Book picks similar to
War of the Undead Day One by Peter Meredith
horror
zombies
zombie
post-apocalyptic
Born
Tara Brown - 2012
There are no regular people anymore."Ten years ago when the world ended she ran for her life.Five weeks ago the world she'd hidden from came knocking on the door of her secluded cabin.Ten days ago she found salvation hiding amongst the dead.Yesterday she went back for the living.Today she wonders if she will live to see tomorrow.What do you do when the world you were born to is gone?Where do you hide when even your own body isn't safe?Emma ran when her daddy told her to. She hid like he said she should. He was the first person she turned her back on. The first one she let die.Ten years has gone by and she still lives by the simple rules he taught her when she was nine years old."Don't help anyone. Don't go where other people are unless you have to. Trust no one. Always pull the trigger."Until one night she hears the worst sound in the world, a knock. A simple, timid knock, on the door to her cabin.Only the voice of the brave little girl, ready to die for her brother, persuades Emma to open the door.As her fingers turn the lock, she has a terrible feeling she will regret her decision.But even as regret fills her world, so do love and companionship. Things she never imagined she would ever have again.Everything comes at a cost; you decide what you'll pay.
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.
GAMELAND: Season One
Saul W. Tanpepper - 2012
Connected to their Infected Players via neural implants (government-mandated in the event of an outbreak), Operators pit the Undead against one another using remote gaming controllers in a high stakes game of money, violence, and power. For the poor, the televised action on state-controlled Media streams is horrifying yet powerfully addictive. Volunteering to become an Undead Player is strictly forbidden, but fame and money lure some to The Game.On a whim, a small group of computer hackers and gamers decides to sneak onto the island, hoping to catch a glimpse of the uncontrolled Infecteds, unimplanted victims of an outbreak that took place there over a decade earlier. But while breaking in turns out to be a lot easier than any of them could have ever imagined, getting back out is one a hell of a killer. As they soon discover, when you play, you play to win. Because, if you die, you become part of The Game. The series consists of eight episodes publishing monthly through December 2012. Also available in paperback.EPISODE 1: Deep Into the GameZpocalypto gamer Jessica Daniels and her gang of code jackers decide to break into Long Island's Gameland hoping to catch a glimpse of some of the Infected Undead, risking arrest and an extension to their Life Service Commitment (a civil or military obligation fulfilled after death). But getting past the EM field, the wall surrounding the island, the mined waters, requires the addition of a stranger to their fold. Tensions within the group rise. So do the risks. After a near-fatal accident during preparation nearly takes the life of one of their members, emotions run dangerously high. They press on and find an abandoned wasteland like nothing they ever expected. Excitement quickly turns to dread as the dangers become all too clear.Approximately 50,000 words (~185 pages)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.Approximately 50,000 words (~185 pages)EPISODE 3: Deadman's SwitchUnable to escape from Long Island because of the failsafe device implanted inside their brains, the group digs in until they can devise a way to neutralize it. Jessie is anointed as their leader despite Jake's claims that she is unfit. A final desperate attempt is made to leave, setting into motion a sequence of events that will result in one of them dead, another infected, and all of them running for their lives.Approximately 52,000 words (~192 pages)EPISODE 4: Sunder the Hollow OnesA mutiny in the group splits the members, leaving Jessie out in the cold. As she continues to struggle to fulfill her promise to bring everyone safely home, a chance encounter with one of Gameland's residents dredges up deeply buried memories, leaving her feeling haunted and doubtful about her future.Approximately 44,000 words (~160 pages)EPISODE 5: Prometheus WeptAfter one member of their group is infected, Jessie makes a decision to hand over another to a mysterious group of Undead sympathizers in exchange for a promised antidote. But will she be able to collect the medicine and return before it's too late? Will the medicine work? And will she be able to get them all back home again?Approximately 41,000 words (~150 pages)EPISODE 6: Kingdom of PlayersArmed with a