16 books like Cold Moon Over Babylon

By Michael McDowell, Mike Mignola (illustrator),

Here are 16 books that Cold Moon Over Babylon fans have personally recommended if you like Cold Moon Over Babylon. Shepherd is a community of 10,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Let the Right One in

Katie Marie Author Of A Man in Winter

From my list on horror with child protagonists that are not for kids.

Why am I passionate about this?

Horror is my passion and most things I read and everything I write fits neatly into the genre. But I am also passionate about telling stories from a unique perspective, or if not entirely unique then at least one that is underused. My novella A Man in Winter is told from the perspective of an elderly chap with dementia for instance. I have also found that many people think books with child protagonists must be children’s books and it makes me sad to think of all the wonderful work is being missed out on, I hope that my list has convinced you to try one of the above books.

Katie's book list on horror with child protagonists that are not for kids

Katie Marie Why did Katie love this book?

So much of Lindqvists writing is fantastic, but this has to be my favorite. I read it while in university and then I re-read it and re-read it until one of my housemates asked why it was taking me so long to read a single book then seemed confused when I admitted that every time I finished it I just started it again. 

I love the take Lindqvist has on the vampire as a ‘monster’ Eli is complex and sympathetic, dangerous and vulnerable it’s a wonderful balancing act. But what I enjoyed most of all was that Eli, while being hundreds of years old, is physically and mentally, twelve. Their long life did not make them an adult in a child’s body, they literally stunted their growth and that makes them so compelling.

By John Ajvide Lindqvist, Ebba Segerberg (translator),

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked Let the Right One in as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

John Ajvide Lindqvist’s international bestseller Let the Right One In is “a brilliant take on the vampire myth, and a roaring good story” (New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong), the basis for the multi-film festival award-winning Swedish film, the U.S. adaptation Let Me In directed by Matt Reeves (The Batman), and the Showtime TV series.

It is autumn 1981 when inconceivable horror comes to Blackeberg, a suburb in Sweden. The body of a teenager is found, emptied of blood, the murder rumored to be part of a ritual killing. Twelve-year-old Oskar is personally hoping that revenge has come at…


Book cover of The Fireman

S. James McLaughlin Author Of The WVU Coed Murders: Who Killed Mared and Karen?

From my list on cleansing your true-crime palate.

Why am I passionate about this?

Lately, the state of the world is a big factor of negativity and rumination for me. To keep from getting jaded, I have to take periodic breaks from reading the news and researching crime cases. Fiction works as an escape, especially horror, which might sound like ugly-adjacent, but it’s cathartic. The characters aren’t real, so if anything happens to them, it’s not going to affect my psyche the way real families dealing with the murders of their loved ones does. Sometimes a perfectly-solved mystery or a revenge tale is a breath of fresh air compared to the unresolved loose ends of real life. 

S.'s book list on cleansing your true-crime palate

S. James McLaughlin Why did S. love this book?

Joe Hill is a masterful storyteller.

It’s hard to pick a favorite, but The Fireman has it all––a pandemic that causes its afflicted to spontaneously combust (called Dragonscale because Spinal-Tap Drummer Disease was too long), a plucky pregnant nurse determined to have a healthy baby in spite of the odds (which includes an unhinged husband and a blood-thirsty post-apocalyptic death squad), a commune that has figured out a way to live with the disease, and a lone wolf that wears a fireman’s jacket who has somehow learned how to control his fire.

The characters are so real they still live rent free in my head. I read it during the COVID lockdown and the parallels were both scary and hopeful. 

By Joe Hill,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Fireman as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The NUMBER ONE New York Times Bestselling novel

Nobody knew where the virus came from.
FOX News said it had been set loose by ISIS, using spores that had been invented by the Russians in the 1980s.
MSNBC said sources indicated it might've been created by engineers at Halliburton and stolen by culty Christian types fixated on the Book of Revelation.
CNN reported both sides.
While every TV station debated the cause, the world burnt.

Pregnant school nurse, HARPER GRAYSON, had seen lots of people burn on TV, but the first person she saw burn for real was in the…


Book cover of Sharp Objects

Alex Dolan Author Of The Euthanist

From my list on female protagonists who you hate to root for.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m obsessed with the exploration of what it means to be a human being. We’re coming into an era where we see more characters who aren’t good or evil but both—they possess the potential to save someone from jumping off a bridge one day and beating someone the next. We’re all capable of the greatest acts of kindness and the most abominable atrocities imaginable. I believe we need to be reminded of that fact so that when there comes a time when we can decide whether to hurt or to help someone, we become the better version of ourselves and make the right decision.

