Book picks similar to
The Wastelanders by Tim Hemlin


cli-fi
dystopian
science-fiction
scifi

After the Cure


Deirdre Gould - 2013
    The Infected were driven mad by the disease, becoming violent and cannibalistic, killing even those closest to them without hesitation. Six years ago, the tiny surviving community of Immune humans found a cure, and the Infected began to wake up and realize what they'd done. And what had been done to them. Over time, society began to rebuild itself. Now it is ready to judge those responsible for the Plague. Nella Rider, the court psychologist and Frank Courtlen a defense attorney are trying to establish the truth. But more depends on it than they know. They race to find the answers they need before the fragile remains of humanity vanish for good. The After the Cure Series: Book 1: After the Cure Book 2: The Cured Book 3: Krisis Book 4: Poveglia releases July 21, 2015 Book 5: The 40th Day coming Fall 2015

City of Savages


Lee Kelly - 2015
    For Skyler Miller, Manhattan is a cage that keeps her from the world beyond the city’s borders. But for Sky’s younger sister, Phee, the Central Park POW camp is the only home she’d ever want.When strangers arrive in the park, carrying a shocking message, Sky and Phee discover there’s more to Manhattan—and their family—than either of them had imagined. As disturbing secrets about the island begin to surface, Sky and Phee have no choice but to break the rules to uncover the full truth of their long-shrouded history. When their search for answers erupts into violence, the girls must flee into Manhattan’s depths, where their quest for a better future will force them to confront the island’s dark and shocking past.Lee Kelly’s gripping debut novel is a pulse-pounding journey through a city that’s as strange as it is familiar, where nothing is black-and-white and buried secrets can haunt.

Radio Life


Derek B. Miller - 2021
    again.When Lilly was first Chief Engineer at The Commonwealth, nearly fifty years ago, the Central Archive wasn't yet the greatest repository of knowledge in the known world, protected by scribes copying every piece of found material - books, maps, even scraps of paper - and disseminating them by Archive Runners to hidden off-site locations for safe keeping. Back then, there was no Order of Silence to create and maintain secret routes deep into the sand-covered towers of the Old World or into the northern forests beyond Sea Glass Lake. Back then, the world was still quiet, because Lilly hadn't yet found the Harrington Box.But times change. Recently, the Keepers have started gathering to the east of Yellow Ridge - thousands upon thousands of them - and every one of them determined to burn the Central Archives to the ground, no matter the cost, possessed by an irrational fear that bringing back the ancient knowledge will destroy the world all over again. To prevent that, they will do anything.Fourteen days ago the Keepers chased sixteen-year-old Archive Runner Elimisha into a forbidden Old World Tower and brought the entire thing down on her. Instead of being killed, though, she slipped into an ancient unmapped bomb shelter where she has discovered a cache of food and fresh water, a two-way radio like the one Lilly's been working on for years... and something else. Something that calls itself 'the internet'...

How to Become a Henchman: The Henchman's Survival Guide


J. Bennett - 2019
    Just another delightful day in Big Little City. As I huddle on the floor, I know I shouldn't complain. After all, the regular villain attacks keep the rent low, and the City Council even subsidizes the local college tuition. It's the only reason I can afford to get my degree.   The problem is that the heroes are better at showboating for the cameras than trying to save us hapless civilians. As if to make my point, a hero leaps through the window just above me. When the glass shower is over, I peek between my fingers and get an eyeful of glowing orange boots and a muscled body wrapped in the most highly modified suit that crypto currency can buy.   As I pick glass out of my hair, the hero bellows, "Worry not, young lady. Shine is here to save you!"    Ugh. Save your cheesy lines for a different damsel! Welcome to Big Little City, a semi-reality town where everyone who isn’t already a hero or a villain wants to become one. Well, almost everyone... Alice just needs to keep her head down, earn her college degree, and then she’ll finally be able to escape this crazy place and find a real job. Too bad a super scary villain just blew up the restaurant where she works and her paycheck along with it! Now Alice finds herself running low on funds and employment options. Her tuition bill is due, and the university doesn't take promises or tales of woe.   As luck would have it, one of the town’s most famous villains is holding henchmen auditions. The gig would earn Alice the money she needs; all she has to do is betray every instinct and play the "Fame Game" she despises.   Oh, and she’s also got to beat out the other competitors who might just kill for the limited henchmen spots.   Author J Bennett is back with a brand new, action-packed superhero series. With a keen social eye and her trademark wit, J Bennett weaves a story of a futuristic world where good and evil are both beholden to ratings. Is Alice willing to risk life, limb, and her integrity to land the role of a lifetime and the juicy paycheck it brings?   Find out why it's so much fun to root for the henchman!

