Book picks similar to
Human Element by A.J. Powers


thriller
audio
character-led
for-review

Scion of Conquered Earth


Michael J. Allen - 2016
    Fighters bombard the ruins. Monsters hunt the wastes – some humans serving the Welorin in order to indulge their petty cruelties. The last free survivors struggle against starvation and capture. It’s a world where friendship costs too dearly and heroics verge on suicide.One young man simply can’t resist either. Welorin torture machines ravage his world, filling it with literal nightmares. Cannibalistic aerobics instructors hunt him and snatcher teams dog his every step. Alaric attempts one rescue after another, hoping someone might possess keys to unlock memories stolen by the initial assault.An aborted rescue lands him in a three way fight between Welorin forces and interstellar raiders. He takes cover in the pirates’ ship, coercing its AI, Cassii, into helping him. Success comes with unexpected consequence as Cassii abandons her crew, his friends and Earth’s solar system.Cassii refuses to return to Earth, decrying her former captain’s despoiling of the ship’s weapons and armor. Alaric leverages goods stolen from Earth by Cassii’s former crew into a bid at privateering. Surrounded by tech he barely understands and exotic life forms, he’s easy prey for the Protectorate’s mercenary population.Escort Captain Manc Shepherd and the sultry pirate Tyne Ren – Manc’s onetime partner – manipulate, exploit and seduce him across the stars. Alaric’s perilous heroics complicate their tug-of-war, endangering both and Alaric’s ship – their intended prize.Alaric must decide who he is, what he holds dear and how far he’ll go to protect both. He must choose who to trust: his mentor, his temptress or his smitten ship’s AI. The right choice could save worlds. The wrong one could throw him into a desperate battle to save thousands from his betrayer at the cost of his truest friend.

Gameboard of the Gods


Richelle Mead - 2013
    But Justin is given a second chance when Mae Koskinen comes to bring him back to the Republic of United North America (RUNA). Raised in an aristocratic caste, Mae is now a member of the military’s most elite and terrifying tier, a soldier with enhanced reflexes and skills.When Justin and Mae are assigned to work together to solve a string of ritualistic murders, they soon realize that their discoveries have exposed them to terrible danger. As their investigation races forward, unknown enemies and powers greater than they can imagine are gathering in the shadows, ready to reclaim the world in which humans are merely game pieces on their board.Gameboard of the Gods, the first installment of Richelle Mead’s Age of X series, will have all the elements that have made her YA Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series such megasuccesses: sexy, irresistible characters; romantic and mythological intrigue; and relentless action and suspense.

Valhalla Station


Chris Pourteau - 2019
    Food, entertainment, safety, security--SynCorp provides it all. In return, the Company requires complete loyalty and obedience to corporate law.The Soldiers of the Solar Revolution claim life under SynCorp is slavery cloaked in comfort. They launch their rebellion, targeting the pillars of corporate production: sabotaging refineries on Mars, shattering Callisto's orbital ring. Meanwhile, brutal pirates siphon off Company resources in the Belt, and hackers tap into citizens' implants, addicting them to fantasies shaped from their own dreams.Besieged on all sides, SynCorp's Five Factions are in retreat. The rebels aim to destroy the Company to free mankind. But does mankind really want to be freed?

Ice Fortress (A Jack Coulson Thriller Book 1)


Robert B. Williams - 2017
    Williams ** A high-octane, fast-paced, action-packed Jack Coulson thriller with edge-of-your-seat suspense and an ending that will blow you away. For over 70 years Hitler’s most fearsome weapon, Die Glocke (The Bell) has been entombed inside an icy fortress in the most inhospitable and unforgiving place on earth — the Antarctic.When oceanographer Leah Anderson discovers a hidden WWII Nazi submarine base buried deep under the Antarctic ice shelf, she sparks a fierce battle to acquire The Bell.While Russian and American submarines clash deep below the ice pack, on the surface, a sinister force launches a ruthless assault to secure the infamous weapon they have been searching for since its mysterious disappearance in 1945. If they succeed, they will use it to change the course of history forever and ensure a Nazi victory at the end of the Second World War.Enigmatic covert ops soldier Jack Coulson has already been to hell and back for his country, but if he is to stop the resurgence of the Thousand Year Reich, he must enter the gates of hell one more time.What Jack and his team don’t know is that the Allies already used The Bell to change the course of the war and history as we know it — a secret that must remain, like The Bell itself, buried at any cost. For fans of James Rollins, Matthew Reilly, Michael C. Grumley, A.G. Riddle, Rob Jones, Jay J. Falconer, James D. Prescott, Brad Thor, Douglas E. Richards, Clive Cussler and David Baldacci.

The Girl in the Rabbit Hole


R.J. Law - 2021
     They want her to do something, and they're willing to pay good money. But, these people aren't asking — they're insisting. Now, Claire finds herself in a bizarre, unpredictable setting, surrounded by threatening men with uncertain goals and terrifying desires. Faced with shocking revelations and a deepening mystery, she must find a way to escape the inescapable, before they force her to do the unimaginable.

Edge of Disaster: An EMP Post-Apocalyptic Survival Prepper Series (American Fallout Book 2)


Alex Gunwick - 2017
     At the end of EDGE OF COLLAPSE, Luke managed to get within sixty miles of his family's Bug Out Location. As he struggles to make it home, he faces new threats. He teams up with a mysterious stranger to battle the lawless world. Without power, food, or water, they face a grueling uphill battle against the forces of darkness. He'll have to get creative if he wants to survive, but nothing will keep Luke from getting back to his family. Nothing. Not even the people who stand in his way. Liz struggles to defend the cabin from the preacher and his men. With too much land to cover and not enough resources, she reluctantly teams up with other people in the canyon. Their thread-bare agreement might not hold up under pressure, but it's better than nothing. Post-apocalyptic America is a desolate, dangerous world on the edge of disaster. Unable to trust strangers, family is more important than ever. Liz will do whatever it takes to protect her kids. One day Luke will return home, but until then, she's ready to take up arms against anyone who threatens them. EDGE OF DISASTER is BOOK 2 in the thrilling post-apocalyptic survival prepper EMP fiction series: AMERICAN FALLOUT.

