Book picks similar to
Dark Days by Ryan Casey


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Survive the Blast


Dave Bowman - 2019
    Panic takes over the nation. The only hope of survival is to escape the city. But that's just the beginning.When a mysterious warning appears online, Jack assumes it's a hoax. But after an EMP destroys the electrical grid, his biggest fears come to life. And the worst part? He's a thousand miles from his wife.Annie's in downtown Austin when she sees a plane fall from the sky. When the power fails, she realizes she's become a target. But Annie soon learns that escaping the city will be harder than she ever dreamed. And if she doesn't find safety fast, she'll never survive.With time running out, Jack must find his way out of Los Angeles. When a nuclear attack levels the city, Jack has to fight to survive. How can he escape LA and make it home to Texas? And will Annie still be alive if he does?Survive the Blast is Book 1 in Atomic Threat, a post-apocalyptic thriller series about ordinary people fighting to survive the end of the world as we know it.

Population Zero: Book 1


Ryan Schow - 2021
    They intend to break the nation. The goal is depopulation. They have now gone from beta-testing to fully operational, and the world will never be the same.Welcome to the apocalypse…Population Zero is not just a weapon. It is the objective.When internet talk-show sensation, Slater Corrigan, finds himself on a collision course with The Aatrox Group, he realizes that the nation is in grave danger. Even though this isn’t the first time Slater has played chicken with psychopaths, he has never met a monster quite like Johan Schwein for a man this vile tends to keep to the shadows.Until now...As Slater, his brother Scout, and the Italian firecracker, Gabriella Esposito, learn about the might and power of Population Zero, they are left to wonder, is this the mother of all cyber attacks, or is the population of America about to be culled?As the power grid fails and the very fabric of society begins to unravel, a mixed group of survivors will attempt to both solve and rectify a murder while navigating through a lawless, apocalyptic landscape in search of safety and answers. But can they endure a world pitched into darkness and chaos? Will those they love most survive the fall? And what kind of a war will they incite when sorrow turns to revenge?

The Collapse


E.S. Richards - 2019
    How prepared are you? An enormous coronal mass ejection engulfs the world, destroying electrical grids and causing secondary fires to break out in every major city. Millions die in the first few hours, and even those who are most prepared are caught unawares. Trapped in the firestorm raging across Chicago, Leonard will stop at nothing to find his family while his wife and son struggle to stay alive in the chaos. When a CME that dwarfs the Carrington Event engulfs the world, Len - a businessman with next to zero survival training and experience - sets off to find his wife and child. Emerging out of the heart of Chicago, he will face dangers of all types and experience both the heights and depths of humanity. His survival depends solely on his ability to learn on the fly in this twisted new hellscape of a world. From the #1 best-selling post-apocalyptic author Mike Kraus and author E.S. Richards comes a fresh new take on the EMP/CME story. With characters that are learning how to survive as they go - and finding some unlikely teachers along the way - they represent the true "everyday person" who isn't a hardcore prepper or survivalist, something unique and exciting in this genre. Solar Crash is a 6-part series that will be published monthly.

Fight the Darkness


Ryan Westfield - 2020
    The cities go black. Most cars don't run. Nowhere seems safe. In the freezing Northeast, the temperatures are just as much of a threat as the chaotic, violent population.After years away, Meg is back for a freezing Western Massachusetts winter. She's home to take care of her ailing father. They're on the way to one his dialysis appointments when the power cuts out. Her father understands what's in store for them, and he urges Meg to join him and head to the more rural areas, where their chances of survival are greater. But without dialysis, Meg's dad is as good as dead. What will Meg do? Wil lshe have to chose between saving her father or herself?James is a native Floridian up in Massachusetts here on a fully scholarship. Culturally, he's a fish out of water. Things are different here than in Florida, and the Northerners dont' seem to like him. When the EMP hits, James is one of the few people on campus to understand the severity of the situation. It seems like the best thing to do is to drive back to Florida. After all, his old, unfashionable truck still runs fine. But James doesn't even make it to the highway when things start to go south for him.

