Book picks similar to
Escape From Armageddon by Darrell Maloney


apocalypse
fiction
post-apocalyptic
adventure

Taking on the Dead


Annie Walls - 2012
    It's the only way to survive. The only way not to draw the living dead. Helping a small group of people, she learns the new world might not be what she assumes. Venturing out of her refuge and comfort zone, she meets Rudy, who helps her find a greater purpose. She realizes that the world has moved on without her. Only it's not what she expects. Her knowledge of the living dead grows and only makes her more curious as humanity continues to hang on by a thread. While on her search for answers she finds comfort in new friendships and love, but her past seems as if it will haunt her forever. Kansas takes it upon herself to help other survivors, which would be easy if the famished were the only obstacles.

Mason's War: A Purge of Babylon Story


Sam Sisavath - 2016
    EVEN THE BAD GUYS. Mason has always been good at surviving—adaptable, opportunistic, and, when necessary, ruthless. He’s thrived when so many have fallen, but no one stays on top forever. After a string of failures, Mason finds himself in a small Texas town under someone else’s command. Fine. He’s had to fight his way up the ladder before, and he can do it again. But even Mason can’t foresee the trouble that befalls him when he crosses paths with a sharpshooting teenage girl. For a guy who has never given a damn about anyone but himself, it’s a whole new world—one that even someone as bad as Mason might not survive. Is there such a thing as redemption in a post-Purge world? Mason is about to find out.

The Dead Years - Volume 1


Jeff Olah - 2013
    No one was. He now needed to get to his family before the infection did.No one knew how or where the end of the world started.The infection took hold quickly and destroyed everything in its path. Millions perished every hour. For those who survived the initial outbreak, finding a safe haven would prove to be a battle all its own.Mason, along with his family and new found friends struggle to avoid the infected and find a way out of the city.In this initial 76 page volume of The Dead Years you will be introduced to the main characters as they fight the ravenous creatures trying to devour them and each other.

Cry Havoc


A. American - 2016
    There’s war and rumors of war. There’s the false recovery of the economy. Failing faith in the US economy is extremely high. Foreign banks have either slowed their purchases of Treasury Bonds or, in a few cases, begun unloading them.We have a current election that is rife with corruption, extreme partisanship and outright fraud. It would appear the left in the country is ready to do about anything to see their candidate elected. While this is very concerning today, what does it mean to the election process as a whole? What will the next one look like? Does anyone believe they will actually improve? Or will the next batters up to the ultimate Homeplate simply make it even worse, take it even further down the rabbit hole?In reality, it matters not who wins. They can only be there for eight years. But the election sets precedent for the next one; and the next one will push the limits even further, if there is one. We’ve all heard of the spooky bank holiday. This sort of thing usually happens on a weekend, and on Monday morning you simply cannot access your account. You have no access to your money. Don’t think it can happen? Neither did the people of Greece. Or Germany when they were limited to fifty Euros a day. What would you do? Do you keep cash on hand? Do you trust your bank? If you put twenty thousand dollars into the bank and then ask for ten thousand back, you have to fill out forms and justify your need for it. Then they tell the government about it and you face further sanctions.Here in America, we think we’re free. Well, we are currently listed as number twenty on the scale of freedom. Think about that. Number twenty! Chile is ahead of us! But we have our guns and all of those other countries don’t. And indeed we do, for now. But what if, if, they were to take those away? What do we do then? And before you say you would take to the streets and fight back, think for a minute what that really means. Then watch a few videos on Syria or Ukraine. It’s all fun and games until someone puts a tank main-gun round through your house.What follows is just one idea of what this could look like. I’m not saying this is the way it would go. It’s just some thoughts on it. On how people could act. What the government may do in response and how people might respond in turn.

