One Second After
(After #1)
by William R. Forstchen
Published March 17th, 2009 by Forge Books
Hardcover, 352 pages
New York Times best-selling author William R. Forstchen now brings us a story which can be all too terrifyingly real ... a story in which one man struggles to save his family and his small North Carolina town after America loses a war, in one second, a war that will send America back to the Dark Ages ... A war based upon a weapon, an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP). A weapon that may already be in the hands of our enemies.
Months before publication, One Second After has already been cited on the floor of Congress as a book all Americans should read, a book already being discussed in the corridors of the Pentagon as a truly realistic look at a weapon and its awesome power to destroy the entire United States, literally within one second. It is a weapon that the Wall Street Journal warns could shatter America. In the tradition of On the Beach, Fail Safe, and Testament, this book, set in a typical American town, is a dire warning of what might be our future ... and our end.
PURCHASE
If you are looking for a love story or an upbeat self-help book you're not going to find it here. However, what you will find is a good fictional story that educates individuals on the danger of EMP warfare. Currently, an EMP attack is a real threat to our lives, therefore, William R. Forstchen provides readers with a tame version of the end of today's society. Furthermore, learning what an EMP is and the science of it, I found damn interesting.
The story is told from the viewpoint of John, the protagonist. Through his eyes, the reader experiences the dreadful turn mankind takes. With this in mind, a great deal of the horror that takes place is mentioned, though the author does not go into gruesome specifics that make your skin crawl, just the realistic details. Furthermore, the book makes the reader think about how you would survive if such an event occurred. Water? Medication? Personal Safety? In every man for himself situation, what would you do? (feel free to answer below in the comments)
Finally, I did find the many grammar hiccups annoying. For Example, “John realized he must have been behind the wall for long minutes.” (p148). I don’t think my time was wasted reading this book, but I will be passing on reading the other two books in the series. The author did a nice job wrapping up the books ending making it able to be read as a stand-alone novel.
William R. Forstchen (born 1950) is an American author who began publishing in 1983 with the novel Ice Prophet. He is a Professor of History and Faculty Fellow at Montreat College, in Montreat, North Carolina. He received his doctorate from Purdue University with specializations in Military History, the American Civil War and the History of Technology.
Forstchen is the author of more than forty books, including the award-winning We Look Like Men of War, a young adult novel about an African-American regiment that fought at the Battle of the Crater, which is based upon his doctoral dissertation, The 28th USCTs: Indiana’s African-Americans go to War, 1863-1865 and the "Lost Regiment" series which has been optioned by both Tom Cruise and M. Night Shyamalan.
Forstchen’s writing efforts have, in recent years, shifted towards historical fiction and non-fiction. In 2002 he started the “Gettysburg” trilogy with Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich; the trilogy consists of Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War, Grant Comes East, and Never Call Retreat: Lee and Grant - The Final Victory. More recently, they have published two works on the events leading up to Pearl Harbor and immediately after that attack Pearl Harbor, and Days of Infamy.
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