The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against the United States

By: Jeffrey Lewis

Narrated by: Neil Hellegers

The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against the United States is an exciting piece of "speculative fiction." The novel posits that there was a nuclear attack against the US on March 21, 2020 by North Korea, and that a national bipartisan commission was created to investigate what and how it happened. It's pretty scary stuff.

©2018 Jeffrey Lewis (P)2018 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Could not stop listening

Well written, well researched, and most importantly so believable that I found myself forgetting this was a work of fiction. I wish it went on for at least one more hour.

Speculation, but, well done.

A look at a likely event to happen in the future. Well researched for a fictional war.

Fascinating, Distrubring, and Flawed

Some positives and negatives with this one:

As others have stated, this story is strongest at the beginning, setting the table for the chaos to unfold. With slight exception from some emotional actions on the part of S Korea’s leadership, it comes off as quite believable and disturbing, but again, loses steam as we progress to 2nd and 3rd acts. Nonetheless, the authors’ apparent goal to convey just how much of a powder keg the Korean Peninsula is, and how horrible the outcome would be in a worst-case scenario, is largely achieved. There are some things that miss the mark for me however, and detracted from the book (spoilers below):

• The idea that there would be no nuclear response from S Korea, Japan, or the US are an NK first strike seems a bit of a stretch to say the least.
• The US military apparently has no “response plan” to an NK nuclear strike, and has to modify a “first strike” plan instead? Doubt it.
• The author needlessly chooses to engage in some #Resistance “fan faction” that is completely unnecessary to the narrative, and really detracts from the story. Trump’s tweeting helping to spiral a situation out of control? Certainly reasonable. Donald Trump getting physically roughed up by a military aide in a literal tug-of-war over the nuclear football? C’mon. Nikki Haley refusing to call Trump in the middle of the night because of rumors of an affair fueled by Michael Wolff’s book? Nikki Haley refusing to give water to a famished child fleeing destruction? Completely pointless. These aspects almost certainly will be gleefully inhaled by passionate Trump opponents, will outrage Team MAGA, but for the rest of us just interested in this topic, really just doesn't add anything.

In sum, in many ways, this story “delivers the goods”, but it’s very avoidable flaws can be quite frustrating.

Strong Start Very Implausible Finish

The first half builds a reasonably realistic pre war scenario. However, out of nowhere the final chapters of the book focus on Trump hating. This much overdone assault on the President comes at the expense of a completely failed ending.
The focus on demeaning the President is not mentioned at anytime in the previews. I believe this to be unfair to the potential buyer/reader..

Interesting story

Thought-provoking, great delivery by the narrator. While some may be put off by the politics, it asks a pointed question about nuclear weapons that is as relevant today as when they were invented. Recommended.