One Second After
by William R. Forstchen
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Book Reviews of One Second After
Book Review: Hams won't let this happen
Summary: 1 Stars
Amateur radio operators (hams) such as myself would prevent the scenario presented in the book.
In order for an enemy to produce the rapid social decay depicted in this story, the population must be cut off from all outside contact. Lacking such communications, fear can take over in a matter of hours. If each community is in contact with other communities and with authorities, especially military, hope and reason will likely win out.
For years I have casually pondered the effects of an EMP attack as seen from the local perspective. When I became aware of this book, I was eager to read a fully though-out scenario. While I appreciate the effort, I am convinced that it just would not happen this way.
In the book, the attack came at 4:50 pm. By 5:30 the first group of hams would be on the air. By midnight the amateur bands would be bristling with traffic. During the night hams would establish priorities, channels, relays etc. We have been assisting at time of calamity since the very beginning. We know what to do, we are good at it and we are more than willing.
Here's how it would work out for me in a small Georgia town:
In my basement is a self-contained amateur radio transceiver packed away in an EMP-hardened containment, cheaply constructed from cardboard, Styrofoam and thin steel.
Once it becomes apparent what has happened., I unpack the transceiver, string a wire antenna in the trees (using a specially-designed slingshot), and then power up from the 12 volt battery in my Model A Ford automobile. A tank of gas can keep me on the air for several days. Other hams might draw power from riding lawnmowers, tractors, ATVs and so forth. Many are also set up with solar panels.
Still other hams will get out their old construction manuals, obtain a couple of old tube-type radios from the local antique shop, heat up the soldering iron with an emergency generator (most of which contain no computer chips), and homebrew a useable rig. These operators will be constrained to communicate by Morse code. That's OK. I and many others can handle that. Even though my code is rusty (under five words per minute), I am sure that after a single eight-hour shift I would be back to 20 or 25 WPM.
The internet is revered for its decentralized structure based on intelligent nodes. Hams go this one better - we are decentralized without any intervening equipment, and each node employs actual human intelligence. Even though we function at perhaps one-millionth the bandwidth of the Internet, we are not burdened with the transport of bootleg movies, music files, Facebook nonsense or rivers of porn. Our bare-bones messaging would concentrate on safety, relief and hope.
As a novel this book is a disgrace. Nevertheless, I hope every ham reads it as a spur to preparedness.
73
AE4XH
(Hams know what this last part means)
Book Review: If You Live In A Big City, You're Screwed ?!?!
Summary: 5 Stars
Since I was a fan of the TV show "Jericho", I decided to give this novel a "once over." The scenario is this: several nuclear bombs detonated hundreds of miles over the US, which created an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) wave that enveloped the whole country, thus rendering anything with a circuit board useless. Cars, planes, trains, TVs, computers, cell phones, my toaster, and every modern gadget stopped working. I like the feel of the author's small town and how people know and rely on each other, especially during hard times. They banded together in this crisis, welcomed a couple thousand strangers who were stranded on a nearby highway, and basically trusted each other to do the right thing.
Does a place like this actually exist? Are there towns where people are actually sincere and genuine? I live in Los Angeles, more specifically, the San Fernando Valley--which is a giant neighborhood of this city and has a population exceeding 1 million. I live in an area with 3 large police stations in a five-mile radius. You drive in my neighborhood and you will notice a heavy police presence. Why? Because there are a lot of criminals who commit violent acts. I don't watch the local news anymore because it's depressing to hear all the crap happening a few blocks or miles from where I live. The Valley really is a safe place; but you do see a lot of cops who make sure that bad things don't happen to ordinary people.
My point in mentioning my home and city: if a cataclysmic event occurred in Los Angeles, such as an earthquake, I know for a fact that I'm screwed. LA has a food supply of maybe four days or less. Water, food, medicine--everything we need to live--are shipped from someplace else. We don't grow anything here. Seriously, I have never seen a working farm in this city! The San Fernando Valley used to be the bread basket for LA in the 1930s and 40s, but everything here is now a home, apartment, or a strip mall. What the hell is going to happen when the "Big One" hits LA.
My brother and I have talked about this doomsday scenario and we came to this line of action: we would first loot the nearest Ralph's or Von's Supermarket for food, supplies and water; break into Big 5's and take several Mossberg Defender shot guns with several hundred rounds of ammo, and head for home. We're both graduates of the UC system and consider ourselves educated and law-abiding and that's what we thought about! Twisted right? You want to know something strange? None of us thought of helping our neighbors to make sure they're safe. I don't even know my neighbors. I don't know their names or what they do for a living. Once, a few years back, I tried to strike up a conversation with one, but I detected that he was annoyed with my breaching protocol. I never had a conversation with him again.
I want to live in a small rural city.
Book Review: The next 9/11...
Summary: 5 Stars
"One Second After" is a shocking expose on the catastrophic effect that as few as three nuclear warheads detonated in the atmosphere over the continental United States could have on our nation, due to a phenomenon known as "EMP." Electro Magnetic Pulse, or EMP, is an electro magnetic charge caused by a nuclear explosion that destroys electronic circuits and renders them permanently inoperable. As a consequence, such an attack would force Americans to live as our forefathers did in the 1800s. However, the technology of the 1800s could never have sustained 300 million people.
Nuclear tipped missiles could be launched from non descript cargo ships. A nation without intercontinental missiles could hit the United States with an EMP attack. Nations with intercontinental missiles could first use an EMP attack to disable communications, food and medical supplies, first responders' equipment, electricity and natural gas supplies, and even military equipment that has not been sufficiently protected, and then follow up with conventional nuclear attacks on selected cities or military targets.