The Lookout


Jack Hunt - 2019
    But when a freak and hostile snowstorm blows in and a lost forest ranger turns up, shivering, and claiming an EMP has destroyed the power grid, trouble soon follows. As Kelly tries to make sense of the danger and make contact with the outside, she quickly finds herself at odds with the stranger, and fighting for survival.

40 Days


A.J. Flowers - 2021
    No electronics. No cell phones. No hope.An atomic blast meant to stave off an incoming asteroid on a fatal collision course with Earth goes terribly wrong. Atomic debris scatter the globe, pelting civilization until only ruins and anarchy is left.40 Days.That’s how long it’ll take for the Atomic Fall to stop.The world will never be the same. Liam Hunt knows that better than anyone, being one of the military minds behind the life-saving attempt to keep humankind from extinction. When the lead general ignores his warnings, he knows it’s time to go to Plan B, because this is only the beginning.It’s a race for survival as Liam and his sister face hundreds of miles of ruined terrain. A rogue team of scientists and soldiers have established safety bunkers around the world and if Liam can make it in time, his family might just survive.Start running, because the countdown starts now.

Honor & Dishonor


Eric Meyer - 2020
    His brother Daniel is a scholar and an academic, and to the horror and dismay of his family, he converts to Islam. To make things worse, he travels to Afghanistan to teach in a madrassah, the religious schools that are a production line for Taliban terrorists. The  new mission handed to Rod Cooper’s Team is tough. A better word to describe it would be ‘suicide.’  Their brief, to go behind enemy lines and locate and pinpoint a new and powerful Taliban combined arms warband. A threatened escalation to the brutal war waged by the Islamic insurgents. Outnumbered, outgunned and faced by an enemy intent on their slaughter, they battle against an enemy determined to spill their blood on the soil of Afghanistan. Yet they are determined to acquit themselves with honor, no matter what the cost. When everything seems lost, Rod is faced with simple questions. Honor. Or dishonor. Decisions of life or death. And how to handle a brother who is a traitor. SEAL Attack: Honor and Dishonor is the first shortread novel in the SEAL Attack series. The book is a collaboration between Todd McLeod and Eric Meyer, the bestselling author of more than fifty war novels.

The Grave Diggers


Chris Fritschi - 2020
    At the 11th hour humanity fought back, saving what little was left of the world. The carnage and destruction left the county shattered and Sergeant Jack Tate a broken man who's given up on himself. But when he gets a cryptic offer to help his faltering country he ignores his suspicions and accepts the challenge.His decision plunges Tate into a fight for his life and he will quickly discover the undead aren't the only ones out to kill him.

After the EMP


E.E. Isherwood - 2021
    New car. New retirement.Stolen by the EMP.It gets worse. Frank’s neighbors failed to prepare at all, so it falls on him to keep them alive.He starts easy: stockpile food, water, and guns. Disaster lessons he'd picked up reading books about the end of the world.But after the EMP, keeping people safe gets complicated. He has to rally the neighborhood before the streets turn to chaos.And they will. He’s read enough to know the power might come on tomorrow……or never.

Among the Dead


Stephen A. Kennedy - 2020
    Everything shuts down. Airports, businesses, schools. Cell phone service and electricity soon follow. The virus turns people insane, causing them to attack anything that moves. Armed forces are quickly overrun, and every citizen is in a fight for their life.Samantha survives the initial onslaught of infected. But now she decides to venture out from upstate New York to find her husband, who was stranded in Los Angeles. Determined to be reunited with her love, she sets out through the hell that the United States has become.Along the way, she meets Jason, another survivor, who was separated from his wife in Flagstaff, Arizona. They decide to travel together, helping each other reach their spouses. They soon find they’ll have to make difficult decisions in order to survive.But how long can someone cling to their values and morals in a world that has abandoned such things?Among the Dead is the first book of the In the Valley trilogy.

