One Second After by William R. Forstchen

"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.

In America, we are completely dependent upon electronics. They run our cars, our phones, our houses, and more. But what if something came along and destroyed all that!? What if our enemies send an EMP our way? We would be completely lost!
One Second After deals with the after affects of an EMP and its devastation upon a small town in North Carolina. Black Mountain is cut off completely after the EMP is detonated, and what results are medieval methods to keep the town running. As the food runs out, and people are starting to come toward their town in hopes of making it, the town is forced to undergo martial law, and to establish strict rules just to keep themselves from being completely wiped off the face of the planet. “Outsiders” are not allowed within the confines of the town, and the townspeople are completely united in their struggle to just stay alive.
John Matherson is a retired colonel from the United States Army living with his family in the mountains. After the initial shut down of communication, he knows what they are facing, and what could possibly happen. As the leaders of the town pull together to ensure survival for as many as they can, they are forced to face hard truths, and have to face some things that are rather uncomfortable for many to think about.

I loved this book! I was completely drawn in and it was hard to put down. That being said, it was not an easy read! I found myself crying over parts, frustrated over others, and downright scared to think that this could really happen here. The fact that not many would be able to defend themselves, or be able to survive off the land is something that hits to close to home. When the book described the children and their declining state, that hit even harder. The large amounts of death and the large numbers of those who dropped simply because of inadequate medical care and food was hard to stomach. We have become to entirely reliant on the “easy” that we have let so many of the facts of life that would keep us alive. How many of us can do something without having to google our way through the process? How many of us would be able to survive without running water or food from the grocery store?
I honestly think this is a book that everyone should read, and start thinking about what they would do in the event that something does happen? How many would survive longer than a week!?

It was a good cautionary tale with conversation points that you may not think of right away after the blast comes. It was definitely packed with sad and depressing moments but also didn't stray from the realism of what this situation might entail.

I had to DNF this book because it was just so badly written! You know, I hardly ever one-star a book if you notice my reviews. It takes a lot to annoy me.

I was initially attracted to this book's premise: an EMP wave gets rid of the technology we've come to rely on, a small town struggles to survive.
The whole plot promises a lot of action but fails to deliver. It's not that nothing happens in the book, it's more like the characters spend most of their time TALKING about the action AFTER it happens. That's right, we have a book where the ‘action' takes place in meetings. I remember thinking during one such meeting where, damn, why couldn't the author plonk our main character in the thick of the action so that we can see and experience it through his eyes?

I gave the book as good as it got - read 50% - and just couldn't anymore. There are far better books out there.

What a poorly written mess. Even once you get past the fact that the author doesn't know the difference between “must've” and “must of,” it doesn't get better. Every character other than our hero serves simply to praise the hero for every action he takes, no matter how ridiculous. And the repetition. The ceaseless repetition of information we already know. Three times in four pages the character “smiled” because a situation reminded him of ancient kings negotiating. Twice to himself, and then he announced it to the group. This book sorely needed a capable editor. If you want a book about America after technology stops working, do yourself a favor and read “Dies the Fire” instead.