Book picks similar to
Out There: A Short Tale of the Weird and Wonderful by Justine Avery
fiction
short-story
ebook
genre-sff-sci-fi
A Happy Bureaucracy
M.P. Fitzgerald - 2019
However, his dreams will be put on hold as the IRS plans a census into new irradiated territory and he is forced to work with freelance Enforcer, Rabia Duke, whose diet of drugs is hand to mouth. This will be a suicide mission, and neither is keen to see the other survive. The denizens of the wastes have much to fear. Radiation, roving gangs of psychopaths, and starvation, but the thing they should fear most is bureaucracy… …a happy bureaucracy.
Devil’s Road
Gary Gibson - 2020
The racecourse circumnavigates the post-apocalyptic ruins of Teijouan, and with a choice between being eaten by the monstrous Kaiju that prowl the island’s devastated cities or murdered by her fellow racers, the odds against surviving another Run, let alone winning it, are slim.Dutch doesn’t care about the odds nearly so much as she cares about getting back behind the wheel of her beloved Ford Falcon—except for one problem: she’s spent the last five years incarcerated in a high-security prison for her part in a heist.So when a crooked billionaire offers to put her back in the race on condition she uses it as cover for a secret retrieval operation, she can’t refuse.Can Dutch survive assassins, monsters, and psychopathic drivers long enough to complete her mission as well as take part in the race—or is this the year death finally catches up with her in a blazing tangle of wreckage?
Big Bad
David Brian - 2014
Over time he has learned to accept his confinement. After all, it is no more than he deserves given the heinous nature of his previous crimes. However, when a new member of the nursing staff begins taking an interest in Tommy, he learns things previously kept from him: Like why he is being permanently dosed with meds. How, and why, his parents really died. And is it just a coincidence his earlier crimes occurred at the time of a full moon? Nurse Jenny informs Tommy about the true nature of his world: Secret Government cabals, and their plans for a New World Order; the murder of his parents, and facing up to the reality of his life as a werewolf. Then, when she thinks he is ready, she tells him the biggest secret of all: Nurse Jenny has a way out of Broad-lands. But, as is often the case, nothing comes without a price. What is the real motivation for her aiding Tommy's escape? A tale of horror that unfolds beneath the light of a full moon.
3 a.m.
Nick Pirog - 2013
Henry Bins is awake for one. He wakes up each day at 3 a.m. then falls asleep at 4 a.m. Life is simple. Until he hears the woman scream. And sees the man leave the house across the street. But not just any man. The President of the United States.
GOON SQUAD 2014 Summer Special
Jonathan L. Howard - 2014
The Goon Squad 2014 Summer Special contains an introduction to the Squad, and four short stories: "Red Wolf, Red Wolf, Does Whatever a Red Wolf Can," "Changes," "No-No Dojo," and "Tale of Terror." Join Puppet Girl, the Revenant, Red Wolf, and Talos as they protect the fairly innocent, are sharply critical about modern newspapers, talk to a door in Salford, and recount the day the city nearly blew up.
The Complete Independence Day Omnibus
Stephen Molstad - 2016
All satellite communications are interrupted, as fear grips the cities of the world. When the skies return to normal, it becomes clear that a force of incredible magnitude has arrived on Earth. Its mission: to eliminate all human life on the planet.SILENT ZONECREATED BY DEAN DEVLIN & ROLAND EMMERICH NOVEL BY STEPHEN MOLSTADIn the official prequel to Independence Day, Dr Brackish Okun, head scientist of Area 51, begins to suspect that a massive government cover-up has successfully buried all evidence of alien visitation throughout the years—a cover-up in which Okun is now an unwilling participant.WAR IN THE DESERTCREATED BY DEAN DEVLIN & ROLAND EMMERICHNOVEL BY STEPHEN MOLSTADIt is the fourth of July. Reeling from the enemy onslaught, a few surviving military pilots gather in the Saudi Arabian desert. Two of the best fliers discover that their recent “victory” was an illusion—part of a secret ambush that will open the planet to unimaginable horror, unless several Middle Eastern nations can overcome long-standing hatreds and unite against the aliens in the fiercest hand-to-hand combat of the war.
