Book picks similar to
Plague: 10th Anniversary by Jeremiah Donaldson
thriller
fiction
horror
first-reads
Devil in the Hole
Charles Salzberg - 2013
In an upstairs bedroom: an elderly woman and the family dog, both of them shot as well. The only person missing is the husband, father, son, and prime suspect, John Hartman, who's got a three-week jump on the police. Through the eyes of almost two dozen characters, including the neighbor who reports the crime, Hartman’s mistress, a dogged state investigator, the family minister, and some of the characters Hartman meets on his escape route, we piece together not only what happened and how these shocking murders affect the community, but how John Hartman evades capture, where he’s headed, and maybe even why he committed this gruesome crime in the first place. Based on the notorious John List murders and already compared to works by Norman Mailer and Russell Banks, Devil in the Hole is gripping, literate, and haunting.
Sunset Rising
S.M. McEachern - 2013
Welcome to the Biodome, where steel, rock and armed guards separate the privileged from the slaves ...Born and raised as a slave in the Pit, Sunny O’Donnell has always accepted that she'll spend her life working to keep the Dome running and, if she lives long enough, willingly meet her end in the annual Cull when she reaches the age of thirty-five. This was the price her ancestors paid for their place inside the Biodome, the only haven from the global nuclear war of 2024. But when Sunny’s mother is killed in the Cull, the hopeless reality of her existence becomes painfully clear. Bereft and disillusioned, she heads down a reckless path that sets off a riot in the Pit and leaves her accused of treason. Her only way of escaping public execution is to make a truce with her prison mate, who happens to be the heir to the dictatorship and hated enemy of the Pit. Now caught between two worlds on the brink of war, Sunny must weigh her own survival against risking everything to save the Pit. S.M. McEachern delivers the action and adventure of The Hunger Games, the intrigue of The City of Ember", and the romantic philosophical notes of Les Misérables in her debut novel set in a future that is disturbingly plausible.
Fever
Deon Meyer - 2016
They are among the few in South Africa--and the world, as far as they know--to have survived a devastating virus which has swept through the country. Their world turned upside down, Nico realizes that his superb marksmanship and cool head mean he is destined to be his father's protector, even though he is still only a boy.But Willem Storm, though not a fighter, is both a thinker and a leader, a wise and compassionate man with a vision for a new community that survivors will rebuild from the ruins. And so Amanzi is founded, drawing Storm's -homeless and tempest-tost---starting with Melinda Swanevelder, whom they rescued from brutal thugs; Hennie Flaai, with his vital Cessna plane; Beryl Fortuin, with her ragtag group of orphans; and Domingo, the man with the tattooed hand, whom Nico knows immediately is someone you want on your side. And then there is Sofia Bergman, the most beautiful girl that Nico has ever seen, who changes everything.So the community grows--and with each step forward, as resources increase, so do the challenges they must face--not just from the attacks of biker brigands, but also from within. As Nico undergoes an extraordinary rite of passage in this new world, he experiences hardship and heartbreak and has his loyalty tested to its limits. Looking back later in life, he recounts the events that led to the greatest rupture of all--the hunt for the murderer of the person he loves most.An exhilarating new standalone from the author of the internationally bestselling Benny Griessel thriller series, Fever is a gripping epic like nothing else Meyer has written before.
The Last Girl
Joe Hart - 2016
Medical science and governments around the world scramble in an effort to solve the problem, but twenty-five years later there is no cure, and an entire generation grows up with a population of fewer than a thousand women.Zoey and some of the surviving young women are housed in a scientific research compound dedicated to determining the cause. For two decades, she’s been isolated from her family, treated as a test subject, and locked away—told only that the virus has wiped out the rest of the world’s population.Captivity is the only life Zoey has ever known, and escaping her heavily armed captors is no easy task, but she’s determined to leave before she is subjected to the next round of tests…a program that no other woman has ever returned from. Even if she’s successful, Zoey has no idea what she’ll encounter in the strange new world beyond the facility’s walls. Winning her freedom will take brutality she never imagined she possessed, as well as all her strength and cunning—but Zoey is ready for war.
