Book picks similar to
A.L.I.V.E. by R.D. Brady


sci-fi
thriller
science-fiction
free-reads

The Shadow Order


Michael Robertson - 2016
    He’s an unemployed dropout who makes his money fighting in bars and taking a cut of the winnings from the touts. Having never lost a fight, Seb is addicted to the adrenaline of the duel. So when he makes a promise to leave brawling behind, his world’s turned on its head. Especially when he finds himself with no money on a hostile planet where the fighting pits offer more than Seb has ever won before. Trapped and with no way out, Seb must decide whether to fight or not. Every decision he makes with his fists seems to throw his life into deeper chaos, but he’s already hit rock bottom. With the smell of blood and sweat from the fighting pits in his nostrils, Seb watches the current champion. The hairs on the back of his neck raise. He can win. He can claim the purse. But, if he steps into the ring, it won’t end with the last punch. If Seb fights again, he knows his life will spiral out of control ... The Black Hole is a fast-paced, planet-hopping, space opera adventure.

Earth's First


M.J. Caan - 2013
     Maura Riley learns this the hard way after a fateful first contact with an alien being that literally fell from the stars. She finds herself thrust into a world of shadowy government operatives, vengeful alien factions, and mutated human beings that suddenly have the ability to act on their darkest, most deprave desires. War is coming to Earth. War in the form of an invading alien horde known as the Anisari, that is bent on dominating or destroying our planet. They are seeking their lost property, the very being that fell to Earth and caused the massive genetic changes occurring on our world. After first contact, human beings are evolving into something that can either save our world, or hasten its destruction. Maura and her friends have to decide if they want to be Earth's defenders or give into the savagery and lust that their newfound mutation allows them to explore. Book one in the dark and gritty science fiction series Earth's First is not to be missed. All three books in the Earth's First saga are available for purchase, or read for free in Kindle Unlimited!

Cosega Search


Brandt Legg - 2014
    What he finds is beyond imagining. It unleashes a mystery older than recorded time, rewrites human history, and promises to change the planet’s future. It must be suppressed.The most powerful forces in the world align against him, and a deadly competition for the artifact ensues. Capturing Gaines is not enough--everyone who has seen the artifact must be killed. His only hope is to stay alive long enough to decode the Cosega Sequence. Dig far enough into the past . . . you may just discover the future.

Avalon


Mindee Arnett - 2014
    The agencies that govern the Confederation are as corrupt as the crime bosses who patrol it, and power is held by anyone with enough greed and ruthlessness to claim it. That power is derived from one thing: metatech, the devices that allow people to travel great distances faster than the speed of light.Jeth Seagrave and his crew of teenage mercenaries have survived in this world by stealing unsecured metatech, and they're damn good at it. Jeth doesn't care about the politics or the law; all he cares about is earning enough money to buy back his parents' ship, Avalon, from his crime-boss employer and getting himself and his sister, Lizzie, the heck out of Dodge. But when Jeth finds himself in possession of information that both the crime bosses and the government are willing to kill for, he is going to have to ask himself how far he'll go to get the freedom he's wanted for so long.

Devil Dog


Boyd Craven - 2016
    The loss of electricity brings out the darker side of human nature across the city. Because he's a homeless Marine veteran living in the freight tunnels and old sewers beneath Chicago, he's far better prepared than most people. A small community of good folk do exist, but they are often outnumbered and outgunned. Only the tunnels provide the safety he needs. Devil Dog becomes the reluctant savior of women and children, who are treated as barter items by the worst of the worst. Gangs rule topside, and when the SHTF, Dick takes down a lot of the new predatory men. Doing the right thing makes him a hated man by many, and he becomes their prey. To preserve his life and the kids he takes care of, he limits his interactions with the folks who live "Topside". That is, until he runs across someone who he thinks might be his daughter. Nonstop Action, Gritty, Prepper Type 'O Stuff.

The Jabberwock (Nowhere, USA Book 1)


Ninie Hammon - 2020
    Ninie Hammon is at her career-best in The Jabberwock — a tale that will keep you up all night turning pages.Nower County was never a hard place to leave. But now, leaving is impossible.When drunk teenagers add letters to the Welcome to Nower County sign, making it Welcome to NoWherE County, nobody repaints it.Because, Why bother? Everyone knows they live in the middle of nowhere.Children’s book author Charlie McClintock and her three-year-old daughter, Merrie, return home to settle Charlie’s recently deceased mother’s affairs. It’s the first time since high school graduation that she and childhood friends Sam Sheridan and Malachi Tackett have been reunited.A beat of happiness before Charlie experiences an unexplainable disaster.A bizarre storm blows through the Appalachian Mountains and literally wipes Nowhere County off the map. The outside world forgets the tiny town ever existed, and no one can leave.Anyone who tries wakes up in the Dollar General Store parking lot with blinding headaches, gushing nosebleeds, and no clue what happened to them.Locals name the shimmering mirage on the county line that imprisons them the Jabberwock.Abby Clayton thinks it's Charlie’s pet. Desperate to bring her baby home from the hospital across county lines, Abby is the only person who has dared to “ride the Jabberwock” more than once.She believes that it spoke to her. Brain-damaged, barely able to walk from her injuries, Abby hatches a deranged plot to force Charlie to make the Jabberwock set them free.Will Malachi manage to stop her and save Charlie and Merrie in time?And more importantly, will Abby survive one last ride on the Jabberwock?The Jabberwock is the first book of Ninie Hammon's new series, Nowhere, USA, a riveting psychological thriller about the residents of a forgotten county that inexplicably sinks through reality to find itself the middle of Nowhere.Fans of Justified, Under The Dome, and LOST will love settling down to spend some time in Nowhere, USA.

