This novel opens in a big way – with a EMP striking right as the main character’s plane has taken off. While many apocalyptic novels talk about plane crashes as a result of an EMP, this was interesting to see the author tackle this scenario first hand.
The story follows Kyle as he struggles to travel 2,000 miles back home to his family, while we also follow his wife Jennifer’s struggle to survive in her community. Both characters face situations such as flirting with the thought of infidelity when neither of them knows if the other is still alive.
“My fellow citizens,” the broadcast began. “This is Vice President Brent Hamilton. On Friday, Sept 2, at approximately 4:08 P.M. Eastern Time, our country was attacked by enemies we have not yet identified. President Stewart was traveling at the time of the attack and is currently en-route to Washington. The target of the attack was the continental United States, and by extension, the entire North American continent. A nuclear missile was detonated approximately three hundred miles above our country. The result of this detonation was an electrical storm that appears to have crippled our electrical infrastructure. This type of attack is referred to as an EMP, or Electromagnetic Pulse.”
This is another novel that also teaches the reader how to survive and plan in these types of scenarios. However the main character seems to be always making the wrong decision – was this a case of the author trying to teach the reader even more by showing how to recover from these really bad decisions? Maybe, but some of the time I wanted to be like “Kyle, REALLY, you didn’t learn?” And some of the things would likely be downright dangerous in a real SHTF situation – such as Kyle’s desire to travel on main roads and highways rather than sticking to smaller routes where it would be less likely he would run into unsavory characters.
I did enjoy that part of the story was told through a female character. So many of the books in this genre (aside from many of the young adult dystopian novels) feature mostly male characters that the story is told through. I do wish her character was stronger and independent, rather than the damsel in distress role she took most of the time.
Aside from that, it is a very enjoyable and thought-provoking book. Like One Second After, this will really help people think about prepping and go over survival scenarios in their heads about what they would do in Kyle or Jennifer’s shoes.
Earlier versions of the ebook had numerous grammatical errors and typos, but the book was rereleased in 2014 and presumably was edited.
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