100 books like Trail of Lightning

At the time, when I read this book, I’d just become a father. Naturally, the story about a father trying to protect his son in a harsh dystopian world was captivating for me and still is to this day.

I loved the book's gritty realism and felt as if I were walking beside the characters during the entire journey. I also found McCarthy’s writing style unique and something new from the best-selling paperbacks I’d often read before picking up his book.

The delicious worldbuilding, with its gorgeous, sensual details, and the intriguing story setup, were the things that grabbed me and pulled me into the book. The characters—funny, complicated, and utterly loveable—convinced me to stay.

But it was the complex, beautiful exploration of identity, belonging, love, grief, and longing that’s stayed with me since I listened to the last word of the audiobook. This book manages to be both an exciting and action-packed adventure and a beautiful tribute to the bittersweet complexities of being human. 

Irreverent, hilarious, and surprisingly touching, this book is Terry Prachett at his best—the rapier-sharp wit, the brilliant satire, and, my favorite of all, the moments where his characters are shoved up against questions of morality and the choice whether to give in to ugliness and hopelessness or to hold onto a hardscrabble optimism.

Cynical, jaded Sam Vines may be one of my favorite examples of a character who stubbornly refuses to give up on believing that while the world might never be perfect, just maybe, if enough imperfect, barely-holding-themselves-together people try hard enough, it can be a little better than it was.

Another ultimate post-apocalyptic quest novel is The Stand, one of King’s most read (and longest) books, but I was more heavily influenced by (and love more) The Waste Lands (book 3 of The Dark Tower series). This is because the latter focuses less on the how of the collapse than the aftermath. King’s casual prose and quick, realistic dialogue have always been an inspiration in my writing. The found family connection between Roland, Eddie, Susanna, and Jake is at the heart of The Waste Lands. It is palpable and endearing, and something I strove to emulate with Delia, Gennero, Perth, and Mort in my own novel. There is an allusion to The Waste Lands in my book that big fans of The Dark Tower will catch.  

This novel takes place thirty years after a disease has reduced most of the human population to a primitive state. A thriller with exceptional action scenes and tension, the novel features two converging plotlines that are quests through South America and the southern United States when it is almost devoid of uninfected humans. As with a lot of post-apocalyptic novels the real villains of the story are other humans—their greed and need for control. While this book came out two years after mine, it resonated with me. The themes of trust run strong in both our novels, as well as lengthy stretches of landscape without any humans. 

I love this novel. I read it well after my own came out, but the strong, badass, stoic female main character reminded me a lot of Delia from What Branches Grow (despite Brittle being a robot). The often dark and gritty scenes interspersed with moments of emotion and laugh-out-loud absurd humour turned a story that could have been depressing into one that was a helluva lot of fun. The raiders in this novel also fit the trope in the same homage to Mad Max/Fallout that mine do in What Branches Grow, albeit in a way I didn’t expect. The novel is also a quest through the wasteland with a ragtag group that culminates in a final battle, which is a similar trajectory to my novel (and a plotfline in this genre I very much enjoy).

What I found unique about Deal with the Devil was that it was written by two authors who specialize in writing steamy romance books, who, together, go by the pen name Kit Rocha. Genetically and cybernetically enhanced humans has always been one of my favorite sci-fi concepts. This book has two teams of enhanced humans. There is Nina and her all-female crew, who are the book’s main characters, and there is Knox and his all-male crew. I enjoyed learning about the different abilities and troubled pasts of these characters. And with the setting being in a dystopian environment, another concept I enjoy, coupled with the book having all the spiciness and sensuality you'd usually find in an urban fantasy novel, this sci-fi story was intriguing. I believe it will be a winner for adult male and female readers.

High school is hard enough to survive. Adding teleportation makes it freakin’ impossible. Our hero, Cole, is an adorable nerd about to finish his senior year of high school when he suddenly develops the talent of teleportation (including one adventure when he accidentally zaps himself into his locker). Mysterious men in black start showing up wherever he is and Cole needs to figure out what he’s doing fast if he wants to escape. Luckily, his latest crush, Malik, is proving to be a steadfast friend and maybe a little more. Nathan has an amazing talent for bringing his characters to life and creates some of the sweetest love stories I’ve ever read. He’s a fellow comic-book fan and fans of the X-Men and Avengers will love his stories.

A whole agency of supernaturally gifted investigators… oh, yes, please! This story focuses on Aidan, who is able to read people and objects through touch. He’s been disgraced after failing to find a missing child and has come to Savannah to nurse his wounds. The heroine, Lexie, is a reporter and believes a serial killer is hunting in their city, but no one believes her. She enlists Aidan’s reluctant help and the two of them develop a romance as they search for clues. This story has adventure, romance, psychic powers, and a ghost that is used for reconnaissance. It’s got everything! The characters’ powers are solidly researched and feel like they could be possible and the suspense plot will take your breath away.

What are you supposed to say when you find out that you’re the descendant of an actual god? The heroine, Nikki, wakes up to discover that she is now immortal and has supernatural powers, thanks to being a descendant of Artemis. Of course, no one can tell her exactly what those powers are or how to use them. The first book in the series follows her adventure as she learns how to use her supernatural gifts to hunt along with her skills as private investigator. Along the way, the sparks burn with a passionate attraction to a fellow god descendant, Jamaal, who has the powers of Kali and a difficult temper. It’s a great urban fantasy series that taps into a lot of different mythologies and keeps the action at full tilt.