Leftover Girl
C.C. Bolick - 2016
At fifteen, she has adjusted to moving without notice and never fitting in, but everything changes with her adopted mom's hometown. There Jes falls for her mom's nephew, a love she hides when his betrayal leaves her isolated and driven to unravel the past.After Jes befriends a strange new student, she discovers an amazing secret: he's from another planet and searching for a missing girl who might be her. As Jes will learn, truth comes at a cost, but will she give up love to find out?
The Gypsy: A Romantic Thriller
T.J. Jones - 2021
Standing, and straddling my broken body with a well-muscled leg on either side of me, she looked like an ethereal giant: a beautiful Amazon, impossible tall, and equally invincible. She fired immediately, spun quickly and fired again, then dropped down and crowded me against the antique safe that had become our sanctuary. Improbably, she grinned at me. "Two down, and one to go."A mass shooting, an FBI coverup, and a madman with his own militia and a political hit list. Adam Cain is caught in the middle with only one person to trust; the beautiful and mysterious woman that calls herself the Gypsy. She seems to have all the answers, and a hit list of her own.
Navigator: The Complete Series
S.D. Tanner - 2016
With hydraulics, armor and advanced vision, Navigators are soldiers of the future, and in the game of survival of the fittest, they become the only hope man has to fight for their right to dominate. Enemy Lines After nearly being executed in a war zone, Staff Sergeant Leon Shield finds himself urgently recalled from deployment, and lands back home to a defeated country. In a matter of days, and without a single shot being fired, a new species has taken over the world. Determined to survive Armageddon, the only chance to fight back is to find a man called Ark, and use an untested technology to become Navigators. Blind Sighted Leon and Ark elect to train their new Navigator squad outside the wire, while Bill works with the weapons engineers to solve the bigger problems. The medical team are taking the critters apart, desperately looking for anything that will give them an edge. Killer Edge Our team match the enemy by creating a little critter magic of their own. New forces join them, and survivors add their weight to the fight, further changing what becomes possible. First contact is made, and believing they are running headlong into failure, Ark learns to take the lesser loss. Broken Arrow The aliens take a step too far and Ark decides it's time to go all in. Sending all of their Navigator battle teams to the nests, they uncover unexpected allies in a final showdown that will determine which side will rule earth.
Australian Serial Killers
Gordon Kerr - 2011
That all changed when Eric Edgar Cooke launched his one-man crime wave, a spree of senseless killing that shocked Perth, changing the city and its inhabitants forever. Read the horrific account of Cooke's killings as well as the stories of many other Australian serial killers – doing it because they had the urge and ... because they enjoyed it too much to stop. Contents: Eric Edgar Cooke, William the Mutilator Macdonald, Paul Charles Denyer, Ivan Milat, The Snowtown Murderers, John Wayne Glover, Peter Dupas, Catherine and David Birnie
Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex
Larry Niven - 1969
Can Superman make a baby with Lois Lane, or is he doomed to be the last of his kind? This article discusses the scientific and medical issues involved in copulating with a Kryptonian.27 minutes
A Witch by Chance: A Written Fireside Short Story
Lori ConnellyZara Stoneley - 2014
Ivy Mitchell’s life is changed forever after she follows her cat, Karma, into an old house, where she stumbles upon a strange book that not only unleashes her destiny, but attracts a smoking hot, mysterious stranger named Chance with wicked powers of his own. Ivy was born a witch, but an important decision awaits. Make the wrong choice and more than her powers are at risk. A story in nine parts, each written by a different writer in her own individual style: Lori Connelly, Aileen Harkwood, Zara Stoneley, Kari Lemor, Sarah Lefebve, Carmel Harrington, Teresa F. Morgan, Lynn Marie Hulsman, and Jane Lark.Length: 4300 words
Tales of the Apocalypse Volume 1: A Duck & Cover Collection
Benjamin Wallace - 2016
