Book picks similar to
5 Stars by Louise Blackwick


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Equations of Life


Simon Morden - 2011
    Dick AwardSamuil Petrovitch is a survivor.He survived the nuclear fallout in St. Petersburg and hid in the London Metrozone – the last city in England. He’s lived this long because he’s a man of rules and logic.For example, getting involved = a bad idea.But when he stumbles into a kidnapping in progress, he acts without even thinking. Before he can stop himself, he’s saved the daughter of the most dangerous man in London.And clearly saving the girl = getting involved.Now, the equation of Petrovitch’s life is looking increasingly complex.Russian mobsters + Yakuza + something called the New Machine Jihad = one dead Petrovitch.But Petrovitch has a plan – he always has a plan – he’s just not sure it’s a good one.

Frend


Jonathan R. Miller - 2014
    Both thought-provoking and action-packed, Frend is a story of transformation, the unceasing drive to belong, and the struggle to liberate oneself from oppression, both internal and external.

Judge Dredd: Dark Justice


John Wagner - 2015
    Psi-Division’s Cassandra Anderson discovers that Death has returned and now she and Judge Dredd must travel into deep space in an attempt to stop the Dark Judges once and for all.This fully painted graphic novel comes with an extensive gallery and sketch section.

Dreams of Amputation


Gary J. Shipley - 2013
    An exceptionally strange work, but a smart and thoughtful one as well. Disturbing, haunting, and inimitably weird, this is a book like no other." - Brian Evenson

Next


Joshua Guess - 2014
     We were right. But it wasn't a nuclear weapon. On a day in late November in the year 2000, the flash happened. A surge of incredible power annihilated a small town and announced the arrival of a new breed. One man was enough to change everything, but he was not alone. He was only the first. More than a decade later, the Next are everywhere. They are registered, cataloged, and forced to wear identification. Even under the burden of suspicion and fear, most of them live normal lives. Others serve their communities as police or firefighters, the closest thing to heroes they are allowed to be. Some are criminals. It is this group Kitra Singh will face when she is pulled from her comfortable existence as a government agent and thrust into the limelight as a member of the OSA, an organization that captures and contains superhuman criminals. The stakes are high: a killer is on the loose, hunting human and Next alike. Time is short, the danger growing, and hundreds of lives are at risk. In a race against the clock, Kit will be tested as never before. She will stand toe to toe with god-like beings, and be forced to discover how far she is willing to go to stop them.

From Darkest Skies


Sam Peters - 2017
    With him he brings an artificial recreation of his wife's personality, a simulacrum built from every digital trace she left behind. She has been constructed with one purpose - to discover the truth behind her own death - but Keon's relationship with her has grown into something more, something frighteningly dependent, something that verges on love.Cashing in old favours, Keon uses his return to the Service to take on a series of cases that allow him and the artificial Alysha to piece together his wife's last days. His investigations lead him inexorably along the same paths Alysha followed five years earlier, to a sinister and deadly group with an unhealthy fascination for the unknowable alien Masters; but as the wider world of Magenta is threatened with an imminent crisis, Keon finds himself in a dilemma: do his duty and stand with his team to expose a villainous crime, or sacrifice them all for the truth about his wife?

Axis Crossing


S.H. Jucha - 2021
    Naiad, the home world, is a frozen ball, but the colonists persevere and expand through wormholes to remote systems.Navigating the time-space anomalies requires Axis-ships. The expensive vessels are constructed by corporations, and remote worlds are claimed by the companies for their valuable ores and gases.The corporations and Naiads are at odds with each other, and their lives are made more complicated by the arrival of strangers in an alien ship.To understand the nature of the unusual vessel coasting toward Beta Two, the director of operations orders the kidnapping of specialists from other mining worlds. Entire families are scooped up, but two siblings, Escher and Allie, evade capture.Hiding deep below the domes’ surfaces, the siblings are befriended by the orphans of miners. The young mickies don’t possess identification chips or cids, which would identify them as citizens.The gang of mickies and the siblings strike a deal to help each other. Each group is determined to reach Naiad. The mickies seek citizen status and freedom, and Escher and Allie want help rescuing their parents.The beleaguered group’s hastily derived plans bury them in criminal complications. When all appears lost, a second alien vessel exits the dark. The hull is similar to the ship at Beta Two, and these strangers seek their enemies.

Lost to the Alien Lord (Lords of Destra, #1)


Ella Blake - 2022
    Instead, we crashed on an alien planet with too many dangers to count. Separated from the other women, I'm on my own until a huge alien with color-changing skin and a massive sword gets me out of a bad spot. I don't understand Savair's language, but I think he's under the impression that I'm his.I am NOT his. I'm a divorced scientist with no time for such nonsense. But if he can help me find the others in my group then perhaps I can play at being "his" for a while. It's not a hardship. He's the sexiest male I've ever met with a jawline to die for, but there's no way I'll fall for this guy. Nope. Not a chance...Jetta makes me ache. I desire her the moment I pull her from a Brakken meat trap. Her soft, warm body awakens hungers long banked. But my Sola, the living ship I am bound to, is dying, and thus, so am I. I must find a way to save my Sola and my mate, or none of us will survive.This is book one of the Lords of Destra series. Each is a complete story with no cliffhangers or cheating. My books always have consent and a happy ending. Cheers!

