One Second After
by William R. Forstchen
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Book Reviews of One Second After
Book Review: How to rate this, as literature or as a book?
Summary: 4 Stars
I recommend this book for anyone interested in the subject matter (wide spread technology and infrastructure failure) but who doesn't mind an absence of literary craft. For me this book is in fact a successful failure. Let me explain. I can't find the desire to care about the characters and that's my main issue and Forstchen cannot or will not weave the words to make me care. I feel nothing much for them while reading of their plight and what I do feel is a low sense of dread as I think about my own community. To be fair, I imagine that's Forstchen's main intent and as such he has stock characters with very little flesh; they are in fact secondary to a situation directly out of the DoD "what if" scenario vault.
The plot follows a series of cause and consequence events. Forstchen is successful in outlining these events and interweaving their impacts on the community without resorting to many implausible action scenes or post apocalyptic clichés. Even the climactic battle, despite the preparation, isn't really climactic, it happens with expected results and then it's done.
While you might find from the beginning that you know how the book will end he doesn't dip too often into expected territories of the genre. Often he'll set up a situation to end dramatically. But it just doesn't and moments fizzle into the background. So despite some of the relatively horrible scenarios outlined in the book, most situations don't end with rape, murder or zombies, at least not for our main characters. Conversely they don't end with everyone hugging and keenly emoting a deep insightful monologue. You know like in bad SyFy movies. The characters are cliché but the book is not. People simply move on, for the most part, even during intense confrontations. It's as if they are already past them; there is no choice but to move onto the next event. A bit Zen really, but mostly and unsurprisingly they come across as a rather shell shocked group.
Much of the events in the book are described very dryly and in a perfunctory manner. Clinical. I have not read any of Forstchen's other works so I can't tell if this is his usual style. Either way, it is why the book works only for its purpose; it has an intelligent and for the most part logical and lucid plot and treatise but there is no story crafted within its pages.
That said I enjoyed reading it! I enjoyed reading it in much the same way I do an exposition regarding the potential course of a disease or the issues facing the N. American power grid. The book is informative and illustrative; it makes me want to do a fair amount of research and yet chills me with the always sobering thought; sometimes it really only takes a second for the world to change.
So, I've rated it as 4 stars with a caveat for the lit buffs out there. This book was in fact a gripping page turner since I found myself often wondering, "Crap... What -else- can be thrown at these people?" For me however, it is not a well crafted piece of literature but not everything can be or needs to be.
Book Review: Haunting but often medically inaccurate
Summary: 3 Stars
Let me start by saying the novel was both chilling and haunting in it's overall message. I read Alas,Babylon many years ago so thought this novel would be a similar updated version. In many ways, it was, but of course with different twists for our modern electronic techno dependent society.
I firmly believe the events John experienced,in the novel,could easily play out if we were hit by a series of EMP's. However, I did find the dialogue repetitive at times. While the novel moved along nicely in the first 50 or so pages, it began bogging down in the depths of the story.
I think it's an excellent read in the study of how humans, yes, even Americans, can and would turn into beings they would not recognize if they were to find themselves in this particular situation. That is what I found hauntingly accurate about the novel. How the human psyche reverts under horrific circumstances......moral people will remain moral to the core but have to make hard often immoral decisions. Evil souls, will simply become more evil.
My main disappointment comes from Forstchen's often inaccurate information and handling of the daughter's Type 1 Diabetes. Having lived as a Type 1 Diabetic for the past 15 years, I'm pretty sure I have an understanding of the disease. First, most available insulin vials will be U-100 not U-1000 and most T1 diabetics are on more than one kind of insulin. The implantable insulin pump mentioned early in the story leaves the wrong impression of what an insulin pump is and how it's to be used. I have used an insulin pump since 2000 so I'm familiar with the operation and it's not exactly "implanted" as the writer would have you believe. Another incident was how John grabbed up the chocolate bars at the looted store then, much later, when Jennifer had a "low" she was given a chocolate bar to bring her blood glucose back up. T1 Diabetics know you do not give chocolate to treat a low blood sugar event, because it digests too slowly to bring a low up quickly and then it leaves the blood glucose levels too high. As a sustainable food under the circumstances it would have been acceptable. As a way to bring Jennifer's blood glucose up quickly, no.
I could go along with how some other things with Jennifer's diabetes were handled, but I simply didn't appreciate, what appeared to be, Forstchen's lack of research in the area of Type 1 Diabetes. Yes, there are many variances in Type 1 treatment, even what is termed "brittle" but if the girl had been a "brittle diabetic" she would have had some other events going on before the four months expired. Just the nature of the Type 1 Diabetes beast.
I do tend to be particular about facts when someone tries to portray a T1 diabetic, then doesn't do it justice. We have too much misinformation about us out there as it is. Sure, stress is hard on us, but it's not going to kill us! I have issues with Mr. Forstchen's treatment of the disease in his novel and simply wish he'd been more authentic with his research in that area.
Book Review: A warning against a realistic threat...and a great read.
Summary: 5 Stars
The threat of an Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) is all too real, and Forstchen's ability to bring it to life in this personalized tale, brings the threat home to every American. Some writers jump the shark, but Forstchen isn't one of them... and this isn't one of those books.
After reading his book, I started doing a bit of research into EMP and looked up the Soviets and American tests back in the early 1960's. I learned the threat was not only real, but as Forstchen shows in his book, the threat has only gotten worse.
EMP affects electronics, which these days, are in just about everything. To make matters worse, all electronics have gotten smaller and more sensitive to EMP. Simultaneously, cold war protections against EMP seem to have drifted away, right about the same time the Soviet Union fell apart.
