Books like 'The Big Dark'
Readers who enjoyed The Big Dark by Rodman Philbrick also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi action / adventure survival dystopia realistic children suspense family post-apocalyptic bullying
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Edge of Anarchy by Kyla Stone
Rated: 4.51 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsWhat lines will you cross to keep your loved ones safe?Three weeks after the nation's power grid goes down, chaos reigns. Food supplies have dried up. Fuel is running low. And the bleak, brutal winter is relentless.Fall Creek has forged a shaky peace, but the cost for safety proves higher than some are willing to pay. The town is a powder keg waiting to explode...Categorized as:
apocalyptic disaster dystopia male-mc post-apocalyptic suspense action-adventure audiobook -
Edge of Defiance by Kyla Stone
Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsFreedom demands a price...Weeks after an EMP attack devastates the United States, the country is falling apart.Hannah, Liam, and the others have survived the brutal cold and violent adversaries,but the threat has never been greater. Enemies from within have taken control of the town--including what little remains of the food...Categorized as:
apocalyptic disaster dystopia male-mc post-apocalyptic suspense action-adventure audiobook -
Commune: Book Two by Joshua Gayou
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSurvival can be a lonely existence…or not. The reality of the situation always comes down to a simple decision: what kind of world do you want to build? The survivors have come to settle in the mountains of Wyoming, fighting day in and day out to establish a home for themselves in a near-empty world...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic survival suspense action-adventure adult audiobook -
All That Escapes by Jack Hunt
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe fight to survive continues across the United states in book three of the bestselling Lone Survivor saga... A month and a half on the Appalachian trail and Beth ‘Bluebird’ Sullivan and Landon Gray thought they'd seen the worst of society. With a mysterious stranger in their midst, trouble at every turn, and miles to go, the unknown will be even more terrifying...Categorized as:
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All That Rises by Jack Hunt
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWho will survive in the fourth and final book in the bestselling Lone Survivor saga? After a hellish journey on the Appalachian trail, Landon Gray reunites with his wife, Sara only to learn of her infidelity, but that’s only the beginning of their troubles. Although all is calm in the coastal community of Castine, Maine, death is at their doorstep...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia male-mc post-apocalyptic survival suspense action-adventure adult -
National Treasure by Arthur T. Bradley
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsJust when it looks like Deputy Marshal Mason Raines might finally settle into a life free from violence, he receives an emergency distress call from the New Colony. Not only has his handler been brutally attacked, but the life of a treacherous woman he once loved is also in danger...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia family post-apocalyptic survival action-adventure adult audiobook -
Alone at the End of the World by M.P. McDonald
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhile a deadly virus races through the world’s population, survivors struggle to find others who are still alive because nobody wants to be Alone at the End of the World. Thirteen-year-old Ethan should be practicing his skateboard moves, not watching his family members die, one by one. He knows he could become a victim of the evil infection at any minute...Categorized as:
apocalyptic coming-of-age dystopia post-apocalyptic survival action-adventure book female-mc -
Masters of Mayhem by Franklin Horton
Rated: 4.53 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsConor Maguire and his daughter Barb planned to weather the apocalypse by keeping to themselves, hidden from the world in their compound deep in the Appalachian Mountains. Their approach failed, allowing bad men to get too close and kidnap Barb...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic survival suspense action-adventure adult audiobook -
Sunrise by Mike Mullin
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsThe Yellowstone supervolcano nearly wiped out the human race. Now, almost a year after the eruption, the survivors seem determined to finish the job. Communities wage war on each other, gangs of cannibals roam the countryside, and what little government survived the eruption has collapsed completely. The ham radio has gone silent...Categorized as:
apocalyptic coming-of-age disaster dystopia family friendship male-mc post-apocalyptic -
Edge of Madness by Kyla Stone
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsA devastating EMP. No power. No communication. And no help...On the five-year anniversary of his wife Hannah's disappearance, small-town deputy Noah Sheridan takes his young son Milo to a local ski resort for some much needed father-son time. In a blink, the power grid goes out. So do the resort's brand new generators...Categorized as:
apocalyptic disaster dystopia male-mc post-apocalyptic survival suspense action-adventure -
Humanity by Devon C. Ford
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSet in the UK in the immediate aftermath of a mysterious illness which swept the country and left millions dead, the series follows the trials facing a reluctant hero, Dan, and the group he forms around him. They must battle the elements, find sufficient supplies and equipment to survive, and protect themselves against the most destructive force on the planet: other people...Categorized as:
apocalyptic disaster dystopia post-apocalyptic survival action-adventure adult audiobook -
The Ranch: A Legacy of Darkness (The Legacy Series Book 3) by Sean Liscom
Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPost-Apocalyptic Fiction by Sean Liscom Jason Sterling had a simple life by all accounts. 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... -
Fight for Power by Eric Walters
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAs this apocalyptic trilogy hurtles to a chilling conclusion, Adam is pushed to the edge of his endurance and sanity.Adam has killed again. It had to be done, part of him knows that, but murder changes a person. It can certainly change a teenager who's already grown up too quickly, too harshly, in the wake of the catastrophic global blackout five months ago...Categorized as:
apocalyptic disaster dystopia post-apocalyptic realistic survival suspense action-adventure -
Will to Survive by Eric Walters
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe end is now.Adam had to do something terrible to protect his family, his home. It had to be done, part of him knows that, but it changes a person. It can certainly change a teenager who’s already grown up too quickly, too harshly, in the wake of the catastrophic global blackout four months ago...Categorized as:
apocalyptic disaster dystopia post-apocalyptic realistic survival action-adventure book -
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Run by Craig Martelle
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe end doesn’t come till you draw your last breath… After enduring the holocaust that destroyed Fairbanks, Chuck and his family did more than simply endure. They thrived. Together with other survivors, the Nagy’s are rebuilding their lives in the Alaskan wilderness, creating a better society... -
The Resolution by Steven C. Bird
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Resolution is the fourth installment in The New Homefront Series where patriotic Americans struggle to survive while fighting the evil and tyranny that pervades their new world... -
Divided We Stand: Book Four of the What's Left of My World Series by C.A. Rudolph
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe decision to splinter backfires.When Lauren and the others leave the safety of the valley in search of supplies and aid, they're trapped, captured, and tortured. Escape seems impossible...if they're to survive, it will only be by rescue, and not without blood on their hands and tears in their eyes...Categorized as:
apocalyptic coming-of-age dystopia male-mc post-apocalyptic survival action-adventure audiobook -
Worlds Apart by C.A. Rudolph
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAlan Russell thought about his family night and day. They didn’t just mean the world to him, they were his world. As a devoted husband and father, his sole purpose was to love, support, and protect them. Yet Alan had gone a step further, doing everything in his power to ensure his family’s survival in what he believed would become a perilous and uncertain future...Categorized as:
apocalyptic coming-of-age dystopia post-apocalyptic survival action-adventure adult audiobook -
Edge of Darkness by Kyla Stone
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsA world without power, lights, transportation... Liam and Hannah continue their dangerous journey home. But they're hunted by a deadly adversary. Back home, Noah fights to protect both his son and the town of Juniper Springs, though someone is sabotaging his efforts. Preorder the explosive third book in the Edge of Collapse series now...Categorized as:
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This We Will Defend by C.A. Rudolph
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThis We Will Defend is the long-awaited follow-up to indie post-apocalyptic / dystopian fiction author C.A.Rudolph's best-selling debut novel What's Left of My World. "The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending against all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks...Categorized as:
apocalyptic coming-of-age dystopia male-mc post-apocalyptic survival action-adventure adult -
When the Peace Is Gone by P.A. Glaspy
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsRuss and Anne Mathews made their escape from their home, along with family, friends, and new friends they made along the way. Now, they must build a new life for themselves at the Warren farm, without the luxury of electricity and very few traces of the 21st century... -
City Escape by Theresa Shaver
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFive went by Land and Five went by Sea...the rest stayed in the City...this is their story. Mrs. Moore knew that leaving the city was the best chance that she and her students had to survive the EMP pulse but when half of her charges refused to leave she knows she has to stay and try and protect them...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia male-mc post-apocalyptic survival suspense action-adventure alternate-history -
Days of Panic by Jack Hunt
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsWhen the power grid fails, what will you do to survive?After an EMP obliterates the nation's electrical grid on New Year's Eve, it's not long before society unravels and panic ensues. As the lights go out and silence spreads over the city that never sleeps, four ordinary strangers; a bike messenger, a homeless person, a support rep, and an ex-convict must forge a connection in order to stay alive...Categorized as:
apocalyptic disaster dystopia male-mc post-apocalyptic survival action-adventure adult -
Run For Cover by Eva Gray
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsNow that best friends Louisa, Rosie, Evelyn, and Maddie know the truth--or at least the danger they're in--the girls have run away from their "safe" country retreat. But life is riskier than ever, and Rosie still doesn't know who she can trust. Original...Categorized as:
apocalyptic children dystopia friendship post-apocalyptic realistic survival suspense -
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All That Survives by Jack Hunt
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe journey of survival continues in book two of the bestselling Lone Survivor saga… Four months ago, an EMP brought the power grid down and crippled the country, leaving ferry pilot, Landon Gray and off-the-grid teen, Beth ‘Bluebird’ Sullivan alone on a North Carolina mountain, scrambling to survive. The unlikely duo escaped death, but are far from safe...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia male-mc post-apocalyptic survival suspense action-adventure adult -
