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Mar 27, 2010

Timmy rated it:

5 things I hated about "One Second After" -

1. Every important adult male character is either military or ex-military. Seriously. As a bonus, several minor characters that are merely alluded to are also ex-military. (For example, at one point we learn that a pharmacist's husband is an ex-ranger and insists that she keep a gun at the pharmacy. Good times.)

2. As others have pointed out, the author doesn't know the difference between of and have.

3. Mu More...

13 comments like (38 people liked it)

Mar 31, 2009

Ally rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Apr 22, 2009

Sharon rated it:

The premise of the story is that an EMP (electronmagnetic pulse) is created by the detonation of 3 nuclear bombs above the earth's atmosphere, which renders all electronic, digital, computerized elements in the infrastructure of the U.S. inoperable, which leads to a complete and total breakdown of life as we know it. OK. Now we know. Author's mission accomplished.

From a literary point of view, this scenario could have been rendered as a gripping human interest story in microcosm, More...

3 comments like (14 people liked it)

Oct 06, 2011

Cecilia rated it:

Although fiction, this book is a very believable & terrifying account of how life continues and changes after an Electric Magnetic Pulse (EMP) weapon is set off over the USA. According to the forward, this weapon actually does exist and destroys all things run by electricity which makes the story all the more frightening. Think no communication/cell phones/computers, no vehicles produced after the late '70s, no refrigeration/air conditioning, no ability to produce basically everything that we ha More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 20, 2009

Nick rated it:

Alas, Babylon has been updated for the new millennium with this novel. I strongly recommend reading this from a quite realistic 'what if' scenario. It was a 'read in one sitting' novel, well crafted technical thriller around a significantly under-rated national risk. The author clearly put a great deal of personal passion into the novel, which shows through in the writing quality and intensity of characterization. More...

2 comments like (6 people liked it)

Mar 31, 2009

Mark rated it:

Interesting speculation on an instant low-tech future. Very sympathetic characters. Assumes the coalescence of rather large political groups in the immediate wake of disaster in contrast to some kind of organic growth of smaller primary loyalty groups. Assumes the continuity of nation-states... Treatment of the die-off is enlightening; it suggests we don't have a healthcare problem, just a deathcare problem: lots of nonviable people if we are plunged back into the past technology-wise.

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Mar 16, 2011

David rated it:

This book will force you to consider the horror of what could be. What made this book so scary is the fact that it could really happen. It will force you to think about what would happen if everything you know as normal was to suddenly be ripped away. After reading this book I no longer think that people who have made preperations for "the end of the world as we know it" kind of scenario are crazy. READ THIS BOOK!!!

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 19, 2010

Blake rated it:

THis book is a great book it takes place in a small town in North Carolina called Black Mountain, and one of the reasons I found this book was that outside of the small town there is another town called Montreat and every summer I go up there for a month. I highly recommend this book to readers that love "military accidents" this is the book for you.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 01, 2009

Kenneth rated it:

What could happen to America if EMP nuclear weapons hit over the United States and all electronics were lost. Good story about a family in the hills of North Carolina who had to endure the hardships of keeping their community afloat during the aftermath of such an attack. Would defiitely recommend it.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 25, 2011

Rusty rated it:

I can understand some of the critiques, but I appreciate this book. When I take the time to analyze it critically, it was not well-written, it was too blunt at times, and a bit redundant. But I appreciate a reminder that modern society is not the be-all, end-all, and that any number of things can knock us on our collective ass.

Also, let me just say, HOLY FRICKING @#%$! Thank you Forstchen, for a protagonist who isn't a flag-burning, hemp-smoking, tree-hugging, firearmaphobic hipp More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 28, 2009

Mandy rated it:

Freaky! Freaky! Freaky! A book that gets you to thinking about how you might prepare yourself and your family differently for possible terro attacks. It is disturbing because as the forward by Nute Gingrich states, it is a very real scenario, and something we should be concerned about. But of course it is also fiction, and a good story too.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 25, 2012

Øle rated it:

I'm not quite sure how can you rate this book as a 5-star piece. Yes, the initial idea and the pitch are great. I have to admit that this what sells the book afterall. However, the hype of reading this book slowly dissolves as the reading goes on.