potential antiserum to the reanimation virus, Jessica races back to Gameland to save her infected friend. Waylaid along the way, she must fight for her life to save another. Will she make it back in time? Or will her friend die and return as one of the Undead?Approximately 41,000 words (~150 pages)EPISODE 7: Tag, You're DeadTorn between rescuing Ashley from the homicidal Ben and staying with Jake, who's been infected, Jessie, Kelly and Reggie must carefully plan their next move. But Reggie falls ill and the Undead break into their stronghold. Soon they're fighting for their lives in a battle that will lead all of the group to their darkest hour.Approximately 47,000 words (~170 pages)EPISODE 8: Jacker's CodeThe shocking conclusion to the high-tech horror thriller, GAMELAND. Jessie and the remaining gamers and hackers struggle against all odds to escape Gameland and Long Island, even though some of them have been infected with the zombie virus. Determined to do whatever is necessary to get home, they will have to face some of the most difficult decisions of their lives. But even if they're successful, will they ever be able to go back to the lives they so recklessly left behind?The world is suddenly a very different place from the one they left behind, and not all monsters live behind walls.Approximately 54,000 words (~196 pages)
Survival Instinct
Kristal Stittle - 2013
It also has rats. These vermin are unlike the average pest, because they are carrying a deadly contagion. Havoc ensues as the devastating virus seeps into the unsuspecting populace, turning friends and family against each other. Atrocities of savage behavior are spreading faster than people can outrun, and the citizens get recklessly desperate. Whether by joining forces, or by standing alone, survival is on everyone’s mind. Unfortunately, not everyone will escape with their life.
I, Zombie
Hugh Howey - 2012
It will offend most anyone, so proceed with caution or not at all.And be forewarned: This is not a zombie book. This is a different sort of tale. It is a story about the unfortunate, about those who did not get away. It is a human story at its rotten heart. It is the reason we can't stop obsessing about these creatures, in whom we see all too much of ourselves.
Thicker Than Blood
Madeline Sheehan - 2015
Leisel and Evelyn lost everything. Husbands. Families. Friends. Lives that made sense. All they had left was each other, and a friendship that could withstand anything…Even an apocalypse.Until one fateful night, the marginal safety they’d come to rely on comes to a vicious and brutal end. With the help of Alex & Jami, both unlikely allies, Leisel and Evelyn are able to escape their shattered sanctuary only to find themselves face-to-face with a much altered, much crueler life where they have to find the way—and the will—to stay alive in a world they no longer recognize.Traveling across a broken and infection-ridden country; the road-weary group are pitted against endless violence, improbable circumstances, and the ultimate loss.Everything comes at a price—especially safety, the cost of which could very well strip them of the one thing they’ve tried so hard to cling to: their humanity.Yet along with all the trials they’re forced to endure, there’s also hope in the form of love. Having loved Leisel from afar, Alex attempts to put the pieces of her fractured heart back together.But in such a savage world, is there room for love?In a place of nightmares-made-reality, where the living should be feared far more than the dead, an unbreakable friendship and a love amongst all odds can mean the difference between life and death.There are friends…And then there are Leisel and Evelyn.
Plague of the Dead
Z.A. Recht - 2006
The infected are subject to delirium, fever, a dramatic increase in violent behavior, and a one-hundred percent mortality rate. Death. But it doesn't end there. The victims return from death to walk the earth. When a massive military operation fails to contain the plague of the living dead it escalates into a global pandemic. In one fell swoop, the necessities of life become much more basic. Gone are petty everyday concerns. Gone are the amenities of civilized life. Yet a single law of nature remains: Live, or die. Kill, or be killed. On one side of the world, a battle-hardened General surveys the remnants of his command: a young medic, a veteran photographer, a brash Private, and dozens of refugees, all are his responsibility-all thousands of miles from home. Back in the United States, an Army Colonel discovers the darker side of Morningstar virus and begins to collaborate with a well-known journalist to leak the information to the public... The Morningstar Saga has begun.
