Book picks similar to
Locked Within by Paul Anthony Shortt
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Mako (The Mako Saga #1)
Ian J. Malone - 2013
All of that changes, though, when Lee leads a team of old friends to virtual glory as the first-ever group to beat Mako Assault, a revolutionary new game that has emerged from nowhere to take the Internet by storm. As a reward for their achievement, the group is flown to meet the game’s mysterious designer and assist in developing the follow-on game Mako 2.0. But what they find when they get there is more than they’d expected…much more. Mako’s intent was never to entertain its players. It was to train them.An epic sci-fi thrill-ride of action, suspense, laughter, and romance, Mako is the story of five ordinary people who will have to rise to the challenge of extraordinary events, driven only by their faith in each other. If they can’t, the game will become very real to more than just themselves—the Earth itself may ultimately be at stake.
Vigil: Vampire Apocalypse
Craig Saunders - 2012
The age of the vampire has begun.Few survived the fall of man. Those who remain to witness the darkening of the world live by the gun or live in fear. There is no middle ground.The cities lay in ruin after the last war and vampires have inherited the blasted remnants. And yet some will not cower in the night. They fight because there is nothing left to them. They fight without hope of peace or victory. In a war with no end, in a land without succour, what chance do the survivors have? The war was lost as soon as it was begun. But there is still the past...and perhaps, a future.And through it all, one man stands vigil.***contains bonus material***Sneak previews of Richard Rhys Jones' Division of the Damned and A Stranger's Grave, from Craig Saunders.About the Author:Craig Saunders lives in Norfolk, England, with his wife and three children, who he pretends to listen to while making up stories in his head.He has published more than two dozen short stories, and is the author of many novels including Rain (Twisted Library Press), Spiggot (Grand Mal Press), and forthcoming, The Love of the Dead (Evil Jester Press) and A Stranger's Grave (Grand Mal Press).
Taken by Love
Melissa Foster - 2014
Now a physician on the brink of a promising career, she reluctantly returns home when her father is injured in a farming accident. Daisy expects the small-town girls who hurt her in the past to take cheap shots again--but she's completely unprepared for a run-in with tall, dark, and wickedly sexy Luke Braden, the only man who has ever stood up for her--and the man she's never forgotten.Luke Braden is handsome, wealthy, and the best damn gypsy horse breeder in the Midwest. After a restless youth, he's finally ready to settle down--only connecting with women is nothing like connecting with horses, and he's never met a woman worth the energy. After an arrest in a neighboring town, Luke's past comes back to haunt him, and he realizes that his inability to find love runs deeper than he ever imagined.A chance encounter sweeps Luke and Daisy into a world of passion. For the first time ever, Luke feels a connection, but Daisy's life in Trusty is anything but permanent, and Luke can't manage a future until he puts his past to rest.**CONTENT WARNING: Due to mature content, recommended for readers aged 18+.**
Broken Symmetry
Dan Rix - 2013
To her, a mirror feels like a film of honey. She can reach through it, grab things…even step inside.On the other side she lives every teenager’s fantasy: a universe all her own, zero consequences. She can kiss the hot guy, break into La Jolla mansions, steal things…even kill. When finished, she just steps back into reality and smashes the mirror—and in an instant erases every stupid thing she did. Gone. It never happened.But breaking symmetry is also dangerous. First there’s the drug-like rush she gets when passing through the glass, like a shot of adrenaline. She suspects it’s degrading her body, making a new copy of her each time. A reflection of a reflection, each one a little hazier. Then, of course, there’s the risk of getting cut off from reality.When she narrowly escapes a military quarantine zone with the San Diego Police Department hot on her heels only to discover her escape mirror littering the floor in shards, her worst fear is realized. Now, trapped in a broken reflection, she must flee through a mind-bending maze of mirrors, going deeper into the nightmare as she struggles to grasp a betrayal, uncover the chilling truth about her ability, and somehow find a way out of a dead-end universe that “never happened.”Somehow, she must find a way home.
