One Second After

[bltjr1951]

Back on topic yeah I would like to see more from the author of One Second After, even if it was depressing as hell.

Ya know he's wrote more books? I love his SF Union troops vs aliens books.

[keeper]

The "Lost Regiment" series (referenced above) is his take on a Civil War regiment transported onto another planet. It was a pretty good read.

[spaceman]

I finally took this one off the shelf and read it. I liked it, but there were a few things that bugged me. Not that I can blame the author for this, but it became blatantly obvious that he was 'John'. I mentioned before when Glennbo mentioned the cannibal raiders that I agreed with him. That didn't bug me that much in this book, but Glennbo's suggested alternative would have been a welcomed change from the original recipe. I was reminded of Alas, Babylon when I read this one, but that's not a bad thing. I didn't see too many typos you guys mentioned ('should of,' etc.), and I usually do when they are there, so I'm wondering if they were corrected in the paperback version. Overall, I enjoyed this book. Only a few very small parts turned me off, but in the interest of avoiding a heated debate, I won't mention them. I must say though, and I know this is fodder for debate, but I just can't see an EMP causing so much havoc (as far as people going wild and such). But I'll say this, if I'm wrong about that, then the human race is a sad, sad species. On the other hand, when TSHTF, I'm going to become a cannibal raider and head to Glennbo's house.

Forgive me for this pathetic review, but I'm pretty tired at the moment.

[bltjr1951]

I just can't see an EMP causing so much havoc (as far as people going wild and such). But I'll say this, if I'm wrong about that, then the human race is a sad, sad species.
Forgive me for this pathetic review, but I'm pretty tired at the moment.

Are you f-ing kidding? All it takes for some people to riot and loot is a lost football game.
Some even loot when their team wins a game.
Maybe you'll come back when you're all rested up?

[spaceman]

I just can't see an EMP causing so much havoc (as far as people going wild and such). But I'll say this, if I'm wrong about that, then the human race is a sad, sad species.
Forgive me for this pathetic review, but I'm pretty tired at the moment.

Are you f-ing kidding? All it takes for some people to riot and loot is a lost football game.
Some even loot when their team wins a game.
Maybe you'll come back when you're all rested up?

Yeah, and some people even fly off the handle after reading a book review...

All rested up now, and I still don't see it causing so much havoc. At least not like what was in the book.

[Vindictus]

okay, so you don't think an EMP blast would cause such chaos. Fair enough.

However, I would like to point out that in most places, power outages are fixed pretty quickly. Down here in east texas, people are aware that a damage from a bad hurricane might take up to two months to get fixed up. But I doubt that the power goes out for more than ten minutes in a place like new york. So I'd guess the people of new york would probably start panicking faster than the people of, say, houston. After an EMP strike, it would take quite some time to fix the power grid. I'm not sure of the exact time, but I will estimate at least a month until the inner cities get power back up everywhere. Would it be safe to assume that none of the criminal elements would work with that fear? That gangs would not loot food and other valuables?

Personally, I like the idea of assuming planning for the absolute worst eventuality. That way, anything less serious will be a pleasant suprise.

[paragrunt]

I thought that it was a great book. If nothing else, it might wake some people up to the possibilities.

[spyderco monkey]

Just finished it this week, picked it up after seeing this thread. Yet another ZS win, enjoyed it immensely. Deff a scary scenario, zombies don't look nearly as frightening by comparison.

Makes me want to preemptively loot the local COSTCO.

[comms]

What really got me about this book was the attention to detail regarding people who need daily medication. My son is in this category and it has changed the way I prep for his needs.

[NickHTK]

I enjoyed the imaginative scenario of this book. At times it was pretty gripping.

I did not like being preached to by the author. He managed to contrive a lesson in his politics/philosophy when he could and I found it pretty lame. Tom Clancy does the same thing and it ruins what could be a good story every time.

