Book picks similar to
Melt by J.J. Pike


apocalypse
apocalyptic
post-apocalyptic
fiction

Last Light


Justin Bell - 2019
    A sinister foe. A desperate fight for survival. When a new drilling method enables access to a deep source of renewable energy, all expectations are that Ultilitron will champion a new era in electricity production. When the lights go out and the killing starts, the country's emotions quickly turn from elation to fear. As a sinister foe emerges from the shadows, the survivors of the initial disaster must band together to survive, lest their lights be snuffed out like the countless others before them....A new, intensely thrilling and terrifyingly nail-biting series, Last Light is a post-apocalyptic adventure from Justin Bell and Mike Kraus like you've never seen before. Taking the tropes of post-apocalyptic and simultaneously turning them on their head and masterfully playing to them, Justin & Mike deliver a heart-pounding series that will both excite and terrify you with every turn of the page. Last Light is planned to be a 6-book series, delivered monthly.

Eruption


E.S. Richards - 2019
    As fire and ash consume all in their path, signs point to the disaster not being as natural as it first appears... Barely escaping the disaster in a small plane that takes off from the Yellowstone airport, Mia finds her Texas A&M life turned upside down as the days of class and studying turn into a fight for the very air she needs to survive. While she tries to help her fellow survivors, her niece and nephew are being watched over by her parents on a small farm that quickly succumbs to the choking clouds of ash. Both sides of the family must fight against man - and nature - in this unique take on the classic Yellowstone post-apocalyptic story. Written by ES Richards in conjunction with #1 best-selling post-apocalyptic author Mike Kraus, this thrilling post-apocalyptic series features characters that are vulnerable, naive and inexperienced who work alongside the prepared and experienced to get through the end of days. The Escaping Darkness series will be 6-books long, published at a rate of approximately one book per month.

Flashpoint


Tara Ellis - 2019
    Impossible to predict or stop, the Gamma Ray Burst tore through the Earth like a bullet, its radiation wave killing hundreds of millions and the aftereffects ensuring the deaths of billions more. Now, as the world crumbles around them, a ragtag group of survivors make for the only home they know - the small town of Mercy. Spared the worst of the GRB's effects, the town is isolated, safe and self-sufficient - for now. The flash hasn't just decimated the Earth's population, though. It's brought out the worst in many of those who are still alive. Survival in this new world doesn't just depend on preparedness - it depends on strength. ***** It's the one disaster no one can plan for. A rogue cosmic event called a Gamma Ray Burst, sending a spike of radiation through the earth like a .50 caliber bullet through a ripe watermelon. It's speculated that such an event hit the Earth at some point in the past, causing a mass extinction event. With two potential sources for a GRB pointed directly at our heads, the chances of another one happening in our lifetime is remote... but still possible. In Flashpoint, we explore such an event and the havoc it would wreak across the entire planet. From destroying our atmosphere to millions dying from incredibly painful radiation exposure, a GRB would be unpredictable and unavoidable for everyone, rich and poor, prepared and unprepared alike. Flashpoint is a six-book miniseries-like event, written by Tara Ellis and #1 best-selling post-apocalyptic author Mike Kraus. This thrilling post-apocalyptic survival series will have you second-guessing the very nature of post-apocalyptic disaster scenarios and leave you breathless with every turn of the page.

Minus America


E.E. Isherwood - 2019
    When it ends, nearly everyone on mainland USA is gone.Every policeman. Every housewife. Every trucker. Everyone.A continent free for the taking…Ted MacInnis is a backup pilot on Air Force Two, over the Atlantic, when it happens. A warrior by nature, he can do little but listen as the radio signals from his homeland fade away and die.However, one last call with his niece convinces him the attack left some behind. She might have survived, and he makes it his mission to find out. Unfortunately, his first priority is protecting his VIP passenger: Vice President Emily Williams. The woman who might already be the leader of America's survivors.For some, the counterattack will be violently executed with firepower. For others, surviving in empty cities without adult supervision will be challenging enough. Ted, and warriors like him, will soon be part of the most desperate fight America has ever seen. This is DAY ONE.If you enjoy a mixture of apocalyptic exploration, a little pew-pew, and long-odds rebellion against an unseen enemy, check out Minus America, the first action-packed survival adventure in the Minus America series. Book 2, Empty Cities, is available for pre-order. Book 3, Rebel Cause, and book 4, Two Wolves and a Sheep, will release soon.

