Book picks similar to
Absolution by George S. Mahaffey Jr.


science-fiction
free-reads
dystopia
post-apocalyptic

Nod


Adrian Barnes - 2012
    Or almost no one. A few people, perhaps one in ten thousand, can still sleep, and they’ve all shared the same mysterious dream. A handful of silent children can still sleep as well, but what they’re dreaming remains a mystery. Global panic ensues. A medical fact: after six days of absolute sleep deprivation, psychosis sets in. After four weeks, the body dies. In the interim, a bizarre new world arises and swallows the old one whole. A world called Nod.

The Light we Lost


Kyla Stone - 2022
    When all lights fail, who will survive?

The Amber Project


J.N. Chaney - 2015
    The surviving humans take refuge in an underground city, determined to return home. But after generations of failures and botched attempts, hope is beginning to dwindle. That is, until a young scientist makes a unique discovery — and everything changes. Suddenly, there’s reason to hope again, and it rests within a group of genetically engineered children that are both human and Variant. Terry is one of these children, modified and trained to endure the harsh conditions of a planet he cannot begin to understand. After years of preparation, Terry thinks he knows what to expect. But the reality is far stranger than anything he can imagine — and what he will become is far more dangerous.

The Quantum Price: Ethan Price Book One


Malcolm Murdock - 2019
    They used him to kill. Now they’ve lost control. When a man wakes up face-down in the middle of a garbage dump, he naturally has a few questions.Why is he in a hand-tailored suit with a bullet hole in his back? Why are there homicidal robots trying to kill him? Why can’t he remember his own name? And how did he get so good at killing? But the more he learns, the less he likes—and the more he starts to think this will end very, very badly. With a faceless organization hunting him, bloody flashbacks haunting him, and an intriguing new companion helping him, the clock is ticking on whether he can escape his past before it devours him.Will he recover his memories before it’s too late, or be forced to become a pawn for the forces hunting him down?Perfect for fans of The Bourne Identity and James Prescott, The Quantum Price is the thrilling first book in the brand-new Ethan Price series. If you like your technothrillers with a side of cyberpunk, scroll up and grab your copy today!

Surviving The Collapse Super Boxset


Roger Hayden - 2017
    Donovan.Terror Rising - by Roger Hayden.Exiled - by James Hunt.

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?

Class of 1989: A Post Viral Apocalyptic Story


Jack Hunt - 2020
     A group of estranged friends, now in their forties, reunite in Gerlach, Nevada for their 30-year high school reunion at the time of the annual Burning Man Festival. They soon find themselves at the heart of a viral apocalypse and are forced to rely on the very people they were at odds with to survive.

A Glimmer of Destiny


Spencer Pierson - 2016
    One that cause him to use the forbidden Glimmer Stones which create constructs of physical light, and by law only nobles are allowed to touch. Threatened with death by duchy law and evil forces intent on capturing him and his dark secret, Aiden is forced to learn how to control this emerging power to save all that he holds dear. However, will that which saves him also be his world's downfall? The dreaded Mourning Lords, beings that came from the dawn of the Cataclysm four thousand years earlier once more walk the land, searching for an answer to their torment. Will Aiden learn how to become a master of Glimmer Steel or will the mystery of the Cataclysm and the destruction of technology drown him as surely as it nearly cracked the world in half? A Glimmer of Truth, Book 2 of the Glimmer Stone Saga will be available in September 2016. (Chapter 1 of book 2 is included as a sneak peek!) A Glimmer of War, Book 3 of the Glimmer Stone Saga will be available January 2017.

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.

Caesar's Shadow


Anthony Wright - 2020
    Now he can. The newest VRMMORPG Gods & Kings is the closest thing to a time machine he’ll ever get.With the powers of his Warrior Priest class Matt must build his army, level his followers, and discover new battle formations that will help him defeat his enemies and become a true Roman general. More victories means more glory and more men – so Matt must use all his knowledge of history to give his fighters the edge in battle, as well as buffing his troops with ancient magic and even summoning mythic beasts to fight alongside his men. It’s awesome!But his carefree attitude soon earns the scorn of a serious competitor who has made it his mission to rewrite history and see Matt and his allies destroyed. To see the version of Rome he loves come to life, Matt must use all his skill to defeat his nemesis and save the empire.

