Fourteen years ago, when I first left the military, I did a lot of reading and research on the militia movement in the United States. This was only a few years after the Oklahoma City bombings, and I had met a few militia types while in the service. One of the books I heard referenced over and over again was called The Turner Diaries, so--of course--I read it. The Turner Diaries is one the most vile books ever written: it is a racist screed that is so horrific that I couldn't help but laugh out More...

In a way I'd like to do 2 things here. First I'd like to be able to rate this higher. I believe that the idea of a possible collapse of some kind isn't all that far fetched. I'd seen the power go down in areas of Nashville for as much as 2 weeks and it got bad. Any kind of complete collapse would lead to massive death and even horror. This could have been and should have been an interesting book. TOO MANY BOOKS ON THIS TOPIC CROSS OVER INTO FRINGE BELIEFS. This one doesn't do that.

It's just not More...

So I've decided to stop reading this one although I'm not quite finished. I can't take it any more. As a lot of other people have said, the format for this book is really odd.

If you like lists you might really like this book. There are lists of every blood type and what types of blood those types can receive, lists of every kind of gun with the types of rounds that those guns shoot and what you might like to shoot with those guns, lists of food items, tools, and processes. Even step by step ord More...

For those of you who dont know, I have a non-merman little brother as well. It seems just like yesterday when he was wearing diapers (to school). Anyways, he is the most noble of the Rosses, if only one of us can make it to heaven, it will with out a doubt be him. Proof? He has willingly left the U.S. to teach 1st world norms at a finishing school for the disadvantaged. Now I dont take book recommendations lightly, so when he mentioned Patriots, well, lets just say I "read" it. Here are some hig More...

This book is one of my favorite Scary future books because I don't really see us that far off. The dollar is obviously inflating. Our structure and "Just in time" delivery of food and materials means hospitals do not have a deep reserve of supplies necessary to treat a large number of victims in an emergency. This book also really highlights the big part of what is needed to seriously prepare for a major emergency of any sorts.

Now, I have 1 issue with the book (beside the fact that it's more ac More...

Anyone who voted for Obama would likely shred this for their cat's litter box. They are exactly the people who should read it, and do so while abstaining from political judgment. The novel's extremely strong qualities are: a) a decent intro to the mechanics of family or small group survival in the event of a catastrophic economic event (and folks if you don't think this is possible, watch the 'reality TV show' in production called 'My Big Fat Greek Economic Meltdown'), b) As extremely wooden as More...

Thank God this is over with. This is not a story. This is 300 pages about guns, stuff you need should the economy ever collapse, and about 20 characters that are all the same person. It's very random, it's very boring, and it's very subjective to this one guy's ideas of what would happen should the economy ever die for realz.

Yeah. I could say it's worth reading just because he does give a list of stuff it would be nice to have in such a situation, but really, don't waste your time. Just visit a More...

I bought this book after looking at the high overall score it got, and after reading a few of the good reviews. How I wish I would have read some of the 1 star reviews before buying it!

This book is without a doubt the worst novel I have ever read in my life. Where to begin? First off, there is no real story involved here. There are probably 20 pages of blather in between every plot progression in the book. The plot will progress a little bit, then Rawles will spend the next 4 or 5 pages describi More...

This is a survival/preppers handbook couched around a storyline of a group of people who prepared for disasters.

The story takes us from an economic meltdown and collapse of the US Government and society itself, one of a number of possible scenarios that the protagonists prepared for, all the way to a Civil War to throw off a UN puppet tyrannical government and the eventual reformation of the United States. A plausible scenario given the current state of affairs with the trillions of dollar debt More...

Wow. I learned a lot from this book.

I learned how to mount a gun on my airplane.
I learned how to treat bullet wounds.
I learned that you can tell whether someone is a good guy or a bad guy by the following means:
-if they have high quality guns that they take care of, they are probably a good guy; if they have low quality guns in disrepair, they are probably a bad guy.
-Everyone carries around a book or other text because that is the only possible source of morality. If it is a bible, they are a go More...

