Books like 'Grotesque'
Readers who enjoyed Grotesque by Ellen Steiber also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi action / adventure mystery horror law-enforcement mythical-creatures paranormal crime
-
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... -
Deep Silence by Jonathan Maberry
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe tenth Joe Ledger novel in the New York Times bestselling seriesTerrorists-for-hire have created a weapon that can induce earthquakes and cause dormant volcanoes to erupt. One terrifying side-effect of the weapon is that prior to the devastation, the vibrations drive ordinary people to suicide and violence... -
Execution by Alexander Gordon Smith
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsThe whole world has become a prison, and Alfred Furnace is its master. Monsters rule the streets, beasts of pure fury that leave nothing but murder and madness in their wake. Those who do not die are turned, becoming slaves to Furnace's reign of cruelty. It is a war to end all wars, one that will leave the planet in ruins. I am a monster too. I am one of Alfred Furnace's children... -
-
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... -
Death Sentence by Alexander Gordon Smith
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsAlex's second attempt to break out of Furnace Penetentiary has failed. This time his punishment will be much worse than before. Because in the hidden, bloodstained laboratories beneath the prison, he will be made into a monster. As the warden pumps something evil into his veins--a sinisterly dark nectar--Alex becomes what he most fears . . . a superhuman minion of Furnace... -
Surviving the Collapse by James Hunt
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCaptain Kate Holloway moved her family to New York to start over, and break the barriers that her work had created. But when an EMP brings New York to its knees, Kate must fight to survive amid the terror descending upon the city and rescue her family... -
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... -
The Pulse by Skylar Finn
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAn EMP means the end of the world as they know it for a family who fights to survive. When disaster strikes in the form of an EMP, Charlie's family flees to their homestead. They fortify their ranch and prepare to ride out the worst of the chaos. Unfortunately, the gang of scavengers who followed them from the city have other plans... -
Dial D for Deadman by Barry J. Hutchison
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Space Team Universe just got a whole lot darker. In an alien city torn apart by crooked cops and ruthless criminals, private detective, Dan Deadman, specializes in cases unusual and bizarre... -
Extinction by Douglas Preston
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsErebus Resort, occupying a magnificent, hundred-thousand–acre valley deep in the Colorado Rockies, offers guests the experience of viewing woolly mammoths, Irish Elk, and giant ground sloths in their native habitat, brought back from extinction through the magic of genetic manipulation... -
The Last Cabin by James Hunt
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA cabin on the outskirts of a city becomes the sanctuary for a mother and her two children during the unfolding crisis of an EMP. Life has hardened Joanna Mercer, and she has spent the past four years since her husband's death preparing herself against the uncertainties of life. After an EMP destroys the nation's power grid, every ounce of that strength will be tested... -
Mind Bullet by Jeremy Robinson
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA telekinetic assassin’s quest to avenge his parents’ murders triggers an all-out war between an eccentric cast of killers, from the New York Times bestselling author of INFINITE and THE DARK.Jonas kills people…with his mind. He reaches out, focuses for a moment, and feels a snap of pain between his eyes. Then his target falls over dead, a hole in the center of their brains... -
The Forsaken by Erica Stevens
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 13 ratings***Note*** This book is the third compilation of a serial story and therefore does not have a conclusion. This is not a survivalist story.New friendships will be forged, answers will be found, and lives will be lost as the survivors journey deeper into unfamiliar and treacherous areas...Categorized as:
mythical-creatures paranormal action-adventure apocalyptic book cannibalism coming-of-age dark -
-
Elsewhere by Dean Koontz
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe fate of the world is in the hands of a father and daughter in an epic novel of wonder and terror by Dean Koontz, the #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense.Since his wife, Michelle, left seven years ago, Jeffy Coltrane has worked to maintain a normal life for himself and his eleven-year-old daughter, Amity, in Suavidad Beach...Categorized as:
crime paranormal action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book contemporary -
A Usual Suspect by Vanessa Nelson
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsShe can see the truth, but when she's accused of murder, no one believes she's innocent.Hallie works as a skip tracer - hunting down people wanted by the law, for one reason or another. It's not glamourous, and it doesn't pay all that well. But it's legal work, and that's hard to come by in the cramped quarters of old town... -
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... -
Shadow Unit 11 by Emma Bull, Leah Bobet
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit hunts humanity's worst nightmares, but there are nightmares humanity doesn't dream are real. The BAU sends those cases down the hall. There, Stephen Reyes and his team pursue criminals transformed by a mysterious force: the anomaly. Welcome to Shadow Unit, a series created by award-winning authors Emma Bull and Elizabeth Bear...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement paranormal action-adventure adult anthologies contemporary feminism -
Shadow Unit 6 by Emma Bull, Elizabeth Bear
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit hunts humanity's worst nightmares. But there are nightmares humanity doesn't dream are real. The BAU sends those cases down the hall. Welcome to Shadow Unit. The Shadow Unit series was created by award-winning authors Emma Bull and Elizabeth Bear... -
Blood of the Faithful by Michael Wallace, Arielle DeLisle
