This post is by Bernie Carr, apartmentprepper.com
Today we are featuring A Time to Endure by Kyle Pratt. It is the second book in the Strengthen What Remains series. We featured the author, Kyle Pratt and his first book, Through Many Fires in this article.
What is the book about?
A Time to Endure follows Major Caden Westmore whom we met in the first book, Through Many Fires, when six American cities are destroyed by nuclear terrorism. From the Amazon description: “Caden struggles to get home across a stricken, terrified nation. In the second book, A Time to Endure, the nation’s economy teeters on the verge of collapse. The dollar plunges, inflation runs rampant, and the next civil war threatens to decimate the wounded country. In the face of tyranny, panic, and growing hunger, Caden struggles to keep his family and town together. But how can he save his community when the nation is collapsing around it?”
My impressions:
A Time to Endure is just as fast paced as the first book. There is enough action to keep the pages turning, and it is a fast paced book.
The characters are flawed and deeply human. While I did not agree with some of the main character’s, Caden Westmore’s decisions, I understood where he was coming from. As the reader, I do not feel it is necessary to always agree with the character, only that the characters interest me enough to see them through.
A country in the midst of chaos along with the struggles of its citizens are plausibly described. Despite the backdrop of rampant destruction, there is still some semblance of infrastructure and law and order but in a lesser degree.
A Time to Endure is a good read and we look forward to the third book.
Now for the Giveaway:
I am excited to hold our first giveaway of the year! We are giving away a copy of A Time to Endure
To enter, just comment on the question below:
What threats are you most concerned about this 2015? What steps are you taking to prepare?
The winner* will be chosen at a random “Pick a Giveaway Winner” drawing on Saturday, January 24th at 8 pm Central.*Winners will be notified via email. *Winner must reply to email notification within 48 hours or other winners will be drawn.
© Apartment Prepper 2015
My biggest concern is an economic collapse and/or an EMP. Back in April I was praying and the Lord responded with two words.. “prepare” and “pray”…the next morning , I prayed again asking God what he meant by that and he sent me to a verse in Ezekiel. ( I am no bible scholar, and I thought for sure I was losing my mind and their wouldn’t even be such a scripture) I was wrong. After reading those scripture I knew God was trying to tell me very hard times were ahead and to prepare. I was not a “prepper” before. We have taken steps to have more food storage, water filters, medical supplies and have taken classes to help us. One of my favorite books I have read was One Second After. 🙂
There seem to be numerous threats facing us today and it can become overwhelming. I would agree with Jana’s concern about an economic collapse. There are so many signs that it is coming. We have been preparing with the requisite water, food , and shelter items, as well as first aid supplies. I can also agree that an EMP is within the realm of possibility and have taken some steps in that area. I think my biggest concern is the lack of concern by many and I worry about the children.
My biggest concern for the past several years has been a world wide monetary collapse and loss of our jobs. If the dollar goes down the rest of the world goes with it. What’s kind of frightening right now is that the rest of the world seems that it wants to be first in reaching a collapse. Just yesterday the Swiss unpegged their Franc from the Euro to let the market deem the value of their Franc, because being pegged to the Euro was hurting their economy more than it was helping them. This created rest of the monetary markets to go into a downturn. No countries money is sound, it’s just that some are sounder than others.
My other big fear is loss of our (my husband’s and mine) jobs. We are over the road truck drivers and we both drive for the same company in the same truck (we make a great team). By doing this job we are not the healthiest nor in the greatest shape (we sit on our butts for 11 hrs then sleep for 10 hrs).
The Federal Government is cracking down on the health of the drivers in the trucking industry and this could eventually boot us out of the profession that we have loved and done for quite a long time.
In order to combat these fears, especially concerning our jobs, I try my damnedest to keep up on our health exams, our pharmaceuticals and on ensuring that we eat as healthy as we can. I am trying to put away at least 6 months worth of money, and alternative coin for that “just in case” moment in order to ensure we will still have a place to live and be able to pay the essential bills.Talking about bills, I’m also trying to pay off all of our bills, medical, car payment, and credit cards so that we can be debt free, that is the ultimate goal of prepping I believe. Oh, don’t get me wrong, we’ve been putting other preps like food, water, clothing (everyone seems to forget clothing), and other essentials away in every nook and cranny that we have available.
Even though I have the fear that all may go to hell in a hand basket, I’m trying to ensure that we don’t end up in that hell or in the hand basket. Being prepped is a way of life in which when you look at it, it really does give you a bit more peace of mind, even with the world going to hell in front of your eyes. Have a Happy!
