Books like 'Resistance'
Readers who enjoyed Resistance by Val McDermid also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi mystery horror dystopia medical realistic apocalyptic politics epidemy grief
-
Alive by Courtney Konstantin
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsRafe Duncan has been working his family’s compound for years in the event of a global catastrophe-- and doomsday has finally arrived. Both he and Charlie Brewer work at a facility where secret government experiments are carried out, experiments that are classified even to them. Then the plague breaks loose, and hell arrives on earth... -
First Shift: Legacy by Hugh Howey
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsIn 2007, the Center for Automation in Nanobiotech (CAN) outlined the hardware and software platform that would one day allow robots smaller than human cells to make medical diagnoses, conduct repairs, and even self-propagate. In the same year, the CBS network re-aired a program about the effects of propranolol on sufferers of extreme trauma... -
Fever by Deon Meyer
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNico Storm and his father Willem drive a truck filled with essential supplies through a desolate land. They are among the few in South Africa--and the world, as far as they know--to have survived a devastating virus which has swept through the country...Categorized as:
apocalyptic disaster dystopia epidemy literary-fiction action-adventure adult audiobook -
Affliction by Adrienne Lecter
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSomething is rotten in the state of California… The dawning civil war has ended in a truce. Scavengers and traders all over the country are settling down for the long, hard winter to come. With their new camp outside the maze of New Angeles at the coast growing every day, Bree, Nate, and the gang have their hands full—yet something is not quite right... -
-
Fractured by D.J. Molles
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsThis is the destiny of those who stand for others. Their honor will be bought in blood and pain. The Camp Ryder Hub is broken. Lee is nowhere to be found, and his allies are scattered across the state, each of them learning that their missions will not be as easy as they thought...Categorized as:
apocalyptic disaster dystopia epidemy literary-fiction medical action-adventure adult -
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... -
The Stranding by Kate Sawyer
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsRuth lives in the heart of the city. Working, drinking, falling in love: the rhythm of her vivid and complicated life there is set against a background hum of darkening news reports from which she deliberately turns away...Categorized as:
dystopia literary-fiction apocalyptic disaster fiction post-apocalyptic sci-fi contemporary -
Evil Among Us by J.K. Accinni
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLorna, Jennifer and Seth struggle to reach the Hive amid the chaos of Armageddon... -
The Orphans Vol III: Strangers by Mike Evans
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe zombie apocalypse is not forgiving, especially in the world of The Orphans. A group of teens against all odds continue to survive against the challenges presented to them in a world where the rules have changed and the Turned are trying to devour them. These are not your typical slow zombies these zombies are the fast, strong, and by far the smartest that you will encounter... -
The Book of Riley 5 by Mark Tufo, Sean Runnette
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsAfter being separated from her pack and left for dead, Riley, a fearless American bulldog, teams up with an unexpected ally on her quest to find the final path home. Together they face the harshness of the wilderness, the rage of the "deaders", and the murderous intent of the "two-leggers". Sometimes, man is far from a dog's best friend... -
Axis of Evil by Bobby Akart, Peter Vincent Pry
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Axis of Evil had the perfect strategy. Destroy the heartbeat of America. Invade with their million man army. But there was one thing they didn't count on ... Texas... -
Pandemic by Scott Sigler
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe explosive conclusion to the New York Times bestselling trilogy that began with Infected and Contagious.The alien intelligence that unleashed two horrific assaults on humanity has been destroyed. But before it was brought down in flames, it launched one last payload-a tiny soda-can-sized canister filled with germs engineered to wreak new forms of havoc on the human race... -
The Strange Bird: A Borne Story by Jeff VanderMeer
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Strange Bird—from New York Times bestselling novelist Jeff VanderMeer—is a digital original that expands and weaves deeply into the world of his “thorough marvel”* of a novel, Borne. The Strange Bird is a new kind of creature, built in a laboratory—she is part bird, part human, part many other things...Categorized as:
apocalyptic disaster dystopia literary-fiction 21st-century action-adventure adult animals -
