Book picks similar to
Coil by Ren Warom


science-fiction
sci-fi
horror
mystery

Einstein's Secret


Irving Belateche - 2014
    He suddenly stirs, asks his assistant for paper and pen, then scribbles something down. Minutes later, he dies. History tells us that Einstein jotted down equations that night. But struggling scholar Jacob Morgan believes that history is wrong. He’s convinced that Einstein wrote a deathbed confession that night—a secret that the great scientist didn’t want to take to his grave. Jacob has spent his entire adult life obsessively hunting down that secret—with nothing to show for it but the scorn of his colleagues and the tattered remnants of a once-promising teaching career. But now, thanks to a lucky break, Jacob has a chance to get his life back on track. His appointment as an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia is a fresh start, and he’s vowed to end his pursuit of Einstein’s secret. Until history chooses this moment to deliver him one more clue. A clue that leads him to an impossible and unbelievable discovery: Time travel. And so begins the last leg of Jacob’s desperate quest, one where history is not only changeable—it’s changing. All by itself. And if Jacob doesn’t rescue Einstein’s secret, everything that he’s ever known will disappear forever.

Miles to Go


Laura Anne Gilman - 2013
    For the most part, he’s made his own way, first as a member of the NYPD and then – when they started looking too closely at non-humans in the force – as a private investigator, straddling the line between human and fatae (supernatural) in his job the way he does in his lifeHe has a good life, he has good friends, he makes a difference… But he also has a dangerous life. And sometimes – when you’re in the middle of magic - good friends aren’t enough. Miles to Go: It's an ordinary day, another ordinary - for Danny - job, when he's approached by a young woman who has information he needs to solve a case. All she wants to do is help. When a life - or more - are on the line, it's hard to turn that down. But the cost of that information will change Danny's life...forever.[these stories take place after the events of DRAGON JUSTICE (PSI #4) but stand alone]

Obscura


Joe Hart - 2018
    And it's happening again. In the near future, an aggressive and terrifying new form of dementia is affecting victims of all ages. The cause is unknown, and the symptoms are disturbing. Dr. Gillian Ryan is on the cutting edge of research and desperately determined to find a cure. She's already lost her husband to the disease, and now her young daughter is slowly succumbing as well. After losing her funding, she is given the unique opportunity to expand her research. She will travel with a NASA team to a space station where the crew has been stricken with symptoms of a similar inexplicable psychosis—memory loss, trances, and violent, uncontrollable impulses. Crippled by a secret addiction and suffering from creeping paranoia, Gillian finds her journey becoming a nightmare as unexplainable and violent events plague the mission. With her grip weakening on reality, she starts to doubt her own innocence. And she's beginning to question so much more—like the true nature of the mission, the motivations of the crew, and every deadly new secret space has to offer. Merging thrilling science-fiction adventure with mind-bending psychological suspense, Wall Street Journal bestselling author Joe Hart explores both the vast mysteries of outer space and the even darker unknown that lies within ourselves.

Technomancer


B.V. Larson - 2012
    And then Quentin Draith wakes up in a private sanatorium, severely injured and with no memory of who he is. Are these strange incidents related? And if so, how deadly are the answers?Draith doesn’t know who he is, but after escaping he slowly learns what he is. An investigator and blogger specializing in the supernatural, he begins to piece together his life—and the accident that took away his memories. He discovers that he is a special breed, a person with relatives of great age and power, all of whom mistrust or even hate him. And when he falls under suspicion for a series of murders involving seemingly mundane objects, Quentin’s search for the truth behind his identity becomes a desperate race to clear his name.Bristling with energy and almost unbearable suspense, Technomancer: Unspeakable Things #1 is the first in best-selling author B. V. Larson’s thrilling new series that will draw you to the edge of your seat and chill you to the bone.

SNAFU: Future Warfare


Geoff BrownSteve Lewis - 2016
    See far-flung worlds, they said. Meet interesting creatures, and kill them all. Soldiers fighting aliens in unforgiving landscapes, where every breath could be their last. Featuring stories by Weston Ochse, Mike Resnick, and others. From near-future to far-future, featuring some of the best writers working in the field today.

The Loop


Ben Oliver - 2020
    But when news of the encroaching chaos in the outside world reaches the inmates and disorder begins to strike, the prison becomes the least of their worries.It's Luka Kane's sixteenth birthday and he's been inside The Loop for over two years. Every inmate is serving a death sentence with the option to push back their execution date by six months if they opt into "Delays", scientific and medical experiments for the benefit of the elite in the outside world. But rumors of a war on the outside are spreading amongst the inmates, and before they know it, their tortuous routine becomes disrupted. The government issued rain stops falling. Strange things are happening to the guards. And it's not long until the inmates are left alone inside the prison. Were the chains that shackled Luka to his cell the only instruments left to keep him safe? He must overcome fellow prisoners hell-bent on killing him, the warden losing her mind, the rabid rats in the train tunnels, and a population turned into murderous monsters to try and break out of The Loop, save his family, and discover who is responsible for the chaos that has been inflicted upon the world.