I'll start out by saying i'm a prepper so of course i love and understand this book. It has its issues, because the book was written in the 90's and then updated in the 00's it has some time line issues. That I blame the editor not so much the author. Apart from that its a great book. Ive already read some reviews that call it a book of lists, well it is. It is a book that shows you a situation and how you could deal with it. It doesnt have magical characters that get out of a situation by doing More...

I read this book under duress. My husband insisted I read this book cover to cover, explaining to me how important the information contained inside would be. I'm kind of a popular fiction person (you know, mysteries, romance, and the occasional Oprah book or the current teenage vampire fluff piece.) Needless to say this kind of book is NOT my thing. That being said I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I found it entertaining and enjoyable and at the same time a great resource for disaster pr More...

Anyone who knows me knows I like post-apocalyptic fiction. And I like almost any of it. However, I did not like Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse.

This book seems to be less of a novel than a cross between James Wesley Rawles’ personal fantasies & diatribes on the state of the Union.

Don’t get me wrong, he has done an admirable job of researching in order to supply facts to explain his opinions & has an index in case you want to look it up yourself, but that’s part of what makes this More...

The story behind this book is interesting, but it is not written very well. It's about a group of friends who start preparing for the collapse of American society.

The editing is poor and the time line is messed up. This is most likely do to the fact that this is the third "incarnation" of this basic story, hastily updated to include Obama. For instance, when they met is nebulous because the author says that they met because of 9/11, but also that they met more frequently after 9/11. Both cannot More...

A fictional novel about a group of survivalists, and what happens when the USA goes upside-down into anarchy due to a currency that becomes worthless.

When you read this book, realize it's purpose is more about survivalism and what to do in survival scenarios versus a fictional work of entertainment. Examples:

You learn repercussions to people's choices. Bad decisions upfront lead to hardship later. For example, at one point in the book, a guy can't trade his corvette to anyone for food, shoes, or More...

Patriots is a TEOWAWKI , militia-style survivalist novel packed with information. While Patriots does mention stockpiling food and the use of non-hybrid seeds this is not a book about self-sufficiency. The premise of the novel is that an economic depression spirals out of control. The economy completely collapses, money becomes worthless, the mail stops, the power grid and phone system shuts down and the government at all levels disappears. In the story this period is understatedly called the Cr More...

I liked this book. It's strength was not in the story or the writing, but in the situations and survival pointers for the various situations the characters go through. From a wide range of very prepared (main characters had 10 years of planning) to barely prepared (young college student with some background in survival and woodsman-ship) the reader is able to get a grip on gear, tactics, and survival methods that would help almost anyone to learn what they needed to do in order to survive outdoo More...

For any man who's ever wanted to be a Hero With a Gun but was too gutless to join the military or police force, and any woman who wants to hide out in the backwoods of Idaho with said asshole and bear his children, this book is a must read. Invaluable advice is offered: for example, it's okay to waste ammo pumping multiple rounds into the corpses of Gay Communist Cannibals, because, as the hero points out, "They can't be dead enough." Rawles also instructs you on how to ambush and destroy an Abr More...

This was a good book that got a little heavy at times and almost read more like a survivalist manual than a novel at times. That being said there are some very disturbing points to be made about this book. The main point being the premise for the book, or the economic collapse that is told at the beginning of the book. This reads almost as if it is taken from the very headlines of todays newspapers. The other thing that is very disturbing is the amount of people that refuse to see that there is More...

This is the first TEOTWAWKI book that I have read. Having read some of the other reviews of the book I do agreed with some of the comments but although I thought of these points whilst I was reading they did not detract from my enjoyment of the book. I was sucked into the story finding myself thinking of ways that I would improve their situation with my rudimentary survival skills and knowledge of self-sufficiency. Not being a gun enthusiast and only having an interest in guns I did find the tec More...

