Disturbing and Very Irritating

I selected this audio book because the post-apocalyptic nature of the story appealed to me (saddo that I am...)

However it has a number of genuine challenges - which very nearly led to me throwing the towel in the first few hours of listening (frankly this was not helped by a foreword from Newt Gingrich).

- The narrative is peppered with endless patriotic "God Bless America", "America is the best", "we will endure because we are Americans" comments. These might be heart warning to Americans - for me, their frequency really irritated. And it comes across as slightly smug - from a nation that, whatever they might think, do not have a monopoly on freedom and democracy.

- There are constant references to soldiers, veterans, the military. I don't mean in a "grab a gun, the zombies are coming (they aren't)" sort of way. I mean in a "The American military and vets in particular are wonderful and we all owe them so much". I'm not saying they are not and that they (Americans) don't owe them. But be prepared to listen to a lot of it.

- The book is sort of like a report on the consequences of "the event which happens in the story" converted into a novel - but still sounding somewhat like a report.

What I will say in its favour is that it really does punch home some of the real day to day issues that almost certainly would be endured by people facing this sort of scenario. It has made me consider buying a lot of food in bulk and hiding at the end of my garage waiting for the world to collapse.

I don't think the book is well written in terms of the characters and the narrative framework - it is somewhat disjointed - the author is certainly no Stephen King.

In summary - this IS a post-apocalyptic story. It does go on and on about how wonderful America is. It's really just a warning about what might happen if America doesn't prepare for the worst.

If you want an atmospheric end of the world read - I would say this probably should not be top of your list (try Station 11 if you've not read that).

67 people found this helpful

Are you prepared?

I love this genre but this was my first EMP novel and I wasn't disappointed it has loads of detail about the breakdown of civilisation that makes the scenario so much more real. My only complaint is that the author felt they had to add in the America forever strap lines which left me cold but overall a very good read if you like this sort of thing

16 people found this helpful

Assumptions and American Superpatriotism

I'm afraid my opinion of this book differs greatly from so many of the other reviewers - I found myself annoyed throughout. The author obviously did his research on certain topics, but others he completely neglected and important parts of the story were based on weak assumptions. That added to the intense American nationalism and Deep South Republican attitude just left me shaking my head. I'll be taking Audible up on their lovely return policy and this is the first book I'll ever have returned based on pure dislike. The only good thing I can say for it is the narrator was fine.

23 people found this helpful

A shocking look at how fragile our civilisation is

If all of our modern conveniences were taken away in a split second how long would it take our society to unravel? How long would it take civilisation to revert to savagery?
This book is a disturbing what if scenario which could become reality all too easily if not though EMP as depicted in this work then by other means such as economic collapse.
A truly riveting story which is shocking and disturbing along which some devastatingly heart-breaking moments.
This book will definitely leave you thinking, if not change your outlook on our times.

A Five Star Listen

3 people found this helpful

Good story ruined by tub-thumping rhetoric

I love reading post-apocalyptic fiction of the sociological variety (as opposed to zombies/ mutants on the rampage and tribal warfare) and in its portrayal of an EMP catastrophe and the efforts to rebuild society, this had the makings of a great story.

But… all of this comes with a huge caveat. The strengths of the book are entirely undermined by jingoism, militarism, bible-bashing, a sanctimonious (and quite grating) protagonist and a huge dollop of schmaltz. All of these things may be rousing to an American reader for all I know, but will be hard to stomach for phlegmatic Brits.

I was particularly irked when the lead character decides that the only way to deal with young criminals on the make, is to have them shot in front of an audience. Seriously, the author treats this not as the descent into barbarism but as the re-emergence of civilisation. Even I, with right of centre liberal views, was dumbfounded by some of the awful right-wing rhetoric on display here. I suppose the fact that there is a preface by Newt Gingrich really ought to have set the alarm bells ringing.

Further to all of this, there is the author’s love of historical facts and laboured explanations; definitely the sign of a poor writer. No great writer would ever resort to such condescension.

Give this book a try by all means, but take the flag-waving patriotism with a giant pinch of salt. Yeee-haaaaw!

2 people found this helpful

Thought provoking storyline

What did you like most about One Second After?

The book explores our modern dependency on technology and how vulnerable we become without it. The difficulties caused by an electronic meltdown were well explored, even down to areas such as those who are medication dependant as well as the more obvious issues such as food, water and power.

What other book might you compare One Second After to, and why?

The book revolves very much around the lead character his family and their town so in that respect, tends not to compare to other books of the genre I have read. This book explores the disaster at the local level. If it were to happen, we would all experience the same issues.

What about Joe Barrett’s performance did you like?

I loved this narrator for his soft accent, good diction and measured pace.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The book does tug at the heart strings but would have done so much more with less schmaltz and a big lid on the patriotic We are Americans stuff. I understood what the author was trying to say with it but it was too heavy handed especially as the people causing all the trouble were also Americans too!

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed the book but felt that it missed the opportunity to be taken a bit more seriously and that is a shame. As with so many books today, I felt some of the story and the writing was sacrificed for the movie the author was hoping for.

2 people found this helpful

Startling

This book really does well at demonstrating how dependent we have become on our electrical devices and gives an impression of how life would be if they were all suddenly taken away. If you enjoyed watching Jericho (or any other apocalyptic fiction) you will love this. Parts of this book will excite you, others will depress you, death is inevitable throughout.

2 people found this helpful

Best of the Genre

I have listened to a few in this genre and this is the first that has managed to stir my emotions. Great story, well narrated and frighteningly easy to put yourself and your family in the story. Superb.

4 people found this helpful

Basically just a USA circejerk

A bit racist, a fair bit sexist and poorly written, 'One Second After' was an excellent idea that suffered from being authored by somebody with an ego bigger than his linguistic repertoire. Every important character in this book is a man and every time the author mentions a woman it is usually in reference to her physique over any other quality she may bring to the story. I'm never going to listen to this again, in fact there were a number of times I nearly turned it off and refunded it, but I kept at it and if you can see through all the chauvinism, racism, sexism and patriotism it's an OK story.

1 person found this helpful

Pray it never happens

Where does One Second After rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Best book I've listened to for a while. Perhaps ever.

What did you like best about this story?

This book must've been good as I found myself talking about its scenarios over dinner, wondering to myself what *I* would do in a similar situation and getting emotional more than once as the story progressed. I guess it's really immersive - perhaps more so as an audio book, aided partly by the narrator's performance, which never pulled me out of the story once.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Pray it never happens

Any additional comments?

I've seen reviews of the paper book criticising the grammar. But as a 'read' book I never noticed any of this so I'm glad that I listened to it!

1 person found this helpful