Alex's book list on female protagonists who you hate to root for

Alex Dolan Why did Alex love this book?

I’ll always read Gillian Flynn, for the simple reason that her writing style is the closest thing to Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood written by a modern writer. She’s just that good.

This book is my favorite because of how it explores taboo topics (see the theme here?) and because she creates richly complex characters that showcase the range of what people are capable of—the greatest kindness and the darkest cruelty.

By Gillian Flynn,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked Sharp Objects as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NOW AN HBO® LIMITED SERIES STARRING AMY ADAMS, NOMINATED FOR EIGHT EMMY AWARDS, INCLUDING OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES

FROM THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF GONE GIRL

Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family's Victorian mansion, Camille finds…


Book cover of Bullets for Silverware

S. James McLaughlin Author Of The WVU Coed Murders: Who Killed Mared and Karen?

From my list on cleansing your true-crime palate.

Why am I passionate about this?

Lately, the state of the world is a big factor of negativity and rumination for me. To keep from getting jaded, I have to take periodic breaks from reading the news and researching crime cases. Fiction works as an escape, especially horror, which might sound like ugly-adjacent, but it’s cathartic. The characters aren’t real, so if anything happens to them, it’s not going to affect my psyche the way real families dealing with the murders of their loved ones does. Sometimes a perfectly-solved mystery or a revenge tale is a breath of fresh air compared to the unresolved loose ends of real life. 

S.'s book list on cleansing your true-crime palate

S. James McLaughlin Why did S. love this book?

A young pharmacist is hired in a rural town and begins to question what happened to the original druggist he replaced.

This Appalachian tale of murder and drugs even has its own soundtrack; I swear I could hear the radio and smell the characters, because the descriptions in this novel are so well written. This is one of the rare times I’ve read a book in one sitting because I had to know what was going to happen next. 

By Jim Antonini,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Bullets for Silverware as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A young pharmacist takes a job in a small rural town and is quickly introduced to a world of drugs, sex, guns, and deceit. Unexpectedly, he falls in love with the local 'good-time girl' and finds himself trying to solve the mystery behind the disappearance of the pharmacist he was hired to replace.


Book cover of The Richest Man In Babylon

Grant Muller Author Of Top of Heart: How a new approach to business saved my life, and could save yours too

From my list on business that won’t bore you to death.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been in love with business books since I was a child and I’m also a big fan of great story telling. I didn’t realize until recently that you can have both in one book! Discovering this genre of business books that inspire and delight while passing along new and useful insights was a wonderful surprise for me that I like to share with others. These gripping stories have opened up a whole new world for me and allowed me to learn and apply their lessons much more quickly. It’s simply more fun and easier to remember new wisdom when it’s carried forward in gripping stories.   

Grant's book list on business that won’t bore you to death

Grant Muller Why did Grant love this book?

Through incredible stories set in Ancient Babylon, we are transformed and transfixed, all while learning a powerful new financial mindset.

I found myself totally engrossed in the stories of Arkad. I forgot that I was reading the book and learning so much because I was thoroughly entertained. But as I put the book down for the final time, I realized I had a whole new way to think about money and wealth creation.

The author's timeless wisdom and storytelling style make this book one of my favorite treasures to gift and recommend!

By George S. Clason,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked The Richest Man In Babylon as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Richest Man in Babylon, based on “Babylonian parables”, has been hailed as the greatest of all inspirational works on the subject of thrift, financial planning, and personal wealth.  In simple language, these fascinating and informative stories set you on a sure path to prosperity and its accompanying joys.  A celebrated bestseller, it offers an understanding and a solution to your personal financial problem.  Revealed inside are the secrets to acquiring money, keeping money, and making money earn more money.

This original edition has the original language, content, and message from George S. Clason as intended in 1926.  It's all…


Book cover of The Purge of Babylon

A.L. Masters Author Of The Turning

From my list on binge-worthy apocalyptic reads.

Why am I passionate about this?