Underground
Chris Ward - 2012
Now it is their only chance for survival... Britain in 2075 is a dangerous place. A man known only as the Governor rules the country with an iron hand, but within the towering perimeter walls of London Greater Urban Area anarchy spreads unchecked through the streets. In the abandoned London Underground station of St. Cannerwells, a group of misfits calling themselves the Tube Riders seek to forget the chaos by playing a dangerous game with trains. Marta is their leader, a girl haunted by her brother's disappearance. Of the others, Paul lives only to protect his little brother Owen, while Simon is trying to hold on to his relationship with Jess, daughter of a government official. Guarding them all is Switch, a man with a flickering eye and a faster knife, who cares only about preserving the legacy of the Tube Riders. Together, they are family. Everything changes the day they are attacked by a rival gang. While escaping, they witness an event that could bring war down on Mega Britain. Suddenly they are fleeing for their lives, pursued not only by their rivals, but by the brutal Department of Civil Affairs, government killing machines known as Huntsmen, and finally by the inhuman Governor himself.
Vita Aeterna
Jay Allan Storey - 2018
Appraisal is supposed to be a routine right of passage. But no scenario he's ever heard of has prepared Alex for his own experience - abducted, imprisoned, and subjected to brutal medical experiments in a high-tech lab.He escapes and goes on the run, a heartbeat ahead of a ruthless army led by the most powerful man in the world. When he finally pieces together the clues behind his kidnapping, they lead to a treacherous plot that only he can derail.But to succeed, he must penetrate the First Circle, the forbidden abode of the ruling class.
Maiden (Sarah's Story)
Deborah Hainley Bonnar - 2011
When in Egypt with Caesar's army, Silvanus accepted the invitation of Sekhmet's priests to become a vampire and, if he has a single regret all these centuries later, it is only that everything that once so fascinated him is beginning to bore.13-year-old Sarah, brimming with raw ability but completely ignorant of her capabilities, casts a summoning spell to bring Silvanus to her aid against the supernatural creature living in her home and devouring her essence. The young woman fully expects to die at the hands of the vampire but hopes to convince him to first destroy the creature, thereby saving her family.When the arrogant Silvanus realizes that he has been "whistled up like a dog" by a mere child, he fully intends to rip out Sarah's heart for the transgression. Instead, he finds himself captivated by her intelligence, curiosity, courage, and exuberance. Her brilliant aura, keen mind and complete lack of sophistication appeal to him like a breath of fresh air and he decides to help her.
Solomon Bull: When the Friction has its Machine
Clayton Lindemuth - 2017
You’ll find all the “thrilling… visceral… unsparing…” prose that earned his debut Cold Quiet Country the coveted starred review from Publishers Weekly. Blackfoot Indian Solomon Bull is the son of a rebel who died in the seventies fighting for the American Indian Movement. He trains for an Arizona race called Desert Dog, run through cactus beds, aqueducts, up sheer rock walls and through clouds of Africanized killer bees. The race will tell Solomon whether he’s a mere man, or heir to his murdered father’s revolution. Solomon tries to focus on Desert Dog. Ex-mercenary Cal Barrett designed the race to shred people, and rumor is he recruits winners into a clandestine paramilitary outfit. But on a whim Solomon bets his roommate he can cost dirty Senator Clyman ten points in his reelection bid. After antics involving spray paint and a highway billboard, the senator’s security chief suddenly shows up everywhere Solomon is… Then Rachel, hailing from the Treasury’s office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, introduces herself by soaping Solomon in the shower after a long run. She’ll do anything to get Solomon to infiltrate Cal Barrett’s clandestine organization. Something big is going down soon, she promises. Senator Clyman’s security man attacks. Rachel hounds. Solomon’s picked a bigger fight than intended. But now his roommate introduces Amanda, a prostitute who looks like an angel but for the boots and cigarette burns all over her back. She tells a story about Senator Clyman and an innocent Navajo boy that frames Solomon’s identity question in stark terms. Will Solomon turn his back on the victims of true evil? Will he become a cog in the machine his father died fighting? Solomon Bull is a young man learning why men exist. It’s about love, sacrifice, and a Native American on the pendulum between assimilation and war.
