Apocalyptic and Dystopian bestsellers

“The Fifth Season is an amazing, dark, and gripping work that will hook you from the first sentence. I cannot express to you how much this book stunned me. Robin's narration is well paced and engaging. While I wish this was a book for everyone to listen to, it isn't; destruction, trauma, and rage follow the women and girls who tell their stories. This book is about the end of the world, that you actually don't want to stop reading.”

“When it comes to listening to an audio book, I have to be drawn to the narrator’s voice almost if not more than the actual story. The way a narrator speaks really makes or breaks a story for me. Wil Wheaton made this story for me! He brought new life to a story I was already in love with. Wheaton made Wade Watts come to life, and was able to bring out the obsessiveness in Wade’s voice when it came to Halliday and 80’s pop-culture. Wheaton is the only person that could ever be Wade Watts for me. This is one audio book that I know I will go back to again and again.”

“In Into the Drowning Deep, Mira Grant has conjured up scary mermaids living in the depths of the Pacific Ocean. An expedition sets out to learn if mermaids truly exist and to uncover the fate of a previous expedition. The new crew is being recorded for a documentary, with the hope it will prove mermaids are real and clear the network of wrongdoing. Both Tory, whose sister was killed on the first expedition, and Jillian, who has been teaching about mermaids for years, are going out on the state-of-the-art ship; however, that ship has one major flaw. You will not look at The Little Mermaid the same way again!”

“This book is haunting in the best possible way. I felt so keenly for Yetu, for the Wajinru and their histories, it gave me chills. Daveed Dig's narration was a well-matched piece in an already incredible project. I'm so glad this little novella came to be written so that I might share it.”

“You wouldn't think a foul-mouthed, wise-cracking crow named S. T. (short for Shit Turd) would be a great companion at the end of the world, but honestly? I couldn't imagine another living being to spend the apocalypse with. Buxton amazingly captures the natural world as the humans have devolved into zombie-like creatures, and given us the narrator we deserve. On top of that, Robert Petkoff is the absolute perfect reader to take us on this journey. Side-splittingly hilarious as well as a thoughtful warning against technology, this unique book is one readers (or listeners!) won't be able to put down. ”

“Wanderers is the best science fiction book I have ever read.Wonderfully performed by the readers! A young girl walks out of her home for no reason, then a young man, a young mother, a businessman, soon the group has grown to hundreds. Why are these people who respond to nothing and can be stopped by nothing walking? Where are they going? Will everyone become of "sleepwalker"? Are they dangerous? In the chaos of racial, political and environmental conflict speculation and blame grows. Who will become a sheep, a shepherd, a wolf? It has all the moral ambiguity that leads you to question the world around you. The story is loaded with religious, environmental, race and political themes.You will not want to put this book down, there is suspense on every page! I already want to read it again!”

“Shannon Moss is a member of Naval Criminal Investigative Services (NCIS), but she is from a branch of the Navy few have ever heard of. Shannon is part of Naval Space Command, a clandestine organization that sails deep space and time. Shannon is on the hunt for a killer: NSC officer, Patrick Mursult, who seems to have been driven mad during his missions into deep space. But if a time traveling, deep space killer isn't enough tension for you, there is also a humanity-ending event that has been observed hundreds of years into the future: the arrival of the Terminus. The Terminus is an unknown entity that, put simply, ends all life on the planet in horrific fashion. Since the discovery of the Terminus, NSC has been trying to find a way to avoid its arrival and the subsequent end of humanity. The problem is that every time they travel to the future to observe the Terminus, it has arrived earlier and earlier. This means the clock is ticking doubly fast for Shannon Moss and the entirety of the human race. And her killer seems to be linked to the Terminus somehow. This is a time-traveling, sci-fi, horror, murder mystery for fans of Dark Matter and Annihilation. It's one of the best and strangest (and at times disturbing) rides I've been on in a while - and well worth the price of admission!”

“On the island, things regularly disappear en masse. Boats. Roses. Birds. Calendars. The people of the island are expected to gather and destroy any remaining evidence of these disappearances, and with it, their memories. The narrator refers to "killing two creatures with one stone" long after the island's birds are disappeared--even the word itself is gone from her consciousness. But a small minority of people are still able to remember, and it is the job of the Memory Police to track those people down. The fragile, spare prose haunts you with many questions: Can humanity survive without memories? Without nostalgia? Without a material culture? This elegiac glimpse into the heart of authoritarianism will linger in your own memory for a long time to come.”

“Candace Chen is a first-generation Chinese millennial immigrant who tries to make a life in New York City by succumbing to the role of the office drone who helps create cheap bibles. But when Shen Fever—a plague that causes its victims to perform a rote task until death—hits, only a few survive, including Candace. She soon finds herself in a cult-like band of other survivors heading to the Midwest while also trying to come to terms with her past and the unknowns of her future. With dark humor, sharp intelligence, and compassion, Ling Ma has written a well-constructed, biting satire of capitalism and a moving glimpse into the roles of memory, place, and identity in a life.”