The Last Orphans
N.W. Harris - 2014
In a span of mere hours, the entire adult population is decimated, leaving their children behind to fend for themselves and deal with the horrific aftermath of the freak occurrence. As one of the newly made elders in his small town, Shane finds himself taking on the role of caretaker for a large group of juvenile survivors. One who just happens to be Kelly Douglas—an out-of-his-league classmate—who, on any other day, would have never given Shane a second glance. Together, they begin their quest to find out why all of the adults were slaughtered. What they find is even more horrifying than anything they could have expected—the annihilation of the adults was only the beginning. Shane and his friends are not the unlucky survivors left to inherit this new, messed-up planet. No, they are its next victims. There is an unknown power out there, and it won’t stop until every person in the world is dead. A spine-tingling adventure that will have you gasping for breath all the way until the last page, The Last Orphans is the first book in an all-new apocalyptic series.
The Jakarta Pandemic
Steven Konkoly - 2010
One family's struggle to survive as a deadly pandemic sweeps the nation. This book both entertains and prepares at the same time. Reading this book might save your life if the Ebola virus or Avian flu turns into a pandemic." Preparedness consultant-2014
The Jakarta Pandemic:
The People's Republic of China announces strict travel restrictions... Indonesia goes dark... Cases of an uncategorized influenza virus appear in major cities around the globe... Department of Health and Human Services officials claim that measures have been taken to safeguard the American public...
Most ignore the warnings...
Alex Fletcher, Iraq War veteran, has read the signs for years. A seasoned sales representative for Biosphere Pharmaceuticals, he understands the unique dangers of a pandemic flu and has taken the necessary steps to prepare. With his family and home mobilized to endure an extended period of seclusion, Alex thinks he's ready for the pandemic. He's not even close. The lethal H16N1 virus rapidly spreads across the nation, stretching the fragile bonds of society to the breaking point. Schools close, grocery stores empty, fuel deliveries stop, hospitals start turning away the sick...riots engulf the cities. As hostility and mistrust engulfs his idyllic Maine neighborhood, Alex quickly realizes that the H16N1 virus will be the least of his problems.
The Jakarta Pandemic
is a terrifying, cautionary tale that explores the depths of human desperation and its unremitting influence on our decisions.
- The sequel, The Perseid Collapse, is now available -
"It delivers a vicious punch of violence and heroism for the reader to endure and admire. I could hardly put The Jakarta Pandemic down until I finished it." - Amazon Reviewer (2012) "The tension builds as difficult choices are made, when no good options seem to be available. I found certain segments to be uncomfortably realistic, at times creepy in the way you could feel things closing in around the family." - Amazon Reviewer (2013) "It makes you think just how prepared you really are for any kind of emergency. It makes you question your resolve in a potential crisis. How far are you willing to go to protect your loved ones? Every day that goes by, these characters have to question what is right and what is wrong. Take the trip thru this book. You won't be disappointed." - Amazon Reviewer (2013) "Pay attention as you may learn a few things in this book that could help you make the best of an emergency situation. For that matter some of the info in this book may very well save your life." - Amazon Reviewer (2013) "Anyone who has relished running to the hardware store before a big storm to stock up on essentials will be drawn to Steve Konkoly's intricately-researched and drawn breakdown of our supply systems, and transfixed by his description of what it takes to survive six months of enforced isolation behind the locked(booby-trapped, draped and shuttered) doors of one's own home.
The Renegades
Jack Hunt - 2015
This is a full standalone novel. Book 2 AFTERMATH and Book 3 FORTRESS are now available.
