Books like Undertow by Michael Buckley

The Way of Kings opens Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive, a sweeping high‑fantasy saga set on the storm‑torn world of Roshar where mystical Shardblade warriors, broken kingdoms, and mysterious ancient orders collide.

A middle‑aged man returns to his childhood home, where memories of a magical girl and a mysterious farm haunt him, revealing a dark, supernatural mystery from his youth.

Set in a post-modern fantasy world, Scadrial, three decades after the Mistborn trilogy, the main characters continue their quest for justice amid technological advancements and old magics.

In a future where corporations weaponize genetic engineering, Paolo Bacigalupi’s *The Windup Girl* explores the ethical and societal consequences of bioterrorism and gene hacking.

Inspector Tyador Borlú journeys from Besźel to Ul Qoma to investigate the murder of a woman, navigating two distinct cities that both share one physical space yet have separate identities.

A near‑future reimagining of Dickens’ classic where a deadly revolution erupts in a New York City split between light and dark magic, exploring love, prejudice, and the struggle for freedom.

Laia, a Scholar, infiltrates the Martial Empire’s elite military academy as a slave after her brother is jailed for treason, aided by rebel Scholars who promise to save him.

In "Ruin and Rising," Alina deepens her connection with Mal as they seek Morozova's amplifier, while the Darkling’s buried past reshapes their understanding of power and loyalty in Ravka.

In the recurring Scorpio Races, water horse riders battle a perilous float on a summer river, where triumph is rare and death is common. Two unlikely competitors—experienced champion Sean Kendrick and first‑female rider Puck Connolly—face the race’s fierce demands.

A teenage girl discovers her mother is a Poseidon princess and must choose between protecting herself or revealing her half‑breed gift to unite two warring sea kingdoms.

Cia and the United Commonwealth work to eliminate the rebel alliance fighting to destroy "The Testing."

Rives, newly crowned leader of Nil City, faces growing raids, dwindling supplies, and hostile non‑human beings. Joined by Skye, a newcomer with a mysterious past, they must protect the island from internal strife and deadly threats.

In the Alchemy Wars trilogy’s second volume, rogue Clakker Jax seeks freedom after blowing up the Clockmakers’ Grand Forge while the exile spymaster Berenice and Captain Hugo Longchamp prepare to face the Brasswork Throne’s mechanized army.

In a winter‑bound settlement, Emmeline and Kane set out across frozen lands to seek freedom, only to find themselves embroiled in a war between the Dominion and First Peoples.

In the third book of the Defiance Series, Princess Rachel Adams is abducted to Rowansmark while her lover, commander Logan McEntire, remains imprisoned in Lankenshire, forcing both to forge uneasy alliances to topple the tyrannical ruler and destroy a deadly, tech‑controlled menace.

A rebellious teen disguises herself as a boy to flee an arranged marriage, stows aboard a smuggler’s airship, and embarks on a thrilling adventure through interstellar skies.

"I very much need to be dead." These are the chilling last words left by a man who had everything to live for but took his own life. In the void that remains stands his widow, FBI agent Jane Hawk, surrounded by questions destined to go unanswered unless she does what all the grief and fury inside her demand: Find the truth, no matter what. People of talent and accomplishment, people seemingly happy and sound of mind, have recently been committing suicide in surprising numbers. A disturbing pattern is beginning to emerge. Jane is determined to give up everything to find out why. And if that means going rogue and becoming America's Most Wanted, then so be it. Those arrayed against her are legion, and devoted to protecting something profoundly important-or terrifying-enough to exterminate any and all in their way. But Jane is as clever as these enemies are cold-blooded, as relentless as they are ruthless. And she is driven by a righteous rage they can never comprehend. Because it is born of love.

When Zelia's foster home is raided, she, her sister, and a group of genetically altered outcasts flee, hoping to find refuge while uncovering a sinister conspiracy that targets them.

Ethan Chase must rewrite his destiny when the fey vanish, battling danger to protect his family and a secret love he never expected to cherish.

Two teenagers, ten years apart, recount the terrifying days and nights they spent in a haunted house that shatters their families and forces them to confront crumbling homes and lingering supernatural dangers.

A young sorceress learns that killing an assassin clan leader and falling for the heir has positioned her as the Empire’s only hope for freedom—and the most lethal weapon the assassins have ever wielded.