Last Light


Justin Bell - 2019
    A sinister foe. A desperate fight for survival. When a new drilling method enables access to a deep source of renewable energy, all expectations are that Ultilitron will champion a new era in electricity production. When the lights go out and the killing starts, the country's emotions quickly turn from elation to fear. As a sinister foe emerges from the shadows, the survivors of the initial disaster must band together to survive, lest their lights be snuffed out like the countless others before them....A new, intensely thrilling and terrifyingly nail-biting series, Last Light is a post-apocalyptic adventure from Justin Bell and Mike Kraus like you've never seen before. Taking the tropes of post-apocalyptic and simultaneously turning them on their head and masterfully playing to them, Justin & Mike deliver a heart-pounding series that will both excite and terrify you with every turn of the page. Last Light is planned to be a 6-book series, delivered monthly.

Dark End


Grace Hamilton - 2020
     The nearest star in the solar system went supernova four years ago. When the resultant EMP strikes Earth, the world is sent back to the Stone Age. Yet it soon grows evident there are worse things hidden in the dark matter hurricane. Unbearable headaches strike without warning. Human aggression goes off the charts. Small disagreements become bloodbaths. Josh Standing took an oath to serve and protect those of their North Carolina community. That didn’t change when he left the police force to become a probation officer. If only his wife understood his drive to rescue tomorrow’s troubled youth. But Maxine’s greatest concern is to ensure their son survives the cancer that has ravaged his body. As their marriage circles the drain, she takes the once promising athlete to face the final pronouncement of the Boston specialists—alone. But the fractured family has never needed each other more. In the immediate aftermath of the EMP chaos, the separated Standings decide to make their way toward the family farm in Iowa. However, getting to Maxine’s prepper parents is no small task in a world that’s swiftly turning into kill or be killed. And when events threaten to separate them further, Josh is faced with an unthinkable choice in this thrilling post-apocalyptic series.

Flashpoint


Tara Ellis - 2019
    Impossible to predict or stop, the Gamma Ray Burst tore through the Earth like a bullet, its radiation wave killing hundreds of millions and the aftereffects ensuring the deaths of billions more. Now, as the world crumbles around them, a ragtag group of survivors make for the only home they know - the small town of Mercy. Spared the worst of the GRB's effects, the town is isolated, safe and self-sufficient - for now. The flash hasn't just decimated the Earth's population, though. It's brought out the worst in many of those who are still alive. Survival in this new world doesn't just depend on preparedness - it depends on strength. ***** It's the one disaster no one can plan for. A rogue cosmic event called a Gamma Ray Burst, sending a spike of radiation through the earth like a .50 caliber bullet through a ripe watermelon. It's speculated that such an event hit the Earth at some point in the past, causing a mass extinction event. With two potential sources for a GRB pointed directly at our heads, the chances of another one happening in our lifetime is remote... but still possible. In Flashpoint, we explore such an event and the havoc it would wreak across the entire planet. From destroying our atmosphere to millions dying from incredibly painful radiation exposure, a GRB would be unpredictable and unavoidable for everyone, rich and poor, prepared and unprepared alike. Flashpoint is a six-book miniseries-like event, written by Tara Ellis and #1 best-selling post-apocalyptic author Mike Kraus. This thrilling post-apocalyptic survival series will have you second-guessing the very nature of post-apocalyptic disaster scenarios and leave you breathless with every turn of the page.

Fracture


Kenny Soward - 2021
    A world on the brink. One man will stop at nothing until his family is safe.Fault lines begin splitting apart without warning.Entire nations are wiped out in the blink of an eye.As the US Government pursues the man with the only theory behind what’s happening, he will do anything to reach his family… or die trying.***On the last day of his contract working for the Department of Defense, geologist Ben Willard is called in to investigate a string of anomalies fracturing the West Coast - and beyond.As the chaos spreads, tens of millions are left dead or homeless. Pitted against time and the unstoppable forces of nature, Ben must risk everything to save his family. Meanwhile, the Willards fight to hold their world together as tides of destruction threaten to rip them apart.

Shadows


David Kazzie - 2020
    Power grids fail, planes fall from the sky, and America is thrown into chaos.Lucy Goodwin, an emergency room nurse, is anxious to get home to Virginia when her life is turned upside down by the mysterious blackout. Trapped in Washington, DC, and lucky to be alive after her train crashes, she realizes her journey home is only getting started.Lucy befriends a young girl orphaned by the disaster, and together, they must face down humanity’s capacity for darkness if they are to survive the opening days of America’s new reality.