I've had a fifteen-year job in the corporate world doing business system analysis and design. I never connected with capitalists and I can see that the environmental and economic damage is the byproduct of the capitalist society we live in. Our detached way of life has created horrific climate change and a brutal class system where the wealthy are separated from everyone else. These are both worsening by the year. Capitalism is one of the main culprits because the oligarchy running things (W.E.F.) is not going to relinquish power or control. My book, Pulse, is a merge between corporate greed, environmental activism, and technology with a scary creature that brings it all together.
I also produce original music inspired by my novels. If you want a taste, go find "Requiem" on my YouTube channel.
Pulse is a plot-driven multi-POV dystopian sci-fi horror thriller set in 2040, centered around a corporation, a creature, and a music festival. Think Fyre Festival , Black Mirror, and X-Files combined. The book is already being praised for its fantastic use of horror, engaging world-building, and genre-bending approach utilizing some screenplay-like formatting.
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This book has it all! Terrifying horror. Amazing coming-of-age characters. One of the best villains ever written. Pennywise has been haunting dreams for decades and the recent film adaptations have reinvigorated the interest in this masterclass-worthy horror villain. When a book is this long people will find flaws, but what is undeniable is that the core of this story has inspired generations of horror authors and fans.
Is Cloud Atlas scary? Not so much. But if you look between the lines at the bigger story being told, the future is bleak and the place we are rocketing toward as a society might just look a little like the horrifying future imagined here by David Mitchell. The merging of genres and the variety of POVs make for an unforgettable read.
I love music and I love interconnected plots. This story unwinds just like an onion. The layers upon layers of this novel are a spectacle to behold.
A young adult novel that no one would call horror. What makes this scary? The plot will bend your mind like watching The Matrix for the first time. Pick up this book if you want to see how to write scary and easy-to-read science fiction that isn't horror from a world-class author.
Cormac’s stripped, bleak, and dark writing style is on display stronger than ever here. He uses simple names that are more like descriptors. He doesn’t spend tons of time describing settings or characters. Everything is depressed and sad. Not just in tone, but down to the bones of the word selection. I also like that the novel is short. There is no wasted space on this all-time classic.
Maybe the oddball on this list compared to the other mainstream properties. This story has a little technology, biology, and geology mixed together to craft up a creature lurking beneath the surface that is accidentally unleashed by a combination of greed and ignorance.
The other thing I love about The Hatching is the pace. It's breakneck. Ezekiel Boone shuttles you around setting up well-written characters before unleashing sheer chaos and terror on them with a plot that is far more real than the litany of the zombie apocalyptic novels out there.
5,888 authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about survival, reincarnation, and spiders.
We think you will like Into the Wild, Olive Kitteridge, and The Second World War if you like this list.
From Zena's list on Arctic Circle philosophical suspense.
Why do we make decisions that put our lives at risk? Why do we have such a deep connection with nature? To what lengths would we go to find peace, especially when recovering from a traumatic relationship? I love exploring questions such as these in what I read and in the stories I write, and this extraordinary mixed-genre non-fiction account of self-discovery abounds with philosophical and suspenseful debate, constantly driving us towards its ending in a lethal Alaskan wilderness. As well as the book’s sublime depictions of the unconquerable nature of snowy mountains, glaciers, and rivers, what I loved most about this story is its presentation of the illusory nature of self-reliance. However much we might value independence and inner strength, we all need the help of others, even strangers, to live our best lives.
From Linda's list on protagonists in intergenerational relationships.
Written as a collection of short stories, each depicting crusty Olive Kitteridge in a different scenario, this novel brilliantly portrays a harsh woman who causes me to question why I love her so much. We see Olive’s self-awareness and sometimes tender side as she moves through her life. We see her in a relationship with her kind husband and with various townsfolks, always bringing her sardonic honesty. When I read Olive’s story for the first time, I surprised myself by falling l in love with her despite her startling relational gaffs. I believe we all have a little more of Olive than we care to admit—at least in our inner thoughts.
From Adam's list on Armageddon.
It's too easy to dismiss the Second World War. To relegate that epochal conflict into realms of ancient history, action films, kitset models, unread Father's day gifts, and black & white footage. But we all live through the consequences of this epic global struggle. This was the last time western civilisation brought itself close to destruction and it was a close call. 60 million lives were lost and no one died easily. The war was also raging just shy of 80 years ago. In the scheme of human history, that's recent.
Beevor's history of the global conflict - and it was global - is a page-turning affair. Vivid, engaging, heartbreaking, shocking. Really fine storytelling and a first class history, encompassing the great conflicts of east and west (China's experience of the war is much overlooked in the west but not in these pages). I found myself engrossed by this monumental history of the very worst ideas and behaviour that our species is only too willing to pursue in order to self-destruct. It's also a compelling tale of so many acts of courage and sacrifice. Epic in the truest sense of the word and a chilling warning from history that I wish everyone would heed and read.
Have we learned the lessons of the Second World War? I'd say they are being forgotten, or that many alive today remain unaware of the significance of the conflict. At a time when the world has never been more interconnected, when the UK leaves a united Europe, and when there are more geopolitical upheavals than we can fully acknowledge, and when we watch the rise and rise of simple fundamentalist ideologies at the expense of humanity and reason, even logic, I'd say Beevor's The Second World War offers an important perspective for right now.
