Books like 'The Darkness Within'
Readers who enjoyed The Darkness Within by Robert Friedrich also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi horror mystery psychological space-opera steamy suspense
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The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin, Eisso Post
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 68 ratingsThis is the second novel in "Remembrance of Earth’s Past", the near-future trilogy written by the China's multiple-award-winning science fiction author, Cixin Liu. In The Dark Forest, Earth is reeling from the revelation of a coming alien invasion — four centuries in the future... -
Zero In by Dean Koontz
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThis could be the most important mission of Nameless’s life. Because it’s putting him on a collision course with his own past and the nation’s future.The target: a fortified redoubt in the golden hills of California, the hub of a new world order that’s unthinkably close at hand. The time has come for Nameless to face its designer: the nihilist mastermind behind the One Solution... -
Kaleidoscope by Dean Koontz
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNameless is wrestling with more violent visions of the future when his next mission comes with the assurance, This one will be easy. It’s a promise that leaves Nameless dangerously unprepared.It seems straightforward enough: Get a foot in the door by posing as a potential investor in a lucrative underground business—then bring the place down from the inside. There’s more here than meets the eye... -
BETA: A Technological Nightmare by Sammy Scott
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsMichael Danvers’ life of self-imposed seclusion is interrupted when he receives a strange the unique opportunity to move into and beta-test a fully automated, state-of-the-art smart home... -
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Blindness by José Saramago
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 72 ratingsFrom Nobel Prize–winning author José Saramago, a magnificent, mesmerizing parable of lossA city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" that spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and assaulting women... -
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, Andy Weir
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 87 ratingsJason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters.- - -'Are you happy in your life?'Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious... -
Corkscrew by Dean Koontz
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA terrorist attack in the news leaves Nameless reeling from a disturbing vision. But it’s not a glimpse of the future. It’s a recovered memory that’s opening a window into his mysterious past.Uncharacteristically forthcoming—and unexpectedly personal—Nameless’s handlers have no choice but to emerge from the shadows. The indoctrinating factions of his visions are growing in number... -
Solitary by Alexander Gordon Smith
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFurnace Prison ...Where death is the least of your worries.Escape is just the beginning ...We thought we’d made it, we thought we were free. But we should have known there was no way out of Furnace.All we did was slip deeper into the guts of the prison: into solitary confinement, where the real nightmares live - the warden, the Wheezers, and something much, much worse.The clock’s ticking... -
Grave Matter by Karina Halle
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHorror Romance meets science fiction in this dark and delicious gothic psychological thriller by NYT bestseller Karina Halle, perfect for fans of Gothikana, Ninth House, and Mexican Gothic. Aspiring mycologist Sydney Denik is getting a second chance... -
The Lost Soul of the City by Dean Koontz
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA gun. A mission. No memories. Nameless is back to hunt down an architect of chaos in #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz’s return to a landscape of hard-won justice.In a forgotten Cold War bunker, a cold-blooded arms dealer counts his cash and watches from a distance as cities collapse into violence... -
Ubik by Philip K. Dick
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsGlen Runciter runs a lucrative business—deploying his teams of anti-psychics to corporate clients who want privacy and security from psychic spies. But when he and his top team are ambushed by a rival, he is gravely injured and placed in “half-life,” a dreamlike state of suspended animation... -
The Time Machine/The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsThe Time Machine and The Invisible Man, by H. G. Wells, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras... -
Replay by Ken Grimwood
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsAt forty-three Jeff Winston is tired of his low-paid, unrewarding job, tired of the long silences at the breakfast table with his wife, saddened by the thought of no children to comfort his old age. But he hopes for better things, for happiness, maybe tomorrow ...But a sudden, fatal heart attack puts paid to that...Categorized as:
suspense 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book classics contemporary -
The Children in the Lake: A Story You Will Never Forget by Mark Edward Hall
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn 1925 three children vanish without a trace in Arrowhead Lake. Nearly a century later there are those who still report seeing the children swimming beneath the surface like elusive dolphins. After losing her husband in a violent car crash, Rachel King and her two young sons venture to Arrowhead Lake to heal... -
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The Bound Worlds by Megan E. O'Keefe
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWorlds will collide and fates will be rewritten in the thrilling conclusion to the Devoured Worlds space opera trilogy by award-winning author Megan E. O’Keefe. Naira and Tarquin have found a new home on Seventh Cradle. But the peace they’ve built is short-lived as mysterious assailants ambush the settlement and Naira is haunted by visions of a monstrous future... -
Recursion by Blake Crouch, سعید سیمرغ
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 77 ratingsMemory makes reality.That's what NYC cop Barry Sutton is learning, as he investigates the devastating phenomenon the media has dubbed False Memory Syndrome—a mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived.That's what neuroscientist Helena Smith believes...Categorized as:
suspense 21st-century action-adventure adult alternate-history apocalyptic audiobook book -
Wayward by Blake Crouch
