Book picks similar to
Wakeless by Lisa Johnston


dystopian
sci-fi
thrillers
apocalyptic

Planet Urth


Jennifer Martucci - 2013
    The planet has been battered by war, its inhabitants plagued by disease and death. Few humans survived and remained unaffected. Most changed dramatically and evolved into something else entirely. Irrevocable alterations caused by chemical warfare have created a new species. North America is in ruins and has been overtaken. Humanity has fallen at the hands of mutants known as Urthmen. Seventeen year-old Avery is alive and unchanged. But she has not been immune to the harshness of the new world. She has lived on the run for much of her life, in terror. After losing her father, Avery is the sole guardian of her eight-year-old sister, June. Avery is now charged with June’s safety as well as her own, a nearly impossible task.Forced to hide deep in the forest and away from the cities overrun by Urthmen, Avery and her sister are constantly hunted. Danger awaits them at every turn. They fear they are the only human beings left, that they are the last of their kind. But are they truly alone?Find out in this raw and rousing first installment of the Planet Urth series.

Dawn of Affliction


D.I. Telbat - 2019
    TELBAT is Book One of the LAST DAWN SERIES, a Christian Post-apocalyptic, End Times Novel.Twenty years have passed since the Meridia Virus ravaged America. Cities have burned and civilization has crumbled. One hundred million have died, leaving behind a suspicious, selfish populace in small settlements across the scarred landscape.But out of the charred ruins of San Diego, Levi Caspertein emerges. For twenty years, he’s grown up in the shadow of his heroic father, Titus. Now, Levi must respond on his own to a disturbing communication he receives from New York. An old friend, Jenna Dowler, is in trouble.With bold faith, Levi sets off on foot to the east, crossing desert wasteland into the Plains Zone where travelers are sooner shot than welcomed. Behind him, a rogue military general—who wants COIL’s stockpiled weaponry—is chasing him. But Levi won’t be hindered unnecessarily from his trek east, even with his mother and cousin in tow, and he stands courageously for Jesus Christ.At every town and resupply stop, Levi is thrust into fresh misery, violence, and strife. Each person who joins him is put at risk, but every enemy who stands against him must look down his barrel of determination to care first for the afflicted. He is a Caspertein. He is a Christian. And America desperately needs a symbol of hope—a new dawn—in her smoking ruin.The needs are intense and God's people are ready, but evil has never been more brutal . . .

WIPE - Part 1 (A Post-Apocalyptic Story)


Joseph A. Turkot - 2014
     Way out in the sea, impossible to reach. It rises gray and bare, up and up, and then out of sight. As if the sea gave birth to something meant to connect it to the sky. I’ve never seen the top. Maze says she’s not convinced it has one. And I’ve always taken its impossible presence for what the Fathers say it is: a relic from before the Wipe. The hubris of pre-Wipe man, and a reminder for us all as to why it is God’s Will that we never return to technology. But Maze suddenly has it in her head that the tower means something else, something different than the history the Fathers have given us. I think she’s a conspiracy theorist. Until she shows me the map. Just the word mirror scribbled in red ink, next to a marking, and she expects me to go into the Deadlands with her. As long as I’ve known of her recklessness, and as much of a bad influence as she is on me, I can’t say no. Because while she doesn’t know they exist, I can’t stop my feelings for her. And I start to realize, when we first pass over the rotting gates, into the ruin that was a city, that it will take something much more than either of us ever knew we had in order to survive the truth.

Driver 8: A Post-Apocalyptic Novel


G. Michael Hopf - 2017
    Out of the ashes, small pockets of survivors banded together to forge new societies in the few areas not ravaged by the nuclear holocaust. One community has not only risen but thrived. Known as The Collective, they pride themselves on an orderly system of government with a functioning infrastructure. The citizenry owe their success to their founder The Number One, who presides over them with an iron fist. Life in The Collective centers on contribution and purpose. All are assigned responsibilities and if one cannot fulfill them, they are cast out. The most coveted but dangerous responsibility is that of a driver. Drivers ride the lonely and barren roads scavenging and exploring the outer reaches. Over the years only one has emerged as a legend and his name is Driver 8.

