Relying on his skills and the items in his Bug Out Bag, he fights an epic battle as he struggles to get home. Nothing will stop him from getting back to his family. As his resources run out, his resourcefulness kicks in. His family’s depending on him and he won’t let them down—even if it means leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. Liz can’t believe they’re under attack. At first, it seems like things won’t be too bad. Yet within hours, it seems like the whole world’s gone crazy. With communication lines down, she’s unable to reach her husband, Luke. Getting her kids to their Bug Out Location won’t be easy, but she’s determined to make it. It’s well stocked and safely tucked away in a canyon. But as people begin to flee the cities, a new darkness spreads across America. Her struggle to survive rips apart her core values and forces her to examine what it means to be a mother, a wife, and a survivor. American Fallout is a thrilling post-apocalyptic survival prepper EMP fiction series that makes you step back and ask: Could this happen tomorrow? What would happen if the world’s nuclear arsenal was unleashed? What would you do if it happened while you were away from home? And how would your family survive?

Run from Ruin: A Post-Apocalyptic Zombie Thriller


Allen Kuzara - 2018
    But a programming glitch in the final update causes billions of users to experience uncontrollable rage and aggression. Nick, an ordinary high school senior in Fairbanks Alaska, is suddenly thrust into this life or death arena. He and his brother must escape the zombie-like hordes of blood-thirsty maniacs and seek refuge north of the arctic circle. The four-hundred-mile journey tests the boys, their wits, and their trust in each other. They think they’re fighting to stay alive; but little do they know, they’re fighting to save mankind.

Z-Burbia


Jake Bible - 2013
    Which is good since the zombie apocalypse has come to Western North Carolina and really put suburban living to the test! Surrounded by a sea of the undead, the residents of Whispering Pines have adapted their bucolic life of block parties to scavenging parties, common area groundskeeping to immediate area warfare, neighborhood beautification to neighborhood fortification. But, even in the best of times, suburban living has its ups and downs what with nosy neighbors, a strict Home Owners’ Association, and a property management company that believes the words “strict interpretation” are holy words when applied to the HOA covenants. Now with the zombie apocalypse upon them even those innocuous, daily irritations quickly become dramatic struggles for personal identity, family security, and straight up survival. Welcome to normal life in Z-Burbia!

GAMELAND Episodes 1-2


Saul W. Tanpepper - 2012
    and 10,000 Undead. Everyone loves Survivalist, a live-action, virtual reality show based on Arc Entertainment's The Game, where cybernetically controlled zombies do battle in a video arcade in the middle of a Long Island wasteland. It's to die for.If you're rich enough, you can buy your way in. If you're desperate enough, you can volunteer to become one of the Undead Players. Jessie Daniels and her gang of computer hackers plan to break their way in.Welcome to GAMELAND. Access Restricted.EPISODE 1: Deep Into The GameA reckless, end-of-summer plan leads Jessie and her friends onto Long Island hoping to catch a glimpse of the infected victims of a decades-old outbreak. But while breaking in might be easy, getting back out is a hell of a killer. It doesn't take long before they realize they're part of The Game.EPISODE 2: FailsafeJessie and Kelly clash after one of their group gets stranded among the Infected Undead, forcing Kelly to make a rash decision which will ultimately deliver them into the hands of those who would turn them all into mindless players in The Game.

After the Virus


Simon Archer - 2020
    Sure, he’s an engineer who served his country, but, well, when the virus hit, he soon finds himself alone in a nearly empty world.And that’s the key. Nearly empty.And there’s no one left with the technical know-how to make the world run again.Well, no one but Henry.And for humanity to survive, he will have to rebuild society out of the motliest crew of survivors the world has ever seen.It might be impossible, but at the same time, Henry has always loved a challenge.

FERTS


Grace Hudson - 2015
    Resources are scarce. The population is dwindling in the Forkstream Territories. Pinnacle Officer Wilcox has created FERTS amidst the chaos, a facility designed to protect the female population from raiding hordes. Beth 259201, a newly-demoted Epsilon Internee, suspects that there is something more that lurks beneath the carefully constructed order of the facility. She has a gift, one that could brand her a defective. A novice fighter, she must use her intellect to survive. Her own life, and the lives of many more may be at risk. Will she succumb to the plans in store for her or will she conceal her secret long enough to discover her own path? FERTS is a post-apocalyptic dystopian thriller. Reader discretion is advised.

A Small World


R.S. Merritt - 2019
    In this first book stand with our heroes as the Zombies overrun the planet. Watch as normal people have to deal with extraordinary circumstances. How far will they go to protect their loved ones? The Apocalypse will cause some to stand a little taller and reach deep within themselves to be their best self. Others will collapse under the weight of it. Still others will seize on it to prey on their fellow man. Fast paced and written with an eye for detail. You'll really be able to see yourself with the characters in this story. Fighting the fight along with them. Experience Zombies!

The Beautiful Ones


Kody Boye - 2018
    This is because, in the war-torn Great South, beauty is a currency, and to have it means you will never have to worry about a thing. The only problem is: beauty is judged by our capital’s Gentlewomen, and there is no guarantee that we will pass their test. Every year, the Gentlewomen of the capital leave the Glittering City to oversee the annual Procession. They travel settlement to settlement selecting girls, aged sixteen and older, to become Beautiful Ones. If chosen, we will be lifted into a life of luxury, but the cost is our free will.

Harden


D.J. Molles - 2018
    Governments have fallen. And new ones have taken their place. In the United Eastern States, Lee and his team of battle-hardened operatives walk a tightrope of survival, keeping their fledgling society safe from the creatures beyond their gates--and from the enemies within. Then, an ambush in hostile territory reveals a traitor in their midst--and leaves Lee barely clinging to life. Wounded and on the run, Lee and his team race to uncover the leak before it’s too late. Through a background of destruction, betrayal, and newly-evolved apex predators, they must stay one step ahead of a ruthless organization spreading out of the south--an organization that has allied with someone who wants Lee dead, and the United Eastern States demolished. But how do you stay ahead of an enemy that knows every move you make? Reintroducing one of the most beloved heroes in post-apocalyptic fiction, HARDEN immerses you in a reality of desperate gambits, where wrong moves could cost the lives of thousands, but saving them could cost your humanity. The only rule is NEVER STOP FIGHTING.

Scorched: A Dry Earth Story


Theresa Shaver - 2017
    All choices lead to death when the sun has Scorched the world. Claudia has never seen rain or any water that hasn’t come from the old well behind her house. Now the well’s about played out and today they closed down the ration stations, for good. The gangs are circling to rob and loot the little they have. Her only choices are go north to the slave labour camps or stay and die by the gangs. Her grandmother wants them to run south and follow an old map that will lead them to a secret valley with all the water they will ever need. She swears it’s there but how can she drag her nine year old sister and an eighty-year old woman out into the desert wasteland that surrounds them based on an old map? Enjoy this clean, stand-alone adventure novel that moves at fast pace!

Linkage


Jay J. Falconer - 2011
    But what he couldn't know was his email would go viral, starting a chain reaction, bringing about the apocalypse.The end of all life on Earth.A swift and merciless extinction by an unknown and unstoppable force.