I picked this one up because I love survival fiction type novels. I had heard quite a few good things about it but it fell short for me. I found the "How-to" + fiction style very drone to say the least. Everything was too neat. All the characters have $60k plus in funds, matching ammo clips that are universal to all their guns, cars that are all immune to EMP's and oh yeah I forgot... they are all devout christians (as mentioned many times for no apparent reason). All of the technical knowledge More...

I had difficulty deciding how to rate this book. The back story and overall concept are terrific, however the author buries the characters and storyline under mountains of technical garbage and useless lists. If the author had developed the characters or given the story some flow i would have rated it 5 stars. The reader gets bogged down with all the lists and other useless information. If all the unnecessary filler is removed this book would be about 150-200 pages and would be a page turner, ho More...

(Writing this review as I read)

If this is "prepper porn", it's not very titillating. Waaay too much militant behavior! I'm all for protecting yourself and bearing arms and refusing the governments illegal overreach, but the cocky macho weapons attitude of these characters is not one I subscribe to.

Chapter 6-7 totally lost any small shred of credibility the book may have had. Hey fellas, I don't care if the government is wrong, out of bounds, and overstepping its authority and jurisdiction (and More...

I'm between three and four stars on this one. It is a good book. The general story is sound and an overeall good idea. It is informitive on compiling info to better help you prepare for events. From the 'Collapse' to basic prep for an natural diaster or other event where you would need some items to help with survivial. Even the goverment recommends that you prepare a 'Bug out Bag'. The problem that I had with the book is that you can tell that it is a 1st book by the author. Some of the dialoge More...

Its an imaginative instruction Manuel. I understand what the author was trying to say and do, and while I agree with him on a lot of points. On a lot of other points I don't.
All the end of the world books are fun, some of them are alarming, this one combines the dry tedium of a college physics book with the stifled paranoid imagination of a political zealot.
It does contain a massive amount of information that seems very realistic and appropriate for the possible scenario he is predicting. But. More...

I wish there was more to the star “ratings.” There were certain things I liked about this book, and certain that I didn’t care for. To begin with the author has a blog entitled “survival blog.” So regarding the information in the book about preparadness, survival, etc., he is extremely in depth. I would give him 5 stars for this portion of the book. However, it seems as if the author had a lot of energy and time when he initially started the book, because there was too much over share! I mean, h More...

"Patriots" is a survival novel by a former Army Intelligence Officer and survival expert.

Set in the US following a massive economic collapse, "Patriots" is an insightful look at what could be in our future.

A good learning tool, "Patriots" is a painless way to to learn preparedness, survival and some military techniques that could prove helpful in a variety of disaster situations.

The book stands fairly well on it's own as a novel, but it is the practical information that makes this a worthwhile r More...

As many other reviewers note, Patriots will not win any literary awards. Fortunately, that doesn't prevent it from being a fascinating read.

The story is a harsh look at a realistic scenario for societal collapse. No punches are pulled in the telling of the tale, and we see all the savagery that man is capable of when law and order break down.

For me, the best part of the book was how Rawles made the situation so realistic. It plays out as a blueprint for surviving a collapse, packaged into an en More...

I had prepared a comprehensive review of this novel, complete with textual citations, so that I could thoroughly detail the deficiencies in the writing, the laziness in the plotting, and the general awfulness of the philosophy underlying it. However, after the concluding chapter, in which our plucky band of Christian survivalists overthrows the occupying UN army, restores the gold standard, and sends an army to liberate Europe from the socialists, I decided I've spent as much time as I can stand More...

This book should appeal to survivalists and militia-types. Though I found some of the descriptions of weapons and equipment interesting at times, they became tedious as they went on and on. The dialogue was a bit "hokey" and lifeless. I can't remember the last time I used the word "yikes" in a real conversation.

The beginning of the story seemed somewhat plausible but it gradually became less and less believable. The civil war seemed very far-fetched. The characters were a bit too stereotypical More...