One Second After
By: William R. Forstchen
Rating: 3.5 of 5
I read this book a few years ago. It was extremely thought provoking – what would happen if an EMP was detonated over the United States and we lost all of our power grid? What exactly would that mean? What everyday things would we suddenly be doing without?
I thought the book was well written but in some ways it went a little over the top for me. It seems that the author degraded society much more quickly than I would think it would happen, especially in a small town. I could see some very rough things happening in large cities where people have no access to water or food apart from what is on hand at any given moment.
There were some very heartbreaking moments in the book and to a degree, some of them felt as if they were being written for an eventual movie – they were considerably more visual than they were compelling as written. While I had the feeling (especially towards the end of the book), it did not diminish the overall impact of the story. It serves as a warning that something of this nature could and possibly will be in the future of our country.
It is hard to say that I enjoyed the book as the subject matter was so dark but I did learn a lot from reading it. I thought the author wrote some compelling characters and, apart from the few over the top moments I mentioned earlier, the plot was well written and seemed plausible.
I read this book a few years ago. It was extremely thought provoking – what would happen if an EMP was detonated over the United States and we lost all of our power grid? What exactly would that mean? What everyday things would we suddenly be doing without?