Good SHTF Survival Fiction Books

[hipower]

18 hours ago, Jamie Jackson said:

You know how much I love the Survivalist Series brother, especially the first 5 books in the series. My set was so old (paperback, probably Mass Market) they were about to fall apart.

HOLY CRAP! They're on Kindle !!! It must have been some time since I checked. Well I've got the first 3 in the series loading now. Thanks my friend!

I'll add Johnstone 's Ashes to my list.

I know you guys wouldn't let me down!

I've been really lucky(?) in finding first edition copies of both the Ashes and the Survivalist series books on E-bay and thru thriftbooks that are in pretty good condition for 30+ year old paperbacks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 18, 2021 by hipower

[hipower]

On 5/8/2020 at 4:00 PM, Defender said:

Those look good.  Id love to read them, but lordy 15 bucks for a paperback?  Outta my price range.

Yes. Prices have gone totally insane on books. Paperbacks especially.

I've been hitting estate sales recently with my wife. I've been giving $1 or less for HB and PB on final days of sales. No one wants to haul heavy books around. lol

I've gotten everything from Clive Cussler, John Grisham. Dean Koontz, and Stephen Coonts; to hard core syfy. About anything you can name. I'm sure I've brought home close to 200 books in the last 2 years.

Downside is that they take up so much room. 

[hipower]

On 5/9/2020 at 10:20 PM, Jackalope said:

Schlicter's "Indian Country" was very good, IMHO it's the best of the series thus far.  "Collapse" was okay, it does give a good idea of how guerillas operate.  I'm looking forward to his next novel.

Ok, you guys have gotten me interested. Kurt Schlichter is now on my active search list!

[Nemo]

Tomorrow War 1 & 2 by J.L. Bourne. 

http://jlbourne.com/books/tomorrow-war/

[Mark A]

Recently read 2 series by Boyd Craven III. Decently written, but could have been proof read and edited a little more professionally. Anyway, based in Arkansas which is nice as I know the areas which is always fun in a book series.

Def not War & Peace or any other literary giant but if you want an easy read that buys you an escape from the current craziness that is our daily life go check them out...

 

Mark

[Defender]

1 hour ago, Mark A said:

Recently read 2 series by Boyd Craven III. Decently written, but could have been proof read and edited a little more professionally. Anyway, based in Arkansas which is nice as I know the areas which is always fun in a book series.

Def not War & Peace or any other literary giant but if you want an easy read that buys you an escape from the current craziness that is our daily life go check them out...

 

Mark

Which books?

[Mark A]

The Still Surviving series and the Farm series

[Fyrediver]

Found some more good books to add to people's lists:

American Wasteland by Nick Cole.  Good post apocalyptic series.  

Surviving the Crash series by Jeff Kirkam  and Jason Ross; Black Autumn is the first book.  

[Defender]

Anecdotally, I've always been a science fiction fan, but the one book that got me into this sub-genre was Andre Norton's Daybreak 2250 A.D.  I probably already liked her SF books, and read many of them over the years, but this was my first post-apocalyptical novel.  It wasn't great, but it really sparked my interest.  Incidentally, she lived her last years in Murfreesboro,TN.

[monkeylizard]

I finally got around to reading World War Z while on vacation last week. Besides zombies and Israel having a wall, the movie had zero in common with it.

[Grayfox54]

I just finished "Crisis" by Kurt Schlichter. This is the fifth book in his Kelly Turnbull  AKA People's Republic series. Once again I have to praise Schlichter for an edge of your seat action thriller. I was captured by the story and  breezed through it in just three days. 

For those unfamiliar with the scenario, these stories take place in the near future. The U.S. has had a Civil War in which its Conservatives vs Liberals. In the end, the country is split into two separate nations, The United States and the new ultra liberal People's Republic. These novels follow the adventures of Spec Ops operator Kelly Turnbull as he deals with special problems in this new world. 

This latest book "Crisis" is a prequel going back to the days just before the split.  The country is on a razor's edge as both States and people are choosing their side. Either Red or Blue. Cities are being taken over and open warfare is erupting between the two sides. At this stage its a very active, but yet undeclared Civil War. 

The plot revolves around Merrick Crane III. A wealthy, powerful and totally evil leftist who claims to be working to free our nation from oppression. In reality, he's doing everything in his power to bring about a Civil War and set himself up as dictator of his vision of the new America. Turnbull is out to stop him. 