Outbreak


Ryan Casey - 2020
    A society out of control. Who will survive the outbreak?It all happens without warning. People drop dead in the streets. Violence erupts. As the government desperately struggle to control the outbreak, survivors battle for supplies and shelter in a terrifying new world.Noah is in the city centre when the chaos strikes. Stranded in town and surrounded by panic and hysteria, he has no choice but to battle back to his flat. But will he make it through a city that is rapidly losing control?Jasmine is a high-flying young professional. But everything changes when her boss drops dead before her, showing signs of a deadly new virus. In the midst of the drama, does she have what it takes to rescue her beloved dog and seek out shelter for the pair of them?Outbreak is the first book in the Surviving the Virus post apocalyptic survival series. If you enjoy stories of ordinary people thrown into harrowing new circumstances, you'll love Outbreak.

Escape the Breakdown


Jack Hunt - 2021
    But in the murky underworld of bail bonds and a grid-down disaster, staying one step ahead isn’t easy. Colby must keep her alive as they embark on a cross-city chase to escape the breakdown.With no power, do you have what it takes to survive?Six hundred miles north of L.A., his small California hometown’s struggle to survive is just beginning as two feuding families confront each other in the darkness of the Redwoods.

No Sanctuary


Mike Kraus - 2017
    Frank Richards barely escapes with his life when he watches his truck explode in front of his eyes. As chaos descends across the country, Frank's home-grown survival and preparedness training and the help of a mysterious stranger he meets are the only things he can rely on to see him safely across the thousand miles separating him and his loved ones. Frank Richards has been an accountant for most of his life, but when the economy took a turn for the worse he was forced to take the only job he could find - driving tractor-trailers cross-country. Thanks to his parents being dyed-in-the-wool prepper and survival experts he's learned enough to keep him alive. If he wants to make it from Maine to Texas, though, he'll have to figure out how to get along with the mysterious stranger that he's picked up along the way. With skills as strange as her background, Linda's far more prepared than Frank to survive in a fallen world. But in a world with no safety, no security and no sanctuary it takes more than one person to survive. No Sanctuary is a post-apocalyptic thriller/survival series that asks the "what if" question that lurks in the back of everyone's mind. What if there was another attack? What if it was larger than any other? What would you do if it came without warning? No Sanctuary is planned to be a series that will contain 7 novel-length books, published once every 4-6 weeks.

Spore


Kenny Soward - 2020
    In the race to produce as much as we could... something went wrong.Tired of the usual post-apocalyptic tale? Welcome to your new addiction.SPORE is a new, thrilling post-apocalyptic survival saga from #1 best-selling authors Mike Kraus and Kenny Soward.A billion acres of food have been wiped off the map overnight.A mysterious illness, somehow connected to America's agriculture collapse, tears through the country - and the world - like a hot knife through butter, killing millions as it spreads.Pockets of survivors are forced to trek west, seeking shelter and food as they fight against the disease that lives in the air and soil around them.As death and destruction spread and the country collapses in upon itself, those left behind will be forced to work together to survive, lest they be consumed by the spores.

Ash


Tom Abrahams - 2018
    But every book dunks them into a new, alternate apocalypse; a nuclear holocaust, an earthquake, a flood, a wildfire, a hurricane, a plague, and even zombies.Different heroes will emerge in each novel. Different characters will survive and perish. Your favorite character dies in one book? He or she will be back in the next. In the end you'll unwind the loose thread that connects every character and every stand-alone story.In Ash, Abrahams tells the story of four college friends, an ex-con, a lonely fry cook, and a secretive group of prepared civilians as they each battle to survive in southern California after a series of nuclear attacks. Theirs is a gray world covered in ash and nuclear fallout.Do they hunker down? Do they bug out? Do they find their salvation above ground or below?

The End of Everything


Christopher Artinian - 2019
     The last thing they wanted to do was spend time with each other. Now their very survival depends on it. Forced from their home and thrown into an apocalyptic horror neither could have imagined, they didn’t think things could get any worse. They were wrong. As they navigate the city to escape to safety, terror lurks for them on every corner. The reanimating virus has taken away everything they loved, but today, they’re going to start fighting back. Living or dead, everyone is a threat. The rules have changed and for these two, time is running out. What will they do to survive? What will they do for each other? Is being family reason enough to stay together? Now, they’re about to find out.

