Books like 'Real Illusions'
Readers who enjoyed Real Illusions by Robert Swartwood also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
horror action / adventure mystery suspense survival drama
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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:
drama survival suspense action-adventure anthologies apocalyptic audiobook conspiracies -
![Damned by Jana Deleon]()
Damned by Jana Deleon
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen young priest Nicolas Chatry took his vows, he thought the hardest thing he’d have to deal with was accomplishing his duties from a wheelchair. Until a murderer steps into the confessional. Unable to recognize the voice or maneuver quickly enough to get a look at the killer, Nicolas has no way of identifying who admitted to such a horrific deed... -
![Wool 3 by Hugh Howey]()
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... -
![Wool 5 - The Stranded by Hugh Howey]()
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... -
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![Cold Lake by Jeff Carson]()
Cold Lake by Jeff Carson
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe truth emerges one piece at a time. When a fisherman reels in a plastic bag containing a severed human head from the depths of Cold Lake, Colorado, Sheriff David Wolf and his deputies scramble to the scene, and quickly realize there are more surprises to be found below... -
![Fever by Deon Meyer]()
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... -
![The Ancestor by Lee Matthew Goldberg]()
The Ancestor by Lee Matthew Goldberg
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA man wakes up in present-day Alaskan wilderness with no idea who he is, nothing on him save an empty journal with the date 1898 and a mirror. He sees another man hunting nearby, astounded that they look exactly alike... -
![Escape From The Center Of The Earth by Greig Beck]()
Escape From The Center Of The Earth by Greig Beck
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEscape from the Center of the Earth is the final edition of the blockbusting Center Earth trilogy, closing with a mind-bending climax.'Help me, it’s Ally. Please help me.'A ghostly, sobbing voice is detected from the depths of Russia’s Kola super deep borehole – 9 miles down. A Russian team is dispatched in a desperate rescue mission to find the woman... -
![Dark Rivers of the Heart / Sole Survivor / Intensity by Dean Koontz]()
Dark Rivers of the Heart / Sole Survivor / Intensity by Dean Koontz
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDean Koontz is one of the world's top-selling authors with total worldwide sales of his novels at 225 million copies! He achieves what few writers can: he creates books that consistently jump to the top of the bestseller lists in both hardcover and paper... -
![One By One by Freida McFadden]()
One By One by Freida McFadden
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsOne by one, they will get what they deserve...A night spent sleeping on dirt and leaves is not how Claire Matchett expected to spend her vacation.She thought this would be a break from the stresses of work and raising her young children. A chance to repair her damaged marriage. A week of hiking and hot tubs with two other couple friends. It sounded like heaven... -
![The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean]()
The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA woman being held captive is willing to risk everything to save herself, her unborn child, and her captor’s latest victim in this claustrophobic thriller in the tradition of Misery and Room. On an isolated farm in the United Kingdom, a woman is trapped by the monster who kidnapped her seven years ago... -
![Return to the Center of the Earth by Greig Beck]()
Return to the Center of the Earth by Greig Beck
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMike Monroe and Jane Baxter barely survived their terrifying journey to the center of the Earth... -
![Stolen Children by Peg Kehret]()
Stolen Children by Peg Kehret
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsAmy learned a lot in her babysitting course, but not what to do if two thugs show up, intent on kidnapping. Armed with misinformation and a weapon, the men take Amy and little Kendra to a remote cabin in the woods. There they make videos of the girls and mail them to Kendra’s wealthy parents in an effort to get ransom money... -
![Abduction! by Peg Kehret]()
Abduction! by Peg Kehret
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMatt is missing. Bonnie's brother left his classroom to use thebathroom —and disappeared. A police dog traces his scent to the curb, where he apparently got into a vehicle. But why would Matt go anywhere with a stranger? Overwhelmed with fear, Bonnie discovers that her dog is gone, too. Was Pookie used as a lure for Matt? Bonnie makes one big mistake in her attempt to find her brother... -
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![Feral Outbreak by Sean Liscom]()
Feral Outbreak by Sean Liscom
