Book picks similar to
Harmonica and Gig by R.J. Astruc


science-fiction
thriller
give-away
c-e-b

The Road to Winter


Mark Smith - 2016
    Rose is a Siley—an asylum seeker—and she has escaped from Ramage, who had enslaved her and her younger sister, Kas. Rose is desperate, sick, and needs Finn’s help. Kas is still missing somewhere out in the bush.And Ramage wants the girls back—at any cost.

Captain Hawkins


H. Peter Alesso - 2016
    His heroic effort to save the lives of innocent women and children, caught in the cross-fire of war, placed him squarely in the cross-hairs of avenging soldiers.Hawkins was stunned when his rescue effort was seen as treachery. Unfairly convicted of treason by a corrupt judge, he was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor on an infamous penal colony.Once in prison, his courage and perseverance won him the admiration and trust of his fellow convicts. While he was plotting his escape, an enemy attacked the planet--giving this daring warrior his chance. Together with his fellow prisoners, he launched a bold assault and high-jacked an enemy warship.From then on, Captain Jamie Hawkins and his ship the Indefatigable fought against a corrupt government--only to discover a mysterious alien presence was behind the war.

Different This Time


Tess McCallum - 2015
    She had no intention of sticking around any longer than absolutely necessary and certainly no intention of rekindling her relationship with the man who had shattered her tender, eighteen year old heart. If only he didn’t still make her body sizzle with desire… The moment Scott Armstrong set eyes on Jenny Hynes again, he was determined to win her back. But a decade is a long time and she was no longer the shy, impressionable girl who had won his heart. The new Jenny was confident, worldly and very, very guarded. It would take all his patience, persistence and a healthy dose of chemistry to convince her they were meant to be together.

The Island


Michael Bray - 2015
    Within its two hundred foot high steel walls are savage dinosaurs created for one purpose. To hunt man. In addition, of those who are chosen to enter the island, only one can leave and claim the prize.As television screens around the world tune in to watch, the six contestants form an uneasy alliance as they battle nightmarish beasts beyond comprehension. When a secret is uncovered which could bring down the entire Lomar Corporation, the contestants find that some men are worse than monsters, and some corporations will stop at nothing to protect that which they tried so desperately to hide.

Children of the Origin Project


Asa S. Rubin - 2020
    But after they find a crashed spaceship in the forest with a dying giant inside, they are faced with a choice that will decide their destinies forever.In his last moments, the giant transfers his knowledge and secrets to them. A war is being fought among the stars, and they have been tasked with completing his final mission to save his people. But it’s not an easy decision whether to stay or go. Joining the war means going up against a murderous regime and its demon-like supersoldiers. But if they do nothing, not only will they be condemning a civilization of trillions, they will be risking an invasion of Earth itself.

The Natural Way of Things


Charlotte Wood - 2015
    Strangers to each other, they have no idea where they are or how they came to be there with eight other girls, forced to wear strange uniforms, their heads shaved, guarded by two inept yet vicious armed jailers and a 'nurse'. Doing hard labour under a sweltering sun, the prisoners soon learn what links them: in each girl's past is a sexual scandal with a powerful man. They pray for rescue - but when the food starts running out it becomes clear that the jailers have also become the jailed. The girls can only rescue themselves.

The Lost Letters of Playfair Street


Michelle Montebello - 2020
    A chest of clues.Come find me... I’ll be waiting…1929: On the night of her engagement to austere banker Floyd Clark, Charlotte Greene meets enigmatic Sydney Harbour Bridge engineer, Alexander Young. Their encounter is brief, but their attraction instant.During a second-chance meeting, Alex invites Charlotte to play a game with him, one of daring clues and secret meeting places. She accepts and they embark on a thrilling lover’s chase across the city.But with her arranged marriage to Floyd looming, will she have the strength to let Alex go?Present Day: Paige Westwood is helping her boss establish a publishing company in his newly-purchased Playfair Street house in The Rocks, Sydney. In the attic, she discovers a chest of old clues that lead the reader on a journey across the city. Paige contacts the former owner, Ryan Greene, who explains the clues belonged to his great-aunt Charlotte, who once lived in the house, but who mysteriously disappeared in 1929.Together, they follow Charlotte and Alex’s clues to unravel a fascinating tale of lies and intrigue, of two lovers bound by hope, but also by deceit. Can they solve the mystery of Charlotte’s disappearance or has all hope been lost to the past?

Children of the Blessing (The Lemurian Chronicles #1)


Perry Morris - 2015
    Children of the Blessing is the first book in the Lemurian Chronicles, an epic fantasy series, and is perfect for fans of Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson, Raymond E. Feist and other great fantasy authors.Long before the world of man, demons and demigods battled for dominance. After the demons were finally bound in the Well of Sacrifice, the system of good and evil became tentatively balanced. Now that balance is threatened. Marked at birth by thegods, Renn and Avaris set in motion an ancient prophecy that promises to shift the balance of power, so dark forces will rule unchecked. With armies and a host of magic users at his command, the Grand Warlock, Khan Devin, is determined to use theboys to fix his place as the unchallenged ruler of man.When Renn comes of age, his family is attacked and his home destroyed by Khan’s followers. Joining other teenage Lore users, Renn has to make the perilous journey across the continent to reach the safety of Elder Island to be trained by the Lore Masters,with Khan Devin determined to stop them at every step. Far to the north, Avaris is abandoned and left for dead by his father, the high clan chief, who fears his blessed child. Now on his own, Avaris fights for survival with the help of an outcastnecromancer. But when Avaris’s tribe is attacked by Khan’sevil creatures and the survivors taken as slaves, Avaris must find a way to free his people. He follows the evil creatures to the Cragg Mountains, where he must face the full forces of the evil side of the Lore.Renn and Avaris must defeat Kahn Devin and his dark forces before the demons are unleashed and the world devolves into never-ending despair . . . which means Renn and Avaris must accomplish the impossible and change their destiny.

