Book Recommendation: "One Second After"

[Sense Amid Madness]

One Second After by William Forstchen
I enjoyed this book and lot and recommend it as an entertaining and interesting story about modern America (of today) felled by a small EMP attack. It partially a tragedy about the consequences of NOT being prepared. Interesting and realistic plot that will probably resonate with all on this forum.

Here is the Amazon.com book description: "New York Times best selling author William R. Forstchen now brings us a story which can be all too terrifyingly real...a story in which one man struggles to save his family and his small North Carolina town after America loses a war, in one second, a war that will send America back to the Dark Ages...A war based upon a weapon, an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP). A weapon that may already be in the hands of our enemies.

Months before publication, One Second After has already been cited on the floor of Congress as a book all Americans should read, a book already being discussed in the corridors of the Pentagon as a truly realistic look at a weapon and its awesome power to destroy the entire United States, literally within one second. It is a weapon that the Wall Street Journal warns could shatter America. In the tradition of On the Beach, Fail Safe and Testament, this book, set in a typical American town, is a dire warning of what might be our future...and our end."

Has anyone else on this forum read this?

Read More

 

[slimmer13]

Yeah great book. Kinda sad.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

I didn't like it for the reason slimer said.
The next book I read was much better, with a group of survivalists that WERE prepared. It almost reads like a training manual for some sort of breakdown of society. Here's a link to it: http://www.amazon.com/Patriots-Surviving-James-Wesley-Rawles/dp/156975599X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326918568&sr=8-1

 

[kenno]

Forstchen was a USAF Col. tasked with keeping track of developing high tech threats and thier asymetrical effects. The author set the novel in his home town and used his family and neighbors as characters, his daughter does have diabetes and would die in the event of a SHTF situation. All the background info in the book is factual.
I really liked OSA, it is a How To Manual on how to organize the unprepped community into one that has a fighting chance. When your neighbors are standing around like sheep with thier thumbs up each other's butts You can use the info in this novel to organise for group survival. The groups that organize first will have the best chance at sucess.

 

[slimmer13]

I didn't like it for the reason slimer said.
The next book I read was much better, with a group of survivalists that WERE prepared. It almost reads like a training manual for some sort of breakdown of society. Here's a link to it: Amazon.com: Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse (9781569755990): James Wesley Rawles: Books

Patriots was pretty good but One Second After was a bit more realistic IMHO because the level of preparedness Rawles describes in Patriots was absurd and unattainable to all but the wealthiest and best connected.

 

[loucfir]

Great read, makes me prep more, shoot more and trust our way of life less!

 

[Sodbuster]

Liked both Patriots and One Second After. Both had their lists and reasons. Both provided information that could be crucial. Both provided realistic scenarios for when things go BOOM in a big way. Whether via screwed up economies or via EMP/Natural disaster. Imagine a good size asteroid hitting the continental US hard. Owwies.

Main message. Prepare as you can, but prepare. Have friends to work with and be a friend.

Sod

 

[nitestocker]

hay does anyone want to trade i have the book band of brothers

 

[Rix]

one second after is already too late.
Good book, quite realistic.

 

[Steve06]

This book is one of the best. It is probably in every library and is definitely worth reading.

 

[HBIII]

I am about half way through this book, but I don't find it nearly as engaging as "Lights Out".

 

[unionguy]

Great book. Lots of good lessons to think about in it.

 

[knuckle Head]

I am about half way through this book, but I don't find it nearly as engaging as "Lights Out".

I see there are a few books witht his title, care you share author and year and what you thought of the book

thanks

 

[armedredneck]

This was the second "Prepper Fiction" book I've read. The first being "Patriots". One Second After to me seems to be a very realistic painting. It's the tool I used to get my wife to open her eyes a little. Excellent book. I'm hoping to read "Lights Out" sometime soon as well.

 

[Hamilton Felix]

Speaking of Jim Rawles, I read "Gray Nineties" online, then the updated "Triple Ought," then I bought "TEOTWAWKI" in the low volume velo bound edition. The finally morphed into "Patriots." I liked Jim Rawles when I met him at a Puyallup, WA show years ago, even if I don't always agree with him. Decent enough guy. Pretty much all such books make you think, even if you criticize unrealistic parts.

I believe Forstchen's "One Second After" should be required reading for all Legislators, Mayors, Governors, etc. Not to mention all Electrical Engineers (touch subject with me, as a Hydroelectric Operator who has watched them build vulnerability and unreliability into the system for decades). It might be suggested to the skeptical that they read the Afterword first, so they know it's based on real science. Many new readers know next to nothing of EMP, never heard of the Starfish Prime tests, etc.

One EMP prepper book to AVOID is Ron Foster's "Our End of the Lake" or anything else by Ron Foster. This one was SO terrible that it was painful to read. The man has not the slightest grasp of spelling, sentence structure, punctuation, or much of anything else. I did find it encouraging in one way: My wife and I have been talking about ways to get out of the regular job rat race (she works 40 hr week 50 miles from home in one direction, I work 10 days on, four off, 50 miles from home in the other direction) and how wonderful it would be to work together at home as authors. After reading Ron Foster, I thought "If this ignorant, illiterate armchair survivalist boob can sell books, then we can sure as h*** sell books!

I've enjoyed "Lights Out" and similar tales. I look around at the hydroelectric plant I operate: I realize that the plants on this river (ranging from 1924 original construction to 1955) were more or less either (mild) "EMP proof" or (severe) "EMP recoverable" until the early 1970's. After that, it just got worse and worse. If we get hit with EMP, these plants are toast. Even the emergency generator at the dam likely will not work, causing eventual damage and overtopping.

Talk about assymetrical warfare! Some piss ant like N. Korea or Iran gets just one good size fission bomb, one large but low tech missile to loft it up 300 miles over the CONUS, with no better guidance than Hitler put into the V2, and POOF! The "world's mightiest superpower" is suddenly living in 1900 and 90% of the people don't survive.

 

[ATCclears]

Amazon shows that "One Second After" is also available on the Kindle.
Amazon.com: One Second After (9780765327253): William R. Forstchen: Books

Peter

 

[Dunerunner]

"One Second After" turned me into a prepper, somewhat. Already had guns, but started reloading, home canning, securing and rotating a cash of food, I brew my own beer, so having those ingredients was important! EMP is about the only way the radicals could make the best of what little nuclear resources they have.

 

[HBIII]

I see there are a few books witht his title, care you share author and year and what you thought of the book

thanks

Author is David Crawford. Book does a great job of literally going day by day without getting too dull. Very well written book IMHO.

 

[svxr8dr]

Just finished reading One Second After a few minutes ago.......scary and brutally sad. I had read both Patriots and Survivors prior and Forstchen is a better writer IMHO.

 

[SnackCracker]

I'm 1/2 way through "One Second After". I bought it on Android Market a few days ago and enjoy it so far. Thanks for the great recommendations!
It sounds like "Lights out" needs to be the next one.