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsPOST-APOCALYPTIC FICTION by Sean LiscomIn the wake of the cataclysmic events that reshaped our world in 2020, a sense of relief washed over us all. By late 2023, I think we were ready to just live life again. I know I was. It was a time to make new friends and put the past to rest. Rayne and I hadn’t known each other long, but we were building a solid friendship, nothing more... -
![Under the Surface by Diana Urban]()
Under the Surface by Diana Urban
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAn epic survival-thriller about four teens who get lost in the Paris catacombs for days—a gripping and propulsive story of love, danger, betrayal, and hope… even when all seems lost.Ruby is terrified to cave to her feelings for Sean and risk him crushing her heart... -
![CyberSpace by Matthew Mather]()
CyberSpace by Matthew Mather
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn this long-awaited sequel to the massive bestseller CyberStorm, Mike and his family are caught up in a new disaster as the Kessler Syndrome unfolds and all satellites in orbit are suddenly destroyed."Couldn't put it down...CyberStorm series is not only a great thriller, but a wake up call... -
![Polar Vortex by Matthew Mather]()
Polar Vortex by Matthew Mather
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA flight disappears over the North Pole. No distress calls. Vanished into thin air.Mitch Matthews is a writer struggling to make ends meet when his wife's brother Josh offers them a first-class seat on a flight from Hong Kong to New York. When his wife needs to stay behind, it becomes an opportunity for some quality daddy-daughter time with his five-year-old Lilly... -
![Last of the Magpies by Mark Edwards]()
Last of the Magpies by Mark Edwards
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe chilling conclusion to the #1 bestseller The Magpies. Twelve months ago, Jamie Knight walked straight into Lucy Newton’s trap. Both Jamie and his ex-wife Kirsty barely survived. Now, with the police investigation into Lucy’s disappearance going nowhere, Jamie teams up with a true crime podcaster to track down his nemesis... -
![Devil Dog by Boyd Craven, Kevin Pierce]()
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... -
![Valley of the Shadow by Tom Pawlik]()
Valley of the Shadow by Tom Pawlik
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsConner Hayden is certain he survived his near-death experience for a reason. He thinks it’s to save the life—and soul—of Mitch Kent. Mitch’s body remains on life support while his spirit is trapped with the old farmer Howard Bristol in the Interworld—a strange and dangerous dimension that Conner narrowly escaped during his brush with death in Pawlik’s award-winning debut novel, "Vanish... -
![Twisted Love by Wally Runnels]()
Twisted Love by Wally Runnels
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsRoiling in political corruption and the raging violence of drug cartels in the California/Mexico borderlands, Twisted Love explores the redemptive power of love even amidst the most brutal and privileged echelons of contemporary society... -
![Every Soul by L.K. Collins]()
Every Soul by L.K. Collins
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThis novel is NOT part of the Life . Destiny . Fate series. More to come.... When you lose the one person who grounds your existence, your whole world changes. In life, it is said that everything happens for a reason... -
![Dear Child: A Novel by Romy Hausmann]()
Dear Child: A Novel by Romy Hausmann
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA woman held captive finally escapes—but can she ever really get away?Gone Girl meets Room in this page-turning, #1 internationally bestselling thriller from one of Germany’s hottest new talentsA windowless shack in the woods. A dash to safety. But when a woman finally escapes her captor, the end of the story is only the beginning of her nightmare.She says her name is Lena... -
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![The Stillwater Girls by Minka Kent]()
The Stillwater Girls by Minka Kent
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsTwo sisters raised in fear are about to find out why in a chilling novel of psychological suspense from the author of The Thinnest Air.Ignorant of civilization and cautioned against its evils, nineteen-year-old Wren and her two sisters, Sage and Evie, were raised in off-the-grid isolation in a primitive cabin in upstate New York... -
![Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates]()
Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsFrom bestselling author Darcy Coates comes Dead of Winter, a remote cabin in the snowy wilderness thriller that will teach you to trust no one. There are eight strangers. One killer. Nowhere left to run.When Christa joins a tour group heading deep into the snowy expanse of the Rocky Mountains, she's hopeful this will be her chance to put the ghosts of her past to rest... -
![The Drowning Game by L.S. Hawker, Amanda Dolan]()
The Drowning Game by L.S. Hawker, Amanda Dolan
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThey said she was armed.They said she was dangerous.They were right.Petty Moshen spent eighteen years of her life as a prisoner in her own home, training with military precision for everything, ready for anything. She can disarm, dismember, and kill and now, for the first time ever, she is free... -
