One Second After - A Book of Surviving an EMP

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One second after is a book by William R. Forstchen about the aftermath of a nuclear bomb being detonated over the United States causing a massive EMP that takes out the power grid.

It all starts with the main character John Matherson after all power goes out in a small town. John realizes rather quickly that this isn't an ordinary power outage but the effects of an EMP as not only is power out but electrical devices no longer work, nor do most new cars.

One John realizes this many things begin to happen in the small town they live in. Hundreds of travelers are stranded on the freeway and everyone is wondering what is going on. Almost immediately some of the more negative side of our nature comes out and it's clear there are going to be problems.

John is a professor of history as well as a well seasoned military man and through the book he puts both of these skills to use trying to save as many people as possible as people face a variety of perils caused by the lack of water.

They have to contend with sickness, lack of medicine, food shortages as well as those that try to take by force. They are themselves forced to make tough decisions as a town to keep as many people alive as they can and secure their town from being overrun.

This book is so compelling you will not only read it, but once you have you will share it with others. Whether you are someone who believes the government is here to help you or you think the government doesn't do well when a major crisis happens this book is a good read.

It is very thought provoking with very believable scenarios about how life in America will be if we were to go backwards 100+ years to a time without all the moder conveniences we all come to value in our daily lives. We go about our day to day lives without a though in the world about how life would be if we didn't have our iPads, cell phones and computers.

I hope that if you get this book you will like it as much as I have and share it with others. I believe every person that reads this will think about at least having a 3 day survival kit if not a month so that we don't have quite so much reliance on the government and more accountability for our own security.

At http://www.doomsday-preppers.com/ you will find a wide variety of survival products for everyone from urban survivalist to the hard core emergency prepper. We have Gas Masks, Survival food and much more available. You can find this book HERE.

Book Review: Reckless Perfection

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Fiction/Young Adult
Reckless Perfection
Laura Francois
2009
Legacy Book Publishing
235 pages

Reckless Perfection is the debut novel of Laura Francois. It is the story of four high school girls from Roctown High in New Jersey who are involved in complicated, adult-like relationships with the opposite sex. All four of the girls also deal with volatile family relationships. Francois' story offers a window of insight into the lives of teens that is both entertaining and intriguing.

Fifteen-year-old Mercedez lives with her father and pregnant stepmother. While adjusting to her new family life, and dealing with her mother's chronic illness, Mercedez ends her relationship with her longtime boyfriend, Julio. When seventeen-year-old Robbie comes into her life, Mercedez experiences the dark side of an intimate relationship.

Julia and her twin brother, Julio, live with their mother in a two bedroom house while their musician father focuses on his career. Julia is an exemplary student and a musician in her own right, but she still struggles with the feelings she has for her ex-boyfriend.

Angela is a bad girl trying to go straight. She has a history of drug and alcohol abuse and promiscuity. A violent incident with her only friend leads to a change in perspective for Angela that puts her back on the right track.

Amanda is from a wealthy family, but transfers to Roctown High after being expelled from her private high school. She becomes involved with Julio, but the friendship that continues to connect him to Mercedez causes Amanda to become jealous and insecure.

The portrait of modern teen life that Francois paints in this tale of multicultural characters is filled with the adult themes of sex, drugs, and domestic violence. Some of the characters in this story are so independent, that it is easy to forget that this is a novel for young adults. There are many positive interactions between the teens and their friends and families; however the most memorable incidents are those in which the girls find themselves in situations that even adults have a hard time navigating. This book is best suited for older teens (fifteen-years-old and up) due to the adult themes.

Francois shows promise as a storyteller. She manages the cast of characters well, keeping the plot of each girl's story moving forward with unexpected twists that hold the reader's attention. Her writing technique needs refinement; hopefully the sequel to Reckless Perfection will show that the author has matured in her craft.

Reckless Perfectiondoes what good fiction should do: it entertains and educates.

Melissa Brown Levine
for
Independent Professional Book Reviewers

Melissa Brown Levine is a writer, book reviewer and manuscript consultant. She is the author of "I Need to Make Promises: A Novella and Stories." Read an excerpt at http://www.melissabrownlevine.com/.

