One Second After by William R. Forstchen
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Book Reviews of One Second After
Book Review: A disturbingly realistic portrayal of our demise without being preachy or jingoistic
Summary: 5 Stars
There is a saying that every society is three meals away from collapsing. This story reveals how the social contract begin to disintegrate even before then, just by the looming realization of want to come. John Matherson, a former Colonel in the US Army and a professor of military history at a small college, lives a relatively serene life in the quaint town of Black Mountain, nestled in the mountains of Western North Carolina. He grieves for his beloved wife who died a few years back and is a father of two teenaged daughters.
When the power suddenly goes out one late Spring afternoon, John thinks nothing of it, but soon he realizes nothing is working, not his new SUV, not the the battery powered CD player, not his watch even. He comes to the conclusion that it was an EMP, which fries all integrated circuit based technology. Without telecommunications, there is no way to know how extensive the EMP hit. We learn by the lack of response from the outside that the EMP had hit across the US. With that technology now gone, the infrastructure that sustained a densely populated and urban civilization collapses. People's knowledge base that served them in the post-industrial world fail them as they confront the harsh realities of survival. Combined with the loss of communication and transportation, panic sets in in the surrounding regions. Only the town of Black Mountain and its neighbor Swannanoa hold on by the leadership of John Matherson and a few others who come to organize the towns. Besieged by refugees from the dying cities and the roving gangs intent on unleashing their fury, Black Mountain and Swannanoa must stand on its own to survive, for help from the US military assets from overseas and its allies is months, perhaps years away. We later learn through rumor and through the few vacuum tube radios still in existence that the EMPs were a result of three nuclear missiles detonated at a high altitude for the exact purpose of crippling the US; however, we never learn exactly who was behind it, though North Korea and Iran become glass parking lots as a result of being the primary suspects.
Forstchen created a horrifyingly realistic portrayal of how a catastrophic event like this would unfold. He has considered everything, how dependent we have become of a highly advanced yet vulnerable technology, how it's sudden loss would literally kill thousands of those who depend upon modern medicine in the first few months, and how most others alive today would perish from the opportunistic diseases that follow the chaos. John's personal story of his daughter with type one diabetes touches home, and leaves no doubt how truly devastating the EMPs would be for us. Although John Matherson is not an "everyman" in many ways, as he has a "Marlboro man" streak about him, he has all of the trappings and ties of a family man. Forstchen pulls no punches as he take away the most precious people in John's life. "One Second After" is a gripping story that left me devastated. As much as this story served as a warning for us to act to prevent this possibility, Forstchen manages to tell the story without being jingoistic, ideological, or reactionary. That being said, the end of the story leaves no doubt that such an attack would destroy us as a nation.
Book Review: A Compelling Drama and a Real Threat
Summary: 5 Stars
U.S. Army Colonel John Matherson is offered a general's star if he will accept assignment to a NATO post in Europe. But his wife Mary is ill with cancer, and he declines the commission, moving instead with her and their two daughters to her Christian-college hometown in the back woods of North Carolina. There he accepts a teaching position and adapts to a life very different from that of his Newark, NJ childhood. Then, one fine spring day, not only do the lights go out, but cellphones and car transmissions die and electronic devices of all kinds cease to function.
One Second After is a post-apocalyptic tale in the tradition of Lucifer's Hammer and Alas, Babylon. It tells the gripping story of survival in America after an EMP attack cripples the US.
The story is fluidly written, and the plot grips you. The work is realistic in its portrayal of how people react to disaster. And it is romantic in portraying heroic people who identify their values and then struggle to maintain them. I finished this book in two eager late-bedtime readings. My throat tightened with emotion a few times. The book does have a few minor drawbacks, there is too much exposition as opposed to dramatization. Forstchen often relates the story after the fact rather than describing it in real time. And the repeated use of the expression "should of" instead of "should've" which was meant to convey local dialect seems more like a spelling error than a colorful regionalism. But if a story like this one chokes you up and you find it hard to put the book down, then it's a good read. And if it makes readers think about a serious threat to the civilized world, all the better.
While it does stand alone as a story, it's obvious that the author has a point to make. Hostile reviewers complain far too loudly that this is not a work of great literature. Do yourself a favor, and read some of the four-star and some of the one-star reviews of this book. You will note that the actual substance of the criticisms in those reviews is the same. The reason for the difference in rating will become clear when you note such comments from the one-star reviewers as "extreme right wing views." But Forstchen's goal was not to present a work of despair or self-recrimination acceptable to the aesthetic tastes of the political left. Frankly, I expect Forstchen would forgo the Pulitzer and the Nobel Prize for Literature if he could make the issue of preventing an EMP attack just one tenth as fashionable as was dealing with Y2K in its day. Forstchen has given us two good reasons to read this book, the warning message it implies and the story itself. Warner Brothers has optioned the movie rights. There is a Wikipedia article, and the book has an official website, onesecondafter dot com, with links to congressional documents, as well as scientific information and information about the author and the real-life setting for his novel. You can also see the author speak on on YouTube and listen to an hour-long interview at BookTV dot org, which I strongly recommend. And I recommend this book without reservation.
Book Review: Realistic
Summary: 5 Stars
Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) is a real danger, created by a high yield nuclear device. The higher above the surface of the earth, and the larger the yield, the wider the effect. The U.S. encountered the effect in the Starfish Prime test, a high altitude thermonuclear detonation (over one megaton) that knocked out the power grid on Oahu Island some 800 miles away.
The story told in ONE SECOND AFTER is based upon three large atomic detonation over the United States, occurring close to together with little warning, creating an EMP that destroys all printed circuit boards in the country: Effectively rendering us helpless. Is such an event possible? Would the EMP pulse actually render all electronics inoperable? The answer to both questions is yes. In just a couple of seconds, we would be reduced to having to walk, or ride bicycles or horses. As the author describes, all vehicles, with few exceptions, would simply stop when the EMP arrived.
Forstchen describes the chaos, the rapid decent of civilization, in graphic terms. As graphic as the descriptions are, the real thing would probably be worse. An attack by several atomic devices, or a successful nationwide biological attack would produce similar results. Once the banking system shut down, food and fuel delivers would cease, and then events would mimic Forstchen's story.
The point of the story is that we as a nation must be prepared. Once the event happens, it is too late for preparation. Simply put, our population can only exist at its current level when supported by modern technology. Interrupt the technology and we face the fate of any overpopulated life form--starvation.
Can terrorists, including Iran and North Korea pull off an EMP attack? Not yet. Who can? Russia and China. But that is today. How about the next decade, or the next? On the other hand, an attack with biological agents or simple atomic devices is within a terrorists grasp. Today, we are unprepared for any of these attacks.
Some will dismiss the book as fiction. Yet, short of attempting to make prophecy, fiction is the only available avenue for future seers. Putting one's faith in appeasing one's enemies is the surest way to turn fiction into reality.
CAPT Bill Sanders, USN, describes his experiences at the Nevada Test Site. I too have walked through the nuclear village, descended to the bottom of the Sedan crater (Geiger counter in hand), and been awed by the twisted steel I-beam skeletons that were once part of a tower shot. Watching a shockwave radiate out across the desert floor from an underground nuclear detonation, like the wave created in water by dropping a rock into a still pond, is awesome.
The power and effect of weapons of mass destruction can only be partially appreciated by those who have been involved in their testing. Simply put, civilization can be set back hundreds of years in a brief period of time. Allowing the spread of such technology will one day put an end to civilization as we currently know it.
This is a must read for all Americans.
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.