From the pages of the best-selling Duck & Cover Adventures comes thirteen stories of those who survived the apocalypse. Some would go on to be heroes, others villains, some were dogs and will stay dogs, but they all must contend with the horrors of the new world and find a way to survive in the wasteland that was America. HOW TO HOST AN INTERVENTION Long before he was a knight in the apocalypse, Tommy was preparing for the end of the world. His friends grew concerned for his well-being and planned to intervene. It wasn’t so much that he was preparing, it was what he was preparing for. GONE TO THE DOGS Fidget and Sasquatch were loyal companions to the end. Now that the end has arrived, they must say goodbye to the only home they’ve ever known. If they can figure out how to open the door. BUNKED UP They took refuge in a homemade bomb shelter when the end of the world began. There they were safe from the bombs and the fallout. But they were never safe from each other. PACK HUNTERS Fidget and Sasquatch are on their own, a situation neither of them are really comfortable with. They decide to join a pack for safety, for food and for friends. Now all they have to do is find one. ANIMAL’S CALLING Before the world ended, Jackson drifted from job to job, never settling on anything that could be called a career path. But with the new world comes new opportunities. This is what he was born to do. LAST BAND OF THE APOCALYPSE Caught between county fair gigs during the apocalypse, the members of a cover band find themselves the last band left in the world. Getting gigs should be easy. Should be. PRISONER’S DILEMMA The Librarian has seen his fair share of “wasteland justice.” Now he’s chained to the floor of a grocery store with a man he must face in court. In a battle to the death. Naturally. ALPHA DOG Sergeant Satan was genetically enhanced to be the world’s best military scout. He was designed to be smarter, faster and more than a match for any dog this side of the apocalypse. Of course, his creators had never met Fidget. THE TRIAL OF HARMEGGEDON They’ve got a new name. They’ve got a new act. And they are ready to rock your face off. Now all the last band in the world needs is a gig. WILLIE AND COY RIDE AGAIN Willie and Coy aren’t the brightest. Or the best looking. Or very likeable. No one would ever accuse them of being hard workers. But the pair have found a way to make an honest living in the apocalypse. If they can get enough people to watch. IN A PERSON PACK Tired of looking for a pack to join, Sasquatch and Fidget reminisce about the joys and delights of life in a people pack. NO QUARTER Deep in the swamp of New Orleans awaits a terror many refuse to believe exists. It’s a monster of myth and rumor so horrible that it could not possibly be real. On the trail of a kidnapped woman, The Librarian must seek out and confront this monster of myth. EVE OF THE APOCALYPSE Man is the true monster. Unless there is a man who is a monster that also makes monsters. Then he’s the truest monster and only a post-apocalyptic nomadic warrior can bring this monster’s monster-making to an end.
Flatlined
John Meany - 2019
Then we crashed into the tree. Boom! All thoughts stopped. The medics rushed me to the trauma center. The next thing I remember I was suddenly floating above my body, I heard the cardiac monitor flat line, indicating that either my heart had just stopped or that I had died. I wasn’t frightened though. No. In fact, I felt fine. I experienced a tremendous sense of calm, well-being and painlessness. My body might have been in trouble, but not me. As I watched the operating procedure from the ceiling, aware that I no longer had any attachment to my physical self, none whatsoever, I realized I had become a mist, a vapor, a subatomic particle, something. I hovered in the air, near the ultraviolet lights like a crumb on the back of a moth. I was still in tune with my senses, actually, I was more in tune with them than I had ever been; my senses were heightened. Among the handful of surgeons and assistants, all of whom were dressed in green gowns and caps, there seemed to be a lot agitation. The medical team worked on my injured body in a decidedly critical manner. The fact that I had just flat lined had caused a great deal of confusion. Extraordinarily, the next thing I became aware of was two ghostly beings, which were human-like in that these phantasmagoric beings were shaped like people. Based on the mold of their bodies I could distinguish that one of the beings was male, the other was a female. These entities were floating in the air with me, hovering near the ceiling. However, they made no distinguishable sound; all I could hear was the surgeons down below talking among one another.
Hybrid
Greg Ballan - 2007
Keener senses, heightened awareness and an enhanced physical strength that could be called upon by his sheer will. Erik becomes involved with a team of high profile investigators and local police trying to locate a girl who was kidnapped in the middle of a playground amongst dozens of adults and children. None of the adults saw anything and what the children claim to have seen is too far fetched to be believed. The search evolves into a full-scale manhunt into the dark and desolate woodlands of the Hopedale Mountain. After a lethal encounter and a fatality, Erik, the investigators and police realize that what they're dealing with isn't a man and possibly isn't of this world. What they're dealing with is a sentient evil that has an appetite for young children.