The moment I read the first page of The Stand, I was hooked on apocalypse stories. The good ones make you question your lifestyle and the bad ones give you hours of tragic entertainment. You’ll be stockpiling rice and toilet paper, and leaving on the hall light against the dark. You’ll be scanning obscure headlines for news of rapidly-spreading diseases and shoveling your own fallout shelter at the first sign of nuclear saber-rattling. Apocalyptic novels can make you into a more prepared person—or a crazy one—and sometimes they’ll even become your career. My recommendation list helped shape me into the writer I am today… sorry about that.

A.L.'s book list on binge-worthy apocalyptic reads

A.L. Masters Why did A.L. love this book?

This book starts off with action and never lets up. The main characters are immediately thrust into a horrifying situation and are expected to survive without any warning whatsoever. They aren’t prepared and they have to stumble along and figure out what to do that will get them out of the mess they find themselves in…and it doesn’t always work out the way they plan. The sheer reach of this book and the entire series is what makes it special and different and the terrifying enemy is one that hasn’t been done often or well. This series is reminiscent of Justin Cronin’s The Passage without the large leaps in time. In fact, it happens in one single, terrifying night. The addicting suspense and tension will keep you reading so long into the night that you might even resemble a ghoul yourself the next day. 

By Sam Sisavath,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Purge of Babylon as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Book #1 in the Purge of Babylon post-apocalyptic series. It all starts here.
________________________________________
ONE NIGHT. THAT WAS ALL IT TOOK.

Creatures that once lived in the shadows, hidden from humankind, have risen, spreading like a plague across the globe over the course of a single night. Their numbers growing exponentially through infection, these seemingly unkillable creatures have swallowed up whole cities and collapsed unprepared governments.

Survivors call it The Purge.

Against all odds, a disparate group of survivors has emerged from that blood-soaked night that devastated the planet and reduced humanity to an endangered species. Among the survivors are…


Book cover of How to Say Babylon: A Memoir

Mariel Buqué Author Of Break the Cycle: A Guide to Healing Intergenerational Trauma

From my list on cycle breakers who broke the cycle of trauma.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm a trauma psychologist and intergenerational trauma expert who’s listened to countless client stories of generational pain and healing. I also write a weekly newsletter, called Break the Cycle, where I offer coping skills to cycle breakers and have the opportunity to read about the multitude of ways in which they are breaking away from trauma and creating legacies of abundance. It is in these stories, I believe, that we're able to see all the possibilities of how we may heal. I hope you enjoy these multilayered stories as much as I did! 

Mariel's book list on cycle breakers who broke the cycle of trauma

Mariel Buqué Why did Mariel love this book?

In this searing story of redemption, Safiya Sinclair helped me capture a vivid story of how legacies of patriarchal values that are situated in religion, encourage women to abandon themselves, leaving us in a state of perpetual and multigenerational suppression, that prove to be traumatic.

This book took me to new insights on the inner workings of religious trauma, placing that trauma within a patriarchal history that is very much alive today, not just in Jamaica, where the memoir is centered, but in all parts of the world.

I was able to see pieces of this story in my very own North American, Black, and Dominican communities, because this memoir pushed me to look within myself and the patriarchal socialization that I too have experienced.

This book has a clear message; it is in the telling of our stories that we can also find freedom from legacies of pain. It’s…

By Safiya Sinclair,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked How to Say Babylon as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

With echoes of Educated and Born a Crime, How to Say Babylon is the stunning story of the author’s struggle to break free of her rigid Rastafarian upbringing, ruled by her father’s strict patriarchal views and repressive control of her childhood, to find her own voice as a woman and poet.

Throughout her childhood, Safiya Sinclair’s father, a volatile reggae musician and militant adherent to a strict sect of Rastafari, became obsessed with her purity, in particular, with the threat of what Rastas call Babylon, the immoral and corrupting influences of the Western world outside their home. He worried that…


Book cover of Babylon Rising

Allen Ballantine Author Of Knight of the Wood

From my list on fantasy characters that will keep you coming back.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love to read, and a good story is one thing. But once you’ve read the story, you know how it ends. It’s the characters in the story that determine if you want to go back and read them again. These are stories that I enjoy reading over again, (some several times) although I know how the story ends. The characters in these stories have inspired me to write my own.

Allen's book list on fantasy characters that will keep you coming back

Allen Ballantine Why did Allen love this book?