Under a Graveyard Sky
John Ringo - 2013
Zombies are real. And we made them. Are you prepared for the zombie apocalypse? The Smith family is, with the help of a few Marines.When an airborne “zombie” plague is released, bringing civilization to a grinding halt, the Smith family, Steven, Stacey, Sophia and Faith, take to the Atlantic to avoid the chaos. The plan is to find a safe haven from the anarchy of infected humanity. What they discover, instead, is a sea composed of the tears of survivors and a passion for bringing hope.For it is up to the Smiths and a small band of Marines to somehow create the refuge that survivors seek in a world of darkness and terror. Now with every continent a holocaust and every ship an abattoir, life is lived beneath a graveyard sky.
The Last Librarian
Brandt Legg - 2015
In the year 2098, there is no more war, no more hunger and no more pollution. The world is secure and Earth’s 2.9 billion people are healthy and happy. There is also only one remaining library that still houses physical books. In addition to the dusty volumes, the library holds many secrets. But the government has decided to shut it down and burn the contents. Unless an unlikely trio can save the books, humanity will lose more than just what is printed on those antique pages. With a single government ruling the entire planet, one currency, one language and no religion, the population is unified and enjoying the prosperity that comes with more than seven decades of peace. Free healthcare for all and guaranteed employment make the future a dream. But this future may only be safe if they can hide the past. The books must be saved . . . the impossible task is up to an angry author, a brazen revolutionary and the last librarian. When everything is perfect, the only thing left to fear is the truth.
Zero Day
Bobby Adair - 2013
Disturbing news footage is flooding the cable news channels. People are worried. People are frightened. But Zed Zane is oblivious. Zed needs to borrow rent money from his parents. He gets up Sunday morning, drinks enough tequila to stifle his pride and heads to his mom’s house for a lunch of begging, again.But something is wrong. There's blood in the foyer. His mother's corpse is on the living room floor. Zed's stepdad, Dan is wild with crazy-eyed violence and attacks Zed when he comes into the house. They struggle into the kitchen. Dan's yellow teeth tear at Zed's arm but Zed grabs a knife and stabs Dan, thirty-seven times, or so the police later say.With infection burning in his blood, Zed is arrested for murder but the world is falling apart and he soon finds himself back on the street, fighting for his life among the infected who would kill him and the normal people, who fear him.
Hunger
Keith Taylor - 2016
The world looked on as millions of innocent lives were snuffed out in a matter of hours. Millions of men, women and children slaughtered without mercy, killed by a violent mob that attacked without reason, motive or warning.Tom Freeman saw the aftermath. He reported on the tragedy and looked into the eyes of the sole survivor, and what he saw looking back sent him running home to the United States. Back to safety. Back to a place where the world makes sense, and the putrid stink of the dead doesn't haunt his nightmares.He didn't run quickly enough. They're coming.Remain indoors...Gather supplies...Find a weapon...They're here. HUNGER is the opening book of the terrifying post-apocalyptic LAST MAN STANDING series.
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.
Dead Highways
Richard Brown - 2012
One week later, most of the world lay in a deep sleep.But not for long.Reprogrammed with a single purpose, the newly infected awaken and begin migrating across the country like soldiers on a mission, killing anything that crosses their path.For Jimmy, his mundane existence of working at his grandmother's used bookstore is upended by the end of the world. One minute he's reading science fiction and fantasy novels, wishing he were the hero of the story, the next he's traveling as part of a ragtag group of survivors, fighting to stay alive and searching for answers.Why did this happen?Where are the infected going?And what is guiding them?But on these dead highways Jimmy may discover something even greater—his place in the world. Even if everyone else is gone.
Plague Year
Jeff Carlson - 2007
Instead, it evolved into the Machine Plague, killing nearly five billion people and changing life on Earth forever.The nanotech has one weakness: it self-destructs at altitudes above ten thousand feet. Those few who've managed to escape the plague struggle to stay alive on the highest mountains, but time is running out—there is famine and war, and the environment is crashing worldwide. Humanity's last hope lies with a top nanotech researcher aboard the International Space Station—and with a small group of survivors in California who risk a daring journey below the death line...