Here are 7 books that The Fifth Kind fans have personally recommended if you like The Fifth Kind. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of I Will Find You

Monica Chase Author Of Echoes of Control

From Monica's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Monica's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Monica Chase Why Monica loves this book

Coben is unmatched when it comes to building a setup that looks unsolvable and then proving he had the answer all along. This book grabbed me immediately and never loosened its grip. The tension works, the characters are complex, and the turns are perfectly executed. It reminded me why I never hesitate to pick up his newest release. When he in full stride, it is just a joy to read.

By Harlan Coben ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked I Will Find You as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the # 1 author and creator of the hit Netflix drama Stay Close, a page-turning thriller that will keep you guessing until the very last page. The new Harlan Coben blockbuster has arrived.
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David and Cheryl Burroughs are living the dream - married, a beautiful house in the suburbs, a three year old son named Matthew - when tragedy strikes one night in the worst possible way.

David awakes to find himself covered in blood, but not his own - his son's. And while he knows he did not murder his son, the overwhelming evidence against him puts…


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Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Book cover of Capture or Kill

Monica Chase Author Of Echoes of Control

From Monica's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Monica's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Monica Chase Why Monica loves this book

The Mitch Rapp series is my go to when I want sharp pacing and a world that feels one bad decision away from cracking open. This installment delivered exactly what I look for in a Rapp book. Bentley keeps the energy tight and the stakes high without ever losing the grounded feel that makes this series work. It felt like slipping back in into a familiar world, only to be reminded how good it is at keeping my pulse up.

Book cover of The Worst Ship in the Fleet

Nathan Lowell Author Of Quarter Share

From my list on space opera that’s not military science fiction.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always thought that the Venn diagram of Space Opera and Military Science Fiction should not be a circle. I thought there should be stories about people living in interstellar civilizations that didn’t involve massive wars across unimaginable distances, resulting in untold misery and suffering. So, I wrote some, starting with Quarter ShareEach of these books shows mostly normal people trying to get by in a galaxy far, far away.

Nathan's book list on space opera that’s not military science fiction

Nathan Lowell Why Nathan loves this book

Skylar Ramirez kicks off this twisty series by introducing the alcoholic Captain Brad Mendoza and his troubled executive officer. Along the way, a crooked path leads the reader deeper into a well-developed universe of money, politics, and betrayal.

Every character plays a role, but some play more than one. While these are technically military people, their mission isn’t supposed to involve flying missiles and drawn-out battles. Mostly, it’s about a bunch of troubled people finding their way back from the brink.

This one has more military than the first three, but it's still a great read.

By Skyler Ramirez ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Worst Ship in the Fleet as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Brad Mendoza is an idiot. He knows it, and so does everyone else in the star nation of Prometheus. A promising naval career down the drain just because he accidentally killed 504 civilians. So, it's time for him to give up and accept a dead-end command on Persephone, the worst starship in the fleet. Until he meets the beautiful and cunning Jessica Lin, his new executive officer, who harbors a terrible secret of her own. Now, with an enemy warship four times their size bearing down on them, Brad's in a race to save Jessica and his stupid ship.

But…


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Book cover of Trusting Her Duke

Trusting Her Duke by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.

Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…

Book cover of The Inner Circle

Danny Anthony Bonsangue Author Of Entanglement

From my list on unlikely heroes facing existential threats.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have loved science since I was young. I was obsessed with watching videos and reading books by scientists like Michio Kaku and Neil DeGrasse Tyson, where they explored concepts like time travel, black holes, and the quantum realm. In college, I majored in environmental studies, mostly because of my love for both natural science and policy. In addition to basic biology and ecology, I learned about what is hurting the Earth and the consequences of not acting fast. I contributed to a white paper on “Ecocide,” or deliberate destruction of the natural environment, by the Russians in Ukraine. I also contributed to the Journal of Science and Technology Law.

Danny's book list on unlikely heroes facing existential threats

Danny Anthony Bonsangue Why Danny loves this book

I love this book because it shows that, even in the face of existential demise, humans cannot set aside their differences so easily.

You’d think that, with a comet headed toward Earth causing certain destruction, interpersonal conflicts would take a backseat. But humans are still humans—we still always want to think we’re right, we still have pride, and we still have interests that, although similar to one another, are not exactly the same. It’s self-published, like my own. 

By Kevin George ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

1908... Siberia... A tiny comet rips through Earth's atmosphere and explodes above the Tunguska region of Siberia, instantly engulfing thousands of square acres of the mostly desolate region. The explosion is heard for hundreds of miles, the light of the comet seen halfway across the globe. Had the comet hit a few hours earlier in a more populated area, millions would have been killed...

A century later, another comet - this one hundreds of times bigger and more powerful - encounters a black hole in deep space and is pushed onto a new, deadly course leading straight to Earth...