Sawfish


Rick Chesler - 2016
    Mason Rayman is experimenting with gigantism in sea creatures when he accidentally creates a monstrously large sawfish. When it grows so big he can no longer keep it in his Miami lab, he is preparing to have it destroyed when he learns he is being terminated from his position. By way of revenge, he dumps the oversized shark relative into the ocean, where it soon roams out of control, slaughtering bathers at nearby trendy South Beach.Dr. Rayman doesn't let on that it's his fish responsible for the killings, but someone knows what he did, and she's blackmailing him. He plays along for a while but then decides she needs to be eliminated. Breaking into a lab at his former workplace, he deliberately creates more monster sawfish and releases them into the local waters.Rayman then attempts to get his job back by stepping forward as the expert on how to stop the scourge of gigantic predators now ravaging swimmers and water sports enthusiasts on South Florida beaches. But his blackmailer will not let up, leading to an ultimate confrontation between woman and beast, and finally, woman and man.

A Life Transparent


Todd Keisling - 2007
    Now, Bloodshot Books is proud to present a revised and expanded edition, featuring Keisling’s all-new afterword series, “Who is Donovan Candle?”DONOVAN CANDLE IS BORING.Consummate husband, supportive brother, hard-working employee—a paragon of the diminishing Middle Class. Like so many others, he has fallen into routine and compromised his dreams for the sake of a paycheck. After a bad day at the office leaves him low, all Donovan wants is to sleep off the disappointment and start over.DONOVAN CANDLE IS TERRIFIED.His body is fading out of existence. He’s seeing strange visions of the world in monochrome and horrific creatures lurking in his periphery. No one else seems to notice, and as the odd afflictions intensify, Donovan fears he is losing his grip on reality.DONOVAN CANDLE IS DISAPPEARING.Someone breaks into his home and abducts his wife. Before he can contact the authorities, a stranger’s ominous phone call urges him on a path to her rescue, but only if he follows the rules. The clock is ticking, and with every step Donovan slips further into a state of transparency. Will he be in time to save his wife—and himself—from the dangers of A Life Transparent?

Vine Street


Dominic Nolan - 2021
    SOHO, 1935.SERGEANT LEON GEATS' PATCH.A snarling, skull-cracking misanthrope, Geats marshals the grimy rabble according to his own elastic moral code.The narrow alleys are brimming with jazz bars, bookies, blackshirts, ponces and tarts so when a body is found above the Windmill Club, detectives are content to dismiss the case as just another young woman who topped herself early.But Geats - a good man prepared to be a bad one if it keeps the worst of them at bay - knows the dark seams of the city.Working with his former partner, mercenary Flying Squad sergeant Mark Cassar, Geats obsessively dedicates himself to finding a warped killer - a decision that will reverberate for a lifetime and transform both men in ways they could never expect.

The Price of Time


Tim Tigner - 2019
    A discovery. An invention. One so startling and surprisingly sinister that it needs to be kept—at any price.Tim Tigner takes a step back from his bestselling Kyle Achilles series to introduce Zachary Chase and Skylar Fawkes in a fresh standalone novel that’s bound to keep you glued and guessing. With secluded meetings, sudden disappearances and strange murders; secret agents, skillful assassins and sexy locations; The Price of Time is packed with fast-paced action and first-class intellectual intrigue.Propelling the thrills and perched at the middle of the mystery is one of humanity’s great questions: Would finding the Fountain of Youth be a blessing?Prepare for sleep-deprived nights and skipped chores while repeating the phrase: "Just one more page."

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.

Colony


Benjamin Cross - 2021
    A remote, mist-shrouded island in the Russian Arctic. Archaeology Professor Callum Ross makes the discovery of a lifetime: a prehistoric ice mummy preserved for thousands of years by the sub-zero temperatures. Only, they didn't die of natural causes... As Callum races to unravel the mystery of the mutilated corpse, others race to sabotage the expedition, and he and his team are left stranded on the island. And they are not alone. Someone, or something, relentless is stalking them. As the arctic mist descends and the death toll rises, the team is thrust into a nightmare fight for survival, involving submarines, cyber warfare and Spetsnaz. But none of this can prepare them for the real terror that survives deep within the island’s heart: a secret so ancient it's been overlooked by time itself. COLONY is an edge-of-your seat action thriller that will appeal to fans of Clive Cussler, James Rollins and Michael Crichton.

Fatal Exchange


Russell Blake - 2011
    financial system.From the sweltering streets of Seoul to the sex-and-drug-driven underbelly of Greenwich Village, attempts at silencing a leak in an international counterfeiting operation leave a trail of butchery that leads inevitably to Wall Street, pitting a counter-culture heroine against a ruthless state-sponsored assassination team that will stop at nothing to achieve its lethal ends.As the body count climbs, Tess is assisted by Detective Ron Stanford, a NYPD homicide specialist tracking a brutal serial killer whose ritualistic cycle of murder and mutilation targeting bike messengers is escalating to fever pitch.Tess's battle to survive propels her into a deadly underworld where she must become judge and executioner, challenging her core beliefs about morality, justice and love.

Winterkill


Kate A. Boorman - 2014
    Everyone knows there is nothing but danger the other side of the Wall, and the community must prepare for the freezing winterkill that comes every year.But Emmeline struggles to be obedient under the Council's suffocating embrace - especially when she discovers that a Council leader intends to snatch her hand in marriage.Then Emmeline begins to hear the call of the trees beyond the Wall...

Variant


Robison Wells - 2011
    A school where video cameras monitor his every move. Where there are no adults. Where the kids have split into groups in order to survive.Where breaking the rules equals death.But when Benson stumbles upon the school’s real secret, he realizes that playing by the rules could spell a fate worse than death, and that escape—his only real hope for survival—may be impossible.