Book picks similar to
Being Full of Light, Insubstantial by Linda D. Addison
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gothic-horror
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This Body's Not Big Enough for Both of Us
Edgar Cantero - 2018
Kimrean and Z. Kimrean. Private Eyes. Behind the door there is only one desk, one chair, one scrawny androgynous P.I. in a tank top and skimpy waistcoat. A.Z., as they are collectively known, are twin brother and sister. He's pure misanthropic logic, she's wild hedonistic creativity. A.Z. have been locked in mortal battle since they were in utero...which is tricky because they, very literally, share one single body. That's right. One body, two pilots. The mystery and absurdity of how Kimrean functions, and how they subvert every plotline, twist, explosion, and gunshot--and confuse every cop, neckless thug, cartel boss, ninja, and femme fatale--in the book is pure Cantero magic.Someone is murdering the sons of the ruthless drug cartel boss known as the Lyon in the biggest baddest town in California--San Carnal. The notorious A.Z. Kimrean must go to the sin-soaked, palm-tree-lined streets of San Carnal, infiltrate the Lyon's inner circle, and find out who is targeting his heirs, and while they are at it, rescue an undercover cop in too deep, deal with a plucky young stowaway, and stop a major gang war from engulfing California. They'll face every plot device and break every rule Elmore Leonard wrote before they can crack the case, if they don't kill each other (themselves) first.This Body's Not Big Enough for Both of Us is a mind-blowing, gender-bending, genre-smashing romp through the entire pantheon of action and noir. It is also a bold, tautly crafted novel about family, being weird, and claiming your place in your own crazy story, that can only come from the mind of Edgar Cantero.
Violent Graduation
John Hindmarsh - 2021
The risk to his friends at the academy is the hidden price. His challenge is how to balance the risks.The final stage of his training is a shakedown cruise on an old minesweeper, barely able to achieve FTL entry and exit.Midway through their cruise, the minesweeper collides with an ancient alien wreck, ripping the sides off the starship. Jack’s team of bots help seal the combined wreck to prevent air loss. Ghost, a nanolife form from the alien wreck, provides assistance.Jack and his girlfriend, Sofia, are the only survivors, and air, food, and supplies are critical.The countdown of days to survive is ticking.No wonder the Royal Family are angry.And there’s still a price on Jack’s head.
Instinct: A Novel
Jason M. Hough - 2021
Welcome to Silvertown. Population: 602 (for now). Officer Mary Whittaker has yet to be fully welcomed by the residents of this tiny, quirky mountain town which seems to be home to more conspiracy theories than any other place in America. But with the chief of police on leave, she is left alone to confront a series of abnormal incidents—strange even by Silvertown standards. A teenager dies tragically after eating obviously poisonous mushrooms from his lawn. A hiker found dead on a trail, smiling serenely after being mauled by a bear. A normally doting mother leaving her toddler twins behind without noticing. Other residents seem to have lost all sense of self-preservation as they walk out in front of Mary’s moving cruiser or sit placidly in the middle of a sharp bend in a mountain road. It’s almost as if the townsfolk are losing their survival instincts, one by one. As she digs deeper into her investigation and uncovers a larger conspiracy lurking below the surface of Silvertown, Officer Whittaker finds herself on the brink of falling prey to whatever has possessed the town and she must distinguish the truth from paranoia-fueled lies before she ends up losing her own instincts…and her life.
Bone Quarry
K.D. McNiven - 2019
Dive leader, Megan Gerhart and her team discover what appears to be an underwater graveyard, heaped with bones…human bones! When they call in paleontologist Rourke Wolf to investigate their chilling findings, the team is thrown into a spine-tingling adventure that could cost them their lives, both in and out of the water. Faced with death-defying odds, they must confront dinosaurs believed to be extinct for 8 million years … Does the team have the grit to escape this terrifying encounter alive, when the odds are not in their favor?
American Elsewhere
Robert Jackson Bennett - 2013
Under a pink moon, there is a perfect little town not found on any map. In that town, there are quiet streets lined with pretty houses, houses that conceal the strangest things. After a couple years of hard traveling, ex-cop Mona Bright inherits her long-dead mother's home in Wink, New Mexico. And the closer Mona gets to her mother's past, the more she understands that the people of Wink are very, very different ...From one of our most talented and original new literary voices comes the next great American supernatural novel: a work that explores the dark dimensions of the hometowns and the neighbors we thought we knew.
Kellie's Diary #1
Thomas Jenner - 2013
When the world crumbles and the dead walk, Kellie struggles to survive and find her way home, all the while sharing her tale with her diary.This is an account of our hypothetical past, present and future.
Loup-Garou: The Beast of Harmony Falls
David Reuben - 2014
Helens wilderness is being haunted by a killer. Hikers, loggers, and local residents are dying in horrible, mysterious ways, and lawmen Bud O'Brien and Charlie Redtail are forced to think it just might be a monster ... maybe Bigfoot itself. Enter Cryptozoologist Dr. Ian McDermott, Ph.D., who struggles with his own personal demons as he uncovers the impossible and ugly truth behind it all - an evil more malevolent than anyone ever imagined. Loup-Garou is the first in the Ian McDermott, Paranormal Investigator series. Atmospheric, often beautiful, and always intensely scary investigations into what we were told as children were only myths and legends. The hunt is on.
Alien Warrior's Treasure
Sue Mercury - 2021
Instead, he heals her wounds and promises not to hurt her, and his gentle but protective demeanor wins her over. But when he eventually turns cold and pushes her away, she’s left confused and heartbroken. Determined to make a life for herself on planet New Vaxx, she visits Vaxxlian Matchmakers—only to receive shocking news about the identity of her soul mate.Gavvin is an outcast among his people, and he has no plans to take a bride. But his self-control is tested when he comes across Molly, a human woman in distress. She’s the sweetest, most beautiful female he’s ever met, and her enticing scent calls up long-buried primal needs. Pushing her away is the hardest thing he’s ever done, but it’s for the best. How could any female find happiness mated to an outcast like him? But when Molly’s life is threatened, he’ll risk everything to save the sweet human who’s stolen his heart.
