Books like 'The Physics Of The Dead'
Readers who enjoyed The Physics Of The Dead by Luke Smitherd also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
fantasy horror mystery supernatural dark fantasy urban fantasy paranormal suspense dark ghosts
-
Ever After by Kim Harrison
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsThe ever after, the demonic realm that parallels the human world, is shrinking. If it disappears completely, so does all magic. It's up to witch-turned-daywalking-demon Rachel Morgan to avert catastrophe and keep life from changing... for the worse.While saving the world is important, it isn't Rachel's only motivation... -
The Great Glowing Coils of the Universe by Joseph Fink, Jeffrey Cranor
Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsFrom the authors of the New York Times bestselling novel Welcome to Night Vale and the creators of the #1 international podcast of the same name, comes a collection of episodes from Season Two of their hit podcast, featuring a foreword by the authors, behind-the-scenes commentary, and original illustrations... -
Mostly Void, Partially Stars by Joseph Fink, Jeffrey Cranor
Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsFrom the authors of the New York Times bestselling novel Welcome to Night Vale and the creators of the #1 international podcast of the same name, comes a collection of episodes from Season One of their hit podcast, featuring an introduction by the authors, behind-the-scenes commentary, and original illustrations... -
Battle Lines by Will Hill
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt's always darkest before dawn. Secret government unit Department 19 is recovering from evil vampire Valeri Rusmanov's deadly attack on their base. The Department’s newest member, teenage operator Jamie Carpenter, is tasked with training up a new squad, as his friends and colleagues desperately search for ways to try to stop what is coming... -
-
Thirst No. 4: The Shadow of Death by Christopher Pike
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe conclusion to the phenomenally successful Thirst series follows five-thousand-year-old vampire Alisa Perne as she battles a new race of immortals: the Telar. The Telar are a challenging threat. But Alisa is hungry for blood—and thirsty for revenge... -
The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories by Jeff VanderMeer, George R.R. Martin
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom Lovecraft to Borges to Gaiman, a century of intrepid literary experimentation has created a corpus of dark and strange stories that transcend all known genre boundaries. Together these stories form The Weird, and its practitioners include some of the greatest names in twentieth and twenty-first century literature... -
City of Ghosts by Stacia Kane
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsThe third book in this gritty, sexy, urban fantasy trilogy.Rogue spirits and psychopomps are terrorising people, and now someone is planning to open the gates to the City of Ghosts and unleash the dead on humanity.Faced with her greatest challenge yet, Chess has to travel to the spirit city to finally lay all her ghosts to rest… Chess Putnam has a lot on her plate... -
Vultures by Chuck Wendig
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsIn the sixth and final thriller of the “wildly entertaining” (Kirkus Reviews) Miriam Black series, Miriam tries to break the curse of her powers, but first she must face The Trespasser a final time... -
Sacrificial Magic by Stacia Kane
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsREADING, WRITING, AND RAISING THE DEADWhen Chess Putnam is ordered by an infamous crime boss—who also happens to be her drug dealer—to use her powers as a witch to solve a grisly murder involving dark magic, she knows she must rise to the challenge... -
Chasing Magic by Stacia Kane
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsA DEADLY HIGH Magic-wielding Churchwitch and secret addict Chess Putnam knows better than anyone just how high a price people are willing to pay for a chemical rush... -
The Broken Clock by P.T. Hylton
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrank Hinkle and his friends must stop Zed from achieving his ultimate goal: saving the world. In King's Crossing, Wisconsin, lives a nine-year-old girl who can pull on time. Residents of the town know odd details about the future, and there's a twisting tree growing in a park near the center of town... -
Saint Odd by Dean Koontz
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsThe future is haunting Odd Thomas.The carnival has returned to Pico Mundo, the same one that came to town when Odd was just sixteen. Odd is drawn to an arcade tent where he discovers Gypsy Mummy, the fortune-telling machine that told him that he and Stormy Llewellyn were destined to be together forever.But Stormy is dead and Pico Mundo is under threat once more... -
Stormwind by Skye Knizley
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe body of Wade Franks hangs from a gargoyle in Old Town, bathed in the harsh glow of the spring Blood moon. Terrible, bloody wounds cover his body and it’s clear he didn’t give up without a fight. But a fight against who…or what? Detective Raven Storm is assigned to uncover the truth behind Franks’ death, chalking up another ‘unsolvable’ case for the Chicago Police... -