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNow that their latest battle is over, the religious residents of Blister Creek are dealing with their losses and trying to heal—physically and spiritually. Their leader, Jacob Christianson, now feels the full burden of the responsibility and finds himself at a crossroads: keep the believers isolated, or see what lies beyond Blister Creek’s borders... -
Helicoprion by Michael Cole
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA series of violent shark attacks off the shores of northern California draw the attention of pessimistic Detective Luke Jansen. Despite reports of shark sightings by witnesses, the injuries appear to be more reminiscent of a chainsaw-wielding maniac rather than shark bites.Things get stranger when marine biologist Elise Sheldon encounters the creature... -
Stargate SG-1: Permafrost by Sally Malcolm
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA 30,000 word novella. Buried secretsA week before Christmas, Dr. Daniel Jackson discovers that archaeologists in Iceland are excavating a Norse burial site that might have connections to the recently encountered Asgard race.Concerned about what they might uncover, Daniel persuades General Hammond to let SG-1 travel to Iceland – much to the annoyance of the field archaeologists... -
Dog Warrior by Wen Spencer
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsOn the run from a fanatical cult, Ukiah Oregon is surprised to discover Atticus Steele, a brother he didn't know he had. He's even more surprised when Atticus involves them in the traffic of an alien drug that could end up getting them both killed... -
Sherlock Holmes in Orbit by Mike Resnick, Dean Wesley Smith
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAuthorized by Dame Jean Conan Doyle, this brand-new collection of 26 Sherlock Holmes stories takes place in Holmes' own era, in our present time, and in the future. All the tales contain some science fiction or fantasy element, and all remain true to the spirit and personality of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous and enduring creation...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure adult aliens alternate-history anthologies -
-
Material Witness by Jonathan Maberry, Ray Porter
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsHere is another highly entertaining short story featuring Jonathan Maberry's compelling hero, Joe Ledger.This short thriller takes Joe Ledger into the mysterious, troubled town of Pine Deep, Pennsylvania, the setting for Maberry's chilling Pine Deep Trilogy. In Pine Deep, nothing is what it seems...Categorized as:
paranormal law-enforcement horror audiobook fiction sci-fi action-adventure military -
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 Final Stand by James Hunt
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsPrepare and survive. An EMP cripples the nation on the day Detective Mike Thorton was supposed to bury his father. Fighting a panic-stricken city, an unknown enemy, and his own grief, Mike must rescue his family before the city devours them all...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement dystopia apocalyptic terrorism survival serial-killers multi-pov -
World of Trouble by Ben H. Winters
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThere are just 14 days until a deadly asteroid hits the planet, and America has fallen into chaos. Citizens have barricaded themselves inside basements, emergency shelters, and big-box retail stores. Cash is worthless; bottled water is valuable beyond measure. All over the world, everyone is bracing for the end.But Detective Hank Palace still has one last case to solve... -
The Shadows of London by Nick Jones
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsA time traveler's work is never done.Likable antiques dealer Joseph Bridgeman is back in the present and dreaming of a quiet life. But when a mysterious and enigmatic time traveler arrives in his shop, Joe learns that his first trip was just the beginning and this time, the rules of the game have changed... -
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... -
The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything by John D. MacDonald, Dean Koontz
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsFrom John D. MacDonald, one of the enduring American novelists of the twentieth century, comes a science fiction classic with a timeless premise. An aimless young man discovers a way to stop the world in its tracks—and that’s when his life truly begins... -
Undone by Elizabeth Norris
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsBefore the accident. Before their universes collided. Before they fell in love.Riveting and romantic, Undone: An Unraveling Novella contains three short stories set in the world of Unraveling, the first book in the gripping sci-fi duology by Elizabeth Norris... -
A Hymn to Gods Long Dead by Anthony Ryan
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Slab. A vast orbiting slum where sweat falls in rain and the gene-spliced come in all shapes and sizes... -
Sub Zero by Angel Martinez
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsReturning to the frozen planet Aren died on was bound to have complications... A Science Fiction Mystery from Angel MartinezMajor Aren Dalsgaard's newest assignment is to investigate a series of murders on the frigid planet, Drass, where relations between the Treaty settlers and the indigenous inhabitants have taken a nasty turn... -
-
X-Files: The Truth Is Out There by Jonathan Maberry, Sarah Stegall
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFox Mulder and Dana Scully are back in a chilling collection of all-new tales of dark secrets, alien agendas, terrifying monsters and murderous madmen. Featuring original stories by bestselling authors Rachel Caine, Hank Philippi Ryan, Kelley Armstrong, Kami Garcia, Greg Cox and many others. Edited by New York Times bestseller Jonathan Maberry (V-WARS)... -
Outbreak by Paul Elard Cooley
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen a Centers for Disease Control quarantine fails at Ben Taub Hospital, a Houston SWAT Team is sent in to secure the facility. What they find is destruction and death. Trapped in the hospital, cut off from the world, a mysterious voice on the radio is all they have to guide them. They're no longer on a mission to quarantine the remaining inhabitants... -
The Organ Scrubber by Jason Werbeloff
