SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

can someone recommend a gritty book that's more adult oriented with a storyline similar to a group of people trying to survive in a post apocalyptic world(or zombie takeover) while plotting against each other not knowing who to trust? with certain characters losing his/her sense of humanity... a book that is full of surprises; suspense, and horror. A book that will keep you guessing the whole time.

It's been a while, but both Alas Babylon and Earth Abides may meet your needs. Also Lucifer's Hammer.

Just read "Breakers" by Edward W. Robertson - enjoyed it very much. No zombies, but a plague with a twist at the end, but nicely written. I was rooting for the main characters, and hoping they would survive. Very much recommend it. I'm looking for more of his books

Another great book that's post-apocalyptic is "Once Second After" by William Fortschen. This is a novel about the events in a small town after an EMP attack disables normal life. Also well-written.

A bit pastoral in the vein of John Wyndham and maybe a bit dated by now, but still an excellent book is The Death Of Grass by John Christopher. It's in Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels : An English-Language Selection, 1949-1984 by David Pringle who does have exceptionally good taste.

As I've mentioned John Wyndham you can't go wrong with some of his stuff. If you haven't read it already The Day of the Triffids is a classic of the genre.

Might not be modern enough or hard edged enough for what you're looking for, but hope it might help a bit.

The "Dead World" books by Joe McKinney have some of that in them. The third book, especially. They can all be read as stand-alone stories because they're only related by sharing a world, not the characters. They are extremely well-written, but have pedestrian titles. #1: Dead City. #2: Apocalypse of the Dead. #3: Flesh Eaters.

Also, The Passage by Justin Cronin is absolutely brutal. It's essentially a better version of King's The Stand, but with a vampire apocalypse instead. It's a really long book.

On the science fiction side, I recommend Daniel Suarez's two novels, Daemon and Freedom (TM). The second has more of what you're looking for (and is brutally cool), but it's best to read them in order, just to get a feel for how the world came to be.

Michael, have you read World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War? If not, you must. But it's told in the style of Studs Terkel's books. It'll help if you've looked him up first-- or listened to him even; he did radio for many, many years.

No one's mentioned A Canticle for Leibowitz...

No zombies in Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, just amazing writing and terrific characters.

I don't know why these books slipped my mind, but the "Plague" trilogy by Jeff Carlson (Plague Year, Plague War & Plague Zone (Plague, #3)) are exactly what you're looking for.

The books are about the survivors of a nanotechnology accident. Nanotech that was designed to kill cancer instead kills everything with a body temperature above a certain point gets loose and destroys the world. The fail-safe is that it self-destructs above 10,000 feet. Survivors trapped on mountain tops around the world are slowly starving to death and World War 3 looms between the surviving superpowers. Trouble is, because the nanoplague ate all the animals, the environment is collapsing, too.

Julia wrote: "No zombies in Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, just amazing writing and terrific characters."

You're right! Another great series was Lilith's Brood by Butler. Lilith's Brood