Book picks similar to
End of Pride by L.J. Duncan
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Red Rising
Pierce Brown - 2014
"That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them.""I live for you," I say sadly.Eo kisses my cheek. "Then you must live for more."Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations.Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies... even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.
Entanglement
Dan Rix - 2012
Casler Selavio, on the entanglement of halves.In a world like ours, humans are born in pairs. When a newborn boy takes his first breath in the coastal town of Tularosa, the exact time is noted, recorded in the Registry, and later compared to the birth times of other newborns around the globe. There will be one identical match—his half. They will meet on their eighteenth birthday and they will spend their lives together. Except this time, there is no match.Hotheaded heartthrob Aaron Harper is scheduled to meet his half in twenty-nine days, and he doesn’t buy a word of that entanglement crap. So what if he and his half were born the same day and share a spooky psychic connection? Big deal. After breaking one too many teenage girls’ hearts, he’ll stick to brawling with the douchebag rugby players any day.Until the day a new girl arrives at school and threatens everything he takes for granted.Cold and unapproachable, Amber Lilian hates the growing list of similarities between her and the one boy she can’t read, Aaron: born the same day, both stubborn, both terrified of meeting their halves. . . . All the more reason not to trust him. That she would rather die than surrender herself as her half’s property is none of his damn business. But once lost in Aaron’s dangerous, jet black eyes, she’s already surrendered more than she cares to admit.Tangled in each other’s self-destructive lives, Aaron and Amber learn the secret behind their linked births and why they feel like halves—but unless they can prove it before they turn eighteen, Aaron faces a lifetime alone in a world where everyone else has a soul mate . . . and he’ll have to watch Amber give herself to a boy who intends to possess not only her body but also a chunk of her soul.ENTANGLEMENT, a 75,000 word YA thriller, will appeal to readers of Michael Grant's GONE and Ally Condie’s MATCHED.
Ashes
Ilsa J. Bick - 2011
. .An electromagnetic pulse flashes across the sky, destroying every electronic device, wiping out every computerized system, and killing billions.Alex hiked into the woods to say good-bye to her dead parents and her personal demons. Now desperate to find out what happened after the pulse crushes her to the ground, Alex meets up with Tom—a young soldier—and Ellie, a girl whose grandfather was killed by the EMP.For this improvised family and the others who are spared, it’s now a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human.Author Ilsa J. Bick crafts a terrifying and thrilling post-apocalyptic novel about a world that could become ours at any moment, where those left standing must learn what it means not just to survive, but to live amidst the devastation.
The Vault of Dreamers
Caragh M. O'Brien - 2014
For twelve hours a day, every class, conversation, and gesture is broadcast to millions of viewers. And for twelve hours each night, the students undergo an induced sleep, proven to maximize creativity.Rosie Sinclair has staked all her dreams of becoming a filmmaker on succeeding at Forge. But when she skips her sleeping pill one night, she discovers an insidious world behind the cameras. As she navigates the Forge landscape of art and manipulation by day, Rosie finds it increasingly difficult to trust either her instincts or her mind. The only thing she knows for certain is that she must unearth the ghastly secret that the Forge School is hiding.From the author of the Birthmarked Trilogy comes a fast-paced, psychologically thrilling novel about what happens when the dreams you follow are no longer your own.
Displaced
Stephen Drake
something that might cost them all their lives.
Tabula Rasa
Kristen Lippert-Martin - 2014
Maybe I’m here because I’m a murderer.Sarah has a rare chance at a new life. That’s what the doctors tell her. She is undergoing a cutting-edge procedure that will render her a tabula rasa—a blank slate. Her troubled past is being removed memory by memory.But when her final surgery is interrupted and a team of elite soldiers invades the isolated hospital under the cover of a blizzard, their mission is clear: wipe Sarah out of existence.Why would they bother with a teen delinquent unless there’s something more to her past? Something someone doesn’t want to ever see the light of day?Familiar halls become a dangerous maze as Sarah teams up with a computer hacker who’s determined to bring down the hospital for his own reasons. The two try to piece together who she is and why someone wants her erased.And this time she won’t be silenced.
Run from Ruin: A Post-Apocalyptic Zombie Thriller
Allen Kuzara - 2018
But a programming glitch in the final update causes billions of users to experience uncontrollable rage and aggression. Nick, an ordinary high school senior in Fairbanks Alaska, is suddenly thrust into this life or death arena. He and his brother must escape the zombie-like hordes of blood-thirsty maniacs and seek refuge north of the arctic circle. The four-hundred-mile journey tests the boys, their wits, and their trust in each other. They think they’re fighting to stay alive; but little do they know, they’re fighting to save mankind.
Ashfall
Mike Mullin - 2011
Most people don't know it's there. The caldera is so large that it can only be seen from a plane or satellite. It just could be overdue for an eruption, which would change the landscape and climate of our planet.For Alex, being left alone for the weekend means having the freedom to play computer games and hang out with his friends without hassle from his mother. Then the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts, plunging his hometown into a nightmare of darkness, ash, and violence. Alex begins a harrowing trek to search for his family and finds help in Darla, a travel partner he meets along the way. Together they must find the strength and skills to survive and outlast an epic disaster.
Half Way Home
Hugh Howey - 2010
The colony ship they arrived on is aflame. The rest of their contingent is dead. They've only received half their training, and they are being asked to conquer an entire planet. Before they can, however, they must first survive each other. In this gritty tale of youths struggling to survive, Hugh Howey fuses the best of young adult fantasy with the piercing social commentary of speculative fiction. The result is a book that begs to be read in a single sitting. An adventurous romp that will leave readers exhausted and begging for more.
