Book picks similar to
The Test by Pierre Boulle


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The Ninth Life of Louis Drax


Liz Jensen - 2004
    He is brilliant and strange, and every year something violent seems to happen to him. On his ninth birthday, Louis goes on a picnic with his parents and falls off a cliff. The details are shrouded in mystery. Louis's mother is shell-shocked; his father has vanished. And after some confusion Louis himself, miraculously alive but deep in a coma, arrives at Dr. Pascal Dannachet's celebrated coma clinic…Full of astonishing twists and turns, this is a masterful tale of the secrets the human mind can hide.

The Messengers Menagerie


Joey Anderle - 2017
      Now, Sterling Booker Wells hasn't been in charge of her for 24 hours and they have already busted up one effort on her life, and even worse, there is a crossbow bolt hole in Alphonse's prized, painstakingly accurate, exquisitely restored, vintage replica of Steve McQueen's 1968 Mustang from the hit movie Bullitt.However, Booker argues in his defense, the Princess hasn't suffered a scratch. The Messengers Menagerie continues the first weekend when Sterling Booker Wells meets the Royal Elven Princess Auralee, what (else) could possibly go wrong? How about a new crew sent to do him in? And the Princess who will be by his side. Join Runner Sterling Booker Wells as he attempts to keep the Elven Princess out of harm's way... Again.

The Fight for Britannia


Saxon Andrew - 2018
    They found a habitable planet and erased everything in the colony ship’s data banks about Earth in the hopes that none of their descendants would ever attempt to find mankind’s home world. Now, thousands of years after Britannia was settled, a war is looming between the Union and Coalition. Captain Grady Henricks is given a secret mission to discover how a small scout ship’s hull survived destruction from powerful blaster beams that destroyed everything but the hull. However, time is running out for Grady to finish his mission; the Coalition is becoming more aggressive and the war is going to kick off before Grady can complete his assignment. During his mission, Grady discovers that the scout wasn’t attacked and destroyed by Coalition warships. An alien civilization has found Britannia and it quickly becomes clear that not only is the Union threatened by the Coalition but all of Britannia is in danger of being attacked by the aliens. War breaks out and the aliens decide to strike in the aftermath. The Fight for Britannia is on and it appears that the humans living on Britannia don’t have long to live. Grady is forced to do something that the original colonists prayed would never happen; he goes in search of an ancient planet that might be able to save the remaining humans on Britannia. Earth must be found and quickly. Excerpt from The Fight for Britannia: Taffy stood behind the Hermit and saw the computer’s screen activate. She saw the startup screen appear and then go dark, as the Hermit turned a nob on the keyboard. Each time it clicked, another dark screen appeared. After ten clicks, a view appeared on the display. She heard the Hermit mutter to himself, “They left the polar satellite alone.” He began moving the cursor and the view changed. An image began zooming in and she saw a city appear. The image grew larger and she recognized that it was the city she lived in just over the mountains; the Government Tower was in the center of the city and that building couldn’t be anywhere else. She suddenly saw three large shapes move out of the mountains toward the outskirts of the city. Suddenly, brilliant beams of light stabbed out of the three objects hitting the ground. Her heart started pounding harder; where those light beams hit, massive explosions erupted, and everything caught on fire. The three-large objects moved out over the city and the only thing left behind them was a fire bright enough to be seen from space. She watched the fires move out into the city and saw her parent’s neighborhood go up in massive flames. The Hermit moved the cursor again and she saw numerous star ships moving toward the monitor. The Hermit pressed a button on the wall turning on the lights in the giant facility as he jumped up out of his chair and ran across the huge room. She followed him and suddenly saw a small ship in the center of the large cavern. The Fight for Britannia is a thriller and is the latest novel from the international bestselling author Saxon Andrew.

Duval and the Infernal Machine


Michele McGrath - 2013
    Newly appointed and off duty, he is strolling through the city when he sees a crowd waiting for Napoleon, the First Consul, not yet Emperor. He is jostled by some men leaving the area in a hurry and shortly afterwards a bomb, the 'Infernal Machine' explodes.Next day, Duval describes the men to a police artist and joins the hunt for the bombers. Horse-shoes and barrel hoops send him searching all over Paris. Eventually he finds the warehouse used by the bombers and his mentor is killed in the subsequent fight. Some of the bombers are captured but others escape, then Napoleon puts an abrupt end to the search, blaming others for the outrage.But the story is not over. Duval falls in love with his mentor's daughter, and together they find another of the bombers, leading to a surprise ending.