The White Night by Desmond Doane
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsYes, you should be afraid of the dark…A mighty demon sits at the right hand of Satan, and he knows paranormal investigator Ford Atticus Ford by name. Mike Long, too, but what the vile creature covets most lies with little Chelsea Hopper.As Ford wrestles with the uncertain nature of his future, a different kind of evil storms into his world, proving that not all demons are inhuman... -
-
Long Lost by Jacqueline West
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEleven-year-old Fiona has just read a book that doesn’t exist. When Fiona’s family moves to be closer to her older sister’s figure skating club—and far from Fiona’s close-knit group of friends—nobody seems to notice Fiona’s unhappiness. Alone and out of place, Fiona ventures to the town’s library, a rambling mansion donated to the town by the long-dead heiress... -
A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsThe #1 bestselling series returns with a thrilling new story arc set in America!Vintage photographs reveal the never-before-seen world of peculiar America with a stunning addition—full-color images.Having defeated the monstrous threat that nearly destroyed the peculiar world, Jacob Portman is back where his story began, in Florida...Categorized as:
dark dystopia magical-realism paranormal suspense 21st-century action-adventure audiobook -
Weaveworld by Clive Barker
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsClive Barker has made his mark on modern fiction by exposing all that is surreal and magical in the ordinary world --- and exploring the profound and overwhelming terror that results...Categorized as:
dark dystopia ghosts magical-realism paranormal suspense 20th-century action-adventure -
The Black by D.J. MacHale
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsAt the end of The Light, Book One of the Morpheus Road trilogy, Marshall learned the truth about what happened to his best friend Cooper. Now in Book Two, the POV switches to Cooper and we get to see his side of the mystery. What does his story have to do with Marshall and the journey along the Morpheus Road? It's time to learn more . . -
Judgement Day by Joseph Nassise
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCade Williams’ worst nightmare has come true. The Necromancer’s black magick has not only released the Adversary from the infernal realms where Cade imprisoned it, but allowed the fallen angel to possess the body of Cade’s beloved wife, Gabrielle, in the process. When the Templars interrupt the ritual and kill the Necromancer, the Adversary sprouts wings and escapes into the darkness... -
Fool's Ride by John L. Monk
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDan Jenkins is back, body hopping a scumbag at a time in his quest for the perfect ride. He doesn’t need much. Premium cable TV, good books, a well-stocked pantry, and he's set. But the Great Whomever has other plans.After six months waiting in limbo, Dan catches a ride as a horror novelist whose gruesome stories aren’t just fiction. Later, he hunts a man who’s escaped justice for far too long... -
Chasing the Shadows by Keri Arthur
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsNikki James is in San Francisco at the request of her partner and best friend, Jake. The wife of an old friend is missing, and Jake intends to find her—whatever the cost. The authorities believe the kidnappings to be the work of a sick mind, but Nikki knows that the truth is something much worse—especially since she seems to have an unexpected psychic link to the killer... -
Jilo by J.D. Horn
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAged Mother Jilo is wise in the ways of magic…but once upon a time, she was just a girl.1950s Georgia: King Cotton has fallen. Savannah is known as the “beautiful woman with a dirty face,” its stately elegance faded by neglect, its soul withering from racial injustice and political corruption... -
Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA teen girl disappears from her small town deep in the bayou, where magic festers beneath the surface of the swamp like water rot, in this chilling debut supernatural thriller for fans of Natasha Preston, Karen McManus, and Rory Power.La Cachette, Louisiana, is the worst place to be if you have something to hide... -
The Ghost Files by Apryl Baker
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsSoon to be a major motion picture!Cherry blossom lipstick: check Smokey eyes: check Skinny jeans: checkDead kid in the mirror: check For sixteen year old Mattie Hathaway, this is her normal everyday routine. She’s been able to see ghosts since her mother tried to murder her when she was five years old. No way does she want anyone to know she can talk to spooks... -
-
Unholy Magic by Stacia Kane
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsENEMIES DON’T NEED TO BE ALIVE TO BE DEADLY. For Chess Putnam, finding herself near-fatally poisoned by a con psychic and then stopping a murderous ghost is just another day on the job... -
