Books › One second after
One second after
544 pages
A terrifyingly plausible descent into the dark ages that makes you look at your light switches and pantry with newfound dread.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like watching a slow-motion car crash from the inside, where the initial shock rapidly gives way to a suffocating, dread-soaked reality. The narrative moves with a propulsive, ticking-clock urgency, stripping away the comforts of modern life to expose the raw, terrifying fragility of civilization. It is a deeply pragmatic and grimly earnest experience, immersing the reader in the agonizing logistical and moral choices of survival. The prose is utilitarian and unvarnished, serving as a direct conduit for the visceral terror of starvation, disease, and societal collapse. It will thoroughly grip readers who are fascinated by hyper-realistic disaster scenarios, tactical problem-solving, and the heavy, heartbreaking burdens of community leadership in the face of absolute ruin.
- Mood
- dread-soaked
- tense
- bleak
- desperate
- Tone
- urgent
- grim
- cautionary
- pragmatic
- earnest
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- fragility of civilization · community survival · burden of leadership · moral compromises in crisis · fatherhood and protection
- The writing
- Utilitarian and direct, prioritizing logistical realism, tactical detail, and visceral impact over lyrical flourish.
- The arc
- Plunges from sudden, shocking disruption into a harrowing descent of desperation and loss, ultimately settling into a grim, scarred resilience.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave gritty, hyper-realistic survival scenarios and cautionary tales about the terrifying fragility of modern infrastructure.
Content notes
- starvation
- mass death
- violence
- death of a child
- medical crisis
- execution
About the book
New York Times best selling author William R. Forstchen now brings us a story which can be all too terrifyingly real...a story in which one man struggles to save his family and his small North Carolina town after America loses a war, in one second, a war that will send America back to the Dark Ages... A war based upon a weapon, an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP). A weapon that may already be in the hands of our enemies.
Months before publication, One Second After has already been cited on the floor of Congress as a book all Americans should read, a book already being discussed in the corridors of the Pentagon as a truly realistic look at a weapon and its awesome power to destroy the entire United States, literally within one second. It is a weapon that the Wall Street Journal warns could shatter America. In the tradition of On the Beach, Fail Safe, and Testament, this book, set in a typical American town, is a dire warning of what might be our future...and our end.
Description from Open Library.
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