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsWelcome to Wayward Pines, population 461. Nestled amidst picture-perfect mountains, the idyllic town is a modern-day Eden...except for the electrified fence and razor wire, snipers scoping everything 24/7, and the relentless surveillance tracking each word and gesture.None of the residents know how they got here. They are told where to work, how to live, and who to marry... -
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... -
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet by Richard Matheson, Stephen King
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsRemember that monster on the wing of the airplane? William Shatner saw it on The Twilight Zone, John Lithgow saw it in the movie-even Bart Simpson saw it. "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" is just one of many classic horror stories by Richard Matheson that have insinuated themselves into our collective imagination... -
Intercepts by T.J. Payne
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsJoe works at a facility that performs human experimentation.His work just followed him home. The government wanted to unlock hidden abilities in the human mind.They put subjects in extreme sensory deprivation.All the test subjects went violently insane.But the research continued.Today it has been perfected.Almost perfected... -
Solaris by Stanisław Lem
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsA classic work of science fiction by renowned Polish novelist and satirist Stanislaw Lem.When Kris Kelvin arrives at the planet Solaris to study the ocean that covers its surface, he finds a painful, hitherto unconscious memory embodied in the living physical likeness of a long-dead lover... -
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... -
Before Mars by Emma Newman
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsAfter months of travel, Anna Kubrin finally arrives on Mars for her new job as a geologist and de facto artist-in-residence. Already she feels like she is losing the connection with her husband and baby at home on Earth--and she'll be on Mars for over a year. Throwing herself into her work, she tries her best to fit in with the team... -
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The Long Walk by Richard Bachman, Stephen King
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 67 ratingsOn the first day of May, 100 teenage boys meet for an event known throughout the country as The Long Walk. If you break the rules, you get three warnings. If you exceed your limit, what happens is absolutely terrifying. Reissue...Categorized as:
suspense 20th-century action-adventure apocalyptic audiobook book classics coming-of-age -
Atlas Alone by Emma Newman
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsHugo Award winner Emma Newman returns to the captivating Planetfall universe with a novel about vengeance, and a woman deciding if she can become a murderer to save the future of humanity.Six months after she left Earth, Dee is struggling to manage her rage toward the people who ordered the nuclear strike that destroyed the world... -
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 55 ratingsIn a small American town, the local residents are abuzz with excitement and nervousness when they wake on the morning of the twenty-seventh of June. Everything has been prepared for the town’s annual tradition—a lottery in which every family must participate, and no one wants to win. “The Lottery” stands out as one of the most famous short stories in American literary history... -
One Door Away from Heaven by Dean Koontz
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsMichelina Bellsong is on a mission. She is following a missing family to the edge of America...to a place she never knew existed--a place of terror, wonder, and shattering revelation.What awaits her there will change her life and the life of everyone she knows--if she can find the key to survival... -
Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes
Rated: 3.99 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsTitanic meets The Shining in S.A. Barnes’ Dead Silence, a SF horror novel in which a woman and her crew board a decades-lost luxury cruiser and find the wreckage of a nightmare that hasn't yet ended.A GHOST SHIP.A SALVAGE CREW.UNSPEAKABLE HORRORS.Claire Kovalik is days away from being unemployed—made obsolete—when her beacon repair crew picks up a strange distress signal... -
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 84 ratingsTold by the central character, Alex, this brilliant, hilarious, and disturbing novel creates an alarming futuristic vision of violence, high technology, and authoritarianism...Categorized as:
suspense 20th-century audiobook book british-isles classics coming-of-age contemporary -
Anatomy of a Murderer by Tim Floreen
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA teenage sociopath is “fixed” after he gets an implant that’s supposed to cure him in this thrilling coming-of-age tale from the author of Willful Machines.A year ago, Rem Braithwaite watched his classmate Franklin Kettle commit a horrific crime.Now, apart from the nightmares, life has gone back to normal for Rem. Franklin was caught, convicted, and put away in juvenile detention for what he did... -
Obscura by Joe Hart
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsShe's felt it before … the fear of losing control. And it's happening again. In the near future, an aggressive and terrifying new form of dementia is affecting victims of all ages. The cause is unknown, and the symptoms are disturbing. Dr. Gillian Ryan is on the cutting edge of research and desperately determined to find a cure... -
Neverwake by Amy Plum
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFor most people, nightmares always come to an end. But for Cata, Ant, and the others, there may be no escape from theirs. After an experimental treatment meant to cure their insomnia went horribly wrong, the teens were dragged into a shared dreamworld where their most terrifying fears became reality.The six of them have no way of waking up... -
Forsaken by Michael McBride
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIT HAS SURVIVED At a research station in Antarctica, scientists discovered a strange and ancient organism. They thought they could study it, classify it, control it. They couldn't.IT HAS THRIVED Six months ago, a secret paramilitary team called Unit 51 was sent to the station. They thought the creature was dead, the nightmare was over. It wasn't... -
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The Cadaver Factory by Kenneth Jarrett Singleton
