Book picks similar to
The World Burns by Boyd Craven


post-apocalyptic
science-fiction
apocalyptic
apocalypse

The Preparation


Glen Tate - 2012
    299 Days: The Preparation, the first book in the 299 Days series, depicts the inner struggles Grant must face as he exists in a social system he recognizes as unsustainable and on the verge of collapse, but one in which he has built his life around. What begins as a return to his roots, self-sufficiency and independence, becomes a full blown move to prepare for what may come. Engaging, insightful and a bit suspenseful, follow Grant’s transition from a self-perceived “sheeple” to a full-blown “prepper.” Will his fears come true? Is he an extremist? What if nothing happens? What if something does?

No Easy Hope


James N. Cook - 2011
    Once, I was a wealthy man leading a comfortable, easy life. Then my old friend Gabriel told me how the world would end. Gabriel tried to help me. He taught me everything he learned as a Scout Sniper in the Marine Corps. All the hard lessons from years spent in the sand choked battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. I did everything I could to prepare. I thought I was ready.I was wrong.When the Outbreak came, it destroyed everything. The dead rose to consume the living, and all that mankind spent so many millennia working to build was laid to waste in a matter of months. The undead spared no one, leaving only ashes and death in their wake.For those of us still alive, every single day is a struggle. In spite of the danger, and the darkness, I still believe there is a chance that the human race can rebuild. If I can make my way North and enlist Gabriel's help, maybe we can find enough people to start over again. It won't be easy, though. I have to make my way across the ruins of the old world, and along the way my will to live, my humanity, and my very soul will be tested.I have food, I have a pickup truck, and I have my trusty rifle. Most importantly, I have hope. Hope is a powerful thing, but I will need much more than that if I am to survive the dead.This is the beginning. This is my story.

The Apocalypse


Peter Meredith - 2013
    It's a time of misery and death for most, however there are some who are lucky, some who are fast, and some who are just too damned tough to go down without a fight. This is their story.

Yellow Zone: A Journal Documentation of the End of America


Jacqueline Druga - 2010
    The virus is deadly and highly contagious. It spreads like wildfire, infecting and killing almost everyone it hits. In order to prevent the worldwide spread of the disease and for the preservation of all mankind, The United States of America is shut down. Quarantined from and by the rest of the world for a period of five years or until a cure is found. In the interest of the human race, those who remain inside the isolated United States are forgotten and left to fend for themselves until the quarantine is lifted. This is a journal documentation of just a few of those survivors, those abandoned and left behind to witness the end of the once Greatest Nation in the World, The United States of America. October 2013 bring you a completely new formatted and edited version.

Infection


M.P. McDonald - 2016
    Not only is it deadly, but it changes victims' behavior in order to spread the disease before they die. When Cole Evans first heard about the flu outbreak at a military base on a remote island, he felt a little uneasy. He had worked at that base as an epidemiologist while serving in the Navy and knew the kind of diseases they studied there.If this was the disease he thought it was, the entire world could be facing a global pandemic like nothing it had seen before. Cole must find a way to protect his family from a disease that could wipe mankind from the face of the earth...

UKD1


Chris Harris - 2015
    After asking himself the question and researching what could happen, he decided it wouldn’t do any harm to be a little bit prepared. Just in case. He discovers the world is going to be hit by a massive Coronal Mass Ejection from the sun, which will turn the whole planet dark. He only has a few days to get ready. Will they survive? People want what they have, but is he prepared to kill to protect it?

Whistlers


Mark Tufo - 2014
    Jack Walker and Michael Talbot come from two worlds; the same, yet different. They both find themselves transported into an alien one, where things aren't as they seem. While it appears similar to the ones they come from, there are some terrifying differences. Is it a dream? Or has reality been somehow warped? Jack comes from a world filled with nocturnal creatures that were once human, but now seek to destroy the last vestiges of humanity. Mike, living under a constant threat from hordes of the undead, arrives with a companion, John the Tripper. Ripped away from their family members and thrown into the unknown, they find that the nightmares from their worlds have preceded them. Survival becomes moment to moment as they encounter old dangers, and new. Each wants nothing more than to be reunited with their loved ones. With dangers lurking around every corner, they seek to unravel the mystery that brought them. It may be a long road ahead, but they begin by taking the first step, hoping the next one will be the one that takes them home.