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWelcome to the Bubble, where orphans are used for spare parts, and transplanting organs is like changing a pair of socks.They harvested Daniel’s body when he was a child, leaving him with cheap cybernetic replacements. Now that he's grown, his body is failing. The gears in his knee grind, his synthetic cornea weeps, and his 3D-printed lungs spasm in winter.Daniel needs the organs he was born with... -
Shadow of a Broken Man by George C. Chesbro
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMeet Dr. Robert Frederickson, or "Mongo" to his friends. He's a former circus tumbler, black belt in karate, doctor of Criminology, and professor at a New York City university. And he's quite an unusual fellow as well, not only because he's a private investigator but also because he's a dwarf.. -
Hell's Fortress by Michael Wallace
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsEnvironmental disaster, war, and government dissolution have plunged the outside world into chaos, leaving the embattled polygamist community of Blister Creek facing a host of dire challenges as their lifesaving resources grow treacherously low. When one of their beloved members gets lost in the desert, Dr. Jacob Christianson agrees to send out an expedition that includes his sister, Eliza... -
Waterborne by J. Luke Bennecke
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA thought-provoking thriller about a very real threat to the essence of life: water. You'll be forced to consider how you'd react if you were cornered and trapped in a terrifying, life-threatening situation... -
The Dreaming Tree by Matthew Mather
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsEverybody wants to live forever, but some people shouldn't live at all ...After a near-fatal car crash, Royce Lowell-Vandeweghe wakes up to find he's one of the first patients to undergo a radical new procedure: a full-body transplant. Convalescing years later and suffering from waking nightmares, he answers the door at his Long Island home and meets Delta Devlin, a New York detective... -
The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man by Mark Hodder
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIt is 1862, though not the 1862 it should be. . . . Time has been altered, and Sir Richard Francis Burton, the king’s agent, is one of the few people who know that the world is now careening along a very different course from that which Destiny intended...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement paranormal action-adventure adult alternate-history anthologies audiobook -
The Bad Weather Friend by Dean Koontz
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBenny is so nice they feel compelled to destroy him, but he has a friend who should scare the hell out of them. Benny Catspaw’s perpetually sunny disposition is tested when he loses his job, his reputation, his fiancée, and his favorite chair. He’s not paranoid. Someone is out to get him. He just doesn’t know who or why... -
Paradox Valley by Gerri Hill
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsWas it an earthquake? A meteor? Or something else entirely?Running from a marriage proposal in Seattle, Dana Ingram returns to her parents’ farm in Western Colorado for a two-week vacation in Paradox Valley. Only a couple of days into it, however, a small earthquake leaves them without power. Cars won’t start, batteries don’t work and cell phones are useless... -
-
Ten Tales of a Dark Tomorrow by Kevin A. Kuhn
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSubmitted for your approval—Ten Tales of a Dark Tomorrow, a collection of speculative fiction inspired by the original Twilight Zone series. In the spirit of that iconic, timeless show, these mysterious and gripping narratives explore parallel worlds, faraway planets, dystopian societies, and unsettling reality.•A toddler shifts through parallel worlds, changing into different versions of herself...Categorized as:
paranormal action-adventure adult anthologies colonization fiction horror magical-realism -
The Devil's Mercy by Chani Lynn Feener
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCalix Valimir doesn’t know what’s going on anymore.He thought he understood this dark attraction between him and the doctor, but it turns out he didn’t understand a thing. Not only is Aodhan not who he thought he was, with every torturous touch and forced embrace, Cal is starting to realize he might not have known himself very well either.Aodhan Solace is done playing nice... -
The Immorality Engine by George Mann
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOn the surface, life is going well for Victorian special agent Sir Maurice Newbury, who has brilliantly solved several nigh-impossible cases for Queen Victoria with his indomitable assistant, Miss Veronica Hobbes, by his side. But these facts haven’t stopped Newbury from succumbing increasingly frequently to his dire flirtation with the lure of opium...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement paranormal action-adventure adult alternate-history book female-mc -
A Study in Darkness by Emma Jane Holloway
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen a bomb goes off at 221B Baker Street, Evelina Cooper is thrown into her Uncle Sherlock’s world of mystery and murder. But just when she thought it was safe to return to the ballroom, old, new, and even dead enemies are clamoring for a place on her dance card...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement paranormal action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book drama -
Virals by Kathy Reichs, Brendan Reichs
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsTory Brennan, niece of acclaimed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan (of the Bones novels and hit TV show), is the leader of a ragtag band of teenage "sci-philes" who live on a secluded island off the coast of South Carolina...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement paranormal action-adventure animals audiobook book contemporary -
The Unknown (The Unknown, #1) by J.W. Lynne, Jenny Lynne
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEIGHT CHILDREN WERE KIDNAPPED.BUT WHY?Eight kids, ages nine to seventeen, awaken to find that almost everything they have ever known has been stolen from them. They were ripped from their beds in the middle of the night and transported to an unfamiliar and unforgiving new world where there are strict rules, and they are punished if they refuse to obey...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.