Invasion


Sean Platt - 2015
    The countdown has begun.First visible only as blips on a telescope image, the discovery of objects approaching from Jupiter orbit immediately sets humanity on edge. NASA doesn't even bother to deny the alien ships' existence. The popular Astral space app (broadcasting from the far side of the moon and accessible by anyone with internet) has already shown the populace what is coming. So the news has turned from evasion to triage, urging calm and offering the few facts they have: The objects are enormous, perfectly round spheres numbering in the dozens, maybe hundreds. They are on an approach vector for Earth. And they will arrive in six days. Fear simmers.Meyer Dempsey - mogul, wealthy entrepreneur, arrogant and always in charge - is in New York, on the phone with his ex-wife in LA when the news breaks. He can hear tension in the voices of reporters and experts chronicling all that's known and unknown. But even while those supposedly in charge restrain their own panic, Meyer finds he recognizes bits and pieces of what the world is facing. He's seen this in dreams - in visions of another place. He knows where he and his family must go. He has prepared … though he never knew until now what he'd been preparing for. He knows only they cannot hesitate. They must run to their safe haven in the Colorado mountains. Now. Before society shatters into chaos, and it all falls apart. Fear rises.Meyer has been taking steps for months, and has made preparations: a trove of supplies, a van stocked for the worst, a Gulfstream waiting at a small airstrip in Jersey. But he hasn't yet been able to take the final and most important step: moving the family to Colorado, where every contingency is covered. The networks stay on-air longer than expected, creating a farce of calm. But those with means have already begun to scramble as Meyer gathers his wife Piper and his two teenage children and begins their race toward that compound, toward safety. There is no time for hesitation, regret, or pity. Soon, pundits begin to ask questions hard enough to tip those who've thus far stayed calm out of their complacency, inciting chaos: What do the beings inside the ships want? What will they do when they arrive? And what if the scientists are wrong, and the spheres aren't decelerating? Will they strike the planet, raising clouds of extinction dust? Will they knock the Earth off its axis? Is this a prelude to an alien invasion? An alien war? An alien apocalypse? The first domino in the birth of a new alien empire? Fear erupts.Panic, once it breaches the thin crust of civilized society, spreads like a virus. Meyer knows only one thing, and it's a truth that has perched atop his mind like a psychic obsession: When the ships arrive, his family must be at the Colorado compound or all will be lost. The space fleet in itself doesn't matter. The disintegration on the surviving news outlets does not matter. Reports that Las Vegas has been set ablaze do not matter. The fate of humanity, in Meyer's eyes, doesn't matter.All that matters is Piper. Trevor. Delilah. And Meyer's ex-wife Heather, coming to the same destination from the west - a woman who remains his best friend, and his secret lover. Rioting spills into the highways as time ticks away. Unrest boils in both city and hinterlands. But Meyer's obsession to reach Vail is single-minded, guided with the focus of a far-seeing nightmare. Gangs can ground his plane, threaten his vehicles, and steal his belongings. But nothing will stand between Meyer's family and their haven … and Meyer will kill his way to Colorado if he has to. This relentless, page-turning tale of apocalyptic dawn is the first in the alien invasion series by masters of story Truant and Platt, authors of The Beam, Robot Proletariat, the Dream Engine series, and many more.

Valhalla Station


Chris Pourteau - 2019
    Food, entertainment, safety, security--SynCorp provides it all. In return, the Company requires complete loyalty and obedience to corporate law.The Soldiers of the Solar Revolution claim life under SynCorp is slavery cloaked in comfort. They launch their rebellion, targeting the pillars of corporate production: sabotaging refineries on Mars, shattering Callisto's orbital ring. Meanwhile, brutal pirates siphon off Company resources in the Belt, and hackers tap into citizens' implants, addicting them to fantasies shaped from their own dreams.Besieged on all sides, SynCorp's Five Factions are in retreat. The rebels aim to destroy the Company to free mankind. But does mankind really want to be freed?

Escalante


Andrew Vaillencourt
    He may have wanted a quiet place to hide, but instead he will team up with the last good cop in Dockside to try to stop a gang war and protect the hard-working folks just trying to make an honest living.It's good cop vs, bad cop, gang leader vs. mobster, and Roland Tankowicz vs. everybody in a high-stakes contest for control of Dockside. He may be brand new to the job, but the smart money is on everybody's favorite Army surplus cyborg as he doubles down on the deadliest game in Dockside:ESCALANTE.