To echo what others are saying, an economic collapse and unrest in many parts of the world are on the top of my list of concerns. We live in a fragile world. This year I’m working to pay off the little bit of debt I have and to increase my savings, because of my concern with the economy. I think it is important to continue to learn new skills and try new things. And I have kids so this is doubly important as skills they can take with them. I have increased my garden every year, lately pickling more as a food preservation technique and also making yogurt at home, to decrease my dependency on purchasing items. I’m not sure where else to go in the world of prepping, but every small step towards self sufficency, every new expereince and new skill increases our chances in case of a collapse.
I, too, am mainly concerned about an economic collapse, which is highly likely with our exorbitant debt that can never be paid off, and an EMP. For the first one, I am storing food, water hygiene/medical/sanitation supplies and solar ways to power things, and for the second one, I’ve made a DIY Faraday cage.
I am most concerned about the vulnerability of our infrastructure to hacking by hostile parties. Here in the Northeast, we still remember the 2003 blackout – the grid went down in MINUTES, not hours. Scary.
Failed to mention what I am doing now – have added the usual food/water preps; solo stove and related equipment; manual coffee grinder and French press (can’t face ANY catastrophe without my morning cup of java!); lanterns, batteries, etc. My biggest stumbling block continues to be heating – due to a fairly extensive fire in our building, we are severely restricted on things like propane, open fires, etc. Really don’t know how to resolve this one. BTW, solar in the Northeast in winter is wishful thinking …
In the short term, I try to always be prepared for winter storms, power outages, car crashes or breakdowns, and other common personal emergencies. In the medium term, for 2015 I believe we will see more civil unrest in the U.S. which will have many causes and which will probably escalate. The public is losing faith in our police, court, and Congressional systems. The public is beginning to fear and resent the “system.” If there is a larger-scale emergency in the U.S. (such as a natural disaster or terrorist attack), our entire social system, including our economy, will tip over the edge of collapse. We must be prepared to take care of ourselves, but also to back up those who are honestly and in good faith trying to preserve our society and our freedoms.
Ooops, forgot to mention “what I am doing”. I am stocking up in food, supplies and equipment. I think I have each of the main prep areas covered, at least as much as possible when living in a tiny apartment. I am also working on skills. In the past five months I have:
~made lint/wax/egg carton fire starters (haven’t tested them yet)
~re-learned how to sew (still in process)
~did my first oven-canning (I know, I know, not an approved method)
~took Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy’s hands-on suturing class (very cool, still need lots of practice!)
~tested the sterno stove in my 72-hour kit (pathetic at our high altitude)
~ate food for two days from my 72-hour kit (ugh, needs work)
~de-cluttered my apartment to make more room for preps
My biggest concern is economic collapse (possibly brought on by various scenarios) as I live in Chicagoland and approximately five miles from Statesville.
To prepare I am in the process of starting a country store in my home (besides our other basic preps).
Also. . . I am No Longer telling people to prep as things are getting more and more hostile and it’s just not worth it. Feeling/hearing people would rather raid our preps and leave us dead/to die then do their own work/act as a team.
Playing cards close to the chest!!
In the city 30 minutes from here, there are gang shootings every day. A 9 year old little girl was killed the other day while at the laundromat with her family. Gang members in two cars were shooting at each other and she just happened to get in the way of a stray bullet.
Girl has an 8th grade friend who is having sex with her boyfriend. Girl told her friend she was worried she might get pregnant. The friend said she’d just go to the hospital to get it taken care of. Girl said, you mean you will go kill your baby? The friend said no, she’d just go to the hospital to get it taken care of. There is little respect for life.
Where’s the personal responsibility? Many people would rather sit at home and let “the government” support them rather than supporting themselves. And our elected leaders just keep passing more and more out. Not only to the welfare recipients but to all the government programs that provide grants. There’s a surplus of tax money in our state this year. Instead of lowering the taxes for all who are paying they are just raising the bar and are increasing the programs.
Although our grid is being attacked more often than we are being told, I believe our society will implode by lowering our morals, laziness, and lack of desire.
What are we doing? I have a CCW permit and am armed whenever possible. We have a strong food storage program. We grow our own fruit, vegetables, eggs, some meat, and are starting up with goats for dairy. We are out of debt except our house, and with that I am doubling up on my payment. (How can we do that? If you don’t shop you don’t spend money!) My latest project was to put a hand pump onto the well. Even if the power goes out, we will have water.
I think a looming problem facing us is the inability to keep paying higher and higher prices for healthy food. I don’t have much faith that the global food supply is going to hold up under pressures of weather, war, and controlling overlords so Ithe best thing I can do is try to get a garden going.