Books like 'Checkmate'
Readers who enjoyed Checkmate by Alan Stevens also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi cosmic horror supernatural action / adventure time-travel plot-twist assassins aliens political-intrigue
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Leviathan by Robert Shea, Robert Anton Wilson
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe ultimate weapon isn't this plague out in Vegas, or any new super H-bomb. The ultimate weapon has always existed. Every man, every woman, and every child owns it. It's the ability to say No and take the consequences. - Hagbard Celine, LeviathanIlluminatus! Part III cheerfully ushers in the apocalyptic high-camp conclusion of the Illuminatus! Trilogy...Categorized as:
political-intrigue 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook book classics comedy -
![The Color Out of Space by H.P. Lovecraft]()
The Color Out of Space by H.P. Lovecraft
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsSet in the fictional town of Arkham, Massachusetts, an unnamed narrator investigates a local area known as the “blasted hearth.” After failing to extract any information from the Arkham locals, the narrator encounters an old man, Ammi Pierce, who relates the story of a farmer who once lived there. The hearth, he claims, was caused by a meteorite that fell onto the farmer’s field in 1882... -
![The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross]()
The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsBob Howard, from The Laundry, secret UK agency against evil forces, narrates boarding yacht of Ellis Billington for Gravedust device that talks with dead. Ellis plans to raise Jennifer Morgue, monster from deep sea, rule world. U.S. Black Chamber sends lethal Ramona Random, in conflict with her bosses. Includes: Pimpf tale - Bob in virtual game; Afterword; Glossary...Categorized as:
political-intrigue action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book comedy conspiracies -
![SNAFU: An Anthology of Military Horror by Geoff Brown, Amanda J. Spedding]()
SNAFU: An Anthology of Military Horror by Geoff Brown, Amanda J. Spedding
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWar is hell . . . Soldiers fight to survive. They fight each other, and they fight the demons inside. Sometimes, they fight real monsters. This book collects stories of ancient myths, time travelers, horrors in the old west . . . and the soldiers who fight them...Categorized as:
aliens action-adventure adult alternate-history anthologies cosmic-horror fiction ghosts -
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![14 by Peter Clines]()
14 by Peter Clines
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsPadlocked doors. Strange light fixtures. Mutant cockroaches.There are some odd things about Nate’s new apartment.Of course, he has other things on his mind. He hates his job. He has no money in the bank. No girlfriend. No plans for the future. So while his new home isn’t perfect, it’s livable... -
![Masks of the Illuminati by Robert Anton Wilson]()
Masks of the Illuminati by Robert Anton Wilson
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsWHAT BEGAN AS A SIMPLESCHOLARLY PURSUIT ENDS IN AWAKING NIGHTMARE...Sir John Babcock, endowed with wealth and a healthy dose of curiosity, has stumbled on to an ancient order. With what he now knows, there will be no turning back. Even if he wants to. Not after he is trained as an initiate and knows of their perverted lusts—and their murders...Categorized as:
political-intrigue action-adventure adult book conspiracies cosmic-horror crime cults -
![In the Walls of Eryx (Fantasy and Horror Classics): With a Dedication by George Henry Weiss by H.P. Lovecraft]()
In the Walls of Eryx (Fantasy and Horror Classics): With a Dedication by George Henry Weiss by H.P. Lovecraft
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThis early work by H. P. Lovecraft was originally published in 1939. Born in 1890 in Rhode Island, USA, Lovecraft began writing at a very young age, quickly developing a deep and abiding interest in science...Categorized as:
aliens 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies audiobook classics cosmic-horror -
![Overtime by Charles Stross]()
Overtime by Charles Stross
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIntroduced to readers in the novels The Atrocity Archive and The Jennifer Morgue, the Laundry is a secret British government agency charged with preventing dark interdimensional entities from destroying the human race...Categorized as:
aliens political-intrigue action-adventure adult audiobook book comedy coming-of-age -
![Dead Sea by Tim Curran]()
Dead Sea by Tim Curran
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen the crew of a lost freighter finds themselves trapped in a gruesome dimension—of sea monsters, ghost ships, and the undead—it is up to them to locate the U.S.S. Lancet and convince a nearly insane physicist to help them return home... -
![The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross]()
The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross
Rated: 3.91 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsNEVER VOLUNTEER FOR ACTIVE DUTY ...Bob Howard is a low-level techie working for a super-secret government agency. While his colleagues are out saving the world, Bob's under a desk restoring lost data. His world was dull and safe - but then he went and got Noticed...Categorized as:
aliens political-intrigue action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book british-isles -
![Deadstock by Jeffrey Thomas]()
Deadstock by Jeffrey Thomas
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsPunktown - a crime ridden-metropolis on the colony world of Oasis - is home to the scum of countless alien races. Stalking the mean streets is private detective Jeremy Stake, whose destiny is set on a collision course with Fukuda and a one-of-a-kind living doll... -
![Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell Jr.]()
Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell Jr.
