Books like 'In the beginning'
Readers who enjoyed In the beginning by Michael Farris Smith also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi mystery action / adventure dystopia dark apocalyptic post-apocalyptic
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The Unraveling by Hugh Howey
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsThere is a legend in their past of an uprising, a war they have learned about, but have learned nothing fromNobody knows what went wrong. Nobody talks about what happened. Such are the silo taboos.Now, nearly two hundred years later, the people of the Silo will get a chance to learn more about that distant uprising.They'll get to start one of their own..Categorized as:
apocalyptic dark dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure anthologies audiobook conspiracies -
Wool 3 by Hugh Howey
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe silo has appointed a new sheriff. Her name is Juliette, and she comes not from the shadows of deputies, but from the depths of the down deep...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dark dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure anthologies audiobook drama -
Wool 5 - The Stranded by Hugh Howey
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsIn July of 2011, a short story named WOOL was quietly released into the vast wilds of the Kindle Store. I never marketed this novelette; I failed to mention it on my website. What happened next was remarkable: People started reading it, and reviewing it, and talking about it.There was never any intention to create a series... -
Second Shift: Order by Hugh Howey
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsThe incredible second part of Shift, the follow up to bestseller Wool.Donald wasn't supposed to remember. In fact, he was punished for doing just that. But the information he should have forgotten may end up saving his future.Mission Jones is a young man who wants to change the world around him. The rules, the secrets, the lies... -
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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... -
Mortal by Shawn Chesser
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMortal, Book Six in the Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse series, picks up immediately where Allegiance: Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse left off... -
Allegiance by Shawn Chesser
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAllegiance, Book 5 in the Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse series, picks up two days after “A Pound of Flesh: Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse” left off.Outbreak – Day 1. Like a fragile house of cards in a hurricane, Presidents, Premiers, entire governments and their ruling bodies disappeared instantly... -
Wool 2 by Hugh Howey
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA cleaning has been performed, and now the silo is without a sheriff. With only one good candidate available, Mayor Jahns and Deputy Mames set off for the Down Deep to recruit her in person. Along the way, they discover much about each other, troubling news about this candidate, and stumble upon fractured alliances that could spell the doom of a silo they've worked long years to protect...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dark dystopia post-apocalyptic 21st-century action-adventure anthologies audiobook -
Twisted Memories by Kate L. Mary
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTwenty years ago Angus James woke to find himself in a sterile room. On the other side of the locked door, doctors worked to manipulate a virus, using him as their ultimate pin cushion. He was supposed to be dead - and there were moments over the next two decades when he wished he was - but despite his torturous existence, he remained a fighter... -
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...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure audiobook book epidemy fiction -
The Lost Colony by A.G. Riddle
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsCan humanity survive on a new world?On Eos, the last survivors of the Long Winter face their greatest challenge yet--and race to unravel the deepest secrets of the grid. It's a journey across space and time and into humanity's past and future--with a twist you'll never forget... -
Five Novels of the 1960s & 70s: Martian Time-Slip / Dr. Bloodmoney / Now Wait for Last Year / Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said / A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsPhilip K. Dick was a writer of incandescent originality and astonishing fertility, who made and unmade fictional world-systems with ferocious rapidity and unbridled speculative daring. “The floor joists of the universe,” he once wrote, “are visible in my novels.” The five novels collected in this volume—a successor to Philip K...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult anthologies fiction horror -
Storm's Fury by Justin Bell, Mike Kraus
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA young girl who saw her father die. A soldier who lost everything. Now, in the shadow of the apocalypse, they will fight to survive.The skies above America darken as powerful, corrupt forces inadvertently unleash a disaster of biblical proportions.In a quiet southern town, a lonely soldier lives each day in a bottle, forever regretting sins and losses of the past... -
Getting Home by Ryan Westfield
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhat would you do to get back home?Max and Mandy are stranded miles from camp. Their vehicle has been burned, along with most of their gear. The road ahead means danger and the unknown.Dan and Olivia are holed up in a suburban home. She's gravely injured, and Dan waits anxiously for the soldiers to return... -
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As The World Dies Untold Tales Volume 2 by Rhiannon Frater
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTHE FIRST DAYS: AS THE WORLD DIES introduced Jenni and Katie and their harrowing journey to the makeshift fort in the Texas Hill Country. FIGHTING TO SURVIVE: AS THE WORLD DIES continued their story as the two women joined the members of the makeshift fort in Ashley Oaks in the fight for survival against not only zombies, but the evil designs of bandits. But theirs is not the only tale to be told...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult anthologies audiobook fiction -
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 dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult book disaster female-mc -
Exposure by Tarah Benner
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsDon't miss the much-anticipated sequel to Recon! When Harper discovered the truth about Bid Day, she inadvertently painted a target on her back. Now Constance, the infamous espionage unit, wants her and her friends kept quiet at all costs...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure audiobook book enemies-to-lovers fiction -
