Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Reading this review you are probably wondering - is this book worth buying? My short answer is absolutely. There is only one possible reason why I'd suggest certain types of people to avoid purchasing it. I'll get to that at the end. First, it's a great read. The prose is straightforward and quick. It reminded me quite a bit of another favorite of mine - The Mitzvah by Aaron Zelman. The story is interesting and well thought out. Sometimes I prefer books with a more complex syntax and more twists, but in this case, Glen Tate's approach works well. Second, it has a realistic premise. Unlike some disaster books - Lucifer's Hammer comes to mind, the disaster premise seems very real and plausible. Odds of a comet hitting the earth are quite remote. An economic collapse brought on slowly by continued U.S., state and local government overspending doesn't seem out of the realm of plausible. In particular, I like that the 'event' is not an instant on thing - one day everything is fine, the next it's Mad Max / Road Warrior. The gradual devolution of the situation and the societal norms give it an air of realism. Third, the book shows preparing for bad things in a positive light. It presents the crisis from the point of view of a person preparing for the disaster. Did you notice the title of this book was "The Preparation"? So the book helps present an understanding of the types of 'Prepping' that might be helpful in a disaster scenario. For any person already concerned about preparing for disasters there will be little new information - though it would probably be quite enjoyable for them to read about someone else's journey. If you have a loved one or someone not interested in prepping, this is definitely a 'softer' introduction to the types of preparations and the benefits of being prepared than many other novels and manuals out there. So why shouldn't you buy this book? This is part one of a ten part series. That's a lot to ask, and from my reading of this book (and book 2 299 Days: The Collapse), I think Glen Tate delivers and it will be well worth your time to read all ten. Absolutely. BUT, if you are the person that gets upset when you have to wait for part two of a two parter, you may want to wait until all ten are released. Glen has said in interviews that all 10 novels are finished and will be released in pairs as they complete final editing, so you don't have to wait years. For me, I confess I am quite frustrated that having finished books one and two in the first day I've had them that I have to wait for book 3 (and 4 and...). One other note, not enough for most folks to skip reading the book, but it definitely has a Libertarian bent to it, and if you are a hard core partisan political type you might have to relax and not get too upset at some of the digs - just enjoy the story and appreciate the message - Being prepared can be damn useful in hard times.