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsJack Rally is an eighteen-year-old boy who is evil and witty. He receives an opportunity from an older film-maker named Mr. Bigsley whose films are films of actual murders. Jack takes the opportunity and runs with it, becoming a master of his murderous profession... -
Contain by Saul W. Tanpepper
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThey thought they were safe. They were wrong.CONTAIN (BUNKER 12 series pilot)Three years. That's how long Finnian Bolles has been hiding inside the impregnable walls of the hydroelectric complex known as Bunker 8. Three years, with enough resources to last him and the other thirty survivors three more...Categorized as:
suspense action-adventure apocalyptic book cyberpunk dystopia fiction genetic-engineering -
Within the Woods by Tony Urban, Thomas Rode
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDon't go in the woods... For 12-year-old Garrett and his four best friends, the idyllic summer of 1989 crashes to a halt when Garrett's older brother vanishes. Something is very wrong in Sallow Creek, Pennsylvania. Something is turning their neighbors, their relatives, into unstoppable monstrosities... Monsters that are coming for the them... -
Mutation by Michael McBride, Neil Hellegers
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIT LIVES. In a research hangar in Virginia, a Unit 51 team studies an ancient but long-dormant virus that can transform human physiology-and turn it into something else . . . IT MUTATES. In the Amazon rain forest, a newly evolving life form known as Subject Z acquires the ability to think conceptually, build elaborate traps, create new carriers-and spawn a new race . . . IT SPREADS... -
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... -
Thrum by Meg Smitherman
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAmi awakes from years in stasis to find she’s at the edges of deep space, and the only surviving member of her crew. Utterly alone and unable to contact Earth, she sends out a distress beacon, not expecting a response. When she gets one from a being who calls himself Dorian, she’s welcomed onto his ship as he offers his assistance in any way he can. But nothing on Dorian’s ship is as it seems... -
The Last Town by Blake Crouch
Rated: 4.01 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsWelcome to Wayward Pines, the last town.Secret Service agent Ethan Burke arrived in Wayward Pines, Idaho, three weeks ago. In this town, people are told who to marry, where to live, where to work. Their children are taught that David Pilcher, the town’s creator, is god. No one is allowed to leave; even asking questions can get you killed... -
Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle
Rated: 3.99 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsBefore you see the movie, read the original novel! First published more than thirty-five years ago, Pierre Boulle's chilling novel launched one of the greatest science fiction sagas in motion picture history, from the classic 1968 movie starring Charlton Heston and Roddy McDowell, through four sequels and two television series . . . and now the newest film adaptation directed by Tim Burton...Categorized as:
space-opera 20th-century action-adventure animals apocalyptic audiobook book classics -
Starfish by Peter Watts
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA huge international corporation has developed a facility along the Juan de Fuca Ridge at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to exploit geothermal power. They send a bio-engineered crew--people who have been altered to withstand the pressure and breathe the seawater--down to live and work in this weird, fertile undersea darkness... -
The Broken Room by Peter Clines, Timothy Andrés Pabon
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratings“Absolutely brilliant!” (Jonathan Maberry, New York Times best-selling author)The new supernatural thriller from New York Times best-selling author Peter ClinesYou can still owe the dead.Hector was the best of the best. A government operative who could bring armies to a halt and nations to their knees... -
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One of the Boys by Jayne Cowie
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIf you could test your son for a gene that predicts violence, would you do it?Antonia and Bea are sisters, and doting mothers to their sons. But that is where their similarities end.Antonia had her son tested to make sure he didn’t possess the "violent" M gene.Bea refuses to let her son take the test. His life should not be determined by a positive or negative result... -
Blindsight by Peter Watts
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsIt's been two months since a myriad of alien objects clenched about the Earth, screaming as they burned. The heavens have been silent since - until a derelict space probe hears whispers from a distant comet. Something talks out there: but not to us... -
Two Past Midnight: Secret Window, Secret Garden by Stephen King, James Woods
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe second of a four-part audio series from Stephen King's bestselling book, Four Past Midnight. Recently divorced writer Mort Rainey is alone at Tashmore Lake--that is, until a figure named John Shooter arrives, pointing an accusing finger... -
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror by Robert Louis Stevenson
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 65 ratings"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" Stevenson's famous exploration of humanity's basest capacity for evil, has become synonymous with the idea of a split personality. More than a moral tale, this dark psychological fantasy is also a product of its time, drawing on contemporary theories of class, evolution, criminality, and secret lives...Categorized as:
suspense action-adventure anthologies audiobook british-isles classics crime dark-academia -
Uncanny by Sarah Fine
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTwo sisters. One death. No memories.Cora should remember every detail about the night her stepsister, Hannah, fell down a flight of stairs to her death, especially since her Cerepin—a sophisticated brain-computer interface—may have recorded each horrifying moment. But when she awakens after that night, her memories gone, Cora is left with only questions—and dread of what the answers might mean... -
A Better World by Sarah Langan
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe author of Good Neighbors , “one of the creepiest, most unnerving deconstructions of American suburbia” (NPR), returns with a provocative and disconcerting novel about a woman questioning her new home in an exclusive company town after a night out goes terribly wrong.Welcome to Plymouth Valley...
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