A…


Book cover of Home: Interstellar

Danny Anthony Bonsangue Author Of Entanglement

From my list on unlikely heroes facing existential threats.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have loved science since I was young. I was obsessed with watching videos and reading books by scientists like Michio Kaku and Neil DeGrasse Tyson, where they explored concepts like time travel, black holes, and the quantum realm. In college, I majored in environmental studies, mostly because of my love for both natural science and policy. In addition to basic biology and ecology, I learned about what is hurting the Earth and the consequences of not acting fast. I contributed to a white paper on “Ecocide,” or deliberate destruction of the natural environment, by the Russians in Ukraine. I also contributed to the Journal of Science and Technology Law.

Danny's book list on unlikely heroes facing existential threats

Danny Anthony Bonsangue Why Danny loves this book

I love this book because it has a strong female lead character. These are rare in entertainment in general, and especially in sci-fi books, besides a few notable exceptions. It’s one of the reasons I decided to feature a woman as the protagonist in my book.

The novel also features a plot about humans living throughout space and how dangerous space might become when that happens. Like my own, it was self-published. 

By Ray Strong ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Murdered parents and a busted spaceship. That’s what pirates left to Meriel and the orphans from the Light Speed Merchant Princess. But pirates didn’t exist, and for the authorities, that defined her as crazy.

Ten years later, her past will not stay buried, and the most powerful interests in the galaxy aim to kill her for what she might remember. While searching for a mythical planet called Home, she trips alarms that protect the killers…
… and the biggest secret in human history.

Meriel has only days to untangle the mysteries surrounding the Princess attack or face her own death.…


Book cover of Renegade

Danny Anthony Bonsangue Author Of Entanglement

From my list on unlikely heroes facing existential threats.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have loved science since I was young. I was obsessed with watching videos and reading books by scientists like Michio Kaku and Neil DeGrasse Tyson, where they explored concepts like time travel, black holes, and the quantum realm. In college, I majored in environmental studies, mostly because of my love for both natural science and policy. In addition to basic biology and ecology, I learned about what is hurting the Earth and the consequences of not acting fast. I contributed to a white paper on “Ecocide,” or deliberate destruction of the natural environment, by the Russians in Ukraine. I also contributed to the Journal of Science and Technology Law.

Danny's book list on unlikely heroes facing existential threats

Danny Anthony Bonsangue Why Danny loves this book

I love this book because not only is it a sci-fi novel, but it loops in a crime angle. Crime is my other favorite genre to read.

As a lawyer, I’ve always found ways to weave crime and the law into my novels. It also deals with humans living in other places than Earth, a concept I’ve always been interested in reading and writing about. 

By Joel Shepherd ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

One thousand years after Earth was destroyed in an unprovoked attack, humanity has emerged victorious from a series of terrible wars to assure its place in the galaxy. But during celebrations on humanity's new homeworld, the legendary Captain Pantillo of the battle carrier Phoenix is court-martialed then killed, and his deputy, Lieutenant Commander Erik Debogande, the heir to humanity's most powerful industrial family, is framed for his murder. Assisted by Phoenix's marine commander Trace Thakur, Erik and Phoenix are forced to go on the run as they seek to unravel the conspiracy behind their captain's demise, pursued to the death…


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Book cover of The Duke's Christmas Redemption

The Duke's Christmas Redemption by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.

Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…

Book cover of Extinction Code

Danny Anthony Bonsangue Author Of Entanglement

From my list on unlikely heroes facing existential threats.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have loved science since I was young. I was obsessed with watching videos and reading books by scientists like Michio Kaku and Neil DeGrasse Tyson, where they explored concepts like time travel, black holes, and the quantum realm. In college, I majored in environmental studies, mostly because of my love for both natural science and policy. In addition to basic biology and ecology, I learned about what is hurting the Earth and the consequences of not acting fast. I contributed to a white paper on “Ecocide,” or deliberate destruction of the natural environment, by the Russians in Ukraine. I also contributed to the Journal of Science and Technology Law.

Danny's book list on unlikely heroes facing existential threats

Danny Anthony Bonsangue Why Danny loves this book

I love this book because it is deeply scientific with a good plot. I always appreciate books that attempt to make things as scientifically accurate as possible. I understand that science fiction books must take some liberties for the sake of the plot—in fact, I believe that they should. But the liberties should be believable.

Also, who doesn’t love a great book about an explanation for the origins of humanity? With what scientists can do with genetics now, it’s really fun to think about what studying the human genome can teach us. 

By James D. Prescott ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

For eons, the truth about human evolution has remained hidden.Until now...Geophysicist Jack Greer believes he may finally have found the resting place of the meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs sixty-five million years ago. A few miles off the Yucatán coast, Jack and a team of scientists tow an aging drilling platform over the impact crater with the aim of securing a sample. But buried deep beneath the earth lies a shocking discovery that threatens to shatter everything we think we know about our species.A world away, geneticist Dr. Mia Ward receives a mysterious delivery from her former boss and…


Book cover of I Will Find You
Book cover of Capture or Kill
Book cover of The Worst Ship in the Fleet

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