One Second After

[DAdams]

I recently finished this book and found it quite interesting and enjoyable. For those who like EOTWS it ranks up there with there with On the Beach, Only Lovers Left Alive (really) and Alas Babylon and the movie Testament.

An EMP event shuts down the US and more. Takes place in and around Black Mountain, NC, Asheville area. Beware the Posse. Desperate folks in desperate times. For those who read it, your ammunition hoarding will kick into overdrive. A real page turner.

Author is William Forstchen.

http://www.amazon.com/One-Second-After-William-Forstchen/dp/0765317583

If you enjoy it, a good follow-on is World Made by Hand by James Howard Kunstler. It too is an "end of days" novel but takes place 20 years after the events.
Not as much "gun slinging" as One Second After....because there is little ammunition left. Can you say primitive reloading?
Everyone wants a horse or better yet an ox.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b...eywords=world+made+by+hand&sprefix=world+made

 

[armoredman]

A member here wrote an interesting EMP pulse story called "Lights Out", well done. I will see if the used bookstore has that one you speak of, thanks for the heads up.

 

[Col. Plink]

Will my illuminated-reticle scope still work after an EMP?? I gotta know!

 

[Tommygunn]

I am currently reading One Second After, and I agree; it's a very enjoyable & thought provoking read. I wonder what's going to happen to the main character's diabetic daughter when her insulin runs out (NO SPOILERS PLEASE!).
And running around in an old '59 Edsel ... that's a HOOT!
It does remind me of a sort of spiritual descendant of Alas, Babylon. . I suspect that was the intent of the author.

Anyone here who hasn't picked up a copy of One Second After, I very strongly recommend this book!

 

[KBintheSLC]

For those who read it, your ammunition hoarding will kick into overdrive.

Just what we needed.

Will my illuminated-reticle scope still work after an EMP?? I gotta know!

Only if it runs on Tritium. Just make sure you get Neo and Trinity out of the Matrix before they set it off.


...

 

[DAdams]

EMP

Will my illuminated-reticle scope still work after an EMP??

Does it have any electronics in it? Require a battery? If so probably not unless....

Only if it is protected with a grounded Faraday cage during the bombardment.

All digital devices, electronics (except analog) are toast. PC, MP3, GPS, autos with electronic controls etc.

Makes me wish I had my VW Campmobile. At least gasoline isn't an issue in that scenario.

Who cares about the daughter, what about the "idiots". The Goldens?

 

[swifteagle]

My wife & I recently finished One Second After as well, now one of my sons is reading it. We all LOVED it! Great book.

 

[Animal Mother]

A member here wrote an interesting EMP pulse story called "Lights Out", well done.

Its a very good yarn, its available as a free download from http://www.survivalmonkey.com/Lights Out.htm

 

[DAdams]

When

you Google One Second After, you will see it has been hit over 250,000 times.

Since there is no ammunition or reloading supplies to be had.....

I started picking up some other odds and ends.

(2) 120 lb tanks of propane
(1) Propane refil kit for small bottle refill
(1) Propane lantern
(1) Propane Heater
(1) Backpack Stove and canisters
(1) Backup analog radio, pocket size (Grundig Mini 300) Backup to 2 other analog radios. This one will fit in a bugout bag.
(100s) of Batteries of various sizes
(1) Water Purification system (manually operated) and replacement filters
(20) Flashlights
(2) Tents
(1) 5500 Watt Generator gasoline (from living in FL hurricanes)
(5) large rolls of visqueen
(2) Large first aid kits lots of extra med stuff
(90) Days of canned foods and liquids for four
(90) Days of dried foodstuffs
(180) Days of dog food, wet and dry
(1) Roll 100 yards of nylon strap (mountaineering grade)
See I have been reading too many of these eotws books. :banghead:

 

[Suicide*Ride]

WAR DAY, and the journey onwards

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned "War Day" by Whitley Schreiber & James Kunetka.

I graduated HS in 84' (the yr. the book came out) & after growing up during the cold war, reading this book really made quite an impression on me.

Below is 1 of many editorial reviews:

The unthinkable happened five years ago and now two writers have set out to find what's left of America.

New York, Washington D.C., San Antonio, and parts of the Central and Western states are gone, and famine, epidemics, border wars and radiation diseases have devastated the countryside in between.

It was a "limited" nuclear war, just a 36-minute exchange of missiles that abruptly ended when the superpowers' communication systems broke down. But Warday destroyed much of civilization.

Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka, old friends and writers, take a dangerous odyssey across the former United States, sometimes hopeful that a new, peaceful world can be built over the old, sometimes despairing over the immense losses and embittered people they meet.

In an eerie blend of fact and imagination, Strieber (author of "The Wolfen" and "The Hunger") and Kunetka (author of "City of Fire: Los Alamos and The Atomic Age", "1943-1945" and "Oppenheimer: The Years of Risk") cut through the doublespeak of military bureaucracy and the rhetoric of the 1980's peace movement to portray America after Warday.

