Book picks similar to
Deadly Cargo by Hal Archer
science-fiction
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Burnt Worlds
S.J. Madill - 2015
At the far edge of the galaxy, beyond any hope of rescue, it’s up to Dillon to pull the survivors together and get the ship home. As he struggles with the unexpected burden of command, things go from bad to worse. A fugitive alien priestess arrives, her presence a diplomatic nightmare waiting to happen. A mysterious ship follows them with murderous intent. And the Borealis’ desperate second jump lands them in uncharted space, surrounded by star systems full of dead planets. With supplies dwindling, Dillon and the crew of the Borealis find themselves in a race against time to solve a centuries-old mystery. Can they stop an ancient enemy from being unleashed? Or are all the planets of the galaxy destined to become burnt worlds?
Translight
Doug Farren - 2009
But before Earth can benefit from the advanced technologies offered by the other cultures, it must form a united world government. Old habits are hard to break and it doesn't take long before things begin to unravel.Jay Kauffman, mathematical genius and creator of the stardrive, believed his invention would free mankind. Instead, it has made war inevitable.Translight is the first book of the Galactic Alliance series. It is a hard military science fiction space opera that has been compared to E.E. 'Doc' Smith's famous Lensmen and Skylark series.
Interstellar Caveman
Karl Beecher - 2019
Now, he’s being pursued by a homicidal interstellar tourist board, and calculating insurance dividends is as outdated as making stone axes. Sci-fi-hating technophobe Colin embarks on a desperate struggle to find a cure for his illness, as well as a place for himself in this strange new galaxy where toilets talk back, and door handles are a long-forgotten relic. Only by teaming up with his rescuer, hard-boiled, space-traveling archaeologist Tyresa Jak (that’s Doctor Jak to you), can Colin hope to succeed before time runs out. Along the way, this galactic odd-couple must evade the Erd Tourist Board - a powerful mega-corporation which will do anything to ensure the mythical Earth stays mythical - and deal with a crackpot religious cult who not only possess a cure for Colin’s illness, but who also believe there is more to this caveman from Earth than meets the eye.... Don't miss the start of this side-splitting intergalactic adventure that will keep you laughing into the night. It's perfect for fans of Guardians of the Galaxy, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Space Team. Also available on Audible, narrated by Steve West.
Cascade Point
Joshua Guess - 2017
They fly at the edges of Alliance space, surveying new systems far from the problems that brought them all together. Some are former military, while others have more colorful pasts. Everyone aboard the Fallen Angel has a reason for staying on the fringes. It's a good life, but a chance discovery will change everything. Confronted by an enemy powerful enough to threaten all of human civilization, Grant and his crew are forced to choose between confinement or joining the Ghost Fleet, a hidden network of ships recruited and run by the Alliance Navy. Faced with an existential danger, Grant will lead his team into the far reaches of unknown space to keep the brewing conflict from exploding into all-out war.
First Flight
Zachary Jones - 2019
Just the Earth Federation and the League of Sovereign Systems fighting for the third time over who would be the supreme power in settled space, and who would have to exist in the victor’s shadow. Then the Ascendency showed up and ruined everything.One moment, Flight Lieutenant Mason Grey was a fighter pilot of the Federal Space Forces about to strike a League base located on a dwarf planet in an uninhabited system. The next, unknown starships showed up, blew his carrier to hell, killed his squadron, shot down his fighter, and left him stranded amid the ruins of the very base he had come to attack.With nothing but a space suit and a dwindling life support system, Mason was in way, way over his head. And that was just the start of his problems. (Content Warning: This novel contains violence and adult language)
Elite Dangerous: Premonition
Drew Wagar - 2017
Disturbing encounters with unknown ships. Three great superpowers manoeuvre against each other. But are their destinies their own, or are they merely the puppets of some greater power? Since the loss of the Prism system in 3300, Lady Kahina Tijani Loren has operated on the fringes of Imperial society. Led by clues from a woman once thought dead, she is drawn into a conspiracy at the heart of humanity. To uncover the truth she must contend with dangerous enemies, navigate murky political waters, and – with the help of her friends – uncover the secret of the Formidine Rift. Premonition is the new story set in the Elite: Dangerous galaxy, shaped by player actions in the game.
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.
Blaze Returns
Bill Runner - 2021
Ten years in the special forces and five years in the US Marshals have made Blaze a trained investigator and expert in combat.Blaze does not fight his opponents; he puts them down. He strikes first. And hard. Takes them out. Fast.Deputy Marshal Carter has gone missing in Little Butte, Nevada. The Dawsons own the town. The Mexican cartel is moving in on their meth business. A gang war is coming to town. Director Flynn asks Blaze to return for one last assignment.It is up to Blaze to find Carter before all hell breaks loose.
