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Book Review: Fatal Shroud

Fatal Shroud
By George Eves

There has been a little uptick in the number of books and news articles about super volcanoes lately so I thought I would give this book a go and see what I thought.

It took me a few chapters to get into the book due to the differences in the style of writing the English author uses versus what this Texan is used to, but once I got used to his style I rather enjoyed the book. Not to give too much away, but think Yellowstone super volcano, dust cloud wipes out U.S., British government hides fact but eventually tells everyone. The book then goes on to describe the crumble of British society as the earth faces the beginnings of a nuclear winter which will wipe out almost all life on earth.

The main character in the book struggles with keeping his old lifestyle (wine, women, booze, parties) while the world falls apart. Eventually, his lifestyle (black market) catches up with him and he has to flee London. He travels north into an increasingly violent world of starvation, might over weakness, and growing piles of the dead. In the end, author has a chance to lash out against communism and socialism before the main character meets his fate.

Not a bad take on what would happen if the world faces a nuclear winter whether through a meteor strike, super volcano eruption, or nuclear war.

What I like about the book was the author’s description of the decay of society matches what I believe. I don’t believe in a modern society one day and a mad max world of zombie bikers the next day. I think we would slowly slide down into chaos. A first there will be people still in charge. Some people will still have jobs (although eventually most of those will be in the seedy entertainment business or security business and get paid with food or shelter). There will be a large class of entrepreneur criminals who grow a very large black market and tend to kill each other and leave their customers alone. A large portion of the people will be jobless, starving, homeless, and doing whatever they can to survive day to day.

This is what I think will happen. Severe depression for the first part of the decay and then as the author of this book portrays – the violence will come out as supplies run out. I don’t believe in large organized gangs, more of something like small gangs taking food and supplies. Hit and run gangs scavenging and then going back to home base to be with their families. The example that comes to my mind is the Vikings raiding England and other northern European countries. Raid, grab, return home, maybe settle here and there, but all the time raising families, working farms, etc. Not the full-time gang armies that are in so many of the end-of-world books in the genre I write in.

Violence yes, mad max biker gangs – no.

My two cents worth. If you want to read a book that is different than almost all the others – this one is for you. Like I said, I had a hard time at first getting through it but I either became accustomed to the author way or writing or the author became better after the first few chapters.

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Newsletter

I’ve just set up a weekly newsletter which will include all posts on this site. If you would like to get a newsletter once a week with all my posts, please register for the my newsletter. I will also send out a monthly newsletter each month with additional material.

Thanks and good night,

Randy

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Clean Slate

Settling here today watching a few football games between household chores and this little scene for my latest book Political Fools popped into my head. I thought I would write up the rough draft and post it here so you can look it over. Remember this is the rough draft. It was written over the last few hours during commercials and downtime of tonight’s football game, so it may have some rough spots that I will need to redo before actually adding it to my manuscript. Hope you enjoy it.

“Ok. I think we are all in agreement,” Senator Williston said to the assembled group of fellow senators and congressmen. “Dr. Landry’s study shows that if we manage this right, shutting down the government and starting over will benefit this great country of ours. We need to move forward with my plan.”

“Do you think we have the numbers?” Senator Moran asked. “I don’t think there is enough of us to do this right now. Shouldn’t we wait until our numbers are higher?”

“No. We don’t have the numbers to pass this right now. Remember, we don’t have to win in large numbers. We don’t have to replace the Republican candidate for president. All we have to do is get enough senators and congressmen on our side and we can push this through with some Republicans on our side.”

“So, why should be bring our agenda out now?” a congressman from Texas asked.

“We need the debate. We need to bring this in front of the public so we can build our base across American. We only have one year to get our candidates into the primaries. It won’t do any good to try to run our candidates and bring up Clean Slate during the primaries. We need to get it out and in the public’s mind before”

“How are we going to do this without shocking anyone and getting attacked?” Georgian Senator Wilmer asked.

“My assistant Paul has it all mapped out. He’s going to give you all detailed timelines for introducing Clean Slate. Basically, we drop the term in a conversation or interview here and there. Explain our views. We line up more and more economists and business leaders behind the theory. We have about two hundred of them now that will go along. Over time, the term becomes a bigger part of our speeches and interviews. A year from now, everyone will know what it is and then we announce the fifty candidates we have lined as well as ourselves as the Clean Slate party.”

Murmurs went up along the assembled group. Senator Williston gave them a few minutes to discuss his time table amongst themselves and when he heard the murmur quieting down, he continued. “Just so we are all on the same boat, the packet we are handing out has all the details you need to know about Clean Slate. Paul worked with Dr. Landry to come up with talking points, rebuttals, sound bites, and everything else you need to know to defend this plan.”