Geostorm The Shift: A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Survival Thriller by Bobby Akart
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsEarth is alive. Deep beneath her skin is our planet's life blood. Rivers of molten iron, pushing around a core - her beating heart. This moving, fluid iron generates the magnetic field maintaining the delicate balance of life on earth. Until she has a change of heart. "Spellbinding...Categorized as:
apocalyptic disaster dystopia male-mc post-apocalyptic survival suspense action-adventure -
Chaos Comes by Harley Tate
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTwo weeks into the apocalypse, would your switch be flipped? Colt Potter's a no-nonsense air marshal who doesn't hesitate to use his skills. When he sets off on his own, leaving the comfort of a warm bed, good looking woman, and the University of Oregon behind, he's ready to be a solitary man. Rescuing a fifteen-year-old girl is the last thing he needs...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia male-mc post-apocalyptic survival suspense action-adventure adult -
Armageddon by Bobby Akart
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsNobody was prepared, including the world's governments. Yet the threat was always real and the devastation was predictable.The damage was incalcuable. Millions died at the points of impact. Nuclear Winter spread across the globe. A rapidly cooling climate shocked humanity and all living things ... to their death.This is more than the story of nuclear conflict...Categorized as:
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TEXAS FALL 2 by Boyd Craven III, L.A. Bayles
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIt wasn’t supposed to get this bad, this quickly—While trying to recover from his wounds, Ethan sets out to help Emma and King get the ranch ready to the best of their abilities. Digging more into the stockpiles of supplies, Emma bootstraps a system to help their shorthanded operation, and give them a technological advantage in a country mostly in the dark... -
TEXAS FALL by Boyd Craven III, L.A. Bayles
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsPreparing for hard times was second nature to native Texans. For the Garcia siblings, it wasn't a matter of if, but when something would happen. Despite their careers taking them in separate directions across the state, nothing could stop the brother and sister duo from meeting back up when an EMP takes most of the country back to the stone age...Categorized as:
apocalyptic post-apocalyptic dystopia male-mc disaster fiction action-adventure sci-fi -
MICHIGAN FALL by L.A. Bayles, Boyd Craven Jr.
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhat would you do if there was an EMP attack today? How would you survive, not only against the oncoming winter but against those who are desperate or greedy and want what you have? What would happen when all of the checks and balances that support the law are gone?Because of her semi-rural location and a handful of good neighbors, Rose Winters and her family are better off than those in the...Categorized as:
post-apocalyptic apocalyptic dystopia male-mc disaster female-mc fiction action-adventure -
Suicide Six by Bobby Akart, Peter Vincent Pry
Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsWe'll live to fight another day!The Lone Star Series continues as critically acclaimed author, Bobby Akart (The Blackout Series, The Pandemic Series, The Boston Brahmin series and the Prepping for Tomorrow series) intertwines historical fact with plausible fiction in SUICIDE SIX, the thrilling conclusion to The Lone Star Series, a post-apocalyptic EMP survival thriller...Categorized as:
apocalyptic disaster dystopia male-mc post-apocalyptic survival suspense action-adventure -
Geostorm The Pioneers by Bobby Akart
Rated: 4.59 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsImagine a world where rising sea levels inundate coastal megacities.People flock to higher ground, only it was too late.Entire species became extinct in the blink of an eye,and conflicts are fought over dwindling resources.It's not so difficult in the Geostorm series."The Geostorm series consumes you. You don't read it ... you live it...Categorized as:
apocalyptic disaster dystopia male-mc post-apocalyptic survival suspense action-adventure -
Among the Enemy by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsHIDE OR FIGHT?Matthias, an illegal third child, is caught in the cross fire between rebels and the Population Police. When he unwittingly saves a Population Police officer, Matthias is brought to Population Police headquarters to train as an officer himself. There he meets Nina, another third-born who enlists his help in a plot to undermine the Population Police...Categorized as:
apocalyptic children coming-of-age dystopia family friendship post-apocalyptic realistic -
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Among the Impostors by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsLuke Garner is terrified.Out of hiding for the first time in his life, he knows that any minute one of his new classmates at Hendricks School for Boys could discover his secret: that he's a third child passing as the recently deceased Lee Grant... -
Days of Chaos by Jack Hunt
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsTwo weeks without power, would you still survive? After the lights went out across the nation, Elliot, Jesse, Maggie and Damon fought off the desperate as they made their way back to Lake Placid. Rayna barely survived an attack by home invaders and Gary struggled to maintain order in a town gripped by panic... -
Geostorm The Tempest by Bobby Akart
Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSince the beginning of time, four billion life forms have been created.Ninety-nine percent are now extinct.The human species is the youngest of them all.A mere blink in the eye of time -Time, which is running out. "I couldn't put it down... -