Finest Hour by Arthur T. Bradley
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFinest Hour is the sixth book in Dr. Bradley's Survivalist series. It features seven full-page illustrations. (Series Order: Frontier Justice, Anarchy Rising, Judgment Day, Madness Rules, Battle Lines, Finest Hour, and Last Stand)... -
Burning Down Boise by Franklin Horton
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSometimes the story of an apocalypse isn’t one of tragedy, but one of opportunity...Dan Slaughter has given up on appearances. With his wife dead and his kids grown, he’s slowly reverting back to the east Tennessee boy he used to be three decades earlier. He quit cutting his hair and started smoking pot. He drinks when he wants to and sings along with the classic songs of his lost youth... -
Forever Between by Ann Christy
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFour year ago the world was destroyed by medical nanites gone awry, leaving humanity divided into three groups: the living, deaders, and the horrific in-betweeners. Two years ago, Emily braved that dangerous world to try and save a group of children trapped downtown. Now, it’s Veronica’s turn to try and save Emily in return... -
Yesterday's Gone: Season Six by Sean Platt, David W. Wright
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe #1 bestselling horror sci-fi series with over 1,000 5-star reviews concludes here with Yesterday’s Gone: Season Six. The wait is over. On October 15th, humanity went missing. A handful of scattered survivors woke to find the world empty of friends, family, and neighbors. Now they are home. But they're not alone. The Darkness has killed nearly everyone on the planet... -
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... -
Unleashed by Dirk Patton
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsJohn Chase has just arrived in Atlanta on a business trip when America experiences the worst attacks in history. Nuclear bombs destroy cities and the widespread release of nerve gas sends the majority of the surviving population into a murderous rage... -
The Song of the Orphans by Daniel Price
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsAfter their world collapsed in a sheet of white light, everything and everyone were gone—except for Hannah and Amanda Given. Saved from destruction by three fearsome and powerful beings, the Given sisters found themselves on a strange new Earth where restaurants move through the air like flying saucers and the fabric of time is manipulated by common household appliances...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure audiobook book female-mc fiction -
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Gray: Part III by Lou Cadle
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWelcome to Idaho City The sign was metal, the words still visible through scorching that had happened during The Event's long fire. The words spoke of the old days, seven months ago, when civilization was intact and the world robustly populated. The sign looked normal--or would have, had it not been for the pair of human feet attached over the first two words...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult audiobook book disaster -
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. -
Brace for Impact by Harley Tate
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhat if an EMP was only the first strike? With a credible threat to the United States and a plane stuck on the tarmac, Grant Walton is thirty seconds from full-blown panic mode. He’s the only one in the airport who knows the truth. When the power goes out, he can’t waste another second. It’s the beginning of the end and every man for himself. A nuclear attack will rip the country apart...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult audiobook book female-mc -
Strung II: The Valley of Death by Per Jacobsen
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThirteen months after the events in the first book of the series, Randall Morgan and his family still live a life of uncertainty. A life in which they–like the other scattered groups of survivors–must be constantly on guard.One day, however, they make a macabre discovery that leads them to believe that their pursuers will not pose a threat much longer... -
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.. -
The Hunted by Nicholas Sansbury Smith
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe deadly hunt continues in book two of the bestselling Trackers saga...Five days ago North Korea detonated three nuclear warheads over the United States, triggering an electromagnetic pulse that crippled the country. A second attack destroyed the nerve center of America in a nuclear blast that flattened the nation's capitol... -
Commune: Book One by Joshua Gayou
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFor dinosaurs, it was a big rock. For humans: Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). When the Earth is hit by the greatest CME in recorded history (several times larger than the Carrington Event of 1859), the combined societies of the planet’s most developed nations struggle to adapt to a life thrust back into the Dark Ages... -
Devil Dog by Boyd Craven, Kevin Pierce
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDick, AKA Devil Dog's world changes drastically when the EMP takes out the power grid. The loss of electricity brings out the darker side of human nature across the city. A homeless Marine veteran living in the abandoned tunnels beneath Chicago, he's far better prepared than most people. Good folk have survived, but they are often outnumbered and outgunned... -
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...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dark dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult book cosmic-horror -
American Survivor by A.J. Newman
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAmerican Apocalypse: American Survivor This is Book I in the American Apocalypse series. 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... -
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The Ark by Christopher Coates
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn the not too distant future, technology has developed to the point where a person can be placed in a Sleep State, which is a cross between suspended animation and a drug induced coma. Theoretically a person can be put to sleep for any length of time and age only a couple of days for each year that they are asleep...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure book fiction loner-mc mystery -
The Benders by Katie French