The Feed


Nick Clark Windo - 2018
    It destroys us.The Feed is everywhere. It can be accessed by anyone, at any time. Every interaction, every emotion, every image can be shared through it.Tom and Kate use The Feed, but they have resisted addiction to it. And this will serve them well when The Feed collapses.Until their six-year-old daughter, Bea, goes missing.Because how do you find someone in a world devoid of technology? And what happens when you can no longer trust that your loved ones are really who they claim to be?

The Meek


J.D. Palmer - 2017
    It didn’t end with everyone blowing each other up with nuclear warheads and it didn’t end with a natural disaster. It didn’t end because someone got offended in one of the million petty squabbles that were real, or fake, or imagined. It ended quietly. Harlan is visiting his friend in Los Angeles when people start dying. His friend, the neighbors, the entire city falls victim to an unknown disease. Except for Harlan. Or so he thinks. And he learns quickly that just because there are other survivors, not all are to be trusted. Finding himself in a world filled with broken spirits and hidden motives, he must navigate through a darkening landscape fraught with violence and despair as he desperately tries to get home to the love of his life, Jessica, and the child she is carrying. Morality becomes blurred as Harlan is forced to commit questionable acts to protect himself and those around him.

Zocopalypse


Angel Lawson - 2015
    If he doesn’t, she and her mother must find her sister, over three hundred miles away, in one of the states under quarantine. A virus is infecting the healthy, turning them into raging, cannibalistic versions of their former selves. Dr. Ramsey has spent months studying the E-TR virus, including Alex in his trials. Before he leaves he hands Alexandra what may be the most valuable information in existence. Information that more than one powerful group would go to great lengths to possess. Alexandra is no match for this world—one where men and women crave the taste of flesh and the weak are a liability, but she made her father a promise. One she intends to keep no matter how many lives are lost on the way.

The Scourge


A.G. Henley - 2012
    She's never been able to see her lush forest home, but she knows its secrets. She knows how the shadows shift when she passes under a canopy of trees. She knows how to hide in the cool, damp caves when the Scourge comes. She knows how devious and arrogant the Groundlings' tree-dwelling neighbors, the Lofties, can be. And she's always known this day would come—the day she faces the Scourge alone. The Sightless, like Fenn, are mysteriously protected from the Scourge, the gruesome creatures roaming the forests, reeking of festering flesh and consuming anything—and anyone—living. A Sightless Groundling must brave the Scourge and bring fresh water to the people of the forest. Today, that task becomes Fenn's. Fenn will have a Lofty Keeper, Peree, as her companion. Everyone knows the Lofties wouldn’t hesitate to shoot an arrow through the back of an unsuspecting Groundling like Fenn, but Peree seems different. A boy with warm, rough hands who smells like summer, he is surprisingly kind and thoughtful. Although Fenn knows his people are treacherous, she finds herself wanting to trust him. As their forest community teeters on the brink of war, Fenn and Peree must learn to work together to survive the Scourge and ensure their people’s survival. But when Fenn uncovers a secret that shatters her truths, she’s forced to decide who and what to protect—her people, her growing love for Peree, or the elusive dream of lasting peace in the forest.

Shadows of a Lost Age


Glynn James - 2016
    When Jonah inherits leadership of the Elk Clan from his father, many in the old man’s inner circle question his son’s ability to lead the tribe to their winter shelter at the ruins of Eliz. A dark stranger, a journey over hundreds of miles of dangerous highway and clashes with feral gangs will push Jonah to the edge. From bestselling authors J. Thorn and Glynn James comes Dustfall, a new post-apocalyptic series chronicling one man’s challenge and his epic quest to save what remains of humanity.