The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratings"The City Beautiful is the haunting, queer Jewish historical thriller of my darkest dreams." —Dahlia Adler, creator of LGBTQ Reads and editor of That Way Madness LiesDeath lurks around every corner in this unforgettable Jewish historical fantasy about a city, a boy, and the shadows of the past that bind them both together. Chicago, 1893... -
Haunted by Kelley Armstrong
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsThe afterlife isn’t all it’s cracked up to be…Former supernatural superpower Eve Levine has broken all the rules. But she’s never broken a promise—not even during the three years she’s spent in the afterworld. So when the Fates call in a debt she gave her word she’d pay, she has no choice but to comply... -
Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsNew York Times bestselling and Alex, Nebula, and Hugo-Award-winning author Seanan McGuire introduces readers to a world of amoral alchemy, shadowy organizations, and impossible cities in this standalone fantasy.Meet Roger. Skilled with words, languages come easily to him. He instinctively understands how the world works through the power of story.Meet Dodger, his twin...Categorized as:
dark dystopia magical-realism paranormal suspense action-adventure alchemy audiobook -
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 79 ratingsGalaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away... -
Last Call by Tim Powers
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsTwenty years ago Scott Crane abandoned his career as a professional poker player and went into hiding, after a weird high-stakes game played with Tarot cards. But now the cards - and the supernatural powers behind them - have found him again.Crane's father killed gangster Bugsy Siegel in 1948 to become the Fisher King, and to keep that power he is determined to kill his son... -
Ink, Blood, and Other Afflictions: Episode One by Kristen Coar
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDo not read this book. Seriously. It’s completely unhinged....Still here? Well, crap. Fine. Just remember. I warned you.Vera would have been a typical librarian—except for that one time she opened the wrong book and got possessed by a dark goddess. Now, every time she ends a life, she experiences the kind of mind-blowing orgasm that could crack the foundations of her apartment... -
Spectacle by Rachel Vincent
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn this riveting sequel to New York Times bestselling author Rachel Vincent's acclaimed novel Menagerie, Delilah Marlow will discover that there is no crueler cage than the confines of the human mind…When their coup of Metzger's Menagerie is discovered, Delilah and her fellow cryptids find their newly won freedom brutally stripped away as they are sold into The Savage Spectacle, a private...Categorized as:
dark dystopia magical-realism paranormal suspense abuse action-adventure alternate-history -
A Place Without Shadows by P.T. Hylton
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn REGULATION 19, Frank Hinkle and his friends fought to save their hometown; now they’ll have to fight for something much bigger. Frank continues the search for his brother Jake, but when he meets a stranger with shocking information, he’s forced to face a familiar enemy. A woman named Sophie Porter travels to Rook Mountain in search of her sister’s killer... -
Watcher of the Dark by Joseph Nassise
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA spine-tingling new Jeremiah Hunt dark fantasy thriller.New Orleans was nearly the death of Jeremiah Hunt, between a too-close brush with the FBI and a chilling, soul-searing journey through the realm of the dead that culminated with a do-or-die confrontation with Death himself... -
-
Brother Odd by Dean Koontz
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 54 ratingsLoop me in, odd one.The words, spoken in the deep of night by a sleeping child, chill the young man watching over her. For this was a favorite phrase of Stormy Llewellyn, his lost love, and Stormy is dead, gone forever from this world. In the haunted halls of the isolated monastery where he had sought peace, Odd Thomas is stalking spirits of an infinitely darker nature...Categorized as:
dark ghosts magical-realism paranormal suspense 21st-century action-adventure audiobook -
Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff
Rated: 4.01 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsThe critically acclaimed cult novelist makes visceral the terrors of life in Jim Crow America and its lingering effects in this brilliant and wondrous work of the imagination that melds historical fiction, pulp noir, and Lovecraftian horror and fantasy.Chicago, 1954... -
Menagerie by Rachel Vincent
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsFrom New York Times bestselling author Rachel Vincent comes a richly imagined, provocative new series set in the dark mythology of the Menagerie… When Delilah Marlow visits a famous traveling carnival, Metzger's Menagerie, she is an ordinary woman in a not-quite-ordinary world...Categorized as:
dark dystopia magical-realism paranormal suspense abuse action-adventure alternate-history -
Song of Susannah by Stephen King