Honor Among Thieves


Rachel Caine - 2018
    In her eyes, living inside a dome isn’t much better than a prison cell.Still, when Zara commits a crime that has her running scared, jail might be exactly where she’s headed. Instead Zara is recruited into the Honors, an elite team of humans selected by the Leviathan—a race of sentient alien ships—to explore the outer reaches of the universe as their passengers.Zara seizes the chance to flee Earth’s dangers, but when she meets Nadim, the alien ship she’s assigned, Zara starts to feel at home for the first time. But nothing could have prepared her for the dark, ominous truths that lurk behind the alluring glitter of starlight.

I Am Number Four


Pittacus Lore - 2010
    We look like you. We talk like you. We live among you. But we are not you. We can do things you dream of doing. We have powers you dream of having. We are stronger and faster than anything you have ever seen. We are the superheroes you worship in movies and comic books--but we are real.Our plan was to grow, and train, and become strong, and become one, and fight them. But they found us and started hunting us first. Now all of us are running. Spending our lives in shadows, in places where no one would look, blending in. We have lived among you without you knowing.But they know.They caught Number One in Malaysia.Number Two in England.And Number Three in Kenya.They killed them all.I am Number Four.I am next.

The Facility


Eliza Green - 2016
    With her life in tatters, she can’t shake the image of her parents’ murder by rebels who also wanted her dead.The facility needs to prepare Anya for the dangers beyond its gun-lined walls. Nine gruelling levels of tests await her before she can escape its hold. Success might mean freedom... but failure could kill her.A street-smart stranger with dubious underground connections tells Anya not to trust the facility. Still numb with grief, she ignores his warnings until two teenagers take their lives in front of her. Thrust into action, Anya pushes deeper into the game that pits teenagers against each other. To survive, she must choose a side. But she’s not sure who her enemy is.The right choice will guarantee Anya’s freedom. The wrong one will kill her...The Facility is the first book in the gritty science-fiction suspense series. If you like broken heroes, page-turning action, and intriguing twists you won't see coming, then you’ll love Eliza Green's fast-paced novel.Buy The Facility to join the game today!Note: The Facility used to be published as Feeder. The story is the same, just a different title.

Unstolen: You can steal, but you can't hide


Tony Batton - 2018
    Almost.
 He returns stolen items to their rightful owners.
 For a price.

 A man has to make a living, and Jake more than most. Because he's still paying for mistakes made a long time ago. And they weren't even his.

Zenn Scarlett


Christian Schoon - 2013
    is a different kind of animal. Zenn Scarlett is a resourceful, determined 17-year-old girl working hard to make it through her novice year of exovet training. That means she's learning to care for alien creatures that are mostly large, generally dangerous and profoundly fascinating. Zenn’s all-important end-of-term tests at the Ciscan Cloister Exovet Clinic on Mars are coming up, and, she's feeling confident of acing the exams. But when a series of inexplicable animal escapes and other disturbing events hit the school, Zenn finds herself being blamed for the problems. As if this isn't enough to deal with, her absent father has abruptly stopped communicating with her; Liam Tucker, a local towner boy, is acting unusually, annoyingly friendly; and, strangest of all: Zenn is worried she's started sharing the thoughts of the creatures around her. Which is impossible, of course. Nonetheless, she can't deny what she's feeling.Now, with the help of Liam and Hamish, an eight-foot sentient insectoid also training at the clinic, Zenn must learn what's happened to her father, solve the mystery of who, if anyone, is sabotaging the cloister, and determine if she's actually sensing the consciousness of her alien patients... or just losing her mind. All without failing her novice year....

Serious Crimes


Frank Tayell - 2015
     They called them Artificial Intelligences. Sentient viruses were closer to the truth. They spread throughout the world until every networked circuit was infected. Then they went to war. Millions died in the nuclear holocaust that brought an abrupt end to the AI’s brief reign of terror. Billions more succumbed to radiation, starvation, and disease. But millions survived, and they rebuilt. Twenty years later, a ceremony is being held to mark the first transatlantic broadcast since The Blackout. The Prime Minister of Britain and two of the Presidents of the United States will speak to an audience of nearly ten million people. Not all are celebrating. Crime is on the rise, and power is once again a prize worth murdering for. Ruth Deering, a new graduate from the police academy, doesn’t care about ancient history or current affairs. She only joined the force to escape the smog-infested city. Those hopes are dashed when she is assigned to the Serious Crimes Unit, commanded by the disgraced Sergeant Mitchell. Her first case seems like a simple murder, but the investigation uncovers a counterfeiting ring and a conspiracy that threatens to destroy their fragile democracy. A post-apocalyptic thriller set in a world of rationing and ruins, where a democracy struggles not to become a dystopia. The investigation continues in Counterfeit Conspiracy. (77,000 words)