Soviet Plot to Kill John Wayne Is Focus of Moffie's New Hollywood Novel

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Sam Moffie's "To Kill the Duke" may well be the funniest and most entertaining novel ever written about Hollywood and movie history. And Moffie is not afraid of casting some of Hollywood's biggest legends-both in terms of movie stars, directors, producers, and films-for his plot and characters. This time Moffie has penned a hilarious re-creation of the filming of "The Conqueror."

While I have never seen this 1956 film, as a movie buff, of course, I've heard about it. It's reputedly one of the worst films ever made, although it had everything going for it that should have made it a hit-an all star cast, including John Wayne, Susan Hayward, and Agnes Moorehead; being directed by Dick Powell, himself a screen legend; and being produced by Howard Hughes. Moffie creates a fictionalized-but not too fictionalized-version of the film's production, which is truly stranger than fiction and had some notable flaws. John Wayne as Genghis Khan just wasn't believable, especially when he refused to take voice lessons to pull off the role. And then there was the location-Hughes purchased land in Utah from the U.S. government for $1 to film the movie. How could he get it so cheap? Because it was the victim of nuclear fallout from nearby government weapon testing. In fact, most of the crew and cast would end up dying from cancer in future years, presumably from the nuclear fallout, and Moffie provides an extensive list at the book's end of all the cast and crew (and fictional characters), detailing their careers and deaths. I was impressed that Moffie even corresponded with one of the stuntmen while researching the book-of course, most of the cast and crew are long dead.

As if a novel about "The Conqueror" were not enough to please fans of The Duke and old movie buffs, Moffie mixes the Cold War into the story. The plot begins in the U.S.S.R. with Ivan, who is hired to work as projectionist to Joseph Stalin; not only does Stalin enjoy watching American films, but he likes to dress up like the characters in Westerns, and he has a desire to have John Wayne assassinated. Before long, Ivan and some of his fellow Soviets find themselves in Hollywood, making their own films while they try to figure out how they can get close enough to John Wayne to carry out Stalin's plan.

Moffie offers many surprising twists and turns along the way. I found myself checking online to find out what was true and what fiction, and I was surprised by how much was true, since as I said, the story behind "The Conqueror" is stranger than fiction.

I laughed out loud numerous times while reading this book. Some of Moffie's humor borders on the crude, but most of it is just plain funny and slightly exaggerated. The crude includes Howard Hughes' sexual efforts to find stress relief, and a Jew named Trotsky 7 whom Stalin keeps around with the job of holding his penis when he pees. But even this humor is very funny; I only point it out in case it would turn off some potential readers. Other hilarious comical scenes include Susan Hayward's obsession with raspberry lime rickeys that make her demand Hughes find out the exact recipe for her favorite drink before she agrees to be in the film. Throughout the book the dialogue sparkles to the point of Moffie obviously enjoying himself so much that the plot slows down a bit, but I doubt most of his readers will care because it's so funny.

My only real criticism of "To Kill the Duke" really has to do with the plot being a bit slow. Moffie has a lot of breaks between scenes, but he only has six chapters in a 355-page novel, and the chapters alternate between the Soviet characters and the Hollywood characters. I think if Moffie had divided his chapters up more and alternated them more it would have made the book's pace a bit stronger. There were also more typos than there should be, but these issues did very little to affect my enjoyment of the novel.

I think "No Mad" remains my favorite of Moffie's novels, but the concept and storyline of "To Kill the Duke" is really original, and while I haven't read a lot of novels about Hollywood, this one is the best I've read.

Tyler R. Tichelaar holds a Bachelor's and Master's Degree from Northern Michigan University and a Ph.D. from Western Michigan University. His family's long relationship with Upper Michigan and his avid interest in genealogy inspired Dr. Tichelaar to write his Marquette Trilogy: Iron Pioneers, The Queen City, and Superior Heritage. Dr. Tichelaar is also a professional book reviewer and editor. For more information about Tyler R. Tichelaar, his writing, and his author services, visit:

http://www.marquettefiction.com/