Although this technically isn’t a fantasy book, it’s still one of my favorites. Dr. Michael Murphy is a biblical prophecy scholar and archaeologist. A modern-day Indiana Jones with a mysterious and dangerous benefactor who gives him clues to find ancient biblical artifacts while a diabolical cabal is intent on stopping him. A thrilling read that’s hard to put down.

By Tim LaHaye, Greg Dinallo,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Babylon Rising as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Tim LaHaye created the Left Behind Series, which has become one of the most popular fiction series of all time. Those novels, with more that 50 million copies sold, presented a unique combination of suspense and substance drawn from his lifelong study of Biblical prophecy.

Now Tim LaHaye has created a new series that begins with Babylon Rising. The novels in this new series are even faster-paced thrillers based on prophecies that are not covered in the Left Behind books and that have great relevance to the events of today.

Babylon Risingintroduces a terrific new hero for our time. Michael…


Book cover of Wonders Beyond Numbers: A Brief History of All Things Mathematical

Ian Stewart Author Of Flatterland: Like Flatland Only More So

From my list on to find out why math isn’t what you think.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a kid I read every popular math book I could lay my hands on. When I became a mathematician I wanted to do more than teaching and research. I wanted to tell everyone what a wonderful and vital subject math is. I started writing popular math books, and soon was up to my neck in radio, TV, news media, magazines... For 12 years I wrote the mathematical Recreations Column for Scientific American. I was only the second mathematician in 170 years to deliver the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, on TV with a live tiger. The University changed my job description: half research, half ‘outreach’. I had my dream job.

Ian's book list on to find out why math isn’t what you think

Ian Stewart Why did Ian love this book?

One of the friendliest routes into mathematics, for many people, is its history. In math, unlike many sciences, ideas last indefinitely. Pythagoras’s Theorem is about 4,000 years old, understood in ancient Babylon a thousand years before Pythagoras was born. It was true then, and it is still true today. The history of math tells of the construction of a towering edifice, with each new level built on top of the previous ones. There are many histories of mathematics, but none quite like this one. The author is a much-loved English TV personality, famous for his enthusiasm for math and his ability to make it entertaining for children of all ages. His book is a rollicking yarn, a wild ride that nonetheless remains true to its subject.

By Johnny Ball,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Wonders Beyond Numbers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this book, Johnny Ball tells one of the most important stories in world history - the story of mathematics.

By introducing us to the major characters and leading us through many historical twists and turns, Johnny slowly unravels the tale of how humanity built up a knowledge and understanding of shapes, numbers and patterns from ancient times, a story that leads directly to the technological wonderland we live in today. As Galileo said, 'Everything in the universe is written in the language of mathematics', and Wonders Beyond Numbers is your guide to this language.

Mathematics is only one part…


Book cover of Fallen From Babel

Randy C. Dockens Author Of Mercy of the Iron Scepter

From my list on biblical prophecy in fiction format.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been fascinated by science fiction and by Biblical Scripture. That may seem dichotomous to some, but not to me. I have a passion for science and for Scripture because both bring understanding about our world from the microcosm to the macrocosm. My writings are a mixture of science and mystery with a science fiction feel and a Christian perspective. I like stories that show how truth arises even from the dark, confusing, and ambiguity of life to help one discover something about God they may not have considered before, and at the same time enjoy a fun, fast-paced, and exciting journey as they read.

Randy's book list on biblical prophecy in fiction format

Randy C. Dockens Why did Randy love this book?

A man is teleported from modern times to ancient Babylon when he touches an artifact in a museum. While a lot of the Biblical narrative is not covered, it does allow one to really get a feel of what ancient Babylon would have been like and allows one to almost be a part of that culture. A truly intriguing storyline.

By T.L Higley,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Fallen From Babel as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Peter Thornton doesn’t believe in God.

Or rather, he doesn’t believe in one God. “All paths are valid,” he teaches his university students.

One evening he ventures to the archaeology museum and touches an artifact recently discovered from ancient Babylon.

At the touch he is transported three thousand years back in time to Old Testament Babylon.

Somehow the people know him as Rim-Sin, sorcerer and high priest to the gods of Babylon. The moment he arrives he is accused of murder—a murder Rim-Sin committed—and he must run for his life.

Against the backdrop of Nebuchadnezzar’s court at its zenith, he…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Babylon, the Bible, and time travel?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about Babylon, the Bible, and time travel.

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