I know a few idealists who think "One Second After" is too dark, or that it could not get that bad. People with those notions across the board have not been historians. A person needs to only look into the history books to see that the future he poses is all too plausible. Forstchen's depth as a historian, and capabilities as a writer, bring the consequences of an EMP strike to life. He focuses the story on a small town, but you can't help but wonder how bad it would be in a place like New York.
Forstchen's book is premised on a threat from a few nuclear weapons used in a manner that amplifies the EMP; through something called "the Compton Effect." Looking at some of the countries out there which only have a few nukes, or seem to be trying real hard to get one; the threat in this scenario seems real enough to me, and warrant the application of national resources to mitigate the risk.
Heck, the threat is real, even if it didn't come from a nuclear weapon. NASA has been raising the warning about an EMP threat from a super solar flare.
Forstchen is a great author who has proven over and over again that he knows how to make a great read. By far, this is his best work. Not only is "One Second After" hard to put down, but more importantly, this book could make a difference if it helps wake people up.
I sometimes wonder what would have happened, if somebody had written a book personalizing the threat to New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina. Maybe, such a cautionary tale would have woken people to the threat, and they would have been better prepared.
Here's to hoping people will pick up a copy of Mr. Forstchen's book. In addition to a great read, maybe they'll be inspired to write to their Congressmen. Maybe readers will ask their government to put resources towards mitigating the risk by build EMP protections into the national infrastructure. Sure our nation has a lot going on right now, with the stimulus bill and all. However, if an EMP event happens like what is described in "One Second After" how much will "cash for clunkers" really have mattered?
Book Review: A harsh look into the reality of survival.
Summary: 5 Stars
ONE SECOND AFTER opened my eyes. It showed me how barbaric the human race can get when forced into a survival situation. A major survival situation. It also showed me how we take everything for granted. ONE SECOND AFTER showed me how anyone's life can turn around in a heartbeat, or in this case, a few seconds. Imagine America as you know it right now, without running water, electricity, sanitation, and hope. America sent back into the dark ages. America: The third world country.
This novel centers around John Matherson and his family, as they struggle to survive after an EMP is detonated over the United States. An Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) is a device detonated high over the Earth that causes nearly every electronic device in its radius to suddenly stop working. Now, their town is forced to survive in an entirely new situation. Once great friends now become enemies. The country turns into a free-for-all fight to the death. Will Matherson and his family survive?
This book was a real page-turner. It kept me interested throughout the whole story. I was floored at how much of an amazing job Forstchen did on what the town would do in this situation. He thought of every possible situation that could come out of this attack. He thought of little cults that sprouted up around the area, people claiming to be Messiahs, and many others. As I was researching this book, I found that Forstchen used four years of research to complete this book. It shows throughout the novel. Every fact or opinion throughout this book is insightful and real. He also thought of everything that could go wrong with this attack. Hospitals shutting down, cars losing power on the highway, airplanes falling from the sky, the destruction goes on and on.
It's hard to explain the emotions I felt in reading this book. You feel so attached to the main characters. Almost like they are a part of your family. It's scary how real and exciting this novel is. This could happen at any moment, and if we aren't prepared for it, we won't be able to make it. Forstchen also does a nice job of relating it to the everyday American family. Because most of us are the everyday American family.
Forstchen clearly details every event that happens in this book. Significant or not, he does a great job describing the many major scenes of this book. Another great thing Forstchen did was character development. You could feel everything that was happening to John and the people around him. You could feel the emotions and feelings that he had on any opinion. It was almost as if you could encounter these characters anywhere in life.
All in all, this book is a wake up call. In reading this book, I found out how devastating it would be if this weapon were released on us. This book is an accurate display of how realistically vulnerable America is to this weapon. Trust me, this book won't let you down.
Book Review: This book nukes the senses
Summary: 4 Stars
After purchasing this book for my Kindle, I devoured it. As I read, I was constantly reminded of the irony of reading this title on an electronic device. This is a massive train wreck of a story told from the perspective a Colonel John Matherson (ret.) turned military history professor at the local college. When an EMP attack destroys electronic equipment all across the nation he, his family, and fellow American townspeople must find a way to survive. They face lack of adequate medication, water concerns, starvation, and each other. The result is a messy, grueling, heartbreaking drama that will leave you shaken. What happens to your food supply if you don't have access to anything further away than 20 miles? How do you distribute food when there's not enough for everyone to survive? This is America with the electricity, communications, and transportation ripped away in an instant. The result is one of the scariest books I have ever read. We are forced to ask how we would survive. The main character, John, offers a great perspective through his historical glasses. References to case studies of cities under siege, such as Leningrad, and battles for national survival pervade his mind. He, and thus the reader as well, are constantly reminded that such scenarios of privation are not flights of fancy even in our modern world and that we are in fact more susceptible to such events. John questions what it is to be an American and very clearly and simply articulates the good America has done for the world while wondering if the favor will be returned.
While the story is national, even global, in scope the narrative is confined to a small Appalachian town and its residents. I felt I grew to know several of the characters and very much cared about their plight. That being said, there will be some heartbreaking losses, some triumphs, but mostly losses.
The realism of this book drives home important lessons that we need desperately to learn. Missile defense should be one of our top national priorities. If even third world despots can detonate nuclear weapons and launch even the simplest missiles, then it is the height of stupidity not to field our only defense. Of course, the best defense is the kind that puts the other guy's quarterback into the dirt while he's still holding the ball. This book also underscores why we cannot under any circumstances allow north korea's lil' kim to retain nuclear weapons, why people like ahmadinejad and ali who essentially say: there was no holocaust but if there were to be another one I really want to be a part of that, must be stopped. This book drives home the wisdom of the Second Amendment and the necessity of a self-reliant people independent from their government.
I would highly recommend this book to people who want to be prepared, and to be prepared by being proactive in prevention. The story is a personal one with plenty of emotional punch. Read this one.