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"Who Goes There?" The novella that formed the basis of "The Thing" is the John W. Campbell classic about an antarctic research camp that discovers and thaws the ancient, frozen body of a crash-landed alien. The creature revives with terrifying results, shape-shifting to assume the exact form of animal and man, alike... -
![Eye of the Ouroboros by Megan Bontrager]()
Eye of the Ouroboros by Megan Bontrager
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen guilt-stricken park ranger Theodora Buchanan gets too close to the truth of her sister Flora’s strange disappearance, the Federal Bureau of Reality intervenes to ensure that the otherworldly answers she finds never see the light of day… The National Parks Service Search and Rescue Team knows better than anyone that the woods surrounding the insular town of Mill Creek, West Virginia have a... -
![Terminus by Peter Clines, Ray Porter]()
Terminus by Peter Clines, Ray Porter
Rated: 3.81 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsMurdoch's past has finally come crashing down on him. His former girlfriend. His Family. He's been happily avoiding them for ages, trying to live something close to a normal life. But now he's been drawn back into another one of their ludicrous attempts to bring about the end of all things. Chase has spent the past year just trying to get away... -
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![The Fold by Peter Clines]()
The Fold by Peter Clines
Rated: 3.87 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsSTEP INTO THE FOLD. IT’S PERFECTLY SAFE. The folks in Mike Erikson's small New England town would say he's just your average, everyday guy. And that's exactly how Mike likes it. Sure, the life he's chosen isn’t much of a challenge to someone with his unique gifts, but he’s content with his quiet and peaceful existence...Categorized as:
aliens time-travel 21st-century action-adventure adult alternate-history apocalyptic audiobook -
![Anomaly Flats by Clayton Smith]()
Anomaly Flats by Clayton Smith
Rated: 3.70 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSomewhere just off the interstate, in the heart of the American Midwest, there’s a quaint, quirky town where the stars in the sky circle a hypnotic void….where magnetic fields play havoc with time and perception…where metallic rain and plasma rivers and tentacles in the plumbing are simply part of the unsettling charm... -
![The Specimen by Pete Kahle]()
The Specimen by Pete Kahle
Rated: 3.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom a crater lake on an island off the coast of Bronze Age Estonia…To a crippled Viking warrior’s conquest of England …To the bloody temple of an Aztec god of death and resurrection…Their presence has shaped our world. They are the Riders.One month ago, an urban explorer was drawn to an abandoned asylum in the mountains of northern Massachusetts...Categorized as:
aliens action-adventure adult alternate-history book cosmic-horror fiction first-contact -
![Doctor Who and the Image of the Fendahl by Terrance Dicks]()
Doctor Who and the Image of the Fendahl by Terrance Dicks
Rated: 3.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratings`The Fendahl is death,' said the Doctor. `How do you kill death itself?'The ultra-modern technology of the Time Scanner combines with the ancient evil of Fetch Wood, and brings to life a terror that has lain hidden for twelve million years.The Doctor and Leela fight to destroy the Fendahl, a recreated menace that threatens to devour all life in the galaxy...Categorized as:
aliens time-travel action-adventure audiobook book british-isles children-books cosmic-horror -
![Lacuna's Point by Tim Meyer]()
Lacuna's Point by Tim Meyer
Rated: 3.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThree years ago, Ellie Brower’s daughter went missing somewhere in the heart of Virginia. Today, Ellie receives a mysterious text message that leads her to believe her daughter might still be alive. She follows this rabbit hole to the coastal town of Lacuna’s Point. But there’s something wrong with this place. The town’s only constable is zero help and downright hostile... -
