Unintended Consequences
by John Ross
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Book Reviews of Unintended Consequences
Book Review: AN ABSOLUTE MUST-READ
Summary: 5 Stars
Note--I have no connection with anyone involved in the
creation or publication of this novel.
I bought this book at the Dallas Gun Show in March, following a
recommendation by a friend. It was a $28.95 investment, so you can
imagine it was a solid recommendation.
I got a lot for my money. UC is a hardback running 861 pages, and
there's a lot of print per page. It is published by Accurate Press,
St Louis, Missouri.
If you are the impatient type, understand this:
READ THIS BOOK NOW! BUY IT FOR EVERYONE YOU KNOW WHO DOESN'T
UNDERSTAND THE GUN CULTURE. IMPERFECT THOUGH IT MAY BE, THIS ONE
COULD REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
Excuse my shouting. This is easily the best novel about the gun
culture I have ever read. I don't agree with all of it, but it
includes an informed, logical and passionate statement of everything
I have ever wanted to express about bureaucracy and the loss of
personal freedom.
The novel covers the period from 1906 to 'The Present day' (which is
actually the period of office of the next President of the USA).
John Ross has read his 'How to Write a Novel' books. In a
contemporary style the book describes how, even during the golden age
of America (pick your own dates), freedom has been jeopardised.
Through reconstruction of the events surrounding the passing of the
gun laws in 1934, 1968 and 1986, Ross illuminates the encroachment of
the freedom of all Americans.
The present day harrassment of dealers and owners of restricted
weapons: machine guns, suppressors, and short-barrelled long arms by
the ATF, is documented in immense detail. Some firearm owners
may feel this doesn't concern them, but it does.
The restricted weapons' owners are just at the bleeding edge of
bureaucratic totalitarianism.
Waco, Ruby Ridge and a number of other atrocities are told with
considerable attention to detail. The author makes no pretence
of putting together a 'balanced view', rather making the case
against the ATF with the precision of a high court prosecutor.
The result anticipated by Ross is a bloody one. As with all
revolutions, large and small, the innocent suffer with the guilty.
Revolutionaries incite and anticipate revolutionary fervour in the
general population. With the inertia of a large number of well-fed
people to overcome, innocent blood is going to be shed. To his
credit, Ross does not shirk this issue.
The reader must make up his own mind. Be assured you will find no
racism, homophobia or religious fundamentalism in Ross' arguments.
There is some kinky sex, although this seems more at the advice of
Ross' literary agent than due to any real need within the book. The
dust jacket is similarly lurid.
Politics and history apart, this book should be read for its arcana of
firearms' matters. Here you will find good information on:
-body armor;
-machine gun mechanisms;
-suppressor technology;
-long range rifle shooting;
-dangerous game hunting, and many other topics.
I learned a lot, and I've been reading about firearms for twenty
years. If I wasn't living in Switzerland, I'd buy a case of these
books and give them away as Christmas, birthday and retirement
presents to everyone I know.Book Review: The best book I've ever read...
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a must read for anyone (pro or anti-gun) who is interested in understanding the "gun culture." It is not a perfect book (are there any?) but it is an important book. As a student of firearms issues, laws, and history, I felt like the first part of the book summarized the majority of the research and study that I've undertaken in the last 15 years. Many complain that the book is too long and that the first 600 pages move too slow. They complain that a good editor would not have allowed a novel to contain such lengthy technical and historical details. However, this isn't *just* a novel. It is a manuscript that is apparently designed to help even a reader that is completely ignorant of firearms history to *understand* the gun culture and why so many people identify so strongly with it. If you just read a novel containing the fiction of the story without the facts of the last 67 years to frame it, most readers would not "get it."
Unintended consequences should be seen not as merely entertainment, but an education. By reading it one can more fully appreciate why the gun culture feels the way it does about several things: the right to personal defense (using firearms or whatever), the role of the Federal Government under the constitution, the power of a corrupt government (or at least corrupt elements), and the toll it takes on our faith in it.