This smells a lot like a typical Hollywood film with one ex-military forced out of duty for one reason or another, becomes a hero that struggles to save everyone. I was constantly annoyed by the references to the Civil War and the Americanism. More...

0 comments like

Jan 16, 2012

Christine rated it:

And another one bites the dust....because the author has a disgusting potty mouth! I can overlook a few choice words when well placed and are relevant to a story but I couldn't even get through the 3rd chapter before I realized I was never going to be able to stomach the senseless profanity in this one no matter how much I wanted to read the story, no matter how highly the book came recommended.

The fact that Newt Gingrich endorsed this book even going as far as writing the foreword More...

0 comments like

Jan 09, 2012

Donna rated it:

The premise of this book is that a nuclear bomb is detonated (by an unknown enemy of the U.S.) above the atmosphere over the United States, and an EMP (electro-magnetic pulse) results. The EMP causes the U.S. electrical grid and modern technological equipment (computers, cars, communication devices, etc) to completely fail. Within a few days, people are out of food, medications, heating supplies, and even water in places. Major devastation ensues.

The author seems to disapprove of More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 03, 2012

Tom rated it:

I was worried about reading this book. I enjoy dystopian novels. It intrigues me to see what people believe could be the results of cataclysms that change the face of the earth and, more interestingly, how people will react and adapt to the new circumstances. I was worried because so many of these novels tend to have some kind of superhero types that seem to be a bit too prepared or too lucky. This didn't fall into the same trap, well maybe just a part.

The story takes place in the hi More...

0 comments like

Dec 18, 2011

Christine added it

This book makes me want to shout at the author, "you can tell a story other ways besides with dialogue!"
I also want to shout all the things that make me give this book zero stars
1. Every other page I wondered how the hero, John could be in town instead of. Acting for his family. After he murders intruders he doesn't feel inclined to stick close to home?
2. The kids are joyfully playing outside with the dog instead of whining about how they have no cell phone or Xbox to pl More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Dec 01, 2011

Samuel rated it:

This book imagines a scenario after an EMP (Electro-magnetic pulse) hits the United States taking out all electronic devices including cars with micro-processors (which means all modern cars).

The good: It certainly made me ponder how prepared I am for an emergency and how realistic an EMP scenario like this might be. Our modern society is very fragile and dependent upon the intricate network of services and transportation that any significant and wide-spread disruption of these could More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 01, 2011

Vanessa rated it:

I am positive that this is the scariest book I have ever read. I read plenty of very dark and twisty stuff. It is the realism of One Second After that makes it so frighteningly scary. Everything in this novel seems so real. This is due to the possibility that our world, my world could very well experience an EMP and no one would have any warning, but mostly the author really pulled all of my attention into these characters lives and into the small town life of Black Mountain.

I liked More...

2 comments like

Nov 20, 2011

Preston rated it:

I bought ONE SECOND AFTER the day after I heard William Forstchen's radio interview (on Coast to Coast AM) discussing the dangers of an electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) attack. I devoured the book the day it arrived in the mail.

Forstchen's story describes the effects on a small North Carolina college town when a coordinated EMP attack brings down America's electric power grid, telecommunications networks, mass transport, and most technologies that make modern life possible. Even with More...

0 comments like

Nov 07, 2011

Cecily rated it:

Absolutely a must-read. You will start to think about survival plans for your family with an intensity you might never have considered necessary (or sane) before.

What would happen if a nuclear bomb were detonated in the atmosphere over the United States? It wouldn't be a Hiroshima-type nightmare -- something far worse. Such a detonation (in the atmosphere) could create a massive Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP), causing all electronics -- cars, phones, computers, nearly EVERYTHING you can More...

0 comments like

Nov 05, 2011

Jessika rated it:

I read this in one day. I seem to be saying this a lot lately, but I really couldn't put it down!