The Cestus Concern


Mat Nastos - 2012
    Battling through a mass of armed guards and meta-gene operatives, the cyborg warrior realizes he has no memory of how he got there.The past 11 months are gone.With a hole in his mind, Weir must retrace his steps for the past year, fighting his way through the nearly endless horde of super powered mercenaries and assassins the government sends after him.Travel along with Weir, facing some of the most intense action ever put to paper, along with a body count of ridiculous proportions, as he tracks down the secrets trapped in his head.In the end, Weir must stand alone against a former friend and a squad of the deadliest killers ever created, all to learn the terrifying truth behind Project: Hardwired.Fans of films like "Bourne Identity" or "Smoking Aces," or the comics of Deadpool and Wolverine, will love the over-the-top science fiction action of "The Cestus Concern" by Mat Nastos.

Mirror's Edge


Rhianna Pratchett - 2008
    But how did she come by this unique black market trade...and what secrets from her past may affect her future? Written by famed game writer Rhianna Pratchett and illustrated by Matthew Dow Smith (SUPERNATURAL: ORIGINS), this graphic novel presents an adventure that'll further flesh out this incredible video game world!

Crashing Heaven


Al Robertson - 2015
    Nailed-down cyberpunk ala William Gibson for the 21st century meets the vivid dark futures of Al Reynolds in this extraordinary debut novel. With Earth abandoned, humanity resides on Station, an industrialised asteroid run by the sentient corporations of the Pantheon. Under their leadership a war has been raging against the Totality - ex-Pantheon AIs gone rogue. With the war over, Jack Forster and his sidekick Hugo Fist, a virtual ventriloquist's dummy tied to Jack's mind and created to destroy the Totality, have returned home. Labelled a traitor for surrendering to the Totality, all Jack wants is to clear his name but when he discovers two old friends have died under suspicious circumstances he also wants answers. Soon he and Fist are embroiled in a conspiracy that threatens not only their future but all of humanity's. But with Fist's software licence about to expire, taking Jack's life with it, can they bring down the real traitors before their time runs out?

Alex + Ada, Vol. 3


Jonathan Luna - 2015
    But after Ada is dropped into his life, he discovers she is more than just a robot. Alex takes a huge risk to unlock Ada so she can think for herself and explore life as a sentient android. As Alex and Ada spend more time together, they become closer. But as restrictions tighten on artificial intelligence, Ada feels unsure about her place in the world, and Alex questions being with an android. In this final arc, Alex and Ada struggle against the growing hatred for sentient robots and their human allies. Can they survive what's around the corner?Collects Alex + Ada #11-15.

The Beam: Season Three


Sean Platt - 2015
    while at the same time something is happening within the Beam network: a thing coming alive, its power unchecked and out of control. Micah and Isaac Ryan, the brothers sitting at each political party’s head, have resorted to tooth-and-nail tactics to eke out as many votes as possible. The Beau Monde observes everything, sticking their fingers in the pie only to change the flavor to their personal tastes. Everyone else has one simple goal: surviving the battle. Kai struggles with a job bigger than she’s ever faced, against a foe she can’t hope to outwit. Dominic, his law enforcement job precarious after betraying the drug runners he once smuggled for, must keep his head down even as he pokes his nose into the game of higher politics. And Nicolai, the unwitting harbinger of the Beam itself, concocts his own plots to overthrow the arrogant Ryans once and for all. Yet all their efforts — great and small alike — will pale in comparison to the oncoming storm, the cataclysmic return of one of history’s greatest figures. Someone from the Beam’s very conception is about to appear anew, and with humanity interconnected like never before, their footsteps will rock the NAU like a meteor strike. Shift is finally here. But even those who think they control its sway are not prepared for what happens next.

Transformers: Regeneration One #80.5: FCBD 2012


Simon Furman - 2012
    But that peace shudders to an end, as we dive headlong into July's Transformers #81! Because the Fans demanded it! Thousand of Transformers fans signed petitions urging us to make this book - and IDW listened! Created by the same writer, penciler, and inker of Transformer #80 in 1991!

Neon Genesis Evangelion: 3-in-1 Edition, Vol. 2


Yoshiyuki Sadamoto - 2013
    Each volume contains three of the original graphic novels and includes pages of stunning, full-color art. Once Shinji didn’t care about anything; then he found people to fight for—only to learn that he couldn’t protect them, or keep those he let into his heart from going away. As mankind tilts on the brink of the apocalyptic Third Impact, human feelings are fault lines leading to destruction and just maybe, redemption and rebirth. Reads R to L (Japanese Style) for teen plus audiences.