The completely fictitious novel portion at the end is well done and interesting. It provides the entertaining payoff after having done your homework and learned the technical and historical lessons necessary to appreciate it.
Interestingly, some criticize the book at least partly because folks like Timothy McVeigh found it to be an important book. This is nonsense and can safely be ignored. Timothy McVeigh probably also felt the Christian Bible was an important book, but I haven't seen anyone denounce the Bible on that basis. The emotion laden "guilt by association" ploy is rather juvenile in my opinion.
Finally, I reiterate that the book is not perfect. I recall a couple events that required at least some suspension of disbelief. There were some scenes here and there that you pondered what their purpose was. The fact that this was John Ross' first book easily dismisses these minor flaws for me. Further, the fact that this was his first book is amazing since it is such a powerful piece.
I have never read a book that I found so difficult to put down. If you are a member of the "gun culture" and would like a history lesson on its roots - this book is for you. If you are an anti-gun and don't understand those "gun toting whacko" - this book is for you (but prepare to be offended.) If you, like me, have had a lifelong interest in the history of firearms ownership but need a convenient way to pass that knowledge on to another (be it a friend, loved one, son or daughter, etc.) - this book is for you.
Buy the book, but cancel any other entertainment plans you may have. You'll likely spend all of your free time reading. That's not such a bad thing however, is it?
Book Review: Ross's Theme: Gun Control can Lead to Civil War
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very important, unique, and gutsy book for two reasons: its main theme is that gun control will lead to civil war, and it goes about methodically explaining to the reader how that will happen. For those reasons, I give it five stars.With that said, at over 800 pages, it is a long read. It could have been edited down to flow much better. The story sometimes gets bogged down in endless description of guns, calibers, bullets, mechanics, until the reader doesn't want to hear more technical details. The characters are stereotypes, with the good guys really good, and the bad guys really bad, but none of the characters are really developed enough for the reader to empathize with. The pro-gun guys are, of course, the good guys, and the bad guys are the ATF, the FBI and government bureaucrats in all branches of government. The gratuitous sex is distracting, and the super-hero, Henry Bowman, is larger than life. But overall, these faults are easy to forgive. The book moves right along, holds the readers interest, and ends with a very satisfactory restoration of the Bill of Rights and the Second Amendment.
As the book begins, author John Ross leads us through the Warsaw Ghetto, the history of gun control, Ruby Ridge, Waco, the U.S. versus Miller decision, and explores the gradual deterioration of the Second Amendment to present day, as laws which are obvious infringements to the right to keep and bear arms are enacted. Finally, when the BATF decides to single out our super-hero, it marks the beginning of retaliation by the citizens against injustices of the present corrupt Federal administration. As the drama unfolds, Henry Bowman outsmarts and out shoots the Fed's at every turn, and American citizens react by stealthily and individually assassinating Federal agents and congressmen. The acts of the administration in power are shown to be in violation of the highest law of the land, and it is Bowman and the good citizens of the country who become heros for restoring the Constitution to the people.
The reader is left wondering about some of the specific claims - were there really only 200 active IRA members in Ireland that kept the British Army at bay for years? Has the Federal government of the United States really incarcerated 64,000 people for minor firearms violations, most of them for trumped-up "conspiracy" charges? The author conveys the feeling of hopelessness, outrage, and injustice for any poor individual unfortunate to be arrested by a Federal Agency, because even if innocent, the mere cost of legal defense will cost his life savings, and more than likely will be forced into plea bargaining for a reduced prison sentence.
For all its flaws, this book is a must read for all gun owners, and believers in the Constitution of the United States.
Book Review: Ross's Theme: Gun Control can lead to Civil War
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very important, unique, and gutsy book for two reasons: its main theme is that gun control will lead to civil war, and it goes about methodically explaining to the reader how that will happen. For those reasons, I give it five stars.With that said, at over 800 pages, it is a long read. It could have been edited down to flow much better. The story sometimes gets bogged down in endless description of guns, calibers, bullets, mechanics, until the reader doesn't want to hear more technical details. The characters are stereotypes, with the good guys really good, and the bad guys really bad, but none of the characters really developed enough for the reader to empathize with. The pro-gun guys are, of course, the good guys, and the bad guys are the ATF, the FBI and government bureaucrats in all branches of government. The gratuitous sex is distracting, and the super-hero, Henry Bowman, is larger than life. But overall, these faults are easy to forgive. The book moves right along, holds the readers interest, and ends with a very satisfactory restoration of the Bill of Rights and the Second Amendment.