This book really was terrifying to me. Out of all the post-apocalyptic style books I have read in the last year this was the most realistic. It was the one that hit most close to home because it is a very real scenario that could face us in the future. It made me think very long and very hard about how we (The USA) as a nation are so incredibly unprepared to survive without all the modern More...

0 comments like

Nov 03, 2011

Quincy rated it:

This book introduced me to the whole EMP thing. I am not sure how accurate the scenario is, but it did give me a bit of a scare. We follow how one small town deals with the initial hit and the aftermath. The degeneration of society did feel real, although it was a bit accelerated as someone else wrote. I did find at times that the dialog degenerated into lectures. There did seem to be an abundance of right wing characters. This is somewhat understandable in that we are talking about a small town More...

0 comments like

Oct 23, 2011

Katie rated it:

I read this book for an upcoming book club. I was initially excited to read about a place close to home. Unfortunately, I did not find this book to be well-written. The consistent use of "of" instead of "have" (as others have pointed out) was incredibly distracting. I think the premise of post-EMP on small-town America is quite intriguing. But the focus was on one man's leadership of a whole community, and less about a community coming together to care for one another. Fortsc More...

0 comments like

Sep 19, 2011

Jessica rated it:

On a typical day, in Black Mountain, NC, John is getting ready to celebrate his youngest daughters 12th birthday. Just before the party, he is talking to his friend in Washington when suddenly they lose power. But it’s not just power. Cars, cell phones, anything with a computer chip in it is dead. John has a feeling that he knows what’s going on. Years prior he did a project on the affect of an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) being set off. An EMP would basically fry anything electronic.

Ch More...

0 comments like

Sep 14, 2011

John added it

This was truly a thought provoking novel full of sadness and desperation. The thing many of us fear worse happens, war. But not the war you expect. This war was started with a simple nuclear weapon detonated in the atmosphere causing an electromagnetic pulse (EMP). It cast the United States into darkness and sent us back to the pre-electrical age. Imagine no phones, cars, computers, electricity and no refrigeration for your child’s medicine that keeps her alive. This is a story of neighbors doin More...

0 comments like

Sep 02, 2011

Linda rated it:

I don't mind saying, this book scared the crumbs out of me. There is nothing about the scenarios presented in this story that is far-fetched. It's all highly plausible. Does it make me want to move to a compound in Montana and become a ” survivalist”? No, but it sure as heck is making me think twice about the complacent way I flip on the lights in my house, turn on the water to brush my teeth, have a mini temper tantrum when it takes longer than 3 seconds for my computer to load a web page. More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 11, 2011

Christy rated it:

This novel is a fictionalized account of the aftermath of 3 electromagnetic pulse devices being exploded over the United States--wiping out all electronics and communications. I found the concept to be thought provoking. My husband and I have had several interesting discussions on the issue since both of us have read it. However, as literature it scores much lower for me. I found the narrative to be slow-moving with a great deal of time spent in council meetings and discussions. So much was rela More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 28, 2011

Susan rated it:

I'm giving this book 3 stars, although I think 2.5 would be a better fit for my opinion.

It's a very, very bleak picture of America one second after an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) is set off over Kansas and stops all electronics. Computerized cars, cell phones, and electricity itself is knocked out. The country is thrown backward at least 100 years in one second.

One of the things that really annoyed me about the book is the attempt at dialect. The book is set in west More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 06, 2011

Amber rated it:

One Second After by William Forstchen was recommended to me by my assistant principal at school. I was unsure at first if I even wanted to read it but decided to go ahead. I couldn't put it down once I started it. It describes what happens in the United States when nuclear bombs are detonated above us in our atmostphere. It would completely fry our entire electrical grid and everything computerized. It is very disturbing to think about this as a very real threat for America. During the power out More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

May 26, 2011

Dmdutcher rated it:

It gets two stars for a different premise: a high-atmosphere EMP pulse knocks out every item that uses even the smallest bit of electronics in it, and reverts people back to the dark ages.

But it's hard to like the book. The EMP apocalypse is catastrophic, and the author piles so many scenes of realistic loss of life that it makes the reader numb. It also defeats his point: even knowing about it, the simple cost of hardening every single piece of consumer electronics makes for throwi More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

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