Months before publication, William R. Forstchen’s One Second After was cited on the floor of Congress as a book all Americans should read. Hundreds of thousands of people have read the tale. One Year After is the thrilling follow-up to that smash hit.
The story picks up a year after One Second After ends, two years since the detonation of nuclear weapons above the United States brought America to its knees. After suffering starvation, war, and countless deaths, the survivors of Black Mountain, North Carolina, are beginning to piece back together the technologies they had once taken for granted: electricity, radio communications, and medications. They cling to the hope that a new national government is finally emerging.
Then comes word that most of the young men and women of the community are to be drafted into an “Army of National Recovery” and sent to trouble spots hundreds of miles away.
When town administrator John Matherson protests the draft, he’s offered a deal: leave Black Mountain and enter national service, and the draft will be reduced. But the brutal suppression of a neighboring community under its new federal administrator and the troops accompanying him suggests that all is not as it should be with this burgeoning government. – Goodreads.com
I read the first book in this series a few years ago for a book club – the same reason I also read the second book. A frightening glimpse into an entirely possible situation, it’s an excellent selection for discussion. And is likely to scare the crap out of you.
The first book was highly compelling, shocking, heartbreaking, and sometimes difficult to read seeing the characters’ struggle to survive and knowing something like this could happen to your own family. One Year After, although still engrossing, had a different feel and wasn’t so much a survival story as a David versus Goliath tale, featuring John Matherson as David and Goliath a corrupt government official.
This book lacked the intensity of the first, and unless it’s another book club selection, I doubt I’ll add the third book to my reading list. That’s a personal preference on my part, because judging by the reviews, I’m in the minority on this one.
I have read the first book, and while I remember enjoying it, I don’t think I ever picked up the second. Good review. Sometimes the energy just isn’t there.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Lilyn! The first book was so intense, especially since the setting was an actual place in NC I was familiar with. The second book just lost that rhythm and was more of a patriotic tribute to America. Nothing wrong with that – it was just a different path from what I’d expected with the storyline.
LikeLike
Yeahhh that’s totally not where I would have expected him to go.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I haven’t read either. Given your comments, it sounds like a series I wouldn’t finish, so I’m inclined to think it’s not worth starting, even if the first one is wonderful. (I hate not finishing something.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
So do I – and the old me would finish a book because I felt like I was invested. The new me looks at my TBR and all the other tempting books out there and moves on to the next book.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know. I’m a bit OCD that way. I’m getting better about it, but I don’t need the angsty-feeling if I can avoid it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do like post apocalypse books, Teri. I think I may read the first book.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The first book was a definite thumbs up from everyone in my book club – the second one was more a 50/50 split. Hope you enjoy it, Robbie!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very inspiring. Many thanks! Clemens
LikeLike