The Plague: Dead Solstice
M. Scott Burgess - 2011
Scott Burgess comes a new episodic ebook series that reimagines and redefines the zombie apocalypse genre. In the near future, the world has died. With no warning, all technology and communication have inexplicably shut down and zombies have begun to rise. They feed on the living, pulling more to their ranks as they spread at an impossible rate. But hope survives, as a small band of survivors work together to escape from Southern California in hopes of finding sanctuary from this zombie infested world. Their goal is to find some remnants of civilization but the farther they venture, the more they become aware that the world as they know it has been forever lost. What they don’t realize is that there are things hiding in the shadows, things that are far worse than zombies. Dead Solstice is the first episode in the series. It follows the story of Dean Gothurd as he wakes up into a zombie infested world and finds that he must work with his friends to find safety from the hungry horde of zombies. (15,057 words)
Death in a Northern Town
Peter Mckeirnon - 2013
'Death In A Northern Town had absolutely everything for me , it made me laugh , it made me cringe, it made me wince in imagined pain and ultimately it just made me very very happy. It is a modern zombie classic with real heart and I implore all lovers of horror fiction to pick up a copy of it NOW!! 10/10' - UK Horror Scene 'A must buy' - A Dead Little Podcast
Leftovers
Christian Fletcher - 2012
The mutating flu virus took hold of the world so quickly that not even the best medical people could predict the scale of the deadly epidemic. I was stuck in the middle of the chaos, trying to reach the relative safe haven of a yacht in Battery Park Harbor, New York, with a former hit man, a junior doctor, two Goth girls and a minor criminal for company. Thousands of vicious, animated corpses stood between us and our route to safety.”Brett Wilde is a small town pessimist, wishing his life away in a dead end job in Pennsylvania, USA. He awakes one morning late for work and receives a phone call from a friend informing him the world has been gripped by an unknown, deadly virus. Wilde embarks on a journey with the help of a former hit man, two Goth girls and a minor criminal, trying to reach a yacht, occupied by his father in New York Harbor. The journey takes them on the hazardous route from Brynston, Pennsylvania, along the Interstate - 78 through New Jersey onto New York City.Will Wilde and his party reach their destination unscathed?
Q Island
Russell James - 2015
Chaos and madness rule. In desperation, the military quarantines the island, trapping Melanie Bailey and her autistic son, Aiden. Somehow Aiden survives infection. He could be the key to a cure…if Melanie can get him to the mainland. Gang leader Jimmy Wade also survives the virus, but he’s acquired a hunger for human flesh. Believing consuming Aiden will make him all-powerful, he and his gang hunt the boy. Melanie and Aiden must evade both Wade’s tightening grip and the growing army of the infected in an impossible escape from what all call Q Island.
The Darkness After
Scott B. Williams - 2013
The modern world that sixteen-year-old Mitch Henley has always known comes crashing down. Anarchy, looting and chaos explode all around him. Stranded in New Orleans, Mitch escapes into the Mississippi backwoods he knows so well, hoping to stay alive using the survival and hunting skills he learned from his game-warden father. Alone and on foot, Mitch sets out to make his way back to the family farm and his younger sister. Not knowing if his parents are dead or alive, nothing else matters . . . until he meets April Gibbs along the way. Smart, beautiful, lethal and alone, she is also making a treacherous trek to find her lost family. They decide to travel together for safety, but neither can begin to imagine the danger that awaits them in the woods. Set in the same anarchy-and-desperation-reigned world of the author’s dystopian thriller: The Pulse, The Darkness After a frightening look at how fragile our technologically dependent lifestyle really is.
Out of Gas
Randy Dyess - 2012
Their childhoods were spent in small Texas towns with summers at their respected grandparent’s farms. Like most teenagers growing up in small towns they could not wait to flee after graduation for big cities and successful careers. Careers were launched, the big house on the golf course bought, luxury cars leased, and fancy vacations taken. They had it all until a global fuel shortage started causing Mark to wonder about his job and the financial future of his family. Follow Mark and Kelly as they learn about global finances, hidden agendas, and the cover-up of the upcoming global fuel shortage and severe economic depression it will create. Follow the Turner’s as they plan their strategy to voluntarily move from an upper middle-class lifestyle to a self-sustaining lifestyle on an Oklahoma farm before it is too late. Learn alongside them as they learn the skills needed to live on a small farm, raise their own food, and prepare for a global economic depression on a scale never seem by mankind before.
War Without End (Surviving the Dead Book 9)
James N. Cook - 2021