As the book begins, author John Ross leads us through the Warsaw Ghetto, the history of gun control, Ruby Ridge, Waco, the U.S. versus Miller decision, and explores the gradual deterioration of the Second Amendment to present day, as laws which are obvious infringements to the right to keep and bear arms are enacted. Finally, when the BATF decides to single out our super-hero, it marks the beginning of retaliation by the citizens against injustices of the present corrupt Federal administration. As the drama unfolds, Henry Bowman outsmarts and outshoots the Fed's at every turn, and American citizens react by stealthily and individually assassinating Federal agents and congressmen. It is the administration in power that is in violation of the highest law of the land - the Constitution, and it is Bowman and the good citizens of the country who are the heros for restoring the Constitution to the people.
The reader is left wondering about some of the specific claims - were there really only 200 active IRA members in Ireland that kept the British Army at bay for years? Has the Federal government of the United States really incarcerated 64,000 people for minor firearms violations, most of them for trumped-up "conspiracy" charges? The author conveys the feeling of hopelessness, outrage, and injustice for any poor individual unfortunate to be arrested by a Federal Agency, because even if innocent, the mere cost of legal defense will cost his life savings, and more than likely will be forced into plea bargaining for a reduced prison sentence.
For all its flaws, this book is a must read for a gun owner, and a believer in the Constitution of the United States.
Book Review: Wonderful Book
Summary: 5 Stars
I first read this book in Sept. 2000 after buying it from Amazon. I remember that because I wrote the date on the fly leaf. Since then, I've read the book four more times, the last time about a year ago. Time to do it again. I've referred it to numerous friends and family members, and all have been glad that I did.
To reiterate what has been stated in so many other reviews, this book was to me disturbing, exciting, historically accurate, and educational. And more adjectives apply. The basic description is just "good." A good book. One of the very best, in fact, that I've read in fifty-or-so years. And that's quite a few books of all genres. I obviously do not agree with the negative reviews. Even the the sexually explicit scenes serve a point in this book. It is not bigoted, nor antisemitic, nor racist, though the author expertly and accurately describes bigotry, antisemitism, and racism as they apply. And there's a reason why he does that. Discover the reason.
Raised in a family immersed in what Ross calls the "gun culture," my brothers and I took for granted guns, shooting, hunting, reloading, etc. We went to school in the era when guns could be bought in a hardware store, from the Sears-Roebuck catalog, and from J.C. Penny "big book" without any "paperwork" except a simple purchase receipt, and when one could take his .22 rifle or shotgun to school for use in hunting when school dismissed. Hence, we lived through a part of the era described in the book, and have seen the incremental changes in civil rights, gun laws, and attitudes toward guns, running the spectrum of guns when they were viewed as essential household tools to being viewed as politically incorrect (as I describe the current situation)and almost totally taboo in "polite society."
As a current retiree and still a member of the gun culture, I read this book with great interest; and found it to be so disturbing that I read it again; and then, of course, again and again. My view is that if you own a gun, you have to read it; and if you don't, then you still should read it. If you don't "believe" in guns(I've always wondered how one can "believe" or "not believe" in guns, any more than one can "believe" or "not believe" in power tools, as dangerous as some of them can be.), try it anyway. It is bound to enlighten, at the least. This book is as much about civil rights -- all of them -- as it is about only guns. As so many have said in other reviews, this is a book that Americans should read, regardless of their points-of-view on guns. Alas, I should not exclude the Brits and the Aussies -- and others -- considering the incremental erosion of civil rights extant in those countries -- It is worth the time spent.
Bon voyage.