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 78 ratingsSet in the days of civilization's collapse, Station Eleven tells the story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.One snowy night a famous Hollywood actor slumps over and dies onstage during a production of King Lear...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia epidemy literary-fiction realistic 21st-century action-adventure audiobook -
-
The Twilight Zone: Complete Stories by Rod Serling
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSubmitted for your approval...These nineteen classic stories confirm Rod Serling as one of the finest fantasy writers of our time. Serling's legendary television series The Twilight Zone consistently demonstrated his remarkable gift for storytelling. In the years that have followed, millions have experienced and remembered these timeless scenarios, now airing regularly on the Sci-Fi Channel... -
The Gospel According to Artyom by Dmitry Glukhovsky
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe recently created and previously unpublished epilogue of METRO 2033, written by Dmitry Glukhovsky. This bonus piece was never published in English and comes exclusively on Amazon... -
How We Became Wicked by Alexander Yates
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA plague, called Wicked, is pulsing through the world; and in its wake, it’s dividing the population into thirds:The WICKED: Already infected by the droves of Singers, the ultraviolet mosquito-like insects who carry the plague, the Wicked roam the world freely. They don’t want for much—only to maim and dismember you. But don’t worry: They always ask politely first... -
The Village by Iain Rob Wright
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe fungus is spreading and life is changing, becoming corrupted...Continue Ryan and Aaron's story as they flee the cottage by the hill and finally make it to the village where they hope to find safety, but the threat of the quickly spreading fungus is only growing worse, and not everyone in the village welcomes strangers. It's time to meet the locals. -
Escape by T.W. Piperbrook
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsDan and Quinn Lowery may have escaped the initial infection, but their journey is far from over.Their once-safe location has been compromised, overrun by the agents and the infected.Now, in order to survive, they must first escape.. -
Fortune Falls by Lou Vane
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA deadly virus. A group of students trapped in the mountains. Their survival depends on each other. Seventeen-year-old Jess Maddox leaves home excited and hopeful, certain the leadership camp she’s about to join will change her life forever. And she’s right. When a deadly virus outbreak makes the world too dangerous to return to, Jess and the other students are forced to flee to the mountains... -
Countdown by Mira Grant
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe year is 2014, the year everything changed. We cured cancer. We cured the common cold. We died.This is the story of how we rose.When will you rise?Countdown is a novella set in the world of Feed...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia epidemy medical politics action-adventure alternate-history anthologies -
In Harm's Way by Shawn Chesser
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsIn Harm’s Way, Book 3 in the Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse series, picks up on Day 8 where “Soldier On: Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse” left off.Outbreak - Day1Like a fragile house of cards in a hurricane, Presidents, Premiers, entire governments and their ruling bodies disappeared instantly... -
Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn the stories of Adjei-Brenyah’s debut, an amusement park lets players enter augmented reality to hunt terrorists or shoot intruders played by minority actors, a school shooting results in both the victim and gunman stuck in a shared purgatory, and an author sells his soul to a many-tongued god.Adjei-Brenyah's writing will grab you, haunt you, enrage, and invigorate you...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia literary-fiction politics realistic 21st-century adult afrofuturism -
Contagious by Scott Sigler
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom the acclaimed author of "Infected" comes an epic and exhilarating story of humanity's secret battle against a horrific enemy. Across America, a mysterious pathogen transforms ordinary people into raging killers, psychopaths driven by a terrifying, alien agenda... -
-
The Risen by Erica Stevens
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 12 ratings*****This book is the final compilation and the conclusion to an ongoing serial story. This series must be read in order.*****With new challenges and threats arising every day, the survivors struggle to reach their destination in the hopes of finding somewhere safe to stay... -
The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsWhen she fell asleep, the world was doomed. When she awoke, it was dead.In the wake of a fever that decimated the earth’s population—killing women and children and making childbirth deadly for the mother and infant—the midwife must pick her way through the bones of the world she once knew to find her place in this dangerous new one. Gone are the pillars of civilization... -