[spacecase0]

Vindictus, I agree with you,
the issue is that there are not enough extra parts to fix things after an EMP,
so you could fix one area, but the rest will have to wait for more parts to be built, and that will take a long while,
the biggest thing that will get us is in the oil infrastructure, mainly the refining and unloading of the ships,
once again there is just not enough extra parts on earth, they will have to be made again,
so it will be a long time before most people get fuel, and I would worry about the farmers getting fuel first,
but they don't usually have money, the recovery would depend on how logical people were about things after

[CaptBrainFreeze]

Emp, solar flare or not. This was a GREAT preview into what it could be like. Sorry it doesn't fit the bill for some of you, life disappoints and people in bad situations are going to disappoint as well.
Medical wise, very spot on.

I think you can insert any catastrophic event in place of an emp etc in this story. You are going to have to have a community based area, the thinking you can just bug in and ride it out by yourself is unrealistic, another reason I like this book. Plus it really got me thinking into more comfort food and candies,drinks etc. My lord, you have to provide at least one happy moment in a day when life is grim every other minute.

As far as situations go,I'd rather face zombies than the evil and cruelty the living ones are capable of any day.

[Topknot]

Just finished it yesterday.

Really helps to highlight where the weaknesses might be in one's preps.

Wife is next to read.

[Whiskey]

Finished it last night, good book. definitely a different perspective than Patriots which was the only other survival fiction I have read. It did a good job of showing just how hosed a lot of people would be if we were to lose the grid. I am also going to use this book to hopefully jumpstart some loved ones awareness.

[Trebor3]

Just finished. Good, scary, sad, well written. Recommended.

[I Will Survive]

Haven't been able to read it. I'm in Iraq and the mail fairy hasn't decided to give it up yet. That said it led to the following conversation with my wife:

wife: "Why did you take out the $1000.00"
me: "I bought freeze-dried food from Nitro-pak with it"
wife: "Oh..good!"

Cant buy Mountain House no more, unless you are the gov. I wish I had a printing machine and could say hey MH, I will print you up however much you need, but I want everything you can make.

I did order the book a few days ago though.

[mantis]

Haven't been able to read it. I'm in Iraq and the mail fairy hasn't decided to give it up yet. That said it led to the following conversation with my wife:

wife: "Why did you take out the $1000.00"
me: "I bought freeze-dried food from Nitro-pak with it"
wife: "Oh..good!"

Cant buy Mountain House no more, unless you are the gov. I wish I had a printing machine and could say hey MH, I will print you up however much you need, but I want everything you can make.

I did order the book a few days ago though.

Can't buy Mountain House? I can go right now to at least three different stores within 10 minutes of my house and buy as much of it as I want.

[Pilsung]

Picked up ONE SECOND AFTER on a whim at the local grocery store (Albertsons), after earlier disdaining to buy it because of the scathing one-star reviews on Amazon.com. The only other book of similar PAW genre I'd purchased/read was "Patriots: a Novel of the Coming Collapse," which was dog vomit as far as story line, characters, dialogue, and well, everything, really, except the jacket cover. However, once I started reading ONE SECOND AFTER, I couldn't put it down - read it over the Memorial Day weekend. While it isn't on par with Stephen King's THE STAND or Cormac McCarthy's THE ROAD when it comes to literary quality, it was surprisingly goood. Unlike many of the reviewers in here, I worry more about being hit with space debris than I do about an EMP attack - I don't feel that any country out there is nutty enough to risk an EMP attack on us, and this would be far beyond the technological capabilities of any "non state" terrorist group. The author is deliberately ambiguous when it comes to naming the country or group that launched the EMP, which allows him to skirt the issue of who would have anything to gain by launching such an attack that would result in certain anihilation from our nuclear triad (i.e. submarine-based ICBMs). What is very plausible, however, is a scenario where our "just in time" transportation and electrical grids break down and societal breakdown results. A dollar collapse would bring about much the same outcome. The author does a fine job of capturing how quickly life as we know it would unravel and quests for such basics as food and medicine could become all-consuming and increasingly lethal. In this case, the book is set in the small town of Black Mountain, North Carolina, an insular place perfectly suited to a cohesive community response and aided by its natural defensibility. Far more chaotic and horrendous would be any similar scenario that plays out in any major American population center.