“A gripping story of one mother’s harrowing journey to survive a flooded earth and save her daughters from the dangers that surround them. Life after the great flood is treacherous, and lethal groups of raiders steal food, medicine, and children, killing those who would stand in their way. With flawed, relatable characters, After the Flood is a real thought-provoker. It demands you ask yourself: What would I do to survive? This passionate tale of survival and determination is not one to miss.”

“Imagine a zombie apocalypse where instead of becoming undead, people lose their shadows and, along with it, gradually lose their memories. This intense, heartbreaking, and beautifully-written book follows multiple characters on their search for hope in a hopeless world. I love what they did with the narration of this book. It fits perfectly with the story and creates more of an emotional pull for the listener. An amazing, amazing book!”

“Want mystery? A vision of near-future, post-alien occupation Earth? Afro-centric? Psychics? A relatable protagonist with a criminal past who is the only hope for saving human kind? How about some zombies and angels? A love story? Rosewater has it all, and somehow it all weaves together into an irresistible, absorbing tale. And the best news? It’s the first in a trilogy, so when it leaves you wanting more, your wish will come true.”

“Omar El Akkad has delivered a stunning debut. He imagines a world in a not-too-distant future where Americans are at war with each other once again. The characters in this story are fully developed and individual, yet their histories - their stories - extend into the histories of all those displaced and affected by the forces of war. The title, American War, is a shape-shifter. At once, it means that America is again at war, but at times reflects the ways in which the true, actual wars that America has perpetrated on Earth have affected the lives of millions of people. This will be one of the most discussed books of the year, and I cannot wait to put it in the hands of all readers looking to be changed.”

“When people started getting sick, Red started getting ready. A fan of horror stories and survivalist tales, she thought she knew what it would take to keep herself and her family safe. Unfortunately, her parents and older brother weren’t inclined to take her advice. And so she finds herself in the woods, hatchet in hand and backpack on, slowly making her way to her grandmother’s house all alone. The Girl in Red is Christina Henry’s (Alice, Lost Boy) retelling of a classic folktale, in which Little Red Riding Hood is not as defenseless as she seems. A fascinating reimagining, placing ability at the heart of the tale. While Red is strong of mind, body, and spirit, she continues to put one foot in front of the other, letting nothing and no-one stand in her way, and facing the lengths she would go to in order to protect herself and those more vulnerable than her, in order to make it to her grandmother’s house alive.”

“Lena just lost her grandmother, her mother has health problems and to top of off they are having financial problems. Lena takes a mysterious job in hopes help her mother and to pay off bills. Lakewood takes you into a dark world of medical testing where human rights are disregarded. This whole story felt more than real and makes you question how far you would go for to help your family.”

“Highly recommend this audiobook of Moon Of The Crusted Snow. Narrator Billy Merasty brings Rice's characters to life and enriches the traditional Anishinaabe stories with his lyrical storytelling voice. The story itself, of a Canadian Anishinaabe band forced to contend with a new reality when the power goes out and deliveries halt to their Reserve just as winter sets in, is gripping and shockingly realistic and a damning take on reservation life. Evan Whitesky—father, husband, and one of the young leaders—has been learning traditional ways so he's better equipped to hunt and forage than other members of the band who've come to rely on video games and other modern trappings for survival and entertainment. Just as it becomes clear that the power outage is widespread and likely the result of some catastrophic event, a menacing stranger arrives, threatening the band's unity and possibly its very survival. Completely immersive.”

“A strange virus invades a small university community, sending its victims into deep, seemingly endless sleep and infecting them with extremely powerful dreams. This backdrop provides a perfect scenario for examining the delicate, often unrecognized line between reality and perception. As the crisis deepens, the characters are caught up in a phantasmagorical world that challenges normal conceptions of existence. A thoughtful, provocative novel of strength and beauty.”

“This is one of those way-too-close-to-reality-for-comfort books. In a very near future, local economies have been all but obliterated by Cloud, a company that you'll recognize as bearing a striking resemblance to a contemporary online mega-retailer. Jobs at this company are highly sought after. Employees live where they work, in MotherCloud communities, where they are subject to low wages, sub-par living conditions, and the often misguided social theories of the company's folksy, faux-everyman founder. But the company has secrets that will bring it down from the inside, with the help of two very different employees. It's up to all of us to keep this vision of the future from coming to pass. If you buy just one audiobook from an independent bookstore this year, make it this one.”

“I finished The Resisters in a day. I don’t know how a book can be so devastating yet so miraculously wonderful at the same time. I was completely captivated by the family whose story Jen tells. The world she creates — set in near-future AutoAmerica — is so believable an outcome of what we see around us today that it feels as much prescient as imagined. A sort of cautionary tale, The Resisters is not only a book to love, it’s a book that’s important. I’m in awe.”