The Ranch: Jack Sterlings Legacy


Sean Liscom - 2019
    He had worked the same job his entire adult life, he had never married and he had no children. He was used to doing things on his own. His comfortable life was shaken to the core the day he learned of his fathers death. It was a mysterious meeting that set life altering events in motion and the allure of a new life was too great to walk away from. When an Electromagnetic Pulse brings the modern world to its knees, Jason's choice proves to be the right one. Excerpt I have been told by many people that I have lived an extraordinary life. While the past few years have been a wild ride, I don’t think that I would go that far. I would be more inclined to say that I have been very blessed. The people who I’ll introduce you to, they were the extraordinary ones. I was just lucky enough to call them my friends. In order to keep the memories alive of the ones that we lost along the way; I have decided to put pen to paper. It is in their memory that I tell you this story. My name is Jason Sterling and my incredible journey began on July 9th, 2015. That was the day I learned that my father had passed away. I was 38 years old and had been working at the same warehouse job for 20 years in Reno, Nevada. I had started there the summer I graduated from high school and the place just kind of stuck with me. Over the years I had risen through the ranks, from picker packer to shift lead. Then from shift lead to warehouse supervisor, then to supply chain manager. That was the position I had been in for the last five years. Retirement wasn't even a thought yet. Hell, I was only 38, who the hell retires at 38? So, every day I went to work. I was there at 5am and left after the second shift came on at 2:30pm. I liked to have contact with all my people. Maybe that’s why I was a successful manager. It's not that I really liked the job, I was just good at it and to be honest, I was comfortable. I had bigger plans for when I did decide to retire. Having never been married and having no kids, I had a lot of options open to me. The one option I was looking at was a huge log cabin in northern Montana. I loved the log cabin look and the idea of retiring and telling civilization to piss off was a feeling I felt more and more every day. At 6'-2" tall, I maintained an average weight of 195 with a pretty chiseled physique. I tried to do my hour every morning in the gym. After that, I was in the shower by 4:20 and on my way to work by 4:45. It was only a five-minute drive to work. That was the normal routine and had been every workday for years. I was always the first person at work, so I was a little surprised when I pulled in to find the Plant Manager’s car and a black limo in the parking lot. From outside I could see that the office lights were already on, my office light included. "Hmm, must be a surprise visit from corporate," I muttered to myself as I grabbed my briefcase and headed for the front door. I had been through these surprise inspections before, so I wasn't about to let it change my routine. In the front door, past the forklift charging stations and into the employee break room. It was a habit of mine to always start the coffee pots. I knew my people liked coming into work with hot coffee waiting for them. That done, I headed to my office. Let’s see who we had to impress today. Daryl, the plant manager, was in his office but the door was closed, so I proceeded to my office which was two doors down. My door was also closed, and I could see light spilling from under it. I stood there for a second or two trying to figure exactly what to do. Do I knock on my own office door? Do I just barge in like I own the place? This was a first.

Dead Instinct


T.W. Piperbrook - 2014
    Don't trust what you drink. The infection is spreading... In a world plagued with violence and infection, Ken and Roberta Smith want nothing more than to find their son. Having been on the road for four days, they must now cross the remaining three hundred miles of desert wasteland to get to him. Isaac Smith has been trapped in Phoenix since the infection began. The city is virtually impassable, and the infected are everywhere. Will he escape the carnage around him? Or will he die in the city he once called home?

Patient Zero


L.T. Ryan - 2013
    An experiment has gone horribly wrong and threatens to wipe all traces of humanity from Earth. 3rd Ranger Battalion, Bravo Company is sent in to assist, clean up the mess before it gets out of control.They've vanished.Sean Ryder is an Air Force Pararescueman. Attached to SEAL Team 8, he believes he is on a routine rescue and recovery mission. Less than half an hour after landing in Nigeria, he knows that is not the case. And the further his mission leads him, the harder it becomes to get out alive.Patient Zero is the first book in the zombie apocalypse / post-apocalyptic series Affliction Z.

The Rain


Joseph A. Turkot - 2013
    The thing that always comes to mind first isn’t the how though, it’s the how much. Russell still does the math too: 15, 5,400, and 8,550. 15 inches a day, 5,400 a year, and 8,550 feet since the start. We have no idea if it’s accurate. But it’s important to think about it, he says, because it reminds us to keep moving. I’m Tanner. Russell plucked me from the rain when I was two. Fourteen years ago we left Philadelphia. As the water rose, we moved west, hoping the elevation would keep us warm and dry. Pittsburg, Indianapolis, Sioux Falls, Rapid City. Now we’re stranded on the islands in Wyoming. Russell thinks they used to be the Bighorn mountains. But we can’t go back now. There’s no warm and there’s no dry anymore. Just a rumor about a place where it isn't raining. So we’re going to try to make it—520 miles south to Leadville. But we can’t drift east, the Great Plains have become waterspout alley, a raging tomb of moving water. Together we push on, surviving, heading to Leadville. But something is wrong with him now. He says it’s nothing. But his breathing doesn’t sound that way. Exposure, pruned hands, and infection. But since, Rapid City, it’s the face eaters too. And the crack in the canoe that’s growing. And the ice I think I see on the water. Russell thinks it’s my imagination. We cling to the last strips of the veneer. And each other.