Jurassic Jail (Time Wars Book 1)


William Alan Webb - 2018
     Future America is dangerous and bankrupt. The interstate highways are littered with the rusted hulks of ambushed cars and trucks, and only Mad Max would dare travel the back roads. When an arms race with Russia and China to develop time travel for military purposes achieves success, the body count skyrockets as both patriot and enemy try to hijack the new technology. Like the Manhattan Project and Operation Overtime before it, such a project attracts the best and the brightest as well as the worst and the psychotic. But not everyone has given up on the rule of law. In Tennessee, Fayette County D.A. Pete Dance wants to prosecute the murder of a man whose fossilized remains turn up after a series of devastating earthquakes. The problem is that the victim is still alive. When the violence starts, it doesn’t stop until the final whirlwind of teeth and claws and lasers. The first spinoff series from William Alan Webb’s immensely popular series The Last Brigade is described by one critic as “…Spectre agents chasing Fast and Furious through Jurassic World,” while another reviewer added “…with a heavy dose of Harry Bosch for good measure.” “After the heart-pounding finale, you won’t see the shocking ending coming. Guaranteed to keep you awake at night.”

SYLO


D.J. MacHale - 2013
    military quarantines his island?Fourteen-year-old Tucker Pierce prefers to fly under the radar. He’s used to navigating around summer tourists in his hometown on idyllic Pemberwick Island, Maine. He’s content to sit on the sidelines as a backup player on the high school football team. And though his best friend Quinn tells him to “go for it,” he’s too chicken to ask Tori Sleeper on a date. There’s always tomorrow, he figures. Then Pemberwick Island is invaded by a mysterious branch of the U.S. military called SYLO. And sitting on the sidelines is no longer an option for Tucker, because tomorrow may never come. It’s up to Tucker, Quinn, and Tori to uncover the truth about the singing aircraft that appears only at night—and the stranger named Feit who’s pushing a red crystal he calls the Ruby that brings unique powers to all who take it. Tucker and his friends must rescue not just Pemberwick Island, but the fate of the world—and all before tomorrow is too late.  #1 New York Times bestselling author D.J. MacHale brings his brilliant plotting and breathless pacing to SYLO, the first in this ultimate end-of-the-world adventure trilogy.

Mirror X


Karri Thompson - 2014
    She soon learns that 600 years prior to her arrival, the earth was struck by a plague, killing over half of the world’s population. Naïve and desperate, Cassie, who longs for home and is having trouble adjusting to the new, dictatorial 31st century government, is comforted by Michael Bennett, the 20-year old lead geneticist at the hospital where she was revived. But why is Cassie in genetics’ hospital in the first place, and why do several of the people around her seem so familiar, including Travel Carson, the hot and edgy boy she is fated to meet? Soon she discovers there is a sinister answer to all of her questions – and that they want something from Cassie that only she can give.

True Calling


Siobhan Davis - 2014
    Now, all seventeen-year-olds are to participate in this Bachelor-style pageant to find their perfect match, marry, and have children. But that's not Ariana's only concern. Thanks to the government-sanctioned memory erase, Ariana has no recollection of Zane, the mystery boy who haunts her dreams. Things are further complicated when the pageant commences and her feelings for fellow Cadet Cal Remus intensify. Together, they start to realize not everything about their new home is not as it seems. Entangled in a dangerous web of deceit, Ariana sets out to identify the truth. Conflicted over warnings that Cal isn't trustworthy and alarmed at the government's increasing interest in her, she doesn't know where to turn. But her search for the truth comes at a high personal price. When her world implodes, discovering the past shapes her future with devastating consequences.

Echoes of Apollo


George Thompson - 2015
    But when the retrofitted Atlantis fails high above Kennedy Space Center, Commander Jack Harden’s future is quickly derailed. As military satellites fall from the sky and America’s electronic infrastructure is threatened by a mysterious electromagnetic “storm,” a young president is suddenly forced to restart the covert rocket program he had cancelled not long after taking office. NASA may be grounded, but the reluctant ex-shuttle commander and his two unlikely copilots soon find themselves on a collision course with the moon, all in a last ditch attempt to destroy China’s secret weapon—the Assassin’s Mace.

Broadcast


Liam Brown - 2017
    We insert a small chip into your skull and then every thought, every feeling, every memory is streamed live, twenty-four hours a day. Trust me - within a few months you'll be the most talked about person on the planet.When David Callow is offered the lead role in a revolutionary new online show, he snatches at the opportunity.Rapidly becoming a viral sensation, David is propelled to stratospheric levels of celebrity. However, he soon realises the downside of sharing every secret with the world.A prisoner to both his fame and his own thoughts, David seeks to have the chip removed, only to discover the chilling secret lurking at the heart of MindCast, and the terrifying ambition the show's creator has for him.

The Nowhere Stone


Steve Kaide - 2018
    Raised in a secluded valley with only his father for company, he was unable to experience the outside world. For 16 years, the jagged peaks of the Rocky Mountains were the only home he’d ever known. Lucas didn’t understand why they were hidden away, but he trusted that his father was keeping them safe. It was a happy, albeit lonely, life.Until everything changed. Lucas was torn from his sheltered life and thrust into a dangerous world, far different from that which he expected. A mysterious artifact known as the Nowhere Stone seems to defy the laws of nature, and a powerful corporation called SentiCorp seeks to unlock its power. Lucas has finally been introduced to humanity, and it’s every bit as terrifying as he thought it would be.

