Book picks similar to
Root and Branch by Preston Fleming


fiction
amazon
alternate-history
genre-thriller

The Road to Hell


Peter Cawdron - 2011
    Democracy has been suspended while the reconstruction effort lifts the country out of the ruins of conflict. America's fate lies in the hands of a genetically-engineered soldier with the ability to move through time.The Road to Hell deals with a futuristic world and the advent of limited time travel. It explores social issues such as the nature of trust and the conflict between loyalty and honesty.

Blindsided


Erica Hilary - 2020
    A man was the last thing she needed. But that was before Richard Lynch literally crashed into her life.After Reilly and the charismatic Brit are involved in a fender-bender, she's unable to resist the exhilarating romantic freefall. The enigmatic Rick is not who she thinks he is, however, and Reilly finds herself in a twisted maze of sordid secrets and devious manipulations. Navigating this terrifying new reality, can she rally and find a way out before her soulmate-turned-stranger destroys everything she treasures.

Burn the Dead: Quarantine


Steven Jenkins - 2014
    Still, his life is routine until one day his infected wife, Anna, shows up in line for the incinerator, and Rob must cremate the love of his life. In a race against the clock, he must find his four-year-old son Sammy, who is stranded in a newly quarantined zone, teeming with the walking dead, and crawling with the Necro-Morbus virus. Does Rob have what it takes to fight the undead and put his broken family back together? Or will he also end up in the incinerator – burning with the rest of the dead?

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.

Travel by Night


Sophie Morton-Thomas - 2020
    Caught in a dangerous trap. A life-changing discovery. When Yalina wakes in hospital following surgery, she doesn’t recognise her own parents. Following her release, she makes the decision to meet her estranged brother, Ali, in Sheffield, but the man who picks her up is not her brother. He takes Yalina to a house where girls are held against their will and forced into sex slavery. Too late, she realises she has fallen into a trap.Over time, Yalina discovers a love of playing the old piano that lives in the house. It keeps her sane. As friendships blossom between the women, Yalina finds herself taking a young girl, Rebecca, under her wing, which makes it harder for her to try to escape.Using a stolen laptop, Yalina searches for her brother online, but soon discovers that all is not as it seems. As the women are threatened with violence, Yalina reluctantly accepts help from a stranger she met in the house. But he carries a secret that could impact on her whole life. But will it be enough for Yalina to escape her captors? And how will she cope with the unexpected revelation?

The Last Orphans


N.W. Harris - 2014
    In a span of mere hours, the entire adult population is decimated, leaving their children behind to fend for themselves and deal with the horrific aftermath of the freak occurrence. As one of the newly made elders in his small town, Shane finds himself taking on the role of caretaker for a large group of juvenile survivors. One who just happens to be Kelly Douglas—an out-of-his-league classmate—who, on any other day, would have never given Shane a second glance. Together, they begin their quest to find out why all of the adults were slaughtered. What they find is even more horrifying than anything they could have expected—the annihilation of the adults was only the beginning. Shane and his friends are not the unlucky survivors left to inherit this new, messed-up planet. No, they are its next victims. There is an unknown power out there, and it won’t stop until every person in the world is dead. A spine-tingling adventure that will have you gasping for breath all the way until the last page, The Last Orphans is the first book in an all-new apocalyptic series.

The Pinebox Vendetta


Jeff Bond - 2020
    The Yale University class of 1996 had one of each, and as the twenty-year reunion approaches, the families are on a collision course.Owen Gallagher is coasting to the Democratic nomination for president.Rock Pruitt – the brash maverick whose career was derailed two decades ago by his association to a tragic death – is back, ready to reclaim the mantle of clan leader.And fatefully in between lies Samantha Lessing. Sam arrives at reunion weekend lugging a rotten marriage, dumb hope, and a portable audio recorder she'll use for a public radio-style documentary on the Pruitt-Gallagher rivalry – widely known as the pinebox vendetta. What Sam uncovers will thrust her into the middle of the ancient feud, upending presidential politics and changing the trajectory of one clan forever.The Pinebox Vendetta is the first entry in the Pruitt-Gallagher saga: a series that promises cutthroat plots, power grabs, and unforgettable characters stretched to their very limits by the same ideological forces that roil America today.