Lost Valley by Walt Browning, Nicholas Sansbury Smith
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWar has a way of following some people... John Eric Carver and Shrek are a retired Navy SEAL war dog team, now living in the mountains outside of San Diego. Both man and dog thought their life was now settled, finding peace on the forty acre ranch they had moved to. But life, and a mutated virus, changed all that.Now, they have to survive a worldwide pandemic... -
The Shades by Amy Cross
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOne late September day, the entire population of the United States vanishes, leaving behind nothing but empty streets. For the rest of the world, there's no explanation for how 300m people could simply vanish in the blink of an eye. While international organizations dither over what to do next, a powerful company pays for a small team of investigators to head to the U.S. and learn the truth... -
Nightfall by Daniel Barnett
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"Tomorrow died on the last morning of May. There were those who saw it happen, who watched the shadow fall, who felt the chop of the guillotine as the world lost its head. Everyone else witnessed only the aftermath, for the event itself lasted no longer than a moment... -
Pandemia by Johnathan Rand, Christopher Knight
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe world was warned. The last great flu epidemic kelled millions. Now the bird flu has mutated into the super flu and spreading fast. Four teenagers are caught in a world gone wild. They head north... -
The Hunted by A.J. Scudiere
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFirst they noticed the pets were missing, then the neighborhood of Rowena Heights started losing…people. It was only later that they actually saw the packs of creatures stalking the streets at night. As the Mazurs get close to the truth about the night hunters, they discover the hunters aren’t what they thought at all... -
The Ferryman by Justin Cronin
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsFounded by the mysterious genius known as the Designer, the archipelago of Prospera lies hidden from the horrors of a deteriorating outside world. In this island paradise, Prospera's lucky citizens enjoy long, fulfilling lives until the monitors embedded in their forearms, meant to measure their physical health and psychological well-being, fall below 10 percent... -
Pestilence by Victor Methos
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA race against the clock...The most lethal virus in history has begun its spread to the mainland United States. Fast-spreading and with the ability to take over the host's immune system, the pathogen seems unstoppable.A fight for survival...Dr. Samantha Bower of the Centers for Disease Control has encountered the virus before and it nearly cost her her life... -
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsFor Kivrin, preparing an on-site study of one of the deadliest eras in humanity's history was as simple as receiving inoculations against the diseases of the fourteenth century and inventing an alibi for a woman traveling alone. For her instructors in the twenty-first century, it meant painstaking calculations and careful monitoring of the rendezvous location where Kivrin would be received...Categorized as:
apocalyptic disaster dystopia epidemy medical 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history -
-
Outbreak Chaos by Boris Bacic
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsHeld in captivity by an evil group, Heather must find a way to save her sister. She’ll learn the hard way that the group doesn’t let people leave without heavy consequences.After narrowly escaping death, James and Angela find refuge in Krista’s house. They think they’re safe for the night. They’re dead wrong, and they realize it too late when they hear scratching inside the closet... -
The Treemakers by Christina L. Rozelle
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThis is a previously-published alternate cover edition of ASIN B00P49KVKG. Sixteen-year-old Joy Montgomery, daughter of Zephyr the Magnificent, the great magician, can only reminisce of better times. Before the Superiors. Before the uprisings. Long ago. Before the dying Earth ripped the family she loved away from her... -
Extinction Red Line by Nicholas Sansbury Smith, Tom Abrahams
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsThe official prequel and origin story of the bestselling Extinction Cycle series. One Marine's End Is The Beginning Of Our Extinction ...For a dozen years, villagers along the ancient Da River in Vietnam have feared a nightmarish creature who hunts and consumes human flesh. Only in whispers do they mention its name, The White Ghost... -
Fail State by John Birmingham
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsOn Zero Day of the first and last cyberwar in human history the internet went dark, transport and power grids collapsed and cities began to starve. Ten days later millions have died from thirst and starvation, from violence and from the simple failure of the world’s machines to keep them alive... -
The System by Shelbi Wescott
