Book picks similar to
Downward Cycle by J.K. Franks


post-apocalyptic
survival
fiction
science-fiction

Devoured


Jason Brant - 2013
     Day Two: Higher brain function erodes in those exposed to the gas. Their bodies begin to distort, faces distending, skin sallowing, teeth elongating. Day Three: The infected disappear into the shadows, fleeing the harsh daylight which has begun to sear their flesh. Day Four: The world is DEVOURED. Life isn’t kind to Lance York. A full-time job has eluded him for years, his wife loathes the sight of him, his bank accounts are empty, and his wealthy father-in-law revels in his failures. After he lunges in front of a car to save a sick and disoriented woman, Lance awakens in a quarantined hospital. A devastating plague is spreading worldwide, driving those infected with it insane. Their bodies begin to mutate into horrors that have haunted mankind’s nightmares for centuries. The world descends into chaos as the infected flee to the shadows, emerging at night to devour the remnants of civilization. With the help of an unlikely ally, Lance must navigate through the collapsing city of Pittsburgh, striving to escape the madness of the apocalypse that unfolds around them.

Yesterday's Gone: Season One


Sean Platt - 2011
     They thought they were alone. They were wrong. On October 15th, humanity went missing. A handful of scattered survivors wake to find the world empty of friends, family, and neighbors. Among them, a child searches for his family. A special agent turned enemy of the state survives a fiery plane crash with no way to reach his daughter. A serial killer discovers he’s no longer at the top of the food chain. Now these strangers must find the strength inside them to weather the new world. But they are not alone. In the absence of civilization, a new threat emerges. In the stillness, it waits and watches, preying on their weakness. Their only hope is to find more survivors, rise above their fear, and face the oncoming darkness. But can they unite before they too are lost? And can they all be trusted? Season One of Yesterday’s Gone by Sean Platt and David W. Wright is a tense post-apocalyptic thriller that will leave you guessing to the end. Combining TV’s thrilling, episodic nature with the in-depth character only found in novels, Yesterday’s Gone is a new wave in fiction. If you like The Stand and LOST, you’ll love this series that combines tension, intrigue, and fear of the unknown. Get Yesterday’s Gone now and see who lives and who dies! (Warning: This book is intended for mature audiences and contains disturbing and potentially offensive material.)

Broken World


Kate L. Mary - 2014
    Then her car breaks down and she’s faced with a choice. Give up, or accept a ride from redneck brothers, Angus and Axl. Vivian knows the offer has more to do with her double D’s than kindness, but she’s prepared to do whatever it takes to reach her daughter.The virus is spreading, and by the time the group makes it to California, most of the population has been wiped out. When the dead start coming back, Vivian and the others realize that no electricity or running water are the least of their concerns. Now Vivian has to figure out how to be a mother under the most frightening circumstances, cope with Angus’s aggressive mood swings, and sort out her growing attraction to his brooding younger brother, Axl. While searching for a safe place to go, they pick up a pompous billionaire who may be the answer to all their problems. Trusting him means going into the middle of the Mojave Desert and possibly risking their lives, but with the streets overrun and nowhere else to turn, it seems he might be their only chance for survival.

Dead City


Joe McKinney - 2006
    Within hours, the plague has spread throughout most of Texas and shows no signs of slowing down.San Antonio police officer Eddie Hudson finds himself in the middle of the outbreak, along with a few other survivors. Eddie does his best to fight off the zombie horde and locate his wife and son, who he believes still are safe and haven’t been infected by the virus.

The Preparation


Glen Tate - 2012
    299 Days: The Preparation, the first book in the 299 Days series, depicts the inner struggles Grant must face as he exists in a social system he recognizes as unsustainable and on the verge of collapse, but one in which he has built his life around. What begins as a return to his roots, self-sufficiency and independence, becomes a full blown move to prepare for what may come. Engaging, insightful and a bit suspenseful, follow Grant’s transition from a self-perceived “sheeple” to a full-blown “prepper.” Will his fears come true? Is he an extremist? What if nothing happens? What if something does?

Arisen, Omnibus One


Glynn James - 2014
    Now Fortress Britain is the last bastion of the living - with 50 million beleaguered survivors facing down a world of 7 billion animated corpses. And one international team of elite special operators - supremely trained and armed, always the most skilled, resolved, and unstoppable amongst us - are humanity's last best hope for survival...BOOK TWO - MOGADISHU OF THE DEADAlpha team is tasked with one last desperate operation: they must cross the Atlantic aboard the world's only remaining supercarrier and insert by air into the very middle of a dead continent, all in search of a rumored vaccine that might bring humanity back from the brink. But their op goes dangerously wrong from the start, with the team scattered to hell and back, and their target site a dry hole. Now they must fight their way on foot through a city of 3 million ravening dead guys, in search of an underground bunker that might hold the Last Man on Earth. But these undead will not be like any Zulus they have ever fought before - and they surround the new target in a writhing ring of death 30 feet high on all sides...BOOK THREE - THREE PARTS DEADAlpha team, the world's best and last surviving Tier-1 operators, are adrift on Lake Michigan - and fast drifting into what looks like a damned hostile shoreline. Deep in the National Forest nearby, a former police officer and survivalist battles to keep her family alive - and tries to decide whether the commandos of Alpha are more dangerous to her alive or dead. Meanwhile, the John F. Kennedy, the world's last floating supercarrier, is run aground off the coast of Virginia - and facing a veritable hurricane of the dead, blowing in fast. Finally, back in Fortress Britain, the terrible outbreak from the Channel Tunnel turns out not to have been so contained after all - and a death grip is beginning to close on London, and shaping up into humanity's very last stand...The battle for humanity starts here - in the first three volumes of the most explosive and thrilling ZA series on Earth.