Sun & Smoke: An Endless Winter Novel by Theresa Shaver
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBook 1 Snow & AshBook 2 Rain & RuinBook 3 Sun & SmokeSkylar Ross and Rex Larson just settled into a new way of life when a simple mistake changes everything. General Bill Mallor, Skylar's Godfather, should have been a welcome sight when he and his men roll into town and save them...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia male-mc post-apocalyptic survival action-adventure alternate-history book -
Inbound by E.E. Isherwood, Mike Kraus
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom best-selling authors Mike Kraus and E.E. Isherwood comes a frighteningly real new post-apocalyptic series. A radical new mission. A devastating disaster. Survival is no longer guaranteed. The Tikkanen Kinetic Mining corporation has perfected the science of asteroid mining - or so they say... -
Endurance by John Q. Prepper, M.L. Banner
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe sequel to the #1 best-seller, Highway All they had to do was endure. The enemy had other plans. Several of America’s greatest cities have been nuked, the grid is down, food supplies are dwindling, and the lawless have taken over. Even those who prepared are struggling... -
The Devil's Road by Boyd Craven
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWith the horrors of Chicago put down hard, Dick AKA Devil Dog, Jamie, Mel, Luis and Courtney head west, where they are hoping to re-unite with family. There's only a few problems along the way... Only a few. Rabid Cannibals, hunted by psychotic raiders and a town that's forcing a "Tithe" on travelers and a government gone wild... all before the main event.. -
Incineration by Laura DiSilverio
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAfter soldiers storm the Bulrush compound, Everly Jax spends four months in prison, uncertain of her friends' fates and determined to figure out who betrayed Bulrush. When she goes on trial for murder, her only hope is a mysterious lawyer who may not have her best interests at heart. After the stunning verdict, she's convinced she has been betrayed again...Categorized as:
apocalyptic coming-of-age dystopia family friendship post-apocalyptic survival action-adventure -
Welcome to the Stone Age by S.A. Ison
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsKelly, Randal, Larry, and Stephen don't know each other, they have nothing in common, they don’t know each other. 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... -
The Ophidian Horde by Ryan Schow
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe EMP is real. The unraveling of society is beyond perilous. With the city in ruin, injuries to her party and a sharp loss of resources, Cincinnati McNamara looks to Indigo for help in forming a new homestead, a place where she can tend to the wounded and safeguard her family...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia male-mc post-apocalyptic survival suspense action-adventure book -
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The Drowned by Kevin Partner, Mike Kraus
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA Thrilling Post-Apocalyptic Survival StoryWhen a geo-engineering project goes catastrophically wrong, one man will risk everything to rescue his daughter.Put in place to try and fix the the melting ice caps, the Exobot project was supposed to be our salvation.It became our destruction instead... -
Colony East by Scott Cramer
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThis is an alternate cover edition for B00FFBDEUW When Abby's little sister, Toucan, contracts a new, deadly illness spreading among the survivors, they go on a dangerous journey to Colony East, an enclave of scientists caring for a small group of children. Abby fears that time is running short for Touk, but she soon learns that time is running out for everyone outside Colony East...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic survival action-adventure book fiction young-adult -
The Shattered Earth by Mike Kraus
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsRick Waters is trapped. He and another survivor are stuck in the middle of a devastated Las Vegas, forced to hide while a band of criminals wielding stolen military-grade hardware loot the city. Any hope of escape rests on Rick's quick thinking, though that may not be enough. Back home in Virginia, his wife and children are preparing their homestead for an early winter that has arrived... -
Battle by Tom Abrahams
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAll he wants is peace. All he finds is war. Marcus Battle is a wanted man. No matter where he goes or what he does, he can't escape those who aim to kill him. But as he fights off one would-be vigilante after another, a new threat emerges. It's a threat worse than the viral Scourge which plunged his world into a dystopian nightmare and it could give rise to second apocalypse...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia male-mc post-apocalyptic survival suspense action-adventure adult -
The World Bleeds by Boyd Craven
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsBlake, ever the entertainer is feeling restless while healing. In this new post apocalyptic world, he can no longer blog, but he can use the radio. Can he convey his thoughts and ideas to help others without having pictures and diagrams on how to do things? He hopes to find out.Supplies are running low for Michael, John and the Kids...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic survival action-adventure adult anthologies fiction -
Meet Me at World's End by Jordan Rivet
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA killer comet speeds for Earth, big enough to wipe out all life and choke the atmosphere for a century. When the news breaks, soft-spoken freshman Charlotte Hartland gets caught in a flood of panicked students on her college campus—until a black SUV swoops in to extract her...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic survival action-adventure book fiction young-adult
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