This post is by Bernie Carr, apartmentprepper.com
I received a review copy of The End by G. Michael Hopf. Here’s a quick description of what the book is about:
Young Gordon Van Zandt valued duty and loyalty to country above all, so after 9/11, he dropped out of college and joined the Marine Corps. This idealism vanished one fateful day in a war-torn city in Iraq. Ten years later, he is still struggling with the ghosts of his past when a new reality is thrust upon him and his family: North America, Europe and the Far East have all suffered a devastating Super-EMP attack, which causes catastrophic damage to the nation’s power grid and essential infrastructures. Everything from cell phones to cars to computers cease to function, putting society at a standstill.
With civilization in chaos, Gordon must fight for the limited and fast dwindling resources. He knows survival requires action and cooperation with his neighbors, but as the days wear on, so does all sense of civility within his community—and so he must make some of the most difficult decisions of his life in order to ensure his family’s safety.
What I Thought about the Book
The book has a good premise for a collapse, and EMP attack. It illustrated a realistic description of what would happen initially if the power grid were to fail: most people would have great difficulty accepting that there is no power and will keep trying to get a connection on their cell phones. The writing style is easy to ready, and the story moves along at a good pace.
I had some difficulty relating to the main character, Gordon. He tends to view the world in black and white, and makes choices accordingly. This unwavering world view causes him to make choices that are hard to accept. The reader will find him making harsh, but necessary choices in the chaos that descends. Because I disagree with his choices, I did not find him very likeable but that is a personal choice. My views about the character did not make the book any less readable; instead it gave me a glimpse into how someone else might think and react in such a situation.
What I Learned
- Don’t be a sheep
- Take advantage of opportunities as soon as they present themselves.
As soon as Gordon saw that electricity was off, and planes were falling, he did not hesitate like the other people did. He was not technically a prepper, but he went into a “ready” mode where collected water, rushed out to get supplies – whatever he could – as he know this was not a short-term situation.
The book that follows The End, is The Long Road is also available.
Now for the giveaway…
One winner will be chosen to win both books: The End and The Long Road
Just add your comment below:
Describe what would you do if you find the power has gone out inexplicably and cell phones no longer work. Would you act immediately or wait a while?
The winner* will be chosen at a random “Pick a Giveaway Winner” drawing on Saturday, January 25th at 8 pm Central.
*Winner will be notified via email. Winner must reply to email notification within 48 hours or another winner will be drawn.
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.
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For beginning preppers
I am very new to prepping but I know I would act fast. And I would also do whatever was necessary to protect my family.
This requires quick thinking and I would act immediately in any emergency situation.
Would you act immediately or wait a while?
I would act immediately. We’ve established several means of doing this. First and foremost is to establish, if possible, if it is just the electricity or worse. Given electricity and cell phones; we would use the ready reserve of cash we have to make a supply run.
We might also break into the reserve of precious metals; depending on the general situation. One of the things we definitely do is increase security; the house wouldn’t be left empty of people and people would not go out unarmed.
I think there has to be a degree of ruthlessness at first. I’m not talking about stealing food out of other people’s baskets or cars but definitely not buying a family’s food for them because their debit card isn’t working.
He tends to view the world in black and white, and makes choices accordingly. This unwavering world view causes him to make choices that are hard to accept.
I think this is where we allow the book to help us evaluate our own decisions, preps, morals, etc. By presenting a situation in stark terms, it is hard to hide from the impact — knowing someone will/did die because of a choice makes it harder to be ambivalent about our choices.
We would most definitely active are plans on the spot. All members of our group would initiate and proceed to assigned task. It would take approximately 24 to 36 hours to get all members to designated rally point. We have activated in the past and if the all clear is given we consider it a shake down drill. Lets just hope that we do not have the real thing.
Stay Safe
~Dairy
I was part of the Southern California blackout a couple years ago. That is what got me involved in CERT and the beginnings of my preparing for disasters. While I hesitated then, I never would again. We were under a boil order after only 10 hours! I now have a waterbob and I’d be filling my tub right away.
Well….I would begin some procedures but I would still wait for more info until I completely barricaded myself or something. However, the first zombie that I see will have me boarding up my windows and doors immediately.
I think the biggest challenge is recognizing the event has occurred. Once you realize it has occurred, you have to act immediately. There are many ways to determine if it occurred or is just a normal blackout. Everything not working would be a big tip off. I think many in our society will have an initial reaction of get water and some supplies but won’t think long term. Once they realize it is a long term situation, it will be pandemonium. Have some supplies stocked so you don’t need to go out. But if you are staying put, hitting a store immediately would be better than waiting a few hours. That way they still have enough stock so you can buy some items and maybe fresh veggies.
I would like to think that I would act fast once I knew something was up, however power outages and the internet going down for a period of time are not necessarily eyebrow-raisers where I live and I don’t have a cellphone. I’m not sure how long it would take me to actually suspect something…planes falling out of the sky…yeah, that would be a little disconcerting.
I would pray and think; this is what I’ve been preparing for. The next step would depend on where I was at that moment. My decisions would be based on my location and the time. Hopefully I would respond with faith and courage.
We would act quickly. My husband and I have discussed this and other situations and have developed plans for each of them. Hopefully we’ve thought through them well enough and can execute when the time comes.
Power has gone out, first off depending on what time of day/day of the week makes a huge difference. Monday through Friday during the day, I need to start walking to get my daughter from daycare. Weekend depends where I am at, if out of town then we start home with supplies in my truck. If my family is at home then we lock and load and keep them near by. We are locked and loaded if out and about but small stuff. We would lay out the kiddie pool to catch water when at home. That is what we would do!
First, I would probably freak out that I couldn’t use my phone. I would then panic about how to get to my kids and get them home. finally, i would grab my a** and take it to the store to see if there were any supplies left. Then, I would punish myself mentally all the way home for not having a full tank of gas, enough supplies stored up, and a backup plan.
I’m a total newbie to prepping and I would be unprepared.
If I was home, I would fill up water if any was available. In addition, I would prepare light sources and prepare my guns for the hordes that may spring up.I would get my get up and go bag ready. I would try not to be a target by blending in as much as possible.
I am not one to wait for the disaster to hit. I have been preparing for several years as if a disaster is going to happen tomorrow. I believe that the day will come when we will all have to know basic skills of survival and be able to use tools that have been discarded because of being outdated. I have already purchased books that instruct
the reader on how to do many important things, such as what to do if you need stitches, are in labor and there is no doctor, what to do if you broke a bone. There is so many different scenarios that could happen. We really can’t wait until something disastrous happens, because we will not have enough time to prepare at that point. Much of what we need to have on hand is KNOWLEGE and that can’t be gathered in a moments notice.
“Don’t be a sheep” sounds like great advice in an emergency situation!
Thanks for being a part of the tour.