The Madman’s Daughter
Megan Shepherd - 2013
After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father’s gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.Accompanied by her father’s handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward — both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father’s madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island’s inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father’s genius—and madness—in her own blood.Inspired by H. G. Wells’s classic The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Madman’s Daughter is a dark and breathless Gothic thriller about the secrets we’ll do anything to know and the truths we’ll go to any lengths to protect.
The Earthling's Brother
Earik Beann - 2020
In fact, he’s never met another human—or seen a sunrise, smelled a flower, or eaten a regular meal. All of that is about to change.It’s night in the desert, but he doesn’t feel the cold. The sky is clear, and the stars twinkle at him. He has never seen the sky from Earth before. Everything looks so strange. So . . . alien. He shakes his head in wonderment and laughs. He can’t stop smiling. This is Earth!There is a building ahead. Other people will be inside. His heart skips a beat as he takes a step forward, the rocks crunching under his bare feet. He has dreamed of this moment for as long as he can remember.But that which can be found can just as easily be lost again. It would have been better had Sam’s arrival gone unnoticed. But the artificial life form known only as the Authority is not one to miss such things. Nearly as old as time, and almost as powerful, the Authority was built by an ancient civilization as both an enforcer and a war machine, the destroyer of worlds. It has been watching Sam his entire life. Watching, and waiting, and judging. And now, it has decided that it’s time to act.
Dark Matter
S.W. Ahmed - 2008
But what if it actually is nothing more than ordinary matter purposely hidden from our view? What if we are only allowed to see a small fraction of the stars in our galaxy, because the vast majority of star systems are teeming with aliens who wish to remain unseen? Marc Zemin, a brilliant student of astrophysics, is the first human to ever stumble upon this startling secret, when his experiments with wormhole travel cause aliens to land on Earth and whisk him away into space. To his astonishment, the aliens want his help in fighting a colossal galactic war that is rapidly spiraling out of control. But as he struggles to survive from battle to battle across the farthest reaches of the galaxy, he begins to uncover a horrifying conspiracy at play, striving to keep the warring civilizations in continuous conflict with each other. A desperate race against time ensues, as he and a handful of newfound alien friends try to stop the war and confront this mysterious, powerful force bent on destroying all life in the galaxy. But any hope of their success surprisingly appears to hinge on just one thing - whether or not Marc has the strength to overcome his own demons and face the shattering truth about who he really is. "A sci-fi debut that shows great potential." - Kirkus Discoveries
Sapience: A Collection of Science Fiction Short Stories
Alexis Lantgen - 2019
In the near future, humanity builds a colony on Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter. They tunnel into the ice to explore the dark oceans beneath the moon's surface, searching for signs of extraterrestrial life. What they find will change them forever, setting humanity on a path to the stars. But the old conflicts and hatreds of Earth are not so easily escaped. Will human colonists on distant planets and moons create a paradise or a horrifying dystopia?
Awakening: Book One of the Ragnarok Rising Saga
D.A. Roberts - 2012
Reports of rioting and mob violence begin to appear in the news as more and more major cities go silent. The CDC and FEMA are powerless to stop the spread of the deadly “Reaper Virus.” Rumors fly about the nature of the “rioters”, claiming that the dead have risen to prey on the living. In the Midwest City of Springfield Missouri, all Law Enforcement Officers are called to report for duty. Corrections Officer Wylie Grant is sent into the field only to discover for himself that they are facing the living dead. Wylie and National Guard Corporal Chrissy “Spec-4” Wilder must fight their way back to the Nathanael County Jail where the few remaining officers are attempting to regroup. Soon, they find themselves leading the rescue efforts as more and more positions are overrun by the dead. Darkness is Awakening.
Plague
Max Hawthorne - 2016
“Holy --- Steve, the Taser’s not stopping him!” “It has to! Nobody can take that. Hit him again!” “Look out! Here he comes!” Ron charged again, powering his way past the jolts of pain. He smashed into the nearest intruder with bone-jarring force, grappling with him, tearing at him. The struggle intensified as the two rolled around on the alley’s blood-soaked cobblestones. The second creature joined in the battle, striking at his head with a hard stick in an effort to aid his comrade. Ron laughed. The intruders were pathetically weak. He could sense it. He snatched the light from the closer one and backhanded him across the face with it, sending him sprawling. Then he turned toward the other one. He was stumbling backward, clawing at his hip, and obviously terrified. Amused, Ron turned away and focused on the one on the ground. He took a deep whiff, smelling the hot blood that ran in rivulets from the downed newcomer’s brow, and listened to the jackhammer beating of his heart. More food. THE DEADLIEST KILLERS ARE THE ONES YOU CAN'T SEE. Three weeks have passed since the monstrous Kronosaurus imperator’s attack on Harcourt Marina stunned the world. The death toll was horrific, but Paradise Cove’s traumatized survivors soon discover they have more to worry about than just burying their dead and rebuilding their shattered lives. Accompanying the pliosaur were hordes of primeval pathogens. With their host destroyed, the Cretaceous-era bacteria are forced to find new homes for themselves. They do: tiny, bipedal life forms whose warm, iron-rich blood provides perfect growing conditions. They begin to multiply and spread, their mutagenic qualities quickly warping their unwitting host’s delicate bodies and minds. Soon, the infected are transformed into mindless beasts, consumed with a burning hunger for flesh. And like all ravening beasts, they must feed . . .