The chief value of this book, I hope, is getting my wife to understand, finally, why I am spending a couple hundred dollars a month for preparedness items and training. She simply does not accept that there could ever come a time when our well-ordered suburban middle-class lifestyle could ever turn to a PAW-style dystopia. I, on the other hand, have two young daughters - as does the protagonist in ONE SECOND AFTER - and I am determined to do my duty as a father to see them through whatever turbulent times lie ahead - and if no such crisis ever emerges, I will be overjoyed to have my wife call me a fool a few years from now for "wasting" money on getting ready for a non-event. The thing that struck me throughout the book was how many people died, or experienced terrible hardships, when a mediocum of basic preparedness would have prevented much needless sufferng and dependence on woefully inadequate public resources. My wife has pledged to read ONE SECOND AFTER, and I hope it has the desired effect of opening her eyes to "what if."

[Glennbo]

The thing that struck me throughout the book was how many people died, or experienced terrible hardships, when a mediocum of basic preparedness would have prevented much needless sufferng and dependence on woefully inadequate public resources.

I was struck by this as well. And I had never thought all the way through what a lack of electricity over the very long term would entail. Also the medical aspects.

[Pilsung]

A couple of other things struck me as well. ((SPOILER ALERT!)) The town emergency council debates confiscating food and supplies from the residences of known "survivalists." In the end, faced with the prospect of violent resistance, they decide to respect private property rights. However, how many small-town emergency committees would make that call, and how many would seek to gain favor with the unprepared majority by forcibly requisitioning all "stockpiles" of food, weapons, etc. in the name of the Greater Good, and criminalizing "hoarders"? Rest assured, hungry and desperate people are not going to care about the finer points of Constitutional rights or private property. ((SPOILER ALERT OFF))

I was glad to see this book on the New York Times bestsellers list. Hopefully, it will add many more people to the ranks of "preppers" or at least people taking positive action to prepare themselves and their families for natural or man-made emergencies, be they local, regional, national, or (nod to Mayan Calender) global in scope and severity. The thought occurred to me: If a hundred thousand people read this book and are motivated to take prudent measures to prepare for such a scenario, and educate families and friends to do the same, that will be a sizable body of people in each community who are much less likely to join panicked mobs or be a drain on emergency services. They will also be able to provide essential aid to neighbors, friends, and colleagues, contributing to the resiliency and recovery of communities - the whole point of ZS, to my mind. Restraint will be the most essential quality in a widespread SHTF scenario because, God knows, a lot of people would rationalize just about anything in the name of survival for them and theirs.

[Necrodamus]

Haven't been able to read it. I'm in Iraq and the mail fairy hasn't decided to give it up yet. That said it led to the following conversation with my wife:

wife: "Why did you take out the $1000.00"
me: "I bought freeze-dried food from Nitro-pak with it"
wife: "Oh..good!"

Cant buy Mountain House no more, unless you are the gov. I wish I had a printing machine and could say hey MH, I will print you up however much you need, but I want everything you can make.

I did order the book a few days ago though.

Can't buy Mountain House? I can go right now to at least three different stores within 10 minutes of my house and buy as much of it as I want.

I think he is refering to the #10 cans.

[Rev]

I feel kind of bad for introducing this book to my friend and his coworkers at the hospital. It gave some of them nightmares.

[Pilsung]

It was pretty disturbing. I tried to use it as a justification to order a ZRAK scope and mounts (not cheap!) for my primary Zombie-slayer, a Yugo Mauser 24/47 (German WWII 98k copy) - wife firmly vetoed that one.

[chumly2071]

Finished this one last night, and all the reviews here are pretty spot on. first chapters scared the crap out of me due to level of preparedness on my part, and my locale... Also thought it was pretty sad too. I liked this one from the perspective of it being mostly realistic in comparison to a mzb based novel. It glaringly pointed out the current state of lost arts in old school technology. being an avid automotive hobbyist, it occurred to me as well that there are no longer many cars that would function as described in the novel due to the recent mass recycling effort that went on when scrap prices got so high.

Overall, I really liked the book. Some things got a touch out there, some things got a bit preachy as previously mentioned, and some serious sadness/depressing things to ponder (made me hug my little one tight). But also pointed out some big things to me preparedness wise that need addressed even if the world didn't completely collapse.

Recommending it to friends...