77 Days in September

By: Ray Gorham

Narrated by: Joseph Morton

Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

On a Friday afternoon before Labor Day, Americans are getting ready for the holiday weekend, completely unaware of a long-planned terrorist plot about to be launched against the country. Kyle Tait is settling in for his flight home to Montana when a single nuclear bomb is detonated 300 miles above the heart of America. The blast, an Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP), destroys every electrical device in the country, and results in the crippling of the power grid, the shutting down of modern communications, and bringing to a halt most forms of transportation.

Kyle narrowly escapes when his airplane crashes on take-off, only to find himself stranded 2,000 miles from home in a country that has been forced, from a technological standpoint, back to the 19th century. Confused, hurt, scared, and alone, Kyle must make his way across a hostile continent to a family he's not even sure has survived the effects of the attack. As Kyle forges his way home, his frightened family faces their own struggles for survival in a community trying to halt its slow spiral into chaos and anarchy.

77 Days in September follows Kyle and his wife, Jennifer, as they are stretched past their breaking point, but find in their devotion to each other the strength to persevere.

What is an EMP?

An EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) is a magnetic pulse that overwhelms, and thus destroys, all electronic devices exposed to it. It is the most serious threat faced by a technologically advanced society. An EMP can be human caused, through the detonation of a nuclear bomb high above the atmosphere, or natural, through a severe geo-magnetic storm. In multiple reports prepared for Congress, scientists predict the complete destruction of modern American society and question our ability to ever recover if we are the target of an EMP attack. Further, some predict the death toll in America in the aftermath of such an event to be in excess of 200 million.

About the author: Ray Gorham lives in the small farming community of Shepherd, Montana with his wife and five children. He runs his log-home business by day and writes in the evenings, on weekends, and whenever the weather keeps him inside.

©2011 Ray Gorham (P)2012 Sunny Day Audiobooks

I wish narrators would learn to PAUSE.....

Good story, BUT I wish narrators would learn to,PAUSE when appropriate......run on sentences kill a good book. I suppose it could be the audio editors.....VERY irritating. Would be four stars otherwise.......

The love of a man for his family

If you could sum up 77 Days in September in three words, what would they be?

Interesting,enjoyable,rereadable

What was one of the most memorable moments of 77 Days in September?

When Kyles son sees him after 3 months

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The narration could have been a lot better, kinda dragged u down

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Love always comes through

Any additional comments?

I would retread this book...:)

Kyle Tait is quite the wimp

Terrorists detonate a nuclear bomb in the atmosphere above the United States bringing down the grid, the majority of electronics and automobiles via EMP. While the story starts out as your typical grid down EMP tale, it is anything but. The main characters are not preppers, or retired Special Forces, or active military, or law enforcement. These are just regular people dealing with extraordinary circumstances. On second thought, after venturing further into the story I find our protagonist, Kyle Tait is quite the wimp, having little to no backbone. Quite disappointing! Kyle survives an airline crash near Houston, Texas and for the remainder of the volume must journey home to Deer Creek, Montana 2,000 miles distant. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Kyle’s wife and children are facing their own bundle of chaos. The wife, Jennifer must face this disaster on her own, not quite knowing exactly what to do, while continuing to care for their three children. I believe Jennifer had a much harder go of it than our boy Kyle.

Depends on what you want

So if you are looking for your first "end of US as we know it" read... and want a PG-13 rather than an R rated read. I think "One Second After," "Alas Babylon" or "Jakarta Pandemic" trumps "77 Days." If you are looking for incredible writing "The Road" has them all beat. If you enjoyed the above books, this is similar with a non-prepper family being separated during an EMP. It follows both the family at home and the husband as he treks home. They both make dumb mistakes and you aren't going to learn much from their experiences... unless, of course, you don't have a clue what an EMP is... But this book does have some different twists and perspectives. I enjoyed it and it was well worth the credit. However, If you are a prepper looking for something like "Patriots" or enjoyed "Lucifer's Hammer" you probably won't like this at all. And if you want zombies or a supernatural twist like Stephen Kings "The Stand" you will really be disappointed.

Very slow. the plot needs work.

Would you try another book from Ray Gorham and/or Joseph Morton?

I would think twice.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

It was obvious from the beginning

Have you listened to any of Joseph Morton’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

The performance was good.

Was 77 Days in September worth the listening time?

Yes but I wish the main character was not such a wussy.

A Good Beginning

The narrative starts out very well, with dramatic and interesting perspectives on the EMP disaster, and the people and systems involved. I really enjoyed the first third or half. But when the journey begins, the plot thins out. Events become a little arbitrary and loosely connected. Something similar happens with the other journey narrative, The Road. The Journey is a difficult form to write, because it is inherently loosely structured. Things begin to happen for no connected reason, just because we have journeyed down the road a little further. However, these two narratives give an important view of the post-apocalypse world, in that the protagonists are not together at the moment when the disaster occurs, but in fact are far apart from each other. This is an aspect of the post-apocalypse that needs to be examined, because it is probably far more likely than the tidy plot in which the protagonists are all conveniently together from the beginning.

How to stumble through an apocalypse

The character's lack of taking measures to protect thrmselves despite encountering dangers made it hard to fathom that they survived. While reading this the final line from A Streetcar Named Desire kept running throught my head.... "I have always relied on thr kindness of strangers."

Survival thriller with moral fiber to chew on.

What did you love best about 77 Days in September?

The title says it all. A morality thriller breaking through, leaving the 'preachy' at the door step.

What was one of the most memorable moments of 77 Days in September?

Lubbock. I had a good laugh there. Read and see what I mean.

Which scene was your favorite?

No thank you, and I'll always be grateful.

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

A joy to have a book that brings 'conscience' into the limelight.

Any additional comments?

Enjoy the read, you'll learn a lot.

Enjoyed. Well worth reading,

If you could sum up 77 Days in September in three words, what would they be?

77 Days in September: U.S.A's possible turn-out

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

Yes it did,

Any additional comments?

This book is one that I will read again.

definitely written by an older religious man.

kept my interest for the most part. Mane character is a woos. Characters more people you would meet in the 1940s.