Obsidian Worlds


Jason Werbeloff - 2015
    Obsidian Worlds brings together his 11 best-selling sci-fi shorts into a mind-bending philosophical anthology.In Your Averaged Joe, a man’s headache is large enough to hold the multiverse. Q46F is an obsessive-compulsive android who finds love in a zombie-embroiled apocalypse. The end of the world isn’t all that bad – The Experience Machine will fulfil your every desire (and some you hadn’t considered). A sex bot dares to dream of freedom in Dinner with Flexi. But mind what you eat, because The Photons in the Cheese Are Lost. Don’t fret though: The Cryo Killer guarantees that your death will be painless, or your money back when you’re thawed. Unless, that is, you’re The Man with Two Legs.Plug into Obsidian Worlds for these and other immersive stories, including the hilarious Time-Traveling Chicken Sexer. Your brain will never be the same again.

The Mother Fault


Kate Mildenhall - 2020
    No one knows where Ben is, but everyone wants to find him – especially The Department. And they should know, the all-seeing government body has fitted the entire population with a universal tracking chip to keep them ‘safe’.But suddenly Ben can’t be tracked. And Mim is questioned, made to surrender her passport and threatened with the unthinkable – her two children being taken into care at the notorious BestLife.Cornered, Mim risks everything to go on the run to find her husband – and a part of herself, long gone, that is brave enough to tackle the journey ahead.From the stark backroads of the Australian outback to a terrifying sea voyage, Mim is forced to shuck off who she was – mother, daughter, wife, sister – and become the woman she needs to be to save her family and herself.

Galleon


C.J. Williams - 2018
    His only hope for survival is to partner with an alien Artificial Intelligence named Alyssa. She is the brain of the most improbable star ship Gus has ever seen, part ancient sailing ship, part incredible star-faring vessel. But there is a catch. Alyssa’s first priority is to finish an epic yacht race that started twenty-eight thousand years ago. THE WORLD IS CAPTURED BY THE ALIEN DRAMA Every day Gus sends a video love letter to his wife via the lifeboat’s one-way subspace signal where it is automatically posted on YouTube. Few people care until another lifeboat crashes with two young women aboard, both of them celebrities. Their fame turns Gus into a worldwide phenomenon; everyone watches the three castaways fight to carve a life from the tiny island life even though they have little hope of rescue. When disaster threatens, Gus and the girls have no choice but to resurrect the crippled galleon. Their impossible task is to sail Alyssa across an alien sea and then fly her across unimaginable galactic reaches. WHEN ALYSSA FINALLY AGREES TO HELP, SPACE PIRATES STRIKE On live television, the public watches helplessly when a ship of vicious murderers attack the three survivors. The world grieves when the now-famous exiles go silent. At least until Earth's Space Navy reports they are under attack by a ship that is beyond imagination.

Resistance


Max Carver - 2017
    Rapid expansion into habitable worlds brings immense prosperity and a new age of exploration unlike any humanity has seen. WAR Conflicts over control of the colonial worlds spawn a massive, generation-long war among humans. Under a shaky armistice, humanity has just begun to crawl out of the shadows of destruction, but suspicion and bitter hostility run deep. INVASION On a rocky, desolate planet, a small band of gold prospectors find themselves making a discovery they never expected—valuable and powerful relics of the galaxy's deep past. The prospectors also discover a hostile alien species, ruthless beings who do not tolerate humans and wipe them out on sight. Humanity's first contact with intelligent aliens becomes a war for survival. The invasion has begun...but the beginning of the invasion is also the beginning of the resistance. "Resistance is a terrific space opera adventure. It combines mystery, heart-pounding action, and a good dose of humor. It's Aliens meets Tremors. I can't wait to read the sequel." -Daniel Arenson, USA Today bestselling author of the Earthrise series

Cyberpunk City Book One: The Machine Killer


D.L. Young - 2020
    He couldn't be more wrong.Forced by a powerful executive to steal a priceless dataset, Maddox uncovers the shocking truth of a secret war between AIs, raging inside the digital universe known as virtual space. Plunged headlong into the deadly conflict, he’ll have to use every trick he’s ever learned—and a few he’s never tried before—if he wants to survive.Sprawling megacities, rogue AIs, black market tech, modded mercenaries, and a pulse-pounding story filled with unexpected twists. If you love gritty, hardcore cyberpunk, you won’t want to miss this series!

Secrets in Time


Alison Stuart - 2013
    He must help her understand why he has travelled from the midst of civil war to the quiet English countryside of the twentieth century. But is falling in love with him destined to end in heartbreak? Jessica knows he must return to his own time and face certain death in battle. Why has Nathaniel been sent to find Jessica? Can their love survive a bloody battle…and overcome time?

IN SITU


David Samuel Frazier - 2013
    When paleontologist Alexandra Moss ventures into the high deserts of Utah in search of a rare dinosaur fossil she gets more than she bargained for: she inadvertently discovers a highly intelligent species from the late Cretaceous that has been in hibernation since the great K-T asteroid disaster--and he is alive!