Savior/Corruptor (An Allie Krycek Thriller, Book 4)


Sam Sisavath - 2019
    __________________________________________ SHE NEEDED A VACATION, BUT SHE WON’T GET ONE. It was supposed to be a much-needed respite for Allie Krycek. She was ready and needed to heal. And that’s exactly what she did in a small nowhere town in the Pacific Northwest. That is, until certain people decided to drag her into their web of murder and lies. When an abused housewife leaves a desperate plea for help, Allie doesn’t—she can’t—turn the other cheek. It’s not in her nature to let an innocent get hurt, if she can help it. But not everything is what it seems, and soon Allie finds herself thrust into a complicated conspiracy that just keeps getting more dangerous. If Allie were any other woman, she would turn and run. But Allie Krycek isn’t any other woman. She’s going to do the right thing, even if it means taking on one of the most powerful families in the country.

Followed Home


Andre Gonzalez - 2016
    When Kyle Wells and his friends take an annual trip to his family’s cabin deep in the Rocky Mountains, a string of events unravel to expose what his family has kept hidden for decades.As an unexpected blizzard pounds the mountains, a friend begins to act different and seems a bit off after a strange encounter in the woods. In their rush for safety, mysterious beings known as Exalls, follow them back to the city where further chaos erupts. Finding himself in the midst of a battle against evil, Kyle learns of a disturbing truth kept secret by his own grandmother, Susan. He and his circle of friends turn to her as their last hope of survival.

Burnt Sea


Jordan Rivet - 2015
    Judith, an ambitious college senior, jogs nearby, trying to relax before her first big interview. Hundreds of miles away, the giant volcano sleeping under Yellowstone erupts for the first time in 640,000 years. Ash and death spread in all directions. When Simon and Judith see the destruction rolling their way, they flee on the nearest available escape vessel: a cruise ship called the Catalina. Adrift at sea, the survivors are cut off from all communication as the earth changes forever. Tensions rise between the stranded passengers, the crew, and the increasingly volatile old captain. As storms and threats roll in, Simon and Judith must work together to keep the peace in this dangerous new world. Will they find a safe haven on the other side of the ocean? Find out how the Catalina's journey began in the action-packed prequel to the Seabound Chronicles. This full-length novel can be read on its own or after any book in the post-apocalyptic Seabound trilogy.

Dead Men Walking (Jack Reacher's Special Investigators)


Dan Ames - 2020
    Hold on tight!" -R. Vuher, Amazon.com"Exciting and suspenseful. Highly recommended for anyone who likes action-packed, intelligent and pulse-pounding thrillers." -B & N Thrilling Reads"Razor-sharp, nerve-wracking and wildly engrossing, this thriller is utterly addictive." -FirstReads"Ames is a sensation among readers who love fast-paced thrillers." -MysteryTribune

The Tesla Event


Vaughn Heppner - 2015
    Selene Khan enters an underwater dome thousands of years old, one that is fully operational. She barely escapes to the surface, only to discover that her research vessel has vanished. Can she make it to shore 100 miles away?On the other side of the world, Agent Jack Elliot uncovers an impossible 900 grams of antimatter. The trail leads him to Egypt, betrayal, and a sinister brainwashing facility. There, in a desperate move, he rescues Dr. Selene Khan, fleeing with her into the desert.Together, Selene and Jack race to unravel a global conspiracy and learn the truth about an ancient, alien artifact and how civilization really began. Two people must summon the courage and extraordinary ability to stop the world's oldest plan from plunging humanity onto a twisted, evolutionary path.Artifact is a lightning-paced adventure, utterly unpredictable right up to its stunning conclusion.

Birthright


Rick Partlow - 2011
    The war is long over and now he just wants to live a normal life as a constable on his homeworld of Canaan...but his life is torn apart when a Corporate Council mineral scout comes to him with a tale of discovering incredibly advanced alien technology from the fabled race known only as the Predecessors. Someone in the monolithic, power-hungry Corporate Council doesn't want that story to get out...and they'll kill anyone to stop it, including Caleb and his family.

Reboot


Amy Tintera - 2013
    After 178 minutes she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation).Wren’s favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie is the worst she’s ever seen. As a 22, Callum Reyes is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he’s always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line—or she’ll have to eliminate him. Wren has never disobeyed before and knows if she does, she’ll be eliminated, too. But she has also never felt as alive as she does around Callum.The perfect soldier is done taking orders.

The 5th Wave


Rick Yancey - 2013
    After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.Now, it's the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth's last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie's only hope for rescuing her brother-or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

The Cain Conspiracy


Mike Ryan - 2013
    Faced with going through recovery alone, with no family that he's aware of, he is recruited by a top secret government agency. Project Specter is tasked with eliminating targets they deem to be a threat to the United States. Their goal is to turn Nelson into a super assassin named Matthew Cain.Cain's first mission is supposed to be a piece of cake. Just take out an escaped fugitive in Honduras who's on the run for the rape and murder of a little girl in New York. There's only one problem...somebody beat him to it. Everything is not what it seems as Cain gets mixed up with an international arms dealer and an ex government agent who's gone rogue and supposed to be dead.The Cain Conspiracy is the first book in the high-octane Cain Series. Also look for these books to be coming soon:The Cain DeceptionThe Cain DirectiveThe Cain Redemption