New World


Stephen Birch - 2013
    The UK is now lawless and the power is off. The survivors are left to fight over the remaining supplies of food and water. Nick Smith is a man with a tough past. He was a fugitive when the virus hit. He survived by living off the land and by staying constantly on the move. Up until then he had avoided all contact with other people. Following the pandemic he reluctantly saves a young boy from a vicious gang and his life is turned upside down. Nick and the young boy then cross paths with Beth and her two daughters at an abandoned motorway service station. Nick is then drawn further into a situation that he has been avoiding for years.Beth and her daughters have been forced to leave the safety of their house. They are on their way to the coast and they are looking for something that no longer exists. A safe home in this harsh New World.

Whistlers


Mark Tufo - 2014
    Jack Walker and Michael Talbot come from two worlds; the same, yet different. They both find themselves transported into an alien one, where things aren't as they seem. While it appears similar to the ones they come from, there are some terrifying differences. Is it a dream? Or has reality been somehow warped? Jack comes from a world filled with nocturnal creatures that were once human, but now seek to destroy the last vestiges of humanity. Mike, living under a constant threat from hordes of the undead, arrives with a companion, John the Tripper. Ripped away from their family members and thrown into the unknown, they find that the nightmares from their worlds have preceded them. Survival becomes moment to moment as they encounter old dangers, and new. Each wants nothing more than to be reunited with their loved ones. With dangers lurking around every corner, they seek to unravel the mystery that brought them. It may be a long road ahead, but they begin by taking the first step, hoping the next one will be the one that takes them home.

The Hospital


Keith C. Blackmore - 2012
    He scavenges what he can from what's left over. He is very careful in what he does and where he goes, taking no chances, no unnecessary risks, and weighing every choice... until he decides to visit the hospital at the edge of town, and experiences terror the likes he's never encountered before. A short story of approximately 9500 words, or 29 pages. The first story of the "Mountain Man" series. Contains language and graphic violence. This short story also appears in the horror fiction novella "Cauldron Gristle."If you enjoy this, check out the novels "Mountain Man" and "Safari," the next books in the series.Series order:The Hospital (short story)Mountain ManSafari (Coming in time for Christmas) Hellifax

The Last Stand


Skylar Finn - 2019
    They fortify their ranch and prepare to ride out the worst of the chaos. Unfortunately, the gang of scavengers who followed them from the city have other plans. How does an ordinary family protect themselves in the wake of violence and chaos? No Power What happens when an EMP sends California back into the stone age? When an EMP bomb knocks out the power in LA and the rest of the United States, Ailani must fight against the unprepared.

Home


Tom Abrahams - 2015
    HE THOUGHT HIS FAMILY WAS SAFE. HE WAS WRONG. Five years after a pneumonic plague killed two-thirds of the world’s population, army veteran Marcus Battle is isolated. He’s alone with his guns, his food, and the graves of his wife and child. Unaware of the chaos that’s befallen everything outside of his central Texas ranch land, Marcus lives a Spartan life. If anyone steps onto his property he shoots first and never ask questions. But when a woman in distress, chased by marauders, seeks asylum, Marcus has a decision to make. Does he throw her to the wolves to protect himself or does he help her and leave the shelter and protection of home?

Half Past Midnight (Half Past Midnight #1)


Jeff Brackett - 2011
    Currently, the clock is set at six minutes before midnight.What happens after the hands reach midnight?Survivalist Leeland Dawcett finds out when he and his family are plunged into the nightmare of their country returned to a third-world state.No phones. No computers. No television.At first, Leeland thinks basic survival is the answer.Until he crosses the path of the wrong guy...Someone who wants to do more than just survive...

Blackout


Boyd Craven - 2018
    He’s a poacher, a moonshiner and a prepper, out of necessity. Despite trying to live on the straight and narrow, he knows the law can turn things on you in a heartbeat. When Wes has to come up with money for his Grandpa’s surgery, he gets involved with an unsavory group. Living deep in poverty for most of his life, he’s become resilient and flexible, but college education can only take him so far. A solar storm sends the northern lights as far south as Texas, and cascading failures in the grid cripple the nation. Now, without communications, Flagg has to prove he has what it takes to still survive.

Through Many Fires


Kyle Pratt - 2013
    and detonate it during the State of the Union Address. Army veteran and congressional staffer Caden Westmore is in nearby Bethesda and watches as a mushroom cloud grows over the capital. The next day, as he drives away from the still burning city, he learns that another city has been destroyed and then another. America is under siege. Panic ensues and society starts to unravel.

The Last Orchard: A Tale Of Survival In A Powerless World- Book 1


James Hunt - 2018
    But while food and water is abundant, their safe haven becomes a target not just for the enemy, but anyone looking to survive.