Dead Dayz


Shaun Whittington - 2017
    It is four weeks into the apocalypse, and with his wife and daughter still missing, David is doing his best to keep it together and look after his seven-year-old son Harry. But as the days go by, this task is proving to be getting more difficult. With many obstacles getting in David’s way to protect his son, like avoiding thugs and trying to keep hydrated and fed, he has decisions to make in order for he and his son to survive long term. *********************** A message from the author Please read before downloading In October 2014, I decided to write a little book inbetween the Snatchers series (a little tradition of mine) and began writing a story about a father and son that were trying to survive in the Zombie apocalypse. I called it Dead Dayz In December 2014, I decided to ditch the first draft and concentrate on a new Snatchers book, Snatchers 5: The Dead Don’t Yield. I didn’t like the finished Dead Dayz, but some individuals who had read the book liked the father and son story, so I decided to incorporate it into the fifth Snatchers book. The story was about David Johnson and his son, Harry, (Paul and Kyle Dickson), and I saved the best bits from the Dead Dayz book and put it into the Snatchers book. The following you are about to read is the original Dead Dayz book. If you have read the Snatchers series, then this book still has many parts/chapters that you haven’t read before, but the story will certainly be familiar. And if you haven’t read the Snatchers series before, then everything I have talked about doesn’t matter. Dead Dayz was initially a standalone novel, before it was dissected for the Snatchers 5 book that was eventually released in February 2015, and it seemed a shame to leave it sitting on my hard drive in its original form.

Apocalypse Orphan (The Fractured Earth Saga Book 1)


Tim Allen - 2016
     With no way to stop the impending doomsday, the world descends into panic and anarchy. Massive transport ships are built to colonize the moon, and evacuation of a chosen few begins. After a shuttle mission to study the approaching comet goes awry, Wolf is forced into cryogenic deep sleep, and the onboard computer assumes control of the ship. Wolf awakens 50,000 years later to a wildly different earth. Endowed with incredible strength, he finds himself caught in a war between primitive tribes, and his survival depends on Syn, an advanced computer intelligence who has fallen in love with him. Will Wolf be able to help restore Earth to its past glory or is civilization doomed to fail?

The Slip Trilogy Complete Boxed Set


David Estes - 2015
    As sea levels rise and livable landmasses shrink, the Reorganized United States of America has instituted population control measures to ensure there are sufficient resources and food to sustain the growing population. Birth authorization must be paid for and obtained prior to having a child. Someone must die before another can be born, keeping the country in a population neutral position at what experts consider to be the optimal population. The new laws are enforced by a ruthless government organization known as Pop Con, responsible for terminating any children resulting from unauthorized births, and any illegals who manage to survive past their second birthday, at which point they are designated a national security threat and given the name Slip. But what if one child slipped through the cracks? What if someone knew all the loopholes and how to exploit them? Would it change anything? Would the delicate resource balance be thrown into a tailspin, threatening the lives of everyone? And how far would the government go to find and terminate the Slip? In a gripping story of a family torn apart by a single choice, Slip is a reminder of the sanctity of a single life and the value of the lives we so often take for granted.

The Caretaker


Jason Gurley - 2014
    She wakes to the sun breaking over Africa. She keeps watch over the experiments. She makes sure the station doesn't explode.And she's the only occupant of the space station when the world far below her comes apart in flame.

Outside


Shalini Boland - 2011
    If you’re inside you’re lucky. If you’re outside, life expectancy takes a nose dive.Riley is fortunate to have been born on the right side of the fence. But her life of privilege comes crashing down when someone breaks through and murders her sister.She forsakes her own safety to go in search of the killer. Luc decides to go with her otherwise she’ll be dead before she’s past the security gate. But what awaits her outside is more unbelievable than she ever expected.Cut to the present day, where Eleanor's world is falling apart. This time next year, civilisation won't be quite so civilised...