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe third book in the award-winning, best-selling dystopian series. They’ve escaped the Breeders. They’ve broken out of the Citadel. Now, after all they’ve been through, Riley, Clay, and Ethan know one thing for sure: nothing tastes sweeter than freedom. And no one can rest easy with Auntie Bell in bondage. The group journeys home to rescue her and liberate Clay’s town from the cruel Warden... -
Final Chaos by Ryan Westfield
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen society falls, how will you protect those you love?They knew the solar flair was coming, but no one knew the effect it would have. The EMP kills the lights and all electronics. Now it’s only a matter of time before chaos erupts.Jim owns a small electronics repair store in Rochester, NY. Unlike his friend, he quickly realizes the reality of the situation... -
Away From The Sun by Jason D. Morrow
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWaverly holds the vial of red liquid in her hands. She doesn’t know what it is, or why it’s important. But she knows that the mysterious Shadowface wants it, and is willing to do anything to get it.Waverly hides in the settlement of Elkhorn with Ethan, but it seems that Shadowface has eyes everywhere... -
Gray: Part II by Lou Cadle
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA dense black cloud boiled up in the southeastern sky. It rose high and fast, like a time-lapse movie of the birth of a thunderhead. But it was no rain cloud. Wholly black, it reached up and up until it loomed over her, blocking out the sun. Somehow, she knew, it was Death coming for her. Three months have passed since the mysterious event transformed life on Earth...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult audiobook book disaster -
Steamforged by Eric R. Asher
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsThere are old wounds in the forgotten places of the world, and some are soaked in blood.Jacob and his allies flee into the Deadlands after the fall of Ancora. Charles, the enigmatic smith, hopes to find answers in the desert city of Bollwerk that could prevent a war.Their enemies are many, and here Jacob will learn the cost of life in the Deadlands...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dark dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure audiobook book coming-of-age -
Point of Impact by Kyla Stone
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSurviving the blast is only the beginning… Dakota Sloane, a tough-as-nails former foster kid, has spent her life running from the past. Her only family is her little sister, still trapped in the system. When the news shows the bombs striking several major cities, Dakota’s first thought is to grab her sister and get the hell out of Miami. Logan Garcia is a man haunted by secrets...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure audiobook book contemporary female-mc -
Resistance by Matthew Mather, Lucas Bale
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe fight for the future of humanity begins... Jessica Rollins has made it to safety inside the Sanctuary system with the help of Ufuk Erdogmus, but is her mysterious savior really who he says he is? What secrets does he hide? And how is he connected to Dr. Muller? Jess doesn't have much time to ponder these questions, as soon she is fighting again for her life.. -
This Cruel Design by Emily Suvada
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsCat thought the Hydra epidemic was over, but when new cases pop up, Cat must team up with an enemy to fix the vaccine before the virus spirals out of control.The nightmare of the outbreak is finally over, but Cat’s fight has only just begun. Exhausted, wounded, and reeling from revelations that have shaken her to her core, Cat is at a breaking point...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure audiobook book family fiction -
Marked by Bridget E. Baker
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIf one touch can infect... then a kiss is deadly. All Ruby Behl wants for her seventeenth birthday is a good career path match, and to kiss her best friend and long time crush, Wesley Fairchild. Unfortunately, the simplicity of teenage wishes evaporated a decade ago when the Tercera virus nearly wiped out the human race...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure audiobook book epidemy female-mc -
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Ice Country by David Estes
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsDazz, a hard-edged, fun-loving Icer, likes fighting, particularly while at his favorite watering hole. However, while recovering from a particularly bad break up, his decision to engage in a brutal pubroom brawl leads to a series of events that thrust him into a dark and mysterious scandal involving King Goff, the ice country ruler...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure book fiction futuristic mystery -
Sanctuary by Matthew Mather
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA new world arises from the ashes of the old...but the fight for survival has only begun.In the Day of the Nomad, oceans flooded the continents, the earth split open and poured darkness into the skies. A mass extinction event as the Earth hadn't witnessed in more than two hundred and fifty million years, the planet flung into a radical new orbit around the Sun... -
Zero Tolerance by Jonathan Maberry, Ray Porter
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThis sequel to Patient Zero brings Joe Ledger back into action.Zero Tolerance picks up a few weeks after the close of Maberry’s action-thriller Patient Zero. Dropping back into the world of former Baltimore cop Joe Ledger, the Department of Military Sciences, and flesh-eating zombies, fans of the series will finally see the tying up of a few loose ends... -
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... -
Fight Like a Man by L.L. Akers
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAs a prepper, Grayson Rowan was prepared for almost anything; anything other than being totally alone when the sh*t hits the fan.While he sat back and watched the United States rattle swords with Korea, play chicken with Russia, and strong-arm China, he felt sure if the lights went out, that he and his family would be ready and safe--whether it was due to a natural disaster or a man-made event...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure audiobook book female-mc fiction -
Framed! by Malcolm Rose
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLuke Harding is excited to become the youngest person ever to qualify as a forensics investigator. He barely has time to celebrate his final exams when Malc, his Mobile Aid to Law and Crime, calls him to their first case. A fellow student has been mysteriously shot dead with an arrow. Two more grisly on-campus murders follow, and all the evidence points to Luke himself...
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