![Mountain of the Dead by Jeremy Bates]()
Mountain of the Dead by Jeremy Bates
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsTHE GREATEST UNSOLVED MYSTERY OF THE 20TH CENTURYFact: During the night of February 1, 1959, in the remote reaches of Siberia, nine Russian hikers slash open their tent from the inside and flee into a blizzard in subpolar temperatures. Fact: By morning all are dead, several having suffered gruesome, violent deaths. What happened to them has baffled investigators and researchers to this day... -
![Cold War, A by Alan Russell]()
Cold War, A by Alan Russell
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsNina Granville believes her business trip to Alaska will give her a short respite from the merry-go-round that came with her engagement to Congressman Terrence Donnelly. But instead of allowing her the peace she craves, Nina’s getaway from the public eye means that no one witnesses her abduction into a very cold hell... -
![D.O.G.S by M.A. Bennett]()
D.O.G.S by M.A. Bennett
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAfter the dramatic events of the last few weeks, Greer Macdonald is trying to concentrate on her A levels. Stuck for a play to direct for her drama exam, she gets help from an unexpected quarter . . .A priceless lost play, buried by time, is pushed under her door. It is Ben Jonson's The Isle of Dogs, a play considered so dangerous in Elizabethan times that every copy was burned . . . except one... -
![Outbreak by Robert Tine]()
Outbreak by Robert Tine
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBased on the film of the same name starring Dustin Hoffman, this is the story of a doctor fighting a virus created by the British secret service in Africa. He begins to notice that people in the US are dying of a similar mysterious illness. As he begins to investigate he uncovers foul play... -
![Neverwake by Amy Plum]()
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... -
![The Fear Trials by Lindsay Cummings]()
The Fear Trials by Lindsay Cummings
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMeadow Woodson has been trained to survive. This is a prequel to The Murder Complex, by Lindsay Cummings, and it is set in a blood-soaked world where the murder rate is higher than the birth rate. For fans of Moira Young's Dust Lands series, La Femme Nikita, and the movie Hanna.Meadow Woodson's father calls it The Fear Trials, and it is a rite of passage in their family... -
![Surviving the Swamp by Grace Hamilton]()
Surviving the Swamp by Grace Hamilton
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSkin of Your Teeth Survival is a reality show made famous for pairing part-time survivalists with a real-life survival situation. Led by world-famous Prepper and Survivalist Wolf Henderson, season ten promises to be different: this time none of the contestants are survivalists—they’ve all been picked to fail... -
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![This Time You Lose by Chris Stralyn]()
This Time You Lose by Chris Stralyn
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhat would you do if street thugs invaded your home? What if you're a daycare provider, caring for a dozen children at the time? Lisa Kaamp, a most unlikely heroine, faces just such a nightmare in This Time You Lose , the suspense driven story of one woman's struggle to survive when she and the children she cares for become victims of a home invasion gone terribly wrong... -
![The Final Scene by Steph Nelson]()
The Final Scene by Steph Nelson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe cabin is unlocked, but there’s no escape. When Brooke was kidnapped on her way home from work, she thought her life was over.That was ten years ago.She’s been held captive in an isolated cabin on the Oregon coast ever since, scrambling to follow her kidnappers’ twisted instructions to the letter. Because the price of a mistake is death.But when a new victim shows up, everything changes... -
![The Poseidon Adventure by Paul Gallico]()
The Poseidon Adventure by Paul Gallico
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsPaul Gallico�s classic novel, The Poseidon Adventure, is the exciting story of a luxury ocean liner that capsizes after it is struck by a colossal tidal wave, leaving its survivors to fend for themselves and find a way out. The blockbuster movie remake of this story is sure to make a huge splash and lure readers into this compelling and dramatic novel... -
![Silent Treatment by Michael Palmer]()
Silent Treatment by Michael Palmer
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn his five bestselling novels, from The Sisterhood to Natural Causes, physician Michael Palmer has drawn on years of firsthand emergency-room experience to create the drama of a frighteningly authentic world--a world where the line between medicine and murder is scalpel-thin. Now, in his most harrowing suspense novel yet, Palmer reveals how the power to heal can become a license to kill... -
![The Thing by Alan Dean Foster]()
The Thing by Alan Dean Foster