Arena One: Slaverunners


Morgan Rice - 2012
    2120. American has been decimated, wiped out from the second Civil War. In this post-apocalyptic world, survivors are far and few between. And most of those who do survive are members of the violent gangs, predators who live in the big cities. They patrol the countryside looking for slaves, for fresh victims to bring back into the city for their favorite death sport: Arena One. The death stadium where opponents are made to fight to the death, in the most barbaric of ways. There is only one rule to the arena: no one survives. Ever. Deep in the wilderness, high up in the Catskill Mountains, 17 year old Brooke Moore manages to survive, hiding out with her younger sister, Bree. They are careful to avoid the gangs of slaverunners who patrol the countryside. But one day, Brooke is not as careful as she can be, and Bree is captured. The slaverunners take her away, heading to the city, and to what will be a certain death. Brooke, a Marine’s daughter, was raised to be tough, to never back down from a fight. When her sister is taken, Brooke mobilizes, uses everything at her disposal to chase down the slaverunners and get her sister back. Along the way she runs into Ben, 17, another survivor like her, whose brother was taken. Together, they team up on their rescue mission. What follows is a post-apocalyptic, action-packed thriller, as the two of them pursue the slaverunners on the most dangerous ride of their lives, following them deep into the heart of New York. Along the way, if they are to survive, they will have to make some of the hardest choices and sacrifices of their lives, encountering obstacles neither of them had expected—including their unexpected feelings for each other. Will they rescue their siblings? Will they make it back? And will they, themselves, have to fight in the arena?

Mask of Silence


Alex Gates - 2019
    Until it came calling from the grave…Savannah has witnessed enough in her life. With a drug addict for a mother, she protects her younger brother and tries desperately to maintain a social life. But after a Halloween prank turns deadly, she's unsure she can conceal her friends' dark secret. And not even her close-knit group of friends can hold a stalking, demonic creature at bay forever…Through years of suffering the fury of his father, Evan learned to keep his head down and his mouth shut. Counting on his band of misfits for moral support, the sins of their holiday mistake have come back to hunt them. And he's about to learn the hard way that they'll only pay for their secrets in screams. Can Savannah and Evan battle a demon of their own creation or will their silence end with their slaughter?Mask of Silence is the first book in a chilling two-part supernatural horror series. If you like damaged characters, psychological thrills, and gory action, then you’ll love Alex C. Gates’ edge-of-your-seat slasher.Buy Mask of Silence to unleash a demonic terror today!

Louisiana Blood (A Chandler Travis and Duke Lanoix Mystery Thriller)


Mike Donald - 2019
    When the remains of Jack the Ripper’s first five victims are discovered in present day Louisiana, an English detective and a local sheriff form an unlikely alliance to unravel the mystery…and find themselves caught up in a modern-day conspiracy.

See You Soon


N.C. Marshall - 2016
     When Emily receives an e-mail from her estranged childhood friend, Ali, she instantly looks forward to reading what it has to say. She hasn’t seen or heard from Ali in a very long time and hopes that they can begin to rekindle the perfect friendship they once had. But when Emily opens the e-mail, she finds it isn’t the friendly message she had hoped for. Instead, it is a desperate plea for help from Ali to tell Emily she could be in danger. Growing increasingly concerned for Ali’s safety, Emily is forced to return to the seaside town where she and Ali had grown up. The same town that she had fled from over fifteen years ago, when she had sworn she would never return. Once back there, Emily is quickly thrown into a game of cat and mouse, where she must follow the clues to help her old friend. But time is against her and she is constantly looking over her shoulder. It appears Emily isn’t alone, and must hurry before her past finally tracks her down...

Sea Sick


Iain Rob Wright - 2012
    Now, years later, Jack is a changed man, with a head full of secrets driving him insane. His recent record of police brutality and a reputation for not following the rules has prompted his seniors to give him an ultimatum: take a few weeks off, relax, and find some way to let go of all the anger – or else find another job.That’s why Jack is about to board The Spirit of Kirkpatrick, a cruise liner built for relaxation and fun. Pretty soon, however, Jack realises that a little R&R is the last thing he’s ever going to get aboard the cursed ship. There’s a virus onboard, making people insane and bleeding from the eyes. The whole ship is overrun with blood and death, and there is nowhere to escape. Just when Jack thinks his number is up and his life is over, he wakes up. The day is exactly the same. In fact, everything is the same. Jack is forced to witness the viral outbreak again and again as it ravages the ship and its passengers over and over, day after day. Jack finds himself trapped in a repeating hell. It won’t be long before Jack realises there are others onboard just like him – and that some of them know more than they’re letting on.