I've mentioned this series before in this thread. I'm a huge fan  these books. They're well written, action packed and full of surprises. But the thing that really grabs you is the fact that its entirely plausible. 

[hipower]

Thanks for the commentary on the "Crisis" books. I have seen them and been intrigued, just haven't bought any yet. Have far too many lying around now that I'll probably never have enough time to read before I'm gone.

Plus, I just started re-reading some of my older stuff. William W. Johnstone's Ashes series, and Jerry Ahern's Survivalist books. 

Also have A. American's Going Home, and Joe Nobody's books in line.

Both are quite dated now, but still enjoyable for me.

If you want some sheer trashy fun, try Mack Maloney's Wingman series.

I can't believe I actually once bought the Wingman stuff. lol.

[Grayfox54]

On 6/18/2021 at 8:51 PM, monkeylizard said:

I finally got around to reading World War Z while on vacation last week. Besides zombies and Israel having a wall, the movie had zero in common with it.

I read World War Z years before the movie came out. Great book, terrible movie. As mentioned, the book and movie have very little in common. 

[hipower]

14 minutes ago, Grayfox54 said:

I read World War Z years before the movie came out. Great book, terrible movie. As mentioned, the book and movie have very little in common. 

That seems to be the usual case with book-to-movie adaptations.

The current movie MONSTERS is a great example. I absolutely cannot believe how bad it was. Larry Correia's books in this series are great.

Also one of the all-time stinkers for me...Raise the Titanic. Such a wonderful book. Read and re-read many times. Some of Clive Cussler's best work. The movie was one of the worst I've ever seen.

ADD I agree about WWZ as well. No relation to the novel. Well not enough to make it any good.

Edited June 29, 2021 by hipower

[Defender]

21 hours ago, Grayfox54 said:

I just finished "Crisis" by Kurt Schlichter. This is the fifth book in his Kelly Turnbull  AKA People's Republic series. Once again I have to praise Schlichter for an edge of your seat action thriller. I was captured by the story and  breezed through it in just three days. 

For those unfamiliar with the scenario, these stories take place in the near future. The U.S. has had a Civil War in which its Conservatives vs Liberals. In the end, the country is split into two separate nations, The United States and the new ultra liberal People's Republic. These novels follow the adventures of Spec Ops operator Kelly Turnbull as he deals with special problems in this new world. 

This latest book "Crisis" is a prequel going back to the days just before the split.  The country is on a razor's edge as both States and people are choosing their side. Either Red or Blue. Cities are being taken over and open warfare is erupting between the two sides. At this stage its a very active, but yet undeclared Civil War. 

The plot revolves around Merrick Crane III. A wealthy, powerful and totally evil leftist who claims to be working to free our nation from oppression. In reality, he's doing everything in his power to bring about a Civil War and set himself up as dictator of his vision of the new America. Turnbull is out to stop him. 

I've mentioned this series before in this thread. I'm a huge fan  these books. They're well written, action packed and full of surprises. But the thing that really grabs you is the fact that its entirely plausible. 

I read the first book a while back..  My local library (Nashville Metro)finally got in most of the rest of the series so i recently finished Indian Country, just started Wildfire and have Collapse already checked out and waiting to read next!  Sad to say they dont have Crisis yet. I'll be jonesing about that one when i get about midway through Collapse, lol.  I love his books.  Some of them do get a tad repetitive and kinda overemphasize some of the liberal agenda we have now, but I am still loving his books. 

Edited June 30, 2021 by Defender

[ReeferMac]

... need to start our own lending library among members! Heck, cost of shipping USPS isn't too terrible much.

[monkeylizard]

Not SHTF-related, but along the lines of movies deviating from the books: Amazon Prime's "Without Remorse" had two things in common with the book: The main character's name, and that he's military. Otherwise, a total deviation from the book.

Forgoing my disappointment in its lack of book content, as a movie, it's still pretty lousy. Good action, but that can only carry so much. The dialog is poorly written, though well delivered and the characters are as rote, cliched and forgettable as they come. 1-star. Would not recommend.

[Moped]

Not sure how many of you read on a Kindle, but Kindle Unlimited, has a bunch of these books!