“Some of us are new to your little group,” Congressman Peters said. “Go over quickly what all Clean Slate entails and what this Dr. Landry has theorized.”

Senator Williston smiled and replied, “Sorry Bill, I had forgotten that you and Congressmen Smith, Anderson, and Jennings are new to our team. Dr. Landry has researched economic breakdowns over the course of human history. His research has lead him to believe that the current rate of spending and deficits by the U.S. Government is unsustainable. He believes that our spending combined with the debt and unfunded liabilities will crash our economy in the near future. I have reviewed his research and wholeheartedly believes in his conclusions. Several years ago, I started working with him to figure a way out of the mess. What we have come up with is the simple fact that if the economy is going to crash, why not crash it ourselves. Control the crash by having a plan to recover instead of being caught by surprise when it happens. Control the timing with a congress and senate that believes in a smaller government and less taxes.”

Senator Williston stopped for effect and let his words sink in. Even the people in the room who have heard this lecture before, still needed reinforcement from time to time. “What we need to do is build our numbers to the point that we control the agenda. When we can do that, we will refuse to pass the budget and stop the government. We default on our debt and lower taxes at that point to help us start over and the American business recover. We state at that time that we intend to wipe out all funding and start over with a clean slate. The budget we pass will be a fraction of the size and only include a very small portion of the current government.”

“And this is supposed to work and not bring everything down around our ears? What about the millions of people who will be out of work because of the reduced government?”

“There’s talking points on those topics in the folder. This is not going to come without some pain, but if we do it rather than having it happen by surprise, the fallout will be manageable. Read Dr. Landry’s paper and have your staff go over everything. You’ll come up with the same conclusions we have and be all the way onboard. This is the only way to get this great country out of the mess it’s in.”

Congressman Peters looked at the packet and then at Senator Williston, “Okay, Tom. I’ll give everything a go over and see what I how much I want to go in on this plan.”

“Thanks Bill,” Senator Williston said with a big smile on his face. He let the group talked amongst themselves while he bent down and whispered into Paul’s earl. “Make sure we put Bill and his group on a full-course press. He’s leaning to our side, but could blow the other way. Set up a meeting with Dr. Landry and include Bill’s group. We need to reel him in.”

“Will do. Make sure you mention that these packets cannot be made public. This all has to be keep secret until we are ready.”

“Good point. I’ll mention it in my closing remarks.”

Senator Williston, Senator Moran, Paul and a few others spent the rest of the evening making their way to other attendees of the dinner to talk privately about Clean Slate. Over the next few hours, Senator Williston had been able to convince all of the congressmen and senators in the room, including Congressman Peters, of the viability of Clean Slate. He was smiling and extremely happy by the time he and Paul found their way back in the limo to go back to his office.”

“You did a great job with those packets,” Senator Williston said to Paul as the limo pulled away. “A few more meetings like that and we’ll be able to pull off this whole thing.”

“Way to go with Congressman Peters. You had him drooling like a dog over the possibility of Clean Slate by the end of the night. After meeting with Dr. Landry, he’ll be one of our biggest cheerleaders.”

The two started laughing and the thought of Congressman Peters meeting with Dr. Landry. Little did anyone in the group knew that the whole thing had been Senator Williston’s theory. Dr. Landry only agreed to put his name to the research after a substantial offshore account had been set up in his name. It also helped that the title to a nice ocean-side resort in the South Pacific had been transferred to a company he now controlled. Dr. Landry didn’t want to ride out the after effects of Clean Slate anywhere near the United States.

Remember, what you see here may or may not make it into the book or it may be completely rewritten by then. Even so, leave me a comment if you like it or not.

Randy

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Do you read non-fiction?

I have been thinking recently on my future in writing. I do love to write fiction books because it allows me to make up stuff and get my thoughts out there on paper (even if it’s digital paper.) My question today is: do you read non-fiction books on the same subject matter as post-apocalyptic fiction books? Non-fiction books on prepping, sustainable living, farming, hunting, cooking from the garden, etc. Any? All? None? Leave me a comment and let me know?

Thanks for the help,

Randy

72 Hour Kit Discussion Part 1

Recently I started a new book based on a politician shutting down the government and manipulating Congress into default on our debt. Sounds familiar huh?

Well, the story goes on with the economy crashing and bringing down the world. Civilization is set back hundreds of years and normal people have to learn to live through it. This is a conversation between the two main characters. Mid-size town teacher and police detective with no survival skills, little money, and no prepping plans.

