One Second After, by William R. Forstchen

Connie in Outreach Services ends this week’s posts with a change of pace:

It’s been a while since I read a book that kept me thinking about it long after I turned the last page.  One Second After grabs you in the first chapter and never lets go.  In the tradition of Nevil Shute’s classic On the Beach, Forstchen presents a catastrophic event that changes our world forever.

The author, who has co-written several historical fiction books with Newt Gingrich, set the story in his hometown, and where he currently works as a professor of history at Montreat College.

The book is told from the perspective of a small-town college history professor.  One or more atomic bombs are set off in the atmosphere, creating an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) that fries everything containing microcircuitry.  The book describes in terrifying detail just what that means to everyone in this country, as we are thrown back to life without electronics and most machinery.

This is a book you’ll want to discuss with others.  And you’ll certainly be paying attention to what our government may or may not be doing to prevent this from happening!

Check the WRL catalog for One Second After in print or as an audiobook