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A review by raelindenberg
One Second After by William R. Forstchen
1.0
Literally don’t know why this book has so many good reviews. To say I “read” this book in its entirety is generous. Got to page 410 before a dumbass plot point rendered the rest of the book unreadable. Not that it was any great tome before then.
This book pretends to be middle-of-the-road politically but the “Forward by Newt Gingrich” should have been a clear indication that this book was a militarist propaganda novel from the off.
I genuinely tried to be apolitical while reading this book - tried to take the story at face value - but the author and protagonist's thinly veiled fetish for pro-American, Republican, military industrial complex politics render any attempts at centrism shallow and at best, tokenism.
The book isn’t groundbreaking with prose either. Most of the book is exposition - 10 out of the 12 chapters - with most chapters consisting of council meetings. Thus, the book reads more as a “What to Expect When You’re Expecting an EMP-Induced Apocalypse” rather than a gripping tale of survival. We know that the protagonist, John, has a family he cares for because it’s mentioned 8,000 times, yet we spend next to no time with the family, thereby not endearing us to them at all (well, maybe his two golden retrievers...even more than his diabetic daughter) and fails to illustrate his struggles as a family man during the crisis with any true depth. It’s all surface level. Instead time is wasted giving the reader history lessons about wars of the past and the horrible conditions of other populations in foreign countries (ie Leningrad is mentioned about 9 separate times throughout the whole book) without really admitting that America has treated its own people poorly throughout its history...no that would be unpatriotic to mention, of course. And at one point our protagonist has the AUDACITY to insinuate that America’s support and help of other nations had come with “no expectation of anything in return...” so much for being historically “accurate”. Please...
Finally, if you want to read a protagonist describe several women throughout the book as “sexy” - one he even admits is not much older than one of his daughters, then you might actually like this book. Between oscillating from memories of his dead wife to undressing various women with his eyes, you can’t tell if this guy is grieving or horny (maybe both!)
Ultimately, this novel is a pro-gun, erotic military fan fiction about a small town southern battle during an apocalypse. It's a sanctimonious circle jerk for military fetishists looking for a 504 page stroke-a-thon. This book was my selection for my book club’s monthly read and my God do I have a lot of apologizing to do. Sorry I wasn’t y’all’s times.
Believe it or not, I went into this book with an open-mind - I love speculative, apocalyptic fiction, but this book’s agenda beats you over the head so much, you’ll be walking away a migraine (just be glad you don’t have to trade bear meat for aspirin...)
READERS: SPARE YOURSELVES. Read “Station Eleven” instead.
This book pretends to be middle-of-the-road politically but the “Forward by Newt Gingrich” should have been a clear indication that this book was a militarist propaganda novel from the off.
I genuinely tried to be apolitical while reading this book - tried to take the story at face value - but the author and protagonist's thinly veiled fetish for pro-American, Republican, military industrial complex politics render any attempts at centrism shallow and at best, tokenism.
The book isn’t groundbreaking with prose either. Most of the book is exposition - 10 out of the 12 chapters - with most chapters consisting of council meetings. Thus, the book reads more as a “What to Expect When You’re Expecting an EMP-Induced Apocalypse” rather than a gripping tale of survival. We know that the protagonist, John, has a family he cares for because it’s mentioned 8,000 times, yet we spend next to no time with the family, thereby not endearing us to them at all (well, maybe his two golden retrievers...even more than his diabetic daughter) and fails to illustrate his struggles as a family man during the crisis with any true depth. It’s all surface level. Instead time is wasted giving the reader history lessons about wars of the past and the horrible conditions of other populations in foreign countries (ie Leningrad is mentioned about 9 separate times throughout the whole book) without really admitting that America has treated its own people poorly throughout its history...no that would be unpatriotic to mention, of course. And at one point our protagonist has the AUDACITY to insinuate that America’s support and help of other nations had come with “no expectation of anything in return...” so much for being historically “accurate”. Please...
Finally, if you want to read a protagonist describe several women throughout the book as “sexy” - one he even admits is not much older than one of his daughters, then you might actually like this book. Between oscillating from memories of his dead wife to undressing various women with his eyes, you can’t tell if this guy is grieving or horny (maybe both!)
Ultimately, this novel is a pro-gun, erotic military fan fiction about a small town southern battle during an apocalypse. It's a sanctimonious circle jerk for military fetishists looking for a 504 page stroke-a-thon. This book was my selection for my book club’s monthly read and my God do I have a lot of apologizing to do. Sorry I wasn’t y’all’s times.
Believe it or not, I went into this book with an open-mind - I love speculative, apocalyptic fiction, but this book’s agenda beats you over the head so much, you’ll be walking away a migraine (just be glad you don’t have to trade bear meat for aspirin...)
READERS: SPARE YOURSELVES. Read “Station Eleven” instead.