This is a very rough draft, so be kind. I put this in a post straight out of my allergy, stopped-up head.

BTW, the book is titled Political Fools and I think it may be ready by the first of the year.

Owen stood by the porch door and watched mother nature put on a show. A severe thunderstorm was making its way through the DFW area. Winds up to 80 mph had been recorded just a few miles away from the Harper’s house. Softball sized hail had devastated downtown Fort Worth and the airport had already measured three inches of rain.

“Watcha thinking about?” Melissa asked Owen as she walked up beside him and looked out the sliding door.

“Girls in bed?” Owen replied.

“Finally. It took forever to get them settled down.”

“I bet they’re back down here before long,” Owen said with a smile on his face. “This storm’s too bad.”

“We’ll, you’re up next. So watcha thinking about?”

“Just the storm and a few other things.”

“Like what? You’ve been quiet for a few days now. It’s more than the storm.”

“You remember that political rally for Senator Williston I worked at two weeks ago?”

“Yes, want about it?”

“I was stationed inside with RJ and we got to hear what he was saying. It was weird. He kept making references to starting over and creating a clean slate. I really didn’t know what he was talking about, but it sounded like he wants to shut down the government and default on our loans. I think he thinks that they can just hit a “restart” button on the government.”

“What did RJ say about it? He’s the financial brain.”

“He agrees. We talked about it later and he said that he’s been tracking a growing number of politicians who want to cut the budget to zero and rebuild it from scratch. Fund only what they think is good and cut everything else.”

“Really? Senator Williston is part of it? We always voted for him. I thought he was doing a great job?”

“His not only a part of it, he’s the leader. RJ didn’t have a great opinion of him. Thinks he’s corrupt and only looking out for himself.”

“That’s hard to believe, but okay. What else did you two talk about?”

“We talked about what would happen if they did shut down the government and default. RJ thinks it would ripple around the world and devastate the economy.”

“What, like a depression or something?”

“Much worse. Like the end of the civilized world as we know it. Something that would send us back hundreds of years.”

“You don’t agree with this do you? Is this why you’ve been so quiet?”

“I don’t agree completely. I can’t wrap my head around everything he believes. I can agree that maybe we may go into a depression, but I can’t believe we wouldn’t pull out of it in a few years.”

“So, why are you so upset?”

“I’ve been thinking about us and what would happen to us if something went wrong. What if something as simple as this storm caused a problem?”

“What you come up with?”

“We’re screwed,” Owen laughed as a bright flash of light and a huge crashed sounded just as the lights went off. “See, even the storm agrees.”

They both laughed as each went off in different directions looking for flashlights. Owen found three in the hall closet, but only two worked well enough to use for long. A third was very weak and they knew it wouldn’t last for more than an hour or two. He looked around in the kitchen and found another one that worked. Giving the three working flashlights to Melissa, he asked her to take two to the kids and he would scrounge in the fading light of the last flashlight until he either found another one or some replacement batteries.

Melissa came back down from looking in on the kids. “They slept through that. I wished I could sleep like that.”

“Then who would hear the kids when they are sick or have a bad dream? You don’t expect me to listen to you snore and still hear the kids?”

She punched him on the arm and sat down at the table. “So we’re screwed huh?”

“Yep. We could barely find flashlights. How would we survive if the power is out for more than a few hours?”

“It’s never been out for more than a few hours in the past. Why would tonight be any different?”

“I did some research last night. I found a web site that tracks power outages. Power outages are taking longer and longer to repair. Not enough workers, trucks, equipment, or too many people. It takes forty percent longer today to get power again versus two years ago.”

“Haven’t noticed.”

“Me either. We always just read our Kindles and go to bed.”

“Yea. What bothers me is what would happen to us and the kids if this power outage went for days instead of hours.”

Melissa didn’t say anything, she just look off in space for a few minutes. “Couldn’t we just go to a hotel or something? Maybe to your mom’s or my parent’s house.”

“That’s always what we thought in the past. But what if something really bad happen?”

“Like what?”

“Like a major hurricane hitting Houston and then making its way up here. Wiping out all electricity and utilities from here to Houston to Austin. Flooding in San Antonio wipes them out. Storm goes Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri and wipes them out as well. How long do you think it would take to get power back then? You remember when we went to Houston after that hurricane and helped out, don’t you? You really want to put our kids in one of those shelters?”