Omnicide


Jacqueline Druga - 2020
    Fax is the most reliable method of communication and the local newspaper is the main source of outside information.When a freak car accident occurs on the outside of town, no one thinks much of it. That is until deer are found sick and covered in an unusual growth, and they lose contact with the next town.Cut off and isolated from the rest of the world, Griffin is unaware of the threat growing outside the safety of their little town. One that could endanger their entire existence.

The Silent Earth: The Complete Trilogy


Mark R. Healy - 2016
     The Earth is in ruins. Cities and nations destroyed. Those who survive the onslaught succumb to the cold blackness of winter. A handful of machines finally emerge into the light, lost and directionless. They are the last remnants of civilisation. Brant is a synthetic - a machine who has the appearance and emotions of the humans who made him. He is hunted across the wasteland by cruel scavengers known as Marauders who are intent on cannibalising his body to prolong their own lives. Brant carries a great burden as he tries to return home: a secret that can change the world. Against the unforgiving desert, the twisted denizens of this new world and his own dark past he needs to find a way back at any cost.

Welcome to the Stone Age


S.A. Ison - 2017
    They don’t even live in the same cities, yet they will all come to the same conclusion, life is over as they know it. Nothing has prepared anyone for the unimaginable hell that is about to crash into their lives. How strong is their will to live? Time will tell.

Night of the Purple Moon


Scott Cramer - 2012
    Her younger brother, Jordan, is having no problem fitting in and making friends.Everyone on Castine Island is anxiously awaiting the arrival of the purple moon, caused by a comet entering the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists expected this thrilling phenomenon and food companies are churning out purple-colored products in celebration of the comet’s arrival.The morning following the comet’s debut Abby and Jordan make a chilling discovery: every adult on the island is dead. The children of the island band together to withstand their new circumstances, and the older kids quickly learn a gripping truth about their own ticking clocks. It's only a matter of time before they succumb to the comet bacteria, but can they raise the next generation to survive?"Frightening and inspiring" - Kirkus Reviews. Riveting dystopian drama for all ages (13+)Alternate Cover edition for ISBN 9780615637082

The Pawn in the Portal


Nick Cole - 2016
    Ward, a tier-one operator turned mercenary, has just flung himself off the cargo deck of a doomed C-130. Now he’s out of the Drop Zone and evading the undead as a terrible new breed of hunter enters the Wyrd. But these new, faster predators might not be the only thing to fear in an apocalypse beset by zombies, nukes and killer A.I.’s. One of the last warriors of a collapsed government is planning on putting up some big numbers in this final, ultimate game of Survivor, until he finds a mysterious new companion... a stranger dressed in black.

The Verity: Part One


M.J. Lawrie - 2020
    What’s left of humanity lives in a walled town meant to keep out the dark creatures that now roam the wastelands of earth.Dark creatures that were once humans themselves.Food and water are scarce within the walls. Children are taken and raised as soldiers to fight the monsters that hunt humanity.For seventeen years, Scarlett has lived as just such a soldier. Along with her group of misfit friends, she loves exploring the lost world beyond the wall and fighting for humanity’s freedom.Everything changes when their leader, Noah, decides to claim a bride. Noah has only ever had eyes for Scarlett and now her entire world hangs in the balance.Her heart belongs to another, but Noah refuses to take no for an answer.Scarlett must make an impossible choice to save the man she loves from a fate worse than death.A choice that leads her to a terrifying truth.That in this post-apocalyptic dystopia, humanity’s fight for survival has only just begun.The threat is not beyond the wall.And being eaten alive is the least of their problems… "The Walking Dead" meets "The Hunger Games" in this gripping dystopian story. If you love a fierce female lead, forbidden love, life and death stakes and explosive, devastating twists, then you will love "The Verity"!