Water, food, electricity, natural gas, gasoline, diesel, medical care and supplies, and all other life sustaining essentials would be indefinitely suspended. Restoration would be dependent upon the aid of foreign nations, since the entire electronic infrastructure of the U.S. would cease to exist.
Unlike 9/11, there would be few people around to watch the "Post-EMP Commission" try to uncover who was responsible for allowing such a calamity to occur. The U.S. Department of Defense estimates that 70%-90% of the U.S. population would perish. Congress did open a bipartisan EMP commission, but closed it, when it concluded that such an attack was "possible" but "unlikely." The FBI regarded suggestions of terrorists flying planes into skyscrapers with the same skepticism.
While Americans now take hurricanes and influenza outbreaks much more seriously, as a result of Hurricane Katrina and the H1N1 virus, we still do not take nuclear terrorism by rogue nations seriously. Until 9/11, no one had ever flown two planes into a skyscraper and the Pentagon; to date, no nation has ever launched an EMP attack against the U.S.. Therefore, Congress considers it a waste of time and resources to prepare for an attack that has never happened; the U.S. has no official preparation for an EMP attack.
Bill Forstchen's book is a wake up call to all Americans to prepare for such an event for personal and family survival and to take the political action necessary to move members of Congress to reopen the EMP Commission, to prevent rogue nations and terrorists from acquiring nuclear weapons, and to prepare a national disaster plan if such an attack should occur.
Book Review: Great apocalyptic story with a suggestion for the author
Summary: 4 Stars
Enjoyable but heartbreaking story of a town in North Carline after nuclear weapons are detonated high above America (and several other spots in the world), creating an EMP (electromagnetic pulse)which renders virtually all electrical and communications inoperable.....for a long, long time.
Think of any time you have lost electrical power in your house for 24 hours, how inconvenient and aggravating it is. Now extend that loss to motor vehicles and phones and let it last several months to a couple of years and let it affect every person in the US. Now the inconvenience turns to life threatening. Very few of us realize just how intricately woven are lives are to the power being on all the time, or we think any outage will only last momentarily.
The food in your fridge spoils, trucks are inoperable so supplies cannot be delivered, people loot stores to get supplies, farm equipment doesn't work so crops cannot be planted, refineries cannot produce petroleum, and pharmaceuticals cannot produce meds. Sudden realization that the world has just gone medieval on your ass.
People are miles from home with no way to get back unless they hoof it on foot, and sadly, a great many Americans are not built to hike 20 or 30 miles home. Many poor souls must rely on the kindness of others. But in a world turned off, kindness is in short supply.
One character in the book pointed out we wouldn't be thrust into the 19th century, because in the 19th century we could fend for ourselves. No, we would be in the middle ages, trying to re-learn how to survive.
Our allies come to our aid, but many die, including the main characters daughter. No happy endings here. And of course, brutal gangs come to the fore, to take by force as the strong have always done throughout history.
I especially like how the character (John Matherson) often referred to movies and TV shows in certain situations. Many of us do that now, at the office, out with friends. It's good to know that American pop culture will go on.
I have heard there is a H.R 2195 to help protect the current electrical infrastructure of this country. After reading this book (and passing it on to family and friends), I am going to start advocating passage of this bill (Stephen Lynch D). A disaster like this, man made, can be lessened if we act now. And it might even create some new jobs.
I would love to see the author come up with a second book on stories collected from around post EMP America. He mentioned a few in the last chapter of the book, pirates ruling the waters of the east coast, the citizens of Pittsburgh terrorized by a 10,000 strong gang, the Chinese occupied west coast, the Mexican occupied southwest, and of course the ravaged New York City.
Book Review: I really like William R. Forstchen but I don't really like this book.
Summary: 3 Stars
Interesting topic of conversation to be sure. How would our modern culture survive a catastrophic system failure? Well it would and it wouldn't. We would have to relearn as quickly as possible many of the skills and tools that our grandparents would have taken for granted. I'll certainly agree with the author that our society is a house of cards in many respects but I would like to give our race more credit. Sure when a societal collapse comes it is going to be difficult to transition but I don't think people are going to go into such an ultra survival mode quite so fast. There is an instance of someone on the day of collapse who was a high profile image consultant and had to run for her life. Five days later she is at the barricade of this town offering her body for food and shelter. Possible? For sure but I think the timeframe is a little compressed.
I love the author, I love the premise and one can always rely on William R. Forstchen to write good combat scenes and have a given character give a rousing speech but the major weakness of the publication, is one of characterization.
Granted in my experiences with Forstchen I can't remember any complicated morality ambiguous characters but in this particular instance I am more annoyed by it then I would be. All of the people in this one little town are so insufferably noble it really rubs me the wrong way. Of course the people in the little town are "Good" for no other reason then they are the main characters. This is by no means unique to this type of fiction but it can get really heavy handed here particularly the scene where the town's resident old couple sound sober and patriotic heroically starve themselves so the town's militia members can have an extra meal.
Usually it would be the Deus Ex Machina that would annoy me the most. For example the annoying tendency for all of the old technology that doesn't require computer chips to be centered in this one little town what an amazing coincidence. This even extends to a switchboard that one of the old operators hauled home as a souvenir. Amazing, stupendous the town has phone service again not to mention members of the military that happened to be in town right before the disaster. Well who else would train the population and organize the defense? Hey when in doubt mention how much a given situation reminds you of The Road Warrior.
Overall-I can point out the flaws but that doesn't mean I didn't have a fun time doing it and reread the book a few times. I don't feel that it is an insult to my intelligence but I'm not taking it too seriously either. As long as you try not to think about the stoyline too hard you should have a good time as well.