When Owen and Melissa were first married, they decided to volunteer with the Red Cross. Everything went fine for first few years. They went out to several disasters and helped the people get back on their feet. Everything was just like the brochure said it would be. Three years after joining up, a category five hurricane flooded large parts of the Houston area. This time instead of working with small towns or in rural areas, Owen and Melissa were assigned to a large shelter in the worse area of Houston. They stayed two nights before walking out after witnessing three rapes, four gang murders, and more thief than they could write down. They saw what happens in poorer areas of American cities when disaster happens. Their innocence went out the window during that storm and they both agreed they would never live or work in a large city again.

“I remember. I’d rather live in a hole than one of those places.”

“Exactly, but what have we done to prevent it?” Owen asked.

“Nothing.”

“Right. Nothing.”

“What should we do?” she asked in a whisper.

“I’m going to make a basic seventy-two hour kit. Put together some plans for various levels of events.”

“Various levels of events?” Melissa said in a mocking tone. “You’re not at work, what do you mean?”

Owen looked at her, “Okay. Okay. What I meant is that I want to create plans so we can survive if the power and water went out for three days or if the house was damaged, or if we needed to run out the door and head to safety.”

“Why would they be different?”

“Most of it would be the same. Minor things would be different.”

“Like what?”

“The ability to go out and get food and water. If the house was just slightly damaged we might still have water, if not electricity. If we had to go out for three days, we would need credit cards and clothes. Things like that?”

“So, how much of this do you have down?”

“Not much. It’s just been going around and around in my head over the week. I’m struggling with how to break it down into small enough pieces that it’s doable. It’s not like we have thousands of dollars lying around.”

“So once this power outage is over, how can I help?”

As if on cue, the lights came back on. They looked at each other and silently agreed that they would never take their children to a shelter. No matter how bad it got. No shelters.

New Book Review

Posted a new book review yesterday. Navigate to Book Review and give it a read.

San Francisco Island (a disaster survival novella)
By Rani Hart

This book was a little different than most of the disaster books I have read. I randomly picked it out of the hundreds I have on my Kindle and thought I would give it a go.

It’s About Time

For those three people who used to read my old site – I’m back. It’s been a few months since I last posted anything and as you’ll see, I started over with my site. I lost the contents of the old site and instead of trying to recreate it – I just decided to start over.

So, how’s it be going? Over the last year, I have moved back to Texas from Vermont. Had to do a bunch of family stuff, been sick for a few months, published one little book Spider Wars, and have had to deal with some major changes at my day job. It’s been seven months of activity that had left me so exhausted at the end of the day all I could do was sit in my chair, suck my thumb, and watch cartoons.

Just kidding, we’ll kidding about the cartoon part. I’ve actually stepped back and started reading a large number of books on writing and editing. I’ve built a workflow and several checklists I will now follow when I write a book. My goal is to produce books without all the editing errors you might have found in Out of Gas and The Farm. I do plan to go back over those two books and correct them as much as I can. It hasn’t been a wasted seven months. I’ve manage to read over forty books on writing and editing. Rereading many of them now to refresh myself on all the great things I’ve learned.

Oh well, enough for now. I hope you enjoy the new site and come back often. I plan on blogging about my writing activities, showing sneak previews of new stuff, creating stuff just to learn from, and posting book reviews on the great books I reading.

Come back and come back often.

See you later,

Randy

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The Meltdown: Cover Created

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It has been a busy couple of days and I am a little run down so I didn’t prepare anything for the blog tonight. Instead of ignoring the blog, I thought I would take the lazy way out tonight and give you a peak at what will be the cover for third book of the Out of Gas series: The Meltdown.

Why this cover?

For some reason, I had a hard time coming up with a cover for this book. I have always liked covers which depict something about the book and this book is a little different from the last two in the series. While outlining the The Meltdown, I found myself creating two main themes in the plot. The first theme is Mark’s struggle to grow the farm from a family farm into a small village. The second theme is the small war between the Tulsa Alliance and the farm against the Kingdom of North Texas. After doing some additional outlining, the taking of slaves by the Kingdom of North Texas became a strong part of the war theme. I thought the cover fit that theme quite well.

Look for the book sometimes this summer and I hope you like it.

Steve’s Escape is now live!

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Readers of the second book in the Out of Gas series, The Farm, will remember Mark’s brother Steve arriving with his family one morning after breakfast. Steve and Maria tell the members of the farm the hardships they faced in Corpus Christi as the city fell to ruins. They tell a tale of lost jobs, a major city closing its doors, a large gang war, and their flight by boat to safety.

Steve’s Escape is that tale. This 18,000 word short story retells the family’s plight and subsequent flight with an extra level of detail not found in The Farm.

You can find Steve’s Escape here.