Pandemic


A.G. Riddle - 2017
    It may be the start of a scientific experiment that could alter the human race forever--and reveal a shocking truth about our future.Experience the groundbreaking novel that will change everything you think you know about pandemics--and how to survive one.“Reads like a superior collaboration between Dan Brown and Michael Crichton.”—The GuardianNow an Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestseller.A hundred miles north of Alaska, a US Coast Guard vessel discovers a sunken submarine at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. It has no national identification and doesn’t match the records of any known vessel. Deep within, researchers find evidence of a scientific experiment that will rewrite our basic understanding of the human race.In Atlanta, Dr. Peyton Shaw is awakened by the phone call she has dreaded for years. As the CDC’s leading epidemiologist, she’s among the first responders to outbreaks around the world. It’s a lonely and dangerous job, but it’s her life—and she’s good at it. This time, she may have met her match.In Kenya, an Ebola-like pathogen has infected two Americans. One lies at death’s door. With the clock ticking, Peyton assembles her team and joins personnel from the Kenyan Ministry of Health and the WHO. What they find in the remote village is beyond their worst fears. As she traces the origin of the pathogen, Peyton begins to believe that there is more to this outbreak—that it may be merely the opening act in a conspiracy with far reaching consequences.In Berlin, Desmond Hughes awakens in a hotel room with no memory of how he got there or who he is. On the floor, he finds a dead security guard from an international pharmaceutical company. His only clue leads him to Peyton Shaw—a woman who seems to know him, but refuses to tell him how. With the police searching the city for him, Desmond desperately tries to piece together what happened to him. To his shock and horror, he learns that he may be involved in causing the outbreak—and could hold the only key to stopping it.As the pathogen spreads around the world, Peyton and Desmond race to unravel the conspiracy behind the pandemic—and uncover secrets some want to keep buried. With time running out, they face an unimaginable decision.Buy now and begin the journey (or read for free in Kindle Unlimited).Selected Praise and Published Reviews“I finished the book fast because I just couldn’t wait...”—WIRED GeekDad on Departure“Riddle makes an effort to keep the focus on how his characters react to each other (including to their future selves) rather than to the technological marvels that reshaped their world.”—Publisher’s Weekly on Departure“Well-constructed and tightly-wound as a fine Swiss watch—Departure has non-stop action, an engaging plot and, of course, wheels within wheels.”—Diana Gabaldon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Outlander on Departure About Pandemic

Changer


Matt Gemmell - 2016
    DESTINY CAN BE CHANGED.Jutland, Denmark: a billionaire industrialist seizes control of a top-secret project that the European Defence Agency calls Destiny, manipulating it for his own ends.Edinburgh, Scotland: physicist Neil Aldridge’s life is saved by an elite EU special forces team, codenamed KESTREL, drawing him into a race against time to prevent a disaster that will claim millions of lives.As the chase leads to London, Amsterdam and beyond, Aldridge and his allies must battle a ruthless adversary: a trained killer with an unnatural ability, who seeks to hasten the cataclysm.With time running out, Aldridge discovers that he and his enemy share an astonishing secret, which may be the key to salvation — or cause death on an unprecedented scale…

Silo 7 - The Complete Collection


Daniel Gage - 2013
    Silo 7 is no exception.The citizens of Silo 7 have existed in peace for centuries, never truly living. They just... exist.Until one fateful day, that all changes. And no one could have imagined just how far things would go.**Check out my debut urban fantasy novel, The Unholy Trinity: Origins!**

Rootless


Chris Howard - 2012
    Using scrap metal and salvaged junk, he creates forests for rich patrons who seek a reprieve from the desolate landscape. Although Banyan's never seen a real tree—they were destroyed more than a century ago—his father used to tell him stories about the Old World. But that was before his father was taken . . .Everything changes when Banyan meets a woman with a strange tattoo—a clue to the whereabouts of the last living trees on earth, and he sets off across a wasteland from which few return. Those who make it past the pirates and poachers can't escape the locusts—the locusts that now feed on human flesh.But Banyan isn't the only one looking for the trees, and he's running out of time. Unsure of whom to trust, he's forced to make an uneasy alliance with Alpha, an alluring, dangerous pirate with an agenda of her own. As they race towards a promised land that might only be a myth, Banyan makes shocking discoveries about his family, his past, and how far people will go to bring back the trees.In this dazzling debut, Howard presents a disturbing world with uncanny similarities to our own. Like the forests Banyan seeks to rebuild, this visionary novel is both beautiful and haunting—full of images that will take permanent root in your mind . . . and forever change the way you think about nature.