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLucy King’s saga continues as she searches for her family and for the truth in Book Two of the Virulent trilogy.It took one week to demolish the world and obliterate the earth’s population. And it took two weeks to solidify the ties of friendship and build-up a small society of survivors who must rely solely on each other to navigate the future’s unknown terrain... -
This Plague of Days, Season 1 by Robert Chazz Chute
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAn autistic boy + elements of The Stand + 28 Days Later = A haunting protagonist versus the Running DeadJaimie Spencer is a strange autistic boy caught in a fight for survival as the Sutr-X virus spreads across the United States. While governments lie to their citizens to quarantine victims and isolate cities, the inexorable mind virus brings civilization as we know it to an end... -
Evolution by Teri Terry
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA thrilling showdown brings the Dark Matter trilogy to a satsifying close. Shay is trapped at the Multiverse compound while looking for the real Callie, and an unforgiving Kai is her best chance at outsmarting Alex and saving countless lives.Shay has left Kai once again by following Alex to his Multiverse compound... -
Severance - The Lexington Letter by Anonymous
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen does the cost of staying silent become greater than the price of speaking up? A desperate woman risks everything to expose the sinister company at the heart of Severance, the thrilling Apple Original series from director and executive producer Ben Stiller and creator Dan Erickson, now streaming on Apple TV+, about a daring experiment in "work-life balance... -
This Fallen World by Christopher Woods
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe world has Fallen, but life goes on… Matthew Kade was a corporate assassin—one of the best agents Obsidian Corporation had. But then the bombs began falling, and the old world ended. Now he must navigate the new world he finds himself in, a world where the strongest survive, and the weaker do their bidding…or die... -
The First 30 Days by Lora Powell
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratings“Zombies. It was out in the open, that word that I had been avoiding for days. Now that it was out, there was no putting it back.” No one saw it coming. No one could have guessed that the vaccine that was supposed to save lives would take them instead. Once the death toll started to climb, it took less than a day for the world to change forever... -
-
Vacation by Jeremy C. Shipp
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIt's time for blueblood Bernard Johnson to leave his boring life behind and go on The Vacation, a yearlong corporate-sponsored odyssey. But instead of seeing the world, Bernard is captured by terrorists, becomes a key figure in secret drug wars, and, worse, doesn't once miss his secure American Dream... -
The Gathering Horde by Rich Baker
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe most ambitious terrorist plot ever undertaken is about to be put into motion, releasing an unstoppable force against humanity. Ordinary people - a group of students celebrating the end of the semester, suburban and rural families - are about to find themselves in the center of something that threatens the survival of the human species... -
Blackout by Jack Hunt
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFive strangers wake up in a town stricken by an unknown apocalyptic event. They have no memory. Forced to figure out who they are and how they got there, they soon discover all is not what it seems, and now they must fight to stay alive while trying to find a way to escape. A powerful tale of survival, hope and human courage... -
20 Minutes To Go Viral by Daniel Hurst
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSomething is spreading in the peaceful town of Amberfall. Something that threatens the whole of humanity. Something is going viral. 20 Minutes. 20 People. 20 stories that will make you want to stay inside and never greet another human being again. This is a short novella about a viral outbreak in a small town in the Lake District and shows how quickly disease can spread amongst the population...Categorized as:
medical literary-fiction dystopia fiction suspense mystery 21st-century psychological -
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom Laila Lalami—the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist and a “maestra of literary fiction” (NPR)—comes a riveting and utterly original novel about one woman’s fight for freedom, set in a near future where even dreams are under surveillance... -
Wanderers by Chuck Wendig
Rated: 4.01 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsShana wakes up one morning to discover her little sister in the grip of a strange malady. She appears to be sleepwalking. She cannot talk and cannot be woken up. And she is heading with inexorable determination to a destination that only she knows. But Shana and her sister are not alone. Soon they are joined by a flock of sleepwalkers from across America, on the same mysterious journey...Categorized as:
apocalyptic disaster dystopia epidemy literary-fiction politics 21st-century action-adventure
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.