Review: Best of the survivalist genre!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 26, 2013
Great book!  Total enjoyment.The whole story is a series of ten sections sold separately.  I bought the first part more than two years ago and then let the story go when I realized I'd be unable to finish the book because the story wasn't finished being written.  But I remembered the characters and situation, which is unusual for me.  Anyway, I kept seeing it in my recommendations, noticed the story was complete, checked the reviews which my internal spidey sense told me were authentic, and decided to give part two a try.  And from then on I was sucked in to this fantastic story.  My interest never wavered.This book was a joy to read.  The characters mattered to me.  I would share my food with these people.It was realistic - at the end of the battles, I felt battle-weary and somehow injured by the waste of human lives.  You know the feeling; as if there are only six people left on earth and they have to have a war.There were almost no grammatical errors!  What a pleasure.  It was polished writing.  No klutzy sentences.There were NO secret agendas in the story telling.  It wasn't a secret advertisement for someone's religious or political beliefs.  Thank You!  I have my own beliefs.  There's a difference between telling a good story for it's own sake and telling one that's only secondary to the promotion of someone's agenda.And finally, there were explosions and car crashes and good guys against the wall.  I can get in touch with my inner fourteen year old as well as anybody else.The reason this kind of book appeals to me is that I feel our country is already pretty broken.  There may still be supermarkets and gas stations but our country is nearly as broken as it is in this book.  The election process, and thus democracy, is subverted.  The two parties and their squabbles are a charade - neither party is working for the common good.  Big corporations and central banks run our country.  They own our food and are trying to own our water (already do in large part).  We already work for the 'ruling families'.  We aren't in labor camps, but those camps are being built in America.  Television is just a type of circus to keep our attention off what is happening.  News is a magic act to direct our attention where they want it to be.  Big Brother is watching us.  Police forces have been militarized to subdue any protest.  The right to peaceably protest is gone.  Almost half of our young people can't get jobs.  A lot of our people are going hungry and even those who aren't are eating strange stuff that can make us sick.  Until Americans are working for third world wages our economy will be stagnant.  Trickle down economics doesn't work in a globalized economy.  We can't raise our own food and barter it for other products because it's illegal to do so.  We have to work for the 'ruling families' for money.  We can't live free on our own land because crippling taxes and fees make it impossible.  Yeesh!  So this kind of book is like what's happening to us, except in the books the people are able to fight for their freedom and survival (which we aren't able to do).Finally, a bit about the plot.  I like knowing something about the plot because it helps me pick books I'll enjoy and rule out others.  What follows is only minor spoilers; the broadest synopsis of the plot.  But if you don't like to know about the plot ahead of time --  Stop reading here!**********************Minor Plot Spoilers below***********************Two stories are told.  One involves Bill Carter when he was twelve years old.  This story line occurs right after the breakdown and is about how he and his family survived.The second timeline is about 50 years after the breakdown of the country.  It follows Terry, a young reclamation engineer and Bill Carter's little group of survivalists.  The entire region, aside from Bill's group, are under the thumb of the "ruling families".  This part reminds me of the stories about corporate-run coal mining towns back in the 1800s. The miners never got out of debt to the company because they lived in company housing and bought food from the company - all at outrageous prices.  Similar story in the book; the ruling families keep everyone at a half-starved level, barely surviving, by controlling trade, etc.  Bill's group of survivors also get caught up with another group of bad guys (called the Dragon group) who terrorizes a nearby area.  The two groups of bad guys team up to take out Bill's group.**************************End Spoilers*********************************