Safe Passage: EMP Survival in a Powerless World
Clay Wise - 2022
When an EMP decimates the United States, Lori, a former Marine Raider, must embark on a treacherous journey with her daughter across the former United States from Pennsylvania to a rumored sanctuary in Washington State.
Broken: Macy's Story
Janice Broyles - 2020
Macy Elmsworth has found herself in a mess. The 18 year old pastor’s daughter got in trouble with the law, nearly died, and in the process, damaged her relationship with her family. She now needs to fulfill community service hours. As a last resort, she moves in with her grandparents, where they need a housekeeper at the small motel they own. Feeling broken and defeated, Macy counts down the days her community service hours are over. Until she meets others at the motel. People a lot like her. People with questionable pasts and bleak futures. As friendships are forged, Macy begins to come out of her shell and help her new friends. It is through these new relationships that she begins to repair the broken relationship with her family. But her past isn’t about to go away, and Macy is going to have to turn to God for the complete restoration she needs.
Origin
Jessica Khoury - 2012
She was raised by a team of scientists who have created her to be the start of a new immortal race. But on the night of her seventeenth birthday, Pia discovers a hole in the electric fence that surrounds her sterile home―and sneaks outside the compound for the first time in her life. Free in the jungle, Pia meets Eio, a boy from a nearby village. Together, they embark on a race against time to discover the truth about Pia's origin―a truth with deadly consequences that will change their lives forever.Origin is a beautifully told, shocking new way to look at an age-old desire: to live forever, no matter the cost.
Callsign - Doubleshot
Jeremy Robinson - 2014
**In 2011, Jeremy Robinson released a series of eight novellas—deemed the 'Chesspocalypse.' Each novella follows a single member of the Chess Team from his Jack Sigler thriller series. The stories take place after the events of Threshold, the third full-length novel in the series, and before the events of Ragnarok, the fourth. The novellas are all co-authored by Jeremy Robinson and one of six other fantastic authors. The Chesspocalypse novellas are designed to introduce readers to the series. If you haven't read the novels, no worries. Enjoy the ride!The stories were released in the following order:Callsign: King–Book 1Callsign: QueenCallsign: RookCallsign: King–Book 2–UnderworldCallsign: BishopCallsign: KnightCallsign: Deep BlueCallsign: King–Book 3–BlackoutThis collection contains the Knight and Deep Blue stories.The three King books were collected in the bestselling Callsign: King–The Brainstorm Trilogy. The Queen, Rook and Bishop stories were collected in the Callsign–Tripleshot collection.CALLSIGN: KNIGHTWhen a team of Delta operators goes missing in Shenhuang, one of China's newly constructed ghost cities, Shin Dae-jung—Callsign: Knight, is called in to assist. But the Osprey transporting him to the scene falls prey to an EMP attack and is forced to crash land atop a parking garage. With a wounded pilot in tow, Knight explores the empty city for signs of life and finds two terrified children, who warn him that something monstrous is stalking the city. When the pilot disappears, leaving a pool of blood and spent bullet casings behind, Knight doesn't doubt their story.As bullets fly and bodies drop, Knight must protect the children, uncover the fate of the missing Delta team and defend against an unstoppable killer, whose ability to regenerate and whose horrible appearance reminds him of something he's faced before—the mythological Hydra. But he's not alone in the surreal abandoned city. A team of SAS soldiers, along with Anna Beck, a former member of Manifold Genetics' private security force, join the fray. Together, they fight—and die—against a nightmare that follows its objective to the end: kill them all.CALLSIGN: DEEP BLUETom Duncan—Callsign: Deep Blue, former Army ranger, former president of the United States and handler of the black ops force known as Chess Team, is visiting the team's new secret headquarters. The underground facility, known as Alpha, once belonged to Manifold Genetics, a corrupt corporation shut down by Chess Team. But despite being abandoned for years, Alpha still hides secrets.Security doors slam shut and lock, sealing Duncan and his assistants inside. As Matt Carrack, the leader of Duncan's security team, attempts to gain access, Duncan discovers they are not alone inside the abandoned facility. High tech intruders have infiltrated the base, their goal unknown. But a far greater threat rises from the subterranean depths beneath Alpha—failed regenerative experiments from the days of Manifold, and they're fast, hostile and hungry.While the security team are beset by ingenious death traps, determined mercenaries and vicious creatures that defy their imaginations, Duncan and his personal bodyguard must battle the growing tide of creatures, stave off the incursion of enemy forces and prevent the violent intruders from releasing the horror currently contained inside Alpha, to an unsuspecting outside world.
Impostors
Scott Westerfeld - 2018
. . but very few people have ever seen them together. This is because Frey is Rafi’s double, raised in the shadows of their rich father’s fortress. While Rafi has been taught to charm, Frey has been taught to kill. Frey only exists to protect her sister. There is no other part of her life. Frey has never been out in the world on her own – until her father sends her in Rafi’s place to act as collateral for a dangerous deal. Everyone thinks she’s her sister – but Col, the son of a rival leader, is starting to get close enough to tell the difference. As the stakes grow higher and higher, Frey must decide whether she can trust him – or anyone in her life.
Slave
Laura Frances - 2016
There is no moon. There is only gray—the smog belched from coal-fueled factories. The Workers silently shuffle to their assigned posts. The Outcasts watch from the alley walls. On every corner, a Watcher stands stone-faced, a rifle in hand. This is the only life that exists. Beyond the mountains is a dream. But dreams are foolish in a place like this. Hannah has spent nineteen years dodging Watchers and doing as she is told. Do not look Watchers in the eye. Don't give them a reason to notice you. But when she wakes to the valley exploding in revolution, Hannah is forced onto a dangerous path, where nothing is what she believed. Suddenly freedom is in her grasp, and the way there requires working with the men she fears most.