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt fell from the sky and lay buried in ice for 100,000 years.Soon it will be free...TWELVE MENTrapped in the Antarctic.ELEVENDiscover the intruder.TENBattle the alien force.NINEAgonise for the answer.EIGHTDesperate to be spared.SEVENConsumed one by one.SIX...FIVE...FOUR...THREE...They will all die.Unless something, anything stops.. -
![Jurassic Park and Congo by Michael Crichton]()
Jurassic Park and Congo by Michael Crichton
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTwo breathtaking adventure novels in one bumper volume. Jurassic ParkOn a remote jungle island genetic engineers have created a dinosaur game park. Then a rival firm tries to steal embryos, and the nightmare begins. Congo Three intrepid adventurers plunge into the heart of Africa in a desperate bid for the fabulous diamonds of the Lost City of Zinj... -
![Savages by Shirley Conran]()
Savages by Shirley Conran
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsBizarre events force five corporate wives--Silvana, Suzy, Patty, Carey, and Annie--to live by their wits, strength, and courage in a hostile jungle...Categorized as:
suspense drama survival romance fiction action-adventure womens-fiction contemporary -
![Terror Lake by Edward J. McFadden III]()
Terror Lake by Edward J. McFadden III
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Inuit people call it Akhlut, and legends tell of a horrific monster, a freak of nature from the depths that appears every six years in search of flesh and blood.Mount Aire is a secluded enclave on the Kenai Peninsula where folks do their best to live quiet lives away from the chaos of civilization... -
![Where She Fell by Kaitlin Ward]()
Where She Fell by Kaitlin Ward
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsWatch your step.Eliza knows the legends about the swamp near her house—that people have fallen into sinkholes, never to be seen again, maybe even falling to the center of the earth. As an aspiring geologist, she knows the last part is impossible. But when her best friends drag her onto the uneven ground anyway, Eliza knows to be worried... -
![Forbidden Island by Jeremy Robinson]()
Forbidden Island by Jeremy Robinson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsInternational bestselling author Jeremy Robinson has been compared to both Matthew Reilly and Stephen King. In Forbidden Island, he brings the characters and plotting of the fastest paced thrillers together with mind-bending imaginative horrors. SEEKING TO CONTACT HUMANITY'S LOST TRIBE...On the precipice of a cliff, contemplating suicide, dishonorably discharged U.S... -
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![The Manhattan Hunt Club by John Saul]()
The Manhattan Hunt Club by John Saul
Rated: 3.98 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsIn Manhattan Hunt Club John Saul plumbs the depths of the Manhattan underground--the network of subway tunnels and secret caverns and chambers where the homeless denizens of the city have created their own society... -
![The Splendor of Fear by Ambrose Ibsen]()
The Splendor of Fear by Ambrose Ibsen
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSomething stirs in the town of Newsom's Landing... Penny hates the outdoors, but when her boyfriend, Jared, plans a romantic weekend getaway in the woods, she decides to tag along. The pair drive to a remote Kentucky campground with a strange and sordid history. Within the confines of the Swan Creek State Park are the ruins of a town abandoned under terrifying circumstances in the 19th century... -
![Close Reach by Jonathan Moore]()
Close Reach by Jonathan Moore
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn a riveting tale of suspense and terror on the high seas, Bram Stoker Award nominee Jonathan Moore pits human beings against nature—and something far deadlier: one another. Kelly Pratihari-Reid and her husband sail their yacht into Antarctic waters, thinking their gravest concerns will be ice and storms—and their cracked marriage... -
![Sinners and Saints by Eileen Dreyer]()
Sinners and Saints by Eileen Dreyer
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsForensics specialist Chastity Byrnes is trying to put the past behind her. It has been ten years since Chastity made accusations against her father that shattered her family...and ten years since she's seen her sister, Faith.First, Chastity gets a call from Dr. Max Stanton, the brother-in-law she never knew she had. Then she finds out that her long-lost sister is officially missing... -
![Dark Resurrection by F.G. Cottam]()
Dark Resurrection by F.G. Cottam
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFive years after a tragic expedition put New Hope Island back in the headlines, past-his-prime crime author Dennis Thorpe leads a writers retreat to that secluded corner of the Hebrides... The group is never seen again... -
![Finding You by Lydia Albano]()
Finding You by Lydia Albano
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTaken from home and family, all they have is each other.Isla is kidnapped from a train platform in broad daylight, and thrust into a nightmare when she is sold to a sadistic aristocrat. Locked in a dungeon with a dozen other girls, Isla's only comfort is a locket and the memory of the boy she loves. But as days pass and more girls disappear, she realizes that help is not coming..
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