Plague Year


Jeff Carlson - 2007
    Instead, it evolved into the Machine Plague, killing nearly five billion people and changing life on Earth forever.The nanotech has one weakness: it self-destructs at altitudes above ten thousand feet. Those few who've managed to escape the plague struggle to stay alive on the highest mountains, but time is running out—there is famine and war, and the environment is crashing worldwide. Humanity's last hope lies with a top nanotech researcher aboard the International Space Station—and with a small group of survivors in California who risk a daring journey below the death line...

Bugging Out


Noah Mann - 2014
    Hunker down. Stay alive. It came without warning. A microscopic enemy that methodically turned the green earth grey. Decimating the food chain until only the prepared were left.But preparation alone is not enough to shelter Eric Fletcher from the chaos to befall the world as governments fail their citizens. Seeking refuge at his remote property in the north of Montana while society devolves into starving anarchy, he finds himself facing not only the rigors of survival, but also the appearance of a self-proclaimed ruler promising to set his piece of the withered world right for those who follow. Those who don't will suffer the consequences of his sadistic retribution.Finding another survivor near his refuge, Eric attempts to steer clear of the conflict brewing in nearby towns. But soon he and his new found partner in survival are targeted by the dictatorial leader, leaving them two options--run, or fight for what is right.

The Jakarta Pandemic


Steven Konkoly - 2010
    One family's struggle to survive as a deadly pandemic sweeps the nation. This book both entertains and prepares at the same time. Reading this book might save your life if the Ebola virus or Avian flu turns into a pandemic." Preparedness consultant-2014  The Jakarta Pandemic: The People's Republic of China announces strict travel restrictions...  Indonesia goes dark...  Cases of an uncategorized influenza virus appear in major cities around the globe...  Department of Health and Human Services officials claim that measures have been taken to safeguard the American public...  Most ignore the warnings...  Alex Fletcher, Iraq War veteran, has read the signs for years. A seasoned sales representative for Biosphere Pharmaceuticals, he understands the unique dangers of a pandemic flu and has taken the necessary steps to prepare. With his family and home mobilized to endure an extended period of seclusion, Alex thinks he's ready for the pandemic. He's not even close.  The lethal H16N1 virus rapidly spreads across the nation, stretching the fragile bonds of society to the breaking point. Schools close, grocery stores empty, fuel deliveries stop, hospitals start turning away the sick...riots engulf the cities.  As hostility and mistrust engulfs his idyllic Maine neighborhood, Alex quickly realizes that the H16N1 virus will be the least of his problems.  The Jakarta Pandemic  is a terrifying, cautionary tale that explores the depths of human desperation and its unremitting influence on our decisions. - The sequel, The Perseid Collapse, is now available -  "It delivers a vicious punch of violence and heroism for the reader to endure and admire. I could hardly put The Jakarta Pandemic down until I finished it." - Amazon Reviewer (2012) "The tension builds as difficult choices are made, when no good options seem to be available. I found certain segments to be uncomfortably realistic, at times creepy in the way you could feel things closing in around the family." - Amazon Reviewer (2013) "It makes you think just how prepared you really are for any kind of emergency. It makes you question your resolve in a potential crisis. How far are you willing to go to protect your loved ones? Every day that goes by, these characters have to question what is right and what is wrong. Take the trip thru this book. You won't be disappointed." - Amazon Reviewer (2013) "Pay attention as you may learn a few things in this book that could help you make the best of an emergency situation. For that matter some of the info in this book may very well save your life." - Amazon Reviewer (2013) "Anyone who has relished running to the hardware store before a big storm to stock up on essentials will be drawn to Steve Konkoly's intricately-researched and drawn breakdown of our supply systems, and transfixed by his description of what it takes to survive six months of enforced isolation behind the locked(booby-trapped, draped and shuttered) doors of one's own home.