Stand Your Ground: A Post Apocalyptic/Dystopian Survival Fiction Series (American Strong Series)


Chris Pike - 2018
    Air Force One is down, infrastructure has failed, and enemies of the United States are after the President. Ella Strong and a group of survivors are thrust into a chaotic world of compromised infrastructure and unforeseen complications. They will have to fight traitorous villains, even those who have sworn their allegiance to protect the President. They will have to stand their ground to survive. But do they?

Friends of the Family (The Colter Saga)


Joel Baker - 2009
    To escape, they decide to return to Jesse's childhood home of Haven. On the perilous journey they encounter a deserted genetics lab. That evening the results of a genetic experiment, five massive dogs working as a team, walk into their camp. The dogs finally disappear back into the dark. On a second visit, the dogs become friends of the family. As they near Haven, a sheriffs warning about a brutal gang, triggers a buried childhood memory for Jesse and the gangs involvement in the death of his parents. The gang decides to visit Haven. The Colters set a brutally effective trap. Jesse is severely injured, but survives. Sarah and Jesse, with the help of their friends, build a future and slowly things get better. At the end Jessie is alone and dying. It's his time, and he feels complacent. He's an old man with a bent back and a deep love for Sarah, sitting in a small clearing on the side of a mountain overlooking Haven.

Zero Day


Bobby Adair - 2013
    Disturbing news footage is flooding the cable news channels. People are worried. People are frightened. But Zed Zane is oblivious. Zed needs to borrow rent money from his parents. He gets up Sunday morning, drinks enough tequila to stifle his pride and heads to his mom’s house for a lunch of begging, again.But something is wrong. There's blood in the foyer. His mother's corpse is on the living room floor. Zed's stepdad, Dan is wild with crazy-eyed violence and attacks Zed when he comes into the house. They struggle into the kitchen. Dan's yellow teeth tear at Zed's arm but Zed grabs a knife and stabs Dan, thirty-seven times, or so the police later say.With infection burning in his blood, Zed is arrested for murder but the world is falling apart and he soon finds himself back on the street, fighting for his life among the infected who would kill him and the normal people, who fear him.

American Survivor


A.J. Newman - 2018
    The North Koreans launch a surprise Nuclear EMP attack on the USA. Our hero, Joe doesn’t care about politics or what happened, he just knows his world went to Hell. Planes fell out of the sky, people went nuts looting and killing as he scrambled to hide from all of the craziness. Joe had a cabin and land in Southern Oregon when TSHTF and retreated to the cabin to survive the massive die-off that was always predicted for an apocalypse. The weeks before the Grid went down weren’t much better for Joe because his best friend, his fiance, and his beloved Grandma all died during the weeks leading up to lights out. Joe was a young auto mechanic whose only stress in life was from a domineering girlfriend, and now he has to learn how to survive in a Post-Apocalyptic world without military or survival training. To make matters, worse others look to him for support and guidance. Read American Survivor to find out how a regular guy survives in a Post-Apocalyptic world. AJ Newman

Fight for Survival


Jay J. Falconer - 2016
    . .A ruthless, global conspiracy will rise from the shadows to seize control of everything.But that’s only the start.They’ll soon unleash a mysterious red rain, grounding all travelers, knocking out communications, and taking down the grid.As civilization tumbles into chaos, those clinging to power turn to one man, Simon Redfall. A desperate loner who’s hunted by angry mobs and his own past. Simon may be an outcast, but his unique skills are the last, best hope for survival.With time running out, Simon will need to hurry.Once the red rain ends, it will be too late to stop what’s coming next.Book 1 in the American Prepper Series*** Rated R for Violence, Language, Sexual Situations, and Bloodshed ***

Summer


V.L. Dreyer - 2013
    Within a year, it had decimated our world. Our species is on the verge of extinction. Only a few of us have survived; those of us lucky enough to be born with a natural immunity to the plague. We scavenge amongst the ruins of our old civilizations, picking out a living from the devastation.Ten years ago, I watched my family die one by one. Now, I am alone. The year is 2024; it has been a decade since the virus reduced humanity to a scattering of survivors strewn out across the world.The rules that governed our society are gone.Without laws to protect the innocent, I have seen the worst of humanity throughout the years. Now, I have found a new family who are determined to show me the best. But a fresh mutation of the virus has started turning the harmless, pathetic infected into monstrous predatory creatures bent on our destruction; even the wildlife is turning against us.We are forced to leave our home and flee for our lives. It is only through unity that we stand any chance of survival. Enemies wait around every turn. For the sake of our children and our children’s children, we must find some way to survive and flourish again. If we fail, then the human species will cease to exist.My name is Sandy McDermott, and I am a survivor. This is my story.

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.