Review: A worthy sequel to a very good book
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 26, 2014
This is quite good, certainly in the upper third or so of the SHTF sort of stuff that one finds for Kindle.  If I could give this 3.5 stars, I would.This book continues the story of Kyle Tait, who walked/biked from Texas to his home in Montana.  Mr. Gorham's writing is smooth, and the editing is good, and in my view, the predecessor book "77 days in September" is among the best of the various "get home when the SHTF" books available out there.  Here, Mr. Gorham goes into additional detail about how a small town community in Montana (I picture Deer Creek as being one of the towns in the Bitteroot valley) tries to survive the coming winter.  The author does a good job of discussing how the community handles conflicts, how the new economy develops, etc.SPOILERSSome additional observations:- The book focuses quite a bit on the main character's marriage and family.  Many reviewers found this sappy and perhaps overdone.  I did not; I thought it added a dimension to the story that is often lacking from these kinds of books.- There are some inaccuracies and things I would change regarding the description of guns in the book.  For example, many people in the community of people who read these sorts of books don't like the phrase "assault rifle".  In any event, while there is good action in the book, it is not an army field manual, which is fine.- Unlike some reviewers, I liked the trial sequence and thought it added some drama (although no suprises) to the story.  However, I think the author really missed an opportunity to talk about how a justice system would evolve/be implemented in a post-SHTF isolated community.  For example, at some point the community needs to have a discussion about what criminal procedures it wants, so that everyone can be confident that they get a fair shake if they are falsely accused.  There has to be buy-in for the procedures.  It would have been nice to go into that kind of discussion a little more.  Also, if I, like Tait, had been railroaded to conviction in a kangaroo court like that, I would have a hard time forgiving and forgetting.  This is sort of thing that historically has sparked generations-long bloody feuds.  That might have been explored.- Finally, the author does a good job of pointing out that everyone is skinny and hungry, but I think he really could have rubbed the reader's face in it a little more.  People talk about how bad places like Phoenix or Las Vegas might be without power or motor vehicles.  I don't think that the northern rockies would be much better.  With such a short growing season, and brutal winters, places like Montana are also pretty marginal for big human populations without modern technology.