In the Wake of Death
Nikki Landis
Her life is complicated but consistent, as ordinary as someone like her could ever have. She's stopped dating and doesn't believe there's a man out there who would love and accept her once they learn the truth. But Det. Silverman is far more tenacious than she anticipated.When Gemma becomes involved in the case of a young girl's disappearance, she's plunged into the path of a series of gruesome murders and thrust at the forefront of a desperate search for a serial killer. Gemma must use all of her wits to defeat him and help solve the case before becoming a victim herself. As more girls turn up missing, the fight to stop the killer becomes more deadly at every turn.Will Gemma become another soul stuck in the witching hour of the night, caught between the harvest of the reaper and the wake of death?***This book was previously published as The Gift but has been revised and updated with a new cover and content.
Scout
Terry Schott - 2017
Gamers think that they are beta testing the world's first true Virtual Reality fantasy game, but are they? Or is the magical world of Preu Treya as real as our own? A daring experience filled with swords, sorcery, and adventure .
Doorways
Robert Enright - 2017
Shielded from humanity, the Otherside is watched over by the BTCO, a highly secret government agency, whose members all possess 'The Knack', a genetic anomaly that allows them to see this other world. Franklyn 'Bermuda' Jones is the BTCO's finest agent, the only human to have passed to the Otherside and returned. Gifted with the ability to physically interact with both worlds, Bermuda reluctantly stands between both worlds, pining for the life he had to leave behind and the daughter he can no longer see. Teamed with Argyle, an enigmatic Otherside warrior, Bermuda is assigned the case of a missing woman who has vanished under mysterious circumstances.As Bermuda delves further into the disappearance, he uncovers a threat that could destroy the truce between two worlds...and finds himself in a race against time to safeguard humanity's very existence. Discover a new world in this fast-paced urban fantasy packed with thrills, action and the odd one liner.
No Middle Ground
Caleb Wachter - 2014
With twenty years of military service under his belt, it was time to settle down on a colony somewhere and start the next phase of his life. But without warning, the Empire of Man withdrew its support of the Confederated Spineward Sectors, taking the vast majority of high-value military assets - including capable officers - with it. The would-be retiring Lieutenant Commander was improbably given a field commission of Captain, and tasked with a simple 'wave the flag' operation by his even more improbable commanding officer, Admiral Jason Montagne. So Captain Middleton set out to patrol the adjacent Sectors, and carry out his orders to the best of his ability. But, as is so often the case, one thing leads to another and Middleton finds himself and his ancient warship, the Pride of Prometheus, caught in quandary after quandary as the shadows of a Sector-wide conspiracy loom wherever they turn. The further down the rabbit hole he goes, the less he likes what he finds and his simple patrol mission soon turns into something much, much larger. With a crew of rookies and society's unwanted - including a pair of teenagers from a world very different from his own - Captain Middleton will discover one simple, incontrovertible truth: In life, there is no middle ground.
Seeing Red
Patty Jansen - 2013
Young diplomat Cory Wilson narrowly escapes death in the assassination of President Sirkonen. No one claims responsibility but there is no doubt that the attack is extraterrestrial. Cory was meant to start work as a representative to Gamra, the alien organisation that governs the FTL transport network, but now his new job may well be scrapped in anger. Worse, as Earth uses military force to stop any extraterrestrials coming or leaving, as 200,000 extraterrestrial humans are trapped on Earth, as the largest army in the galaxy prepares to free them by force, only Cory has the experience, language skills and contacts to solve the crime. But he's broke, out of a job and a long way from Earth.
Mars Journey: Call to Action Book 1
Bill Hargenrader - 2015
These two veterans of space-flight were used to these conditions. What they were not used to was the dangerous rescue mission they were embarking on—one that had never been attempted before… Mars Journey: Call to Action Book 1 is the first book in bestselling author Bill Hargenrader's epic science fiction action and adventure thriller series set in the near future: Brent Carlson, a brilliant but disgraced former astronaut, embarks on a modern day quest to gather and train the crew of the first international mission to Mars. Meanwhile, the power hungry billionaire CEO of a massive global technology conglomerate has launched a bid to reach Mars first and claim the red planet as corporate property. The Mars Journey series delves into the science, technology, drive, and determination of the human spirit to come together to overcome our greatest challenges, explore space, and become the first martians to colonize the Red Planet.
Broken Worlds
Drew Avera - 2016
Dead planets float in their wake as the empire fights to assert themselves as the supreme race. Ensign Brendle Quinn has spent five years loyally serving the Greshian Empire in their relentless quest to dominate the Alorian Galaxy. But as his ship decimates planet after planet, he finds his sympathies swinging towards their defeated enemies. Sergeant Anki Paro, a Luthian Marine, has been anxiously awaiting the call to deploy. As the last line of defense against the crushing Greshian forces, she hopes the time has finally come where her world can stand against tyranny and protect the rest of the worlds in her sector of the Alorian Galaxy. As her path towards war draws near, Anki begins to notice a shift in balance as her society prepares itself for imminent destruction. Questions of misplaced loyalties lead her to wonder if the world she is trying to save has any real intentions of surviving. As Brendle and Anki’s worlds collide, they find themselves in an unlikely alliance to try to stop the full might of the Greshian Empire before there’s nothing left to fight for. The Alorian Wars is a military science fiction series for fans of The Expanse, Star Trek, and Old Man’s War. If you want a fast-paced space opera adventure then look no further, The Alorian Wars is here!