Under a Tell-Tale Sky


R.E. McDermott - 2015
     When the lights go out, seemingly for good, Hughes quickly finds being stranded far from home on a ship with working generators and a cargo of ten million gallons of irreplaceable fuel isn’t exactly a low profile position. Faced with rising crew discontent, and surrounded by worsening violence ashore, things can’t get much worse — until they do. As the remains of the federal government become increasingly corrupt and self-serving, Hughes joins a ragtag band of sailors, farmers, preppers ex-Coast Guardsmen, and dissident soldiers in an effort to re-unite his crew with their families and use remaining resources to rebuild a devastated society. Along the way they face a desperate and starving population, rampant violence from street gangs and escaped convicts, and powerful warlords created as an unintended consequence of the federal government’s ill-advised use of mercenaries.

Mordacious


Sarah Lyons Fleming - 2016
    But when the two are trapped in a hospital during the last gasp of a dying city, alone time is no longer an option. A nurse’s offer of sanctuary promises Sylvie the supplies she needs to survive the zombies–it’s the coexisting with people that might do her in. Eric Forrest will do whatever it takes to get into the dead city for his sister, including ending up dead himself. He’s used to taking risks, but with every mile he travels death looks likelier and likelier, and finding his sister may be his only prospect for survival—if he can make it home. Sylvie doesn’t need more than food, water and shelter. Eric wants only to find his sister. But sometimes what we think we need isn’t what we need at all, and what we find is more than we expected.

Dark Grid


David C. Waldron - 2011
    The electrical grids of virtually the entire planet have shorted out as a result of expected but completely unplanned for sunspot activity during the peak of the current solar cycle.Joel Turner and his family, along with a few close trusted friends, have to decide how and even if they can survive in their suburban Nashville neighborhood as things deteriorate within a matter of days with no electricity. Once they decide to strike out on their own, the only question that remains is where? Through the recent prior military service of Eric Tripp, one of the small group to leave the neighborhood, they are allowed to attach themselves to the local National Guard Unit until they decide where they are headed.With the power out and no communication with higher authority the Guard is on its own, and downtown Nashville is becoming a less safe place to be. The entire Armory, group and all, relocates to Natchez Trace State Park to set up operations for the duration of the crisis…however long that may be.

Downward Cycle


J.K. Franks - 2016
    As planes fall from the sky, cars suddenly die, and most electrical devices stop working with catastrophic consequences. But the loss of electrical power is just the first of the problems facing the survivors. In the chaos, that follows. An ordinary man helplessly watches the world around him begin to breakdown. While the thin veneer of normalcy stubbornly shrouds the coming collapse. Scott Montgomery discovers the truth; not just about the extent of damage to the world's infrastructure but also the drastic plans one shadowy group has for regaining control. A shockingly realistic look at how society copes when the world is thrust back to a time before electricity. It is brutal, deadly and largely fact-based storytelling. Scott and his new friends battle to save their town and themselves. They cannot avoid the steadily growing number of people who have realized that they can get away with whatever they want in a world where there are no longer any legal consequences for their actions. Adding to the problems is an elite para-military organization pursuing a draconian plan to ensure their vision for the new world with deadly consequences.

Joshua


John S. Wilson - 2012
    He had to get away, from the rioting, the lawlessness, the killing. Away from the brutal gangs that ruled the highways. Then there was the boy that he found along the way, an orphan with no place to go. He couldn’t leave the child behind; that would be murder. Together they had to make their way across the razed landscape of post collapse America, west to where there was safety, a chance to begin again. If only they survived the journey.