One Second After

By: William R. Forstchen

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's Summary

In a small North Carolina town, one man struggles to save his family after America loses a war that will send it back to the Dark Ages.

Already cited on the floor of Congress and discussed in the corridors of the Pentagon as a book all Americans should read, One Second After is the story of a war scenario that could become all too terrifyingly real. Based upon a real weapon - the Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) - which may already be in the hands of our enemies, it is a truly realistic look at the awesome power of a weapon that can destroy the entire United States, literally within one second.

This book, set in a typical American town, is a dire warning of what might be our future and our end.

©2009 William R. Forstchen (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"[An] entertaining apocalyptic thriller....fans of such classics as Alas, Babylon and On the Beach will have a good time as Forstchen tackles the obvious and some not-so-obvious questions the apocalypse tends to raise." ( Publishers Weekly)

Couldn’t finish

The main character just seems like this fake idealization of what conservatives think a person should be. “He” is the smart guy, “he” is the guy who uses his smarts to survive, “he” still manages to keep his morality during a difficult situation, “he” is the rugged individual and embodiment of “don’t tread on me”. Everyone else is a savage or an idiot.


As someone else pointed out - where are the engineers and tech heads who would quickly see this situation as a challenge ? In a situation like this people would quickly band together to start getting critical resources and systems back online. Believe it or not, there are people out there who would take pride in helping other people. Little by little they would work through the problems. They wouldn’t just throw their hands up and say “welp, guess I’ll be a canibal”. Rotfl




Garbage.

Shoulda Paid More Attention

I should've paid more attention to the fine print on the cover of the audiobook. When the foreword is by a serial adulterer posing as a conservative politician, how could this book be anything but a conservative diatribe? At any rate, the reader should've been a native Southerner... or at least a guy who could distinguish one southern accent from another. I recommend neither the author nor the narrator.

Phenomenal

Amazing narration, terrifyingly realistic story, this book is not for the faint of heart or stomach.

Couldn’t stop even if I wanted to

As a former nuclear power sailor, I’m familiar with the Compton effect and emp. This is a thought provoking venture into what would happen to our communities were we to be hit with an emp. It’s an emotional roller coaster, and an all too real threat. It will make you want to stockpile food, medicine, fuel, guns, ammunition, and every pre-80s era vehicle you can get your hands on.

Eye Opening

Like many of the characters of this book, I never thought of the possibility of a civilization ending event, such as an EMP. Like the fictional citizens of Black Mountain, NC, I didn’t believe that this was even a plausible idea, let alone remotely possible. But, unlike those fictional men, women and children I grew to love and admire, crying at births and deaths and celebrating at the discovery of food, I have been awakened to the possibility of life as I know it coming to an end.

As a result of this fictional, but all too real novel, I have began to prepare myself and my family for the possibility of any event that would put us at risk, particularly the events that threaten to end life as I know it.

Embarrassing army porn

Wooden dialogue, paragraph after paragraph of tedious descriptions of some such gun or explosive or whatever, and a never ending barrage of "oo rah semper fi soldiers are saints must salute the flag" silliness.

tedious treatment of an interesting premise

A Realistic Worst Nightmare

Do NOT let the negative comments sway you; this is an EXCELLENT book. Maybe the impact regarding EMP is a bit overblown, but who cares!? It’s not about EMP, it’s about what happens to a modern society when it suddenly isn’t modern. The results are terrifying. Bill Forstchen’s conclusions may be extreme, but they are well thought out and certainly possible. While the story does continuously harp about our reliance on modern technology, that’s exactly what the characters are realizing as their modern day conveniences disappear nearly leading them to the point of utter despair. Some may also be put off by a political tone associated with religion and nationalism, but Forstchen supports this societal tendency by weaving in enlightening historical references as seen through the eyes of the main character. This is a fascinating book that holds your attention, smacks you across the face a few times, and hopefully makes you appreciate that iPhone you are currently taking for granted. Finally, Joe Barrett’s narration is also one of the best I’ve ever heard for an Audible book.

A terrifying story

Any additional comments?

This story was harrowing. I downloaded it as the daily deal and was just checking to make sure the down load worked correctly when I found myself hooked. I listened to the whole book in a matter of days putting aside the book I was currently reading. The narrator did a great job but the story itself captured a sense of truth that made it seem terrifyingly possible. On a personal note, having survived a six day power outage with no water and no where to go after a hurricane and earthquake and flooding several years ago, the reactions of the characters rang true. The deadly aftermath of the EMP attack really made me think about being prepared for disasters in future. Thought provoking. Be warned --considerable graphic violence. Disturbing.

The Good, Bad, and Overall...

The Good: Interesting approach on an overlooked threat.

The Bad: Reminds me of the fear factory that is 24 hours news. Linear approach to hardships and obstacles faced during a world changing incident does not allow for alternative options not presented within the story. Lake full of fish - ignored, eat any source of protein - ignore insects, limited resources in a poorly defensible position - stay in place, enforce martial law on others - refuse to give up 'MY' car, have running cars - not apt enough to use them as generators, and the biggest: -use 'MY' morality to dictate your survival. For an Ex-military persona I would expect better survival techniques.

Overall: The author makes reference to Jonestown fanaticism but fails to see his own hypocrisy in his own writing. The story is fine, the writing is apt, but this is mostly earmarked for the Kool-Ade drinkers who are rating this as firewall 5 stars. I bought it for $5.95 (sale) and got my money worth out of the story. Your mileage and/or Flavor-Ade may vary.

Get on with it already!!

Oh man, well, where do I start and not provide any spoilers... The voice acting is OK at best, not the voice actor himself but the way the directing made the main character sound like he is Rambo but in fact he's more of a Military pencil pusher, Doesn't quite go with the depiction of the character. And OMG!!! how long does it take a book to get to the main topic at hand, Holy cow!! Yes I get it, it is fiction and the author can do whatever they want, but man, we are talking about a post apocalyptic scenario, the author chews on this story like it is freaking bubble gum, You are in the book for quite sometime before the main plate is served and even then!!! I am sorry for all my rambling, I was very disappointed by this book. So many other books out there of this same subject are so much better formatted, they put you in the action right away and explain things along the way. This book is like watching some kind of twisted southern soup opera where every dramatic detail is explained and the action is just a by-product of that drama, boring!!!!

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).

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

Superb listen!

If you could sum up One Second After in three words, what would they be?

Enthralling! Thought Provoking!

Who was your favorite character and why?

John - a normal, caring individual

What does Joe Barrett bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Makes John come to life.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Several moving moments - found myself crying as I drove

Thought Provoking

An excellent book which I have recommended to many friends. The manner in which modern life rapidly collapses is thought provoking to say the least!