I remember watching the movie "Red Dawn" circ: 1984, which was filmed & supposedly took place in my state (Colorado), & along w/ War Day has really gotten me to think about the possibilities of SHTF/EOTWAWKI scenarios. I don't live in a bunker & wear a tin foil hat, but I AM PREPAIRED for bad times.

FWIW - I hope other THR members have read this book & will also comment on it so I don't sound like some nut.

 

[danprkr]

Col. Plink don't take any chances, you KNOW your iron sights will work. Learn to use them well....

 

[Dravur]

you want EOTWAWKI? Read The Road by Cormac McCarthy...

Soon to be coming to a big screen near you.

Many many laughs to be had in this book...... well, not really.

But you will stock up after you read it.

 

[Rellian]

All digital devices, electronics (except analog) are toast. PC, MP3, GPS, autos with electronic controls etc.

It's been a few years since my EE days in college, but if my memory serves correct,

Not necessarily. There are many factors in considering the survivability of a piece of electronic equipment. Most sadly are out of the owner's hands. I will say if it is plugged into the power grid (the wall) and/or is on (batteries) it is to be considered toast (or a boat anchor). Some 'Analogue' equipment is also susceptible btw. Even vacuum tubes can be affected though they have a much greater resiliency.
Some factors that can determine survivability: If it is powered on, what type of cabling (of an electrical potential) it has attached to it (could act as an antenna for any or all of the three component waves), its design, proximity to the blast (and we are talking large numbers here.... not small).
In most cases the first wave, E1 (stronger voltages in many cases than lightning), will fry whatever, but under certain circumstances, it could survive. The second wave of the EMP (the weakest) usually does much less (although.... if E1 fried everything what does it matter?) and E3 can damage things not touched by E1 (E3 is the actual distortion of the earth's magnetic field)
But:

Will my illuminated-reticle scope still work after an EMP

If it were packed away in a gun safe, or gun cabinet sans batteries and the blast was not too close (a few states over at an altitude of say... 150 km) it may just survive... though I agree with danprkr... learn to live without it. Cause unlike the Oceans 11 remake, things don't reset after the blast.

But that is from memory....... I may find I have forgotten a detail or two.

 

[Logan5]

I must say, I thought it was a particularly depressing read, but then again, I've had a child in between this book and the last juicy catastrophe novel to come out, and I guess it's changed my perspective. Less thinking about Tina Turner's chainmail cocktail dress and more about how great disposable diapers are...

Non spoiler nitpicks:

1) It's too convenient that there is always a retired Marine D.I. in these stories who's all fired up to train troops so that our hero can hang by the pool being the sad, morally conflicted "brains of the operation".

2) Our hero's go-to guns are a Walker Colt repro and a 20ga bird gun, and then all of a sudden he had an M1 Carbine in his safe the whole time? Seriously, what was he saving it for? An emergency? I've read Lucifer's Hammer, and frankly I'd be using mustard gas the first time raccoons tried my trash cans after the end of the world, forget about waiting for an actual cannibal army to show up.

 

[DAdams]

Yes it's true

There is always some character and developmental failing in every book. This one fewer than many of the genre.

Logan5 says:

1) It's too convenient that there is always a retired Marine D.I. in these stories who's all fired up to train troops so that our hero can hang by the pool being the sad, morally conflicted "brains of the operation".

2) Our hero's go-to guns are a Walker Colt repro and a 20ga bird gun, and then all of a sudden he had an M1 Carbine in his safe the whole time? Seriously, what was he saving it for? An emergency? I've read Lucifer's Hammer, and frankly I'd be using mustard gas the first time raccoons tried my trash cans after the end of the world, forget about waiting for an actual cannibal army to show up.

Funny stuff there logan. There is a retired Marine DI in every crowd just waiting to arise the proper occassion.

Depressing EOTW....read, The Road. The producers are going to have to take some real liberties to make a movie from that book. Snore...too much retrospection/introspection for my liking. No Country for Old Men was great, but then it was an excellent book as-well.

 

[DAdams]

Information regarding this type of "attack" and resultant phenom has been around since the "bomb" itself.

http://www.heritage.org/research/missiledefense/bg1372.cfm

http://www.onesecondafter.com/

I don't lose any sleep over any of this stuff, but it is a great excuse to buy "stuff".

Water is of course a huge issue. I used to have a 700 gallon spa. Now I am looking into 50 gallon containers to keep a couple hundred gallons on hand. Of course it is a minimal amount that won't last long. I live a 1/8 mile from a large reservoir, so hand carrying is an option. A four wheeler in a Faraday cage would be worthwhile. Pull the power deck to mow the lawn until.....

 

[USSR]

Great read. My neighbor is currently reading it.

Don