![The Mirrored Shard by Caitlin Kittredge]()
The Mirrored Shard by Caitlin Kittredge
Rated: 3.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen Dean was shot and killed in the Arctic north, he was ripped not only from the Iron Lands but from Aoife Grayson's life. Aoife has sworn to bring her love back, even if she must face death to do it. But she can't get to the Deadlands on her own... -
![Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer]()
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
Rated: 3.70 of 5 stars · 71 ratingsArea X has been cut off from the rest of the world for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide, the third in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another... -
![Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer]()
Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer
Rated: 3.61 of 5 stars · 49 ratingsIt is winter in Area X, the mysterious wilderness that has defied explanation for thirty years, rebuffing expedition after expedition, refusing to reveal its secrets. As Area X expands, the agency tasked with investigating and overseeing it—the Southern Reach—has collapsed on itself in confusion... -
![Authority by Jeff VanderMeer]()
Authority by Jeff VanderMeer
Rated: 3.54 of 5 stars · 53 ratingsThe bone-chilling, hair-raising second installment of the Southern Reach TrilogyAfter thirty years, the only human engagement with Area X—a seemingly malevolent landscape surrounded by an invisible border and mysteriously wiped clean of all signs of civilization—has been a series of expeditions overseen by a government agency so secret it has almost been forgotten: the Southern Reach...Categorized as:
aliens political-intrigue 21st-century action-adventure adult apocalyptic audiobook biopunk -
![The Deep by Nick Cutter]()
The Deep by Nick Cutter
Rated: 3.33 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsFrom the acclaimed author of The Troop—which Stephen King raved “scared the hell out of me and I couldn’t put it down.…old-school horror at its best”—comes this utterly terrifying novel where The Abyss meets The Shining.A strange plague called the ’Gets is decimating humanity on a global scale... -
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![Plunge by Joe Hill]()
Plunge by Joe Hill
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThere's something terribly wrong with them. And the storm closes in.The research ship Derleth disappeared in the Arctic forty years ago.. -
![The Shadow Out of Time by H.P. Lovecraft]()
The Shadow Out of Time by H.P. Lovecraft
Rated: 3.84 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsVoted one of the top ten Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of 2001 by Cinescape Magazine."The Shadow out of Time" is H. P. Lovecraft's last major story. It was first published in Astounding Stories for June 1936. And yet, this text has never been published as Lovecraft wrote it--until now... -
![At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft, China Miéville]()
At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft, China Miéville
Rated: 3.79 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsLong acknowledged as a master of nightmarish vision, H.P. Lovecraft established the genuineness and dignity of his own pioneering fiction in 1931 with his quintessential work of supernatural horror, At the Mountains of Madness... -
![Hellstar Remina; 地獄星レミナ; Jigokuboshi Remina by Junji Ito]()
Hellstar Remina; 地獄星レミナ; Jigokuboshi Remina by Junji Ito
Rated: 3.71 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsOne day, the world found out about newly discovered star, that was "eating" other stars. At first, it was so far away, that it became just a nice curiosity entertaining people in their normal daily lives. Then, it begun to come closer and closer, finally eating some of the solar system's planets and taking a straight course for Earth itself..
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