Rated: 3.98 of 5 stars · 65 ratingsThe Wolves have been defeated, but our tet faces yet another catastrophe. Susannah Dean’s body has been usurped by a demon named Mia who wants to use Susannah’s mortal form to bear a demon child... -
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
Rated: 3.97 of 5 stars · 73 ratingsThe dead don't talk. I don't know why. But they do try to communicate, with a short-order cook in a small desert town serving as their reluctant confidant. Sometimes the silent souls who seek out Odd want justice. Occasionally their otherworldly tips help him prevent a crime. But this time it’s different... -
Phantom by Christopher Pike
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAfter five thousand years she was again mortal. The dead alchemist's experiment has worked. Alisa is no longer a vampire, but a frail and confused human. Not only that -- she is pregnant. The baby grows in her at supernatural speed. As the stranger watches. The stranger from the past. But what child will Alisa's seed produce? A demon or an angel? Alisa does not know. But the stranger does... -
Death's Servant by C.J. Ellisson
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsJonathan Winchester has clashed with his alpha one too many times. After another argument he leaves the Manitoba pack, his only home since the werewolf attack that changed his life. He returns to his home state of Virginia to start a new life free of pack politics. Jon finds work and meets a young waitress, Raine, who appears to be a lone werewolf, too... -
Forever Odd by Dean Koontz
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 58 ratingsI see dead people. But then, by God, I do something about it.Odd Thomas never asked for his special ability. He's just an ordinary guy trying to live a quiet life in the small desert town of Pico Mundo. Yet he feels an obligation to do right by his otherworldly confidants, and that's why he's won hearts on both sides of the divide between life and death... -
Not Flesh Nor Feathers by Cherie Priest
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDown by the river, the first to go missing were not much lamented. Disappearances of homeless men foraging through trash or nuisance skater kids who rolled their boards along the planked piers at night were not noteworthy enough to delay the city's development projects.But deep beneath the riverbank, the evidence of a terrible crime has been covered up twice... -
Mean Streets by Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsJim Butcher delivers a hard-boiled tale in which Harry Dresden’s latest case may be his last.Nightside dweller John Taylor is hired by a woman to find something she lost—her memory—in a noir tale from Simon R. Green.Kat Richardson’s Greywalker finds herself in too deep when a “simple job” goes bad and Harper Blaine is enmeshed in a tangle of dark secrets and revenge from beyond the grave... -
-
The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould
Rated: 3.97 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsCourtney Gould’s thrilling debut The Dead and the Dark is about the things that lurk in dark corners, the parts of you that can’t remain hidden, and about finding home in places―and people―you didn’t expect.The Dark has been waiting for far too long, and it won't stay hidden any longer. Something is wrong in Snakebite, Oregon... -
The Gathering Dark by Christopher Golden
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Gospel of Shadows has been destroyed, leaving the barriers between the human world and paranormal realms wide open. Only Peter Octavian, a powerful mage-and former vampire-can save mankind... -
The Hollow Gods by A.J. Vrana
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA perfect story for contemporary fantasy readers who love their narratives razor-sharp and their secrets dark and deadly. Black Hollow is a town with a dark secret. For centuries, residents have foretold the return of the Dreamwalker—an ominous figure from local folklore said to lure young women into the woods and possess them... -
Kill the Dead by Tanith Lee
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsOut of the dusk he comes striding, the stranger, the man in black, inevitable as death itself: Parl Dro--Ghost Slayer.Some have bought his services for gold, and some have blessed him for his work. But not everyone welcomes an exorcist who will remorselessly deprive them of their beloved dead.Dro began his vocation at an early age... -
King of the Dead by Joseph Nassise
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA Jeremiah Hunt Supernatual ThrillerJoseph Nassise shook up the urban fantasy genre with Eyes to See, a novel New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry called "heartbreaking, deeply insightful, powerful and genuinely thrilling... -
20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill, Christopher Golden
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsA collection of short stories.Imogene is young and beautiful. She kisses like a movie star and knows everything about every film ever made. She's also dead and waiting in the Rosebud Theater for Alec Sheldon one afternoon in 1945.... Arthur Roth is a lonely kid with big ideas and a gift for attracting abuse. It isn't easy to make friends when you're the only inflatable boy in town...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.