Lifting the Veil of the Secrets of in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia


Ramona Forrest - 2013
    Restless and looking for something new and exciting, two nurses traveled to this ancient kingdom to ply their skills and practice close personal contact—along with modern medical care—with people for whom slavery, buying wives, and female subjugation is just a way of life. Living in a culture far different from their own, they met many wonderful people, both locally and from several other countries, all the while walking on eggshells with the religious police of Saudi Arabia, lest they do something, that as females, was forbidden and could have gotten them deported—or worse, thrown in jail. Join Ramona Forrest and Judith Corcoran as they explore life in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia—from a woman’s point of view.

Mother, was it worth it?


Tottie Limejuice - 2014
    As her full-time carer, Tottie listened to daily recitations of her favourite saying: 'Mother, mother, it's a bugger, sell the pig and buy me out.” Catch up now with Tottie in the AM years – After Mother – as she starts her new life in the rural Livradois-Forez region of the Auvergne, living in Tottie's Grottage. Meet the local inhabitants, from exotic birds to colourful characters like the Bin Pickers, Library Lady and the Bowing Farmer. All are described with Tottie's familiar gently ironic humour. Discover the procedure behind the Frogification of Tottie, and if her bid for French nationality is successful. 'Mother Was It Worth It?' is the concluding part of the Sell the Pig series, which began with 'Sell the Pig' and 'Is That Billinge Lump?'

Broken (A Matthew Simon Book Book 1)


Clay S. Roberts - 2020
    Behind his steely façade is a man who has experienced more losses than one man should. His biological parents are long dead. His adoptive parents have passed. Now, it’s just him and his might alone in the world. A chance encounter with a woman in need of help exposes him to a danger. His heroic efforts reveal a long-held secret about who he is and what he’s destined to become. He’s the child of prophecy. Now he must embrace his new role, grow stronger, and make allies before a Dark God exacts his plans to take over the universe—all while testing his prowess with strong, beautiful women who are eager to see what he’s made of. Warning: Book contains strong sexual themes, a harem of powerful women, brutal battles, evil monsters, and a sadistic Dark God who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Find out what happens in this adrenaline-rushing adult fantasy adventure novel!

The Slaver Wars: Books 1-3


Raymond L. Weil - 2017
    Weil comes the first three books in the Slaver Wars series. Over 400,000 copies sold.The Hocklyns were a cruel and callous race. World after world fell to the onslaught of their powerful warfleets. Populations were ruthlessly reduced with the remainder becoming slaves working for the benefit of the Hocklyn Slave Empire. For thousands of years this had been the way of life for the Hocklyns, but now they had encountered an adversary who refused to bow down to their powerful fleets. The Human Federation of Worlds would not become slaves.It was up to Fleet Admiral Hedon Streth to stop the advance of the Hocklyns. If he failed, then the Human Federation of Worlds would be no more, and the entire galaxy would fall to the conquering Hocklyn war machine.