Story Time


Linell Jeppsen - 2011
    In the not-too-distant future, a young woman bears witness to the end of her world.Earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions rock the planet, reducing cities to smoking rubble, burying entire islands and coastlines beneath cataclysmic waves.Religious fervor and human evil erupt and entwine, becoming a maelstrom of madness in the days after, bringing with it the horror of apocalyptic war.As a population in the depths of despair struggles to overcome insurmountable odds, can a single glimmer of hope flare into a beacon for the survivors?This is her tale…the world is ours…and now, it’s STORY TIME.

The Deadly Kiss


Solomon Carter - 2021
    But the DI is not the only one looking for prey…DETECTIVE JOE HOGARTH IS ON THE HUNT FOR A KILLER WHO STOLE THE LIFE OF A YOUNG CHRISTIAN GIRL. IT’S TWO WEEKS SINCE THE YOUNG WOMAN'S BODY WAS LEFT ABANDONED IN A BEACH HUT. EVIDENCE IS SLIM, LEADS ARE EXHAUSTED AND DI HOGARTH IS FEELING THE STRAIN... BUT THE MURDER OF YOUNG HELEN BRIMELOW ISN’T THE ONLY CRIME TROUBLING HOGARTH. A WELL-CONNECTED MAN CALLED SIMON DRAWTON HAS GOTTEN AWAY WITH FAR MORE THAN HE SHOULD.COULD IT BE THAT DRAWTON HAS STRUCK AGAIN?HOGARTH SUSPECTS SO. AND HOGARTH IS DETERMINED THAT HE WON'T GET WAY WITH IT .Helen Brimelow was a lovely girl. A staunch Christian who loved to help those in need. The food bank where she volunteered mourns her passing and the town is in shock. But as Hogarth scrapes beneath the surface, he discovers another kind of Helen Brimelow… And another type of predator.DI Hogarth and DS Palmer must work through the clues and the lies… but the harder they toil, the less they find. As they discover more about Helen, are they getting any closer? Or are they simply pushing Drawton to strike again?Goodness, charity and love nestle side by side with poverty, addiction and hard-nosed crime in an unforgiving murder mystery.Temptation knows no creed.And a killer’s lust cannot be suppressed… Join DI Hogarth and DS Palmer as they battle their consciences and even their own family in pursuit of a ruthless killer.Who will be next?In a thrilling conclusion, DI Hogarth and Palmer must down a killer before they strike again.Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Ian Rankin, Val McDermid and Ruth Rendell, Helen Durrant, Joy Ellis and LJ Ross. If you love to read gripping detective thrillers with flawed characters and police procedurals with shocking twists and a noir flavour, then the DI Hogarth Deadly Kiss series is for you.Readers have described the DI Hogarth series as perfect for fans of British crime thrillers, Female detective novels, British crime mysteries, Police Procedurals, Heist thrillers and Noir Thrillers..The Setting:Southend-on-sea, Just over an hour from London. A tough and densely packed suburban town sandwiched between the sparkling Thames Estuary and a semi-rural hinterland of fields and marshes. A place where wealth and glamour sit cheek-by-jowl with addiction, poverty and crime. When he transferred to the Essex coast, ex-Met Detective Joe Hogarth might have imagined he was signing up for sun, sea and semi-retirement. But the merry hell of Southend might just have him beat. It’s a good thing this DI doesn’t know when to quit…ALSO BY SOLOMON CARTERTHE DARKEST LIESTHE SECRET FEARTHE POISON PATHINTO THE SHADOWSBETWEEN TWO THIEVESLONG TIME DYING SERIESLUCK AND JUDGMENTLONDON CALLINGTHE FINAL TRICKHARDER THEY FALL

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Richard Stephenson - 2012
    With the American people deep in The Second Great Depression and two of the most powerful hurricanes on record to contend with, the United States is in no condition to deal with hidden terrorists on its soil, maniacal politicians, and the most formidable military threat the world has seen since the Third Reich. This is the story of three men from three very different walks of life: Howard Beck, the world's richest man, also diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome; Richard Dupree, ex-Navy SEAL turned escaped convict; and Maxwell Harris, a crippled, burned-out chief of police of a small Texas town. At first, they must overcome their own struggles and fight for their survival against impossible odds. In the end, the unlikely trio must band together to save their beloved country from COLLAPSE. Empires topple. Nations crumble. Civilization is fragile. In 2027, America will fall.