Book picks similar to
Wizard of the Wasteland by Jon Cronshaw
post-apocalyptic
fantasy
apocalypse
sci-fi
Pines
Blake Crouch - 2012
Secret Service agent Ethan Burke arrives in search of two missing federal agents, yet soon is facing much more than he bargained for. After a violent accident lands him in the hospital, Ethan comes to with no ID and no cell phone. The medical staff seems friendly enough, but sometimes feels...off. As days pass, Ethan's investigation into his colleagues' disappearance turns up more questions than answersWHY CAN'T HE MAKE CONTACT WITH HIS FAMILY IN THE OUTSIDE WORLD? WHY DOESN'T ANYONE BELIEVE HE IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS? AND WHAT'S THE PURPOSE OF THE ELECTRIFIED FENCES ENCIRCLING THE TOWN? ARE THEY KEEPING THE RESIDENTS IN? OR SOMETHING ELSE OUT?Each step toward the truth takes Ethan further from the world he knows, until he must face a horrifying fact—he may never get out of Wayward Pines alive.....
Maze
Tony Bertauski - 2017
Their consciousness thrown into the Maze—a virtual reality where anyone is anything and anywhere. Battles are fought, riddles are solved. To win a lifetime of riches one has to escape the Maze. First, they have to remember who they are.Some never do.
The Breaking Light
Heather Hansen - 2017
Arden—beautiful, street-smart, and cynical—is one of the citizens of the lowest Level, known as Undercity, of an off-world colony. A blackout band traps Arden in her district, but as sister to the leader of the most powerful gang in Undercity, she has access to Above.There she meets Dade, one of the few lucky enough to be born into the sun-kissed families who reside in the Towers soaring above the rest of the city. But life isn’t perfect in the sky. Dade, desperate to escape his upcoming arranged marriage, has a secret of his own, and he’s willing to risk everything for it.An unlikely romance develops between the two teens—but their love faces opposition from above and below. When her gang pressures Arden to help break the grip of the elite and end Dade’s interference with their drug trade, she is forced to make a deadly choice between love and family loyalty. But will the brewing class war destroy the world around them first?
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.
Until Morning Comes
J.T. Sawyer - 2014
It ended with a staggering body count as the world around her unraveled from a deadly virus. With her mission to extract the President’s daughter from the University of Arizona gone awry, she must choose between her sworn duties and her moral obligations to others as the city is overtaken by roving packs of flesh-eating mutants. If she and her small group are to survive the night and find a way out of the ravaged city, she will have to summon all of her training, mental prowess, and tactical abilities.
Recon
Tarah Benner - 2014
It's a reality he's forced to confront every year on Bid Day. But when your job is to go out into the radiation-soaked Fringe so that others can live in peace, you don’t ask too many questions. For Harper, the bid system works just fine. She’s the best developer in her year, and she's confident she’ll find a place among the wealthy, respected Systems workers. But when an upset in the bidding changes the course of Harper’s future, she’ll be forced to rely on an unlikely ally — dark, unreadable Eli Parker. In her search for answers, Harper will learn that in the compound, the truth doesn’t set you free. It gets you killed.
Among the Dead and Dying
A.R. Wise - 2014
Thousands of years after a zombie apocalypse wiped out the majority of humans, the world is a very different and harsh place. It's safest to live behind the fortified walls of the Kingdom of Golden Rock, or it least it had been. Rumors of an army of dead led by a man calling himself The Scholar have proven true, and even the most secure cities are no match for his undead soldiers. The Scholar's goal is to crush the world of the living, but he also wants to capture a simple baker named Saffi, though no one seems to know why. Saffi's father vows to protect his daughter, and flees The Scholar's path, only to fall prey to other evils of the world outside the walls. In just one day's time, Ward and Saffi's lives will be forever altered, and the secret about why The Scholar wants her will be revealed.
Hater
David Moody - 2006
Christened “Haters” by the media, the attackers strike without warning and seemingly without reason. Within seconds, normally rational, self-controlled people become frenzied, vicious killers. As the carnage mounts, one thing soon is clear: everyone, irrespective of race, gender, age, or class, has the potential to become either a Hater or a victim. At any moment, even friends and family can turn on one another with violent intent. In the face of this mindless terror, all McCoyne can do is secure his family, seek shelter, and watch as the world falls apart. But when he bolts the front door, the question remains: Is he shutting the danger out or locking it in?
Cost of Survival
Bonnie R. Paulson - 2015
He was right.
Mom's bleeding in my arms right now. She could die any moment, but not before she's made me promise three things: Pray. Don't trust anyone. Stay alive. I promised, but I don't know if I can keep them. Not surviving World War III doesn't scare me, it's surviving it that does. If you’re looking for a great dystopia romance, this book is for you From the bestselling dystopian fiction author with over 2000 reviews and ratings of her dystopic books across Goodreads, Amazon and other retailers.