Ghost Galaxy Omnibus


Sarah Noffke - 2020
    Save the galaxy. All in a hard day's work. Get both the Completed Omnibus of Ghost Squadron and Precious Galaxy series in one GIANT omnibus for a stellar price!Ghost Galaxy encompasses the two Age of Expansion series co-written by Sarah Noffke and Michael Anderle!Ghost Squadron's 7 book set:After 10 years of wandering the outer rim of the galaxy, Eddie Teach is a man without a purpose. He was one of the toughest pilots in the Federation, but now he's just a regular guy, getting into bar fights and making a difference wherever he can. It's not the same as flying a ship and saving colonies, but it'll have to do.That is, until General Lance Reynolds tracks Eddie down and offers him a job. There are bad people out there, plotting terrible things, killing innocent people, and destroying entire colonies.Someone has to stop them.Experience this exciting military sci-fi saga and the latest addition to the expanded Kurtherian Gambit universe. If you're a fan of Mass Effect, Firefly, or Star Wars, you'll love this riveting new space opera.Precious Galaxy completed 4 book set:A new evil lurks in the darknessAfter an explosion, the crew of a battlecruiser mysteriously disappears.CorruptionAfter an explosion, the crew of a battlecruiser mysteriously disappears.Bailey and Lewis, complete strangers, find themselves suddenly onboard the damaged ship. Lewis hasn’t worked a case in years, not since the final one broke his spirit and his bank account. The last thing Bailey remembers is preparing to take down a fugitive on Onyx Station.Mysteries are harder to solve when there’s no evidence left behind.Bailey and Lewis don’t know how they got onboard Ricky Bobby or why. However, they quickly learn that whatever was responsible for the explosion and disappearance of the crew is still on the ship.Monsters are real and what this one can do changes everything.The new team bands together to discover what happened and how to fight the monster lurking in the bottom of the battlecruiser. The stakes have never been higher No matter the cost, no matter the sacrifice, one thing is certain.The Federation cannot be allowed to fall.Note: If cursing is a problem, then this might not be for you.

FURY RISING (Children of the Mountain Book 4)


R.A. Hakok - 2019
     Exiled from Mount Weather, Gabe, Mags and Johnny make their way north, seeking shelter from the coming storms. With the furies awakening across the country they stumble into the middle of a feud between two unlikely adversaries.

On Station: Galactic Council Realm


J. Clifton Slater - 2015
    In the Military, if you screw up, you either get busted or promoted. Sergeant Phelan Oscar Piran, formally of the Galactic Council Marine Corps, discovers that both can happen. If it wasn't difficult enough trouble being the oldest Ensign in the Galactic Council Navy, call sign J-Pop, the Druids have plans for him. He's not a Druid, having failed the Ritual, but his parents are Druids. ‘On Station’ is an adventure encompassing a Galactic Empire, Space Cats, Martial Arts, Marines, Navy Aviators and the unfolding story of the Galactic Council Realm. ‘On Station’ is the 1st book in the series with ‘On Duty’ and ‘On Guard’ continuing the story of Phelan Oscar Piran and the Galactic Council Realm.

Gallantry in Action (Halberd #1)


John Spearman - 2020
    Spearman. A sci-fi military novel set in space, the book follows Captain Jonah Halberd, newly assigned commander of the spaceship HMS Cumberland, an advanced cruiser in the Royal Navy of the Commonwealth, currently under the reign of King Edward XII. There is an ongoing war between the Commonwealth and the Rodinan Federation. After rescuing Lady Julia Hawthorne, the fiancee of First Space Lord Chesterfield, Jonah and his crew set off for yet another dangerous assignment. But an ensuing battle with the Rodinan armada causes heavy casualties, and Jonah finds himself captured by the enemy. A daring rescue led by Lieutenant Commander Fred MacMurray results in Jonah receiving a hero's welcome back home. Now, he must unite the Coalition for war.

The Falsifiers


Antoine Bello - 2007
    Soon his superior reveals that the firm houses the activities of a secret organization, the Consortium for the Falsification of Reality, which rewrites history and falsifies the world as we know it. Who runs the CFR and for what purpose? That’s what Sliv sets out to discover. His only chance: rise all the way to the top in record time.The Falsifiers, a European best-seller, is the first installment of a trilogy. It is followed by The Pathfinders and The Showrunners.

From Dark Places


Emma Newman - 2010
    The stories traverse the magical and the mundane, where supernatural beings are indistinguishable from their mortal counterparts in their complexity and complicity.

The Forever Gate Ultimate Edition: Books 1-9 (Complete Series)


Isaac Hooke - 2019
    It has been one of the highest-rated sci-fi series on Amazon over the last three years. This bundle contains books 1 through 9--the complete series--and will captivate fans of science fiction, fantasy, thrillers, and cyberpunk. In this riveting nine-volume set, Hoodwink Cooper infiltrates a tyrannical alien regime and traverses multiple realities in a daring attempt to save his daughter from certain doom... There's only one problem. He might destroy the last living remnants of humanity in the process. This ultimate edition contains THE FOREVER GATE volumes one through nine. Strap yourself in, because the mind-bending thrill ride that explores what it means to be human has only just begun.