The Long Fall


Logan Keys - 2018
    A soldier in Poland dies in a mysterious accident. A reporter in Manhattan stumbles across a conspiracy that has global consequences. As millions succumb to the strange attack across the globe, a handful of brave souls must step forward and fight not just for their own survival but that of the entire human race. The Long Fall is a thrilling post-apocalyptic episodic series that follows the survivors of a global catastrophie that threatens the survival of the entire world. As each survivor learns more about the reasons and sources behind the apocalypse, they must work to save themselves and their families as they seek a way to reverse the disaster before it's too late. Written as a collaboration between Logan Keys and #1 bestselling post-apocalyptic author Mike Kraus, The Long Fall is a gripping and unique take on the post-apocalyptic genre, and one that will leave you breathless with every turn of the page. The Long Fall will feature approximately ten episodic (25k-35k words in length) books that are full of action, suspense, emotion and drama as the survivors of a global disaster struggle to survive the end of days. Episodes will be published once per month.

Dark End


Grace Hamilton - 2020
     The nearest star in the solar system went supernova four years ago. When the resultant EMP strikes Earth, the world is sent back to the Stone Age. Yet it soon grows evident there are worse things hidden in the dark matter hurricane. Unbearable headaches strike without warning. Human aggression goes off the charts. Small disagreements become bloodbaths. Josh Standing took an oath to serve and protect those of their North Carolina community. That didn’t change when he left the police force to become a probation officer. If only his wife understood his drive to rescue tomorrow’s troubled youth. But Maxine’s greatest concern is to ensure their son survives the cancer that has ravaged his body. As their marriage circles the drain, she takes the once promising athlete to face the final pronouncement of the Boston specialists—alone. But the fractured family has never needed each other more. In the immediate aftermath of the EMP chaos, the separated Standings decide to make their way toward the family farm in Iowa. However, getting to Maxine’s prepper parents is no small task in a world that’s swiftly turning into kill or be killed. And when events threaten to separate them further, Josh is faced with an unthinkable choice in this thrilling post-apocalyptic series.

Rockfall (Tertiary Effects Book 1)


William Allen - 2019
    Millions die in an instant, and millions more await the end as the looming catastrophe unfolds… Thousands of miles away from the disaster, a call comes in the middle of the night. Families act, and react, and while panic spreads, the world keeps on spinning. Maybe a little slower, and perhaps with a teeny bit more of a tilt, but such things are a mere trifle to the existence of a planet. For the human inhabitants of this planet, though, the meteor’s collision will have far-reaching effects as the impact creates ripples throughout their fragile existence. Bryan Hardin just wanted to create a sanctuary in the country for his remaining family, a place to heal his wounded spirit as he struggles with survivor’s guilt and approaching middle age. He’s hardly the heroic type, but his family is going to need all of them to act like heroes if they are going to survive the spreading effects of the Rockfall. The Earthquakes are Primary Effects. The Tsunami are Secondary Effects. Will Anybody Survive the Tertiary Effects?

What's Left of My World


C.A. Rudolph - 2016
    Ever since she was little, she had been taught how to live and survive outdoors, and how to use firearms to protect herself and those around her. Some of the training had been a bit extreme. Or had it been? Many of her questions were answered the day the world as she knew it ended. Now, the skills she had been taught serve an essential purpose. They keep her and those she cares about alive. Even in the sparsely-populated mountains of West Virginia, where she and her family have been forced to relocate for their safety after the collapse, peril lurks around every corner. Normal life has taken on a whole new meaning for Lauren, her family, and the community they have become a part of. In this different world, the new status quo is self-preservation. There is no more middle ground. People either live, or they die. Lauren’s father didn’t make it home on the day the world changed forever, and she misses him more than anything. Now, in What’s Left of My World, she and her family must learn to endure life’s horrors—without him.

40 Days


A.J. Flowers - 2021
    No electronics. No cell phones. No hope.An atomic blast meant to stave off an incoming asteroid on a fatal collision course with Earth goes terribly wrong. Atomic debris scatter the globe, pelting civilization until only ruins and anarchy is left.40 Days.That’s how long it’ll take for the Atomic Fall to stop.The world will never be the same. Liam Hunt knows that better than anyone, being one of the military minds behind the life-saving attempt to keep humankind from extinction. When the lead general ignores his warnings, he knows it’s time to go to Plan B, because this is only the beginning.It’s a race for survival as Liam and his sister face hundreds of miles of ruined terrain. A rogue team of scientists and soldiers have established safety bunkers around the world and if Liam can make it in time, his family might just survive.Start running, because the countdown starts now.