Happy Doomsday
David Sosnowski - 2018
One minute, people are going about their lives, and the next—not. In the wake of the inexplicable purge, only a handful of young misfits remains.When it all went down, “Wizard of Odd” Dev Brinkman was seeking shelter from the taunts of his classmates. Goth girl Lucy Abernathy had lost her best friend and had no clue where to turn. And Twinkie-loving quarterback “Marcus” Haddad was learning why you never discuss politics and religion in polite company—or online.As if life when you’re sixteen isn’t confusing enough, throw in the challenges of postapocalyptic subsistence, a case of survivor’s guilt turned up to seven billion, and the small task of rebuilding humankind…No one said doomsday would be a breeze. But for Dev, Lucy, and Marcus, the greatest hope—and greatest threat—will come when they find each other.
The Glitch
Ramona Finn - 2016
In Lib’s world, it’s dangerous to stray from the Norm. In fact, for someone who doesn’t live up to the AI’s standards, it’s practically a death sentence. Lib learns this the hard way when she wakes up with her memories erased in a barren wasteland, and only one thought lodged in her mind: It’s all her fault. Lib is a Glitch—an imperfect human component of the utopian Norm. Utterly alone, she’ll have to team up with her fellow Glitches Skye and Raj and the mysterious Rogue Wolf and his clan to survive. Wolf only cares about the survival of his group, but Raj thinks they can hack the AI and change the Norm for the better. Now, Lib will have to decide which path to choose—whether to go with handsome loner Raj or stay with Wolf and his tight-knit group. Her heart is drawn to both, but she’s carrying a deadly secret that could jeopardize them all. Will she be able to save her newfound family and stop the AI before it’s too late?
Recreance
H.G. Chambers - 2017
What is left of humankind now live out their lives in New Arcadia, under the ever watchful eye of the Ministry.Seventeen-year-old Oren Hart is on the run. Ministry authorities have shattered his once unremarkable life, forcing him to flee into the deadly Miralaja desert. With sharp-taloned predators soaring overhead, and Ministry assassins close behind, can Oren survive long enough to discover the disturbing truth behind his exile?Clementine has gotten over Oren's disappearance...or so she tells herself. A born survivor, she relies on her ingenuity and cunning to carve out a life on the unforgiving streets of New Arcadia. When she reluctantly agrees to infiltrate a Ministry defense building, she too must flee with a dark secret too big to ignore.As Ministry forces quietly converge, Oren and Clementine find themselves caught up in a centuries-long battle for the survival of humanity itself.
Alone at the End of the World
M.P. McDonald - 2020
Thirteen-year-old Ethan should be practicing his skateboard moves, not watching his family members die, one by one. He knows he could become a victim of the evil infection at any minute. Scared and alone, he fills his backpack and goes in search of other survivors, hoping he lives long enough to find someone. Anyone. When Cassie sees the bodies of neighbors and strangers littering what had been pristine front lawns, she realizes her intense focus on business and family may have saved their lives. How does a single mom and her two kids survive an apocalypse alone? Noah emerges from his two-week fishing trip in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, shocked to learn that a devastating pandemic has swept the world. Should he venture into the fray to find other survivors or retreat into the woods and isolate himself as long as he can? When their paths converge, they face a new struggle ─ learning to trust total strangers as if their very survival depends on it... because it does. Sympatico Syndrome is intent on sparing no one.
Impact
Matthew Eliot - 2015
They brought both destruction and disease, carrying a mysterious pathogen that has killed untold millions, while turning others into Meteorwraiths -- zombie-like human relics.Now, the tattered remnants of humanity do their best to survive.James Walscombe is senior safety specialist trapped inside top-secret US nuclear facility Atlantis, with two colleagues. They survived the impact, unscathed. But now, one of them has turned into a psychotic murderer.Alice and Adrian have lost everything except each other. Both barely twelve-years-old, they fight their way across the ruins of Europe, in a desperate search for their family.Father Paul struggles to keep his faith in a world resentful towards its gods. His life isn't the one he thought he'd chosen when he entered the seminary, and now new, dark deities are creeping out from the shadows.These are just some in the rich cast of characters in this epic tale.Earth's survivors are trying to adapt to the harsh realities of the post-impact world.But the worst is yet to come.IMPACT is a post-apocalyptic series. This is book one.
Emergency Exit: 2020
Ever N. Hayes - 2014
Would you? Let’s say you just found out you’d survived a massive chemical attack. How it happened and how many others lived through it…you don’t yet know. You don’t know the when (exactly), the who, or the why. You just…don’t…know. You have so many questions, but there’s no doubting what you’ve seen. Surreal as the aftermath may be, this isn’t a hoax. This is for real. You scramble back to where you were—where you were safe—and hear a message on the radio confirming this is widespread—across all of North America. There are probably thousands of other survivors out there—for now--people who got lucky like the nine of you. But it’s not over. Not even close. That message tells you an enemy army is on the way to finish the job. It’s only a matter of time. So what do you do? You’re only 20. The Marines have prepared you for a lot…but this? Your dad, your girlfriend, and your little sister…they’re not ready. How could they be? None of you are. But you only have two choices: Stay—and await the inevitable—or run. Supposedly there’s one safe haven left—ONE—and it’s clear across the country (and an ocean) in Hawaii. But the enemy knows that too. They’ll be lying in wait as you run right at them. That’s your best chance? It can’t be. There has to be a better way. But you know there isn’t. You have to leave behind a mother, your friends, neighbors and families—an entire lifetime. You have to leave behind everything. You have to face off with fear, with the massive devastation, and the force that will be hunting you all the way. This is it… The only way to live is to leave.