Article V
Richard Rudomanski - 2014
The United States is braced for a potential government shutdown and a US default on its debt. Washington is at the height of political dysfunction. Renowned Harvard professor, Winston Bernard Huntster II, has just aired a controversial documentary on the History Channel. To the mass of American viewers, it is an eerily striking comparison to the egocentric arrogance of the political landscape of present day. It is, to the millions of Americans tuned in, the fuel that would fire a movement to stop the reckless abuses in Washington D.C. Now, the man behind the firestorm is found dead in Boston Common from a gunshot wound to the head. His death has outraged an angry nation and incited its citizens to take to the streets. They will soon learn there is but one weapon that can crack the stronghold on Capitol Hill—the power of Article V. Show more Show less
The Shopkeep: A Morbid Tale (The Morbid Tales, #1)
Zachery Miller - 2017
They’re just there for a steal and a quick buck, but what they don’t realize is that they’ve come for a whole different reason: the Devil’s Shopkeep awaits.
Seven Point Eight: The First Chronicle
Marie Harbon - 2011
If you had special abilities to travel out of body, where would you go? What would secret organisations do with these abilities? And how far could you go?A physicist begins a quest to measure the soul but soon finds himself drawn into the world of the enigmatic Max Richardson, where research is sold to the military at the highest bid. However, he soon discovers another purpose when an extremely talented young psychic enters his life. He devises a project and builds a team to stretch the frontiers of exploration, only to make a reality-shattering discovery...Written in the style of a TV series, Seven Point Eight draws together psychic powers, alternate dimensions, time travel, past lives, ancient wisdom, quantum physics, drama, romance, and conspiracy in a soap opera for the soul.It's the ideal read for lovers of science fiction, fantasy, the paranormal, big sweeping epics, 'Lost', 'Fringe', 'Touch' and Dan Brown books.'Marie Harbon has created a story with a wealth of multi-dimensional characters, enthralling action and the desire for answers... The charming and yet no-nonsense Max Richardson will make you want him and hate him in the same breath.'Best Chick Lit.com*'The author says that Seven Point Eight has a structure like a TV show - and I can see this... the kind of sweeping show - Game of Thrones perhaps - which has several ongoing plot arcs... this device works well.'thebookbag.co.uk*
Ensnared: Star
Rebecca Rivard - 2016
BAD.
"During that month, you will be completely mine. You will live in my home, obey me in all things. Cater to me only."His mouth was against my throat. I felt the scrape of fangs. My head swam with a mixture of fear and excitement."Is that clear?"
Welcome to the shadow world of Blood Courtesans.Where vampires are real, and one wants me--bad.
I'm working as a cocktail waitress in a shady club when my boss accuses me of stealing a hundred thousand dollars. There's no way I can pay him back. But if I don't, I'm dead.Then billionaire French vampire Remy de la Lune steps up to pay off my debt. Now I owe him instead--one of the oldest and most powerful vampires in the world.Become my blood courtesan, Remy says. One month, and then I'm free. He'll even pay me a bonus--if I satisfy him.What can I do? I sign the contract.Now I'm Remy's for one month. Ensnared by a dark vampire count.My body and my blood are his. I just have to be careful he doesn't steal my heart as well.The Vampire Blood Courtesans.It's not supposed to be about love... until it is.
Balance
M.R. Forbes - 2013
Once upon a time I was a twenty-three year old security guard, trying to regain my life after spending a year in prison for stealing people's credit card numbers. Now, I'm dead.Okay, I was supposed to be dead. I got killed after all; but a funny thing happened after I had turned the mortal coil...I met Dante Alighieri - yeah, that Dante. He told me I was special, a diuscrucis. That's what they call a perfect balance of human, demon, and angel. Apparently, I'm the only one of my kind. I also learned that there was a war raging on Earth between Heaven and Hell, and that I was the only one who could save the human race from annihilation. Dante asked me to help, and I was naive enough to agree.Sounds crazy, I know, but he wished me luck and sent me back to the mortal world. Oh yeah, he also gave me instructions on how to use my Divine 'magic' to bend the universe to my will. The problem is, a sexy vampire crushed them while I was crushing on her.Now I have to somehow find my own way to stay alive in a world of angels, vampires, werewolves, demons and humans that all want to kill me before I can mess up their plans for humanity's future. If that isn't enough, I also have to find the queen of all demons and recover the Holy Grail.It's not like it's the end of the world if I fail.Wait. It is.