The Final Day: A John Matherson Novel

I love this trilogy. The writing is definitely tacky and preachy in spots concerning American ideals and exceptionalism, but overall, the plot was gripping and I finished the book in only a day or two.

Dr. Forstchen hit another home run with The Final Day. The continuity of story, theme and mood was impeccable. I didn't want to put the book down. I hope this is not the last I will here of John Matherson. I now have a trilogy of books that will be a yearly read. Thank you sir for a great read.

Starts off with a decent story that is ruined as it descends into a bizarre right-wing fantasy of an ending. Some poorly drawn characters who change allegiance for no apparent reason (other than he needed to to make the narrative work), and some highly dubious, wooden dialogue.

Awesome. A very thought provoking book. Very well written. I hope government and military people read this book. This book is fiction but could very well turn into reality. Makes you want to be a prepper.

Loved the One Second After series. Spent a lot of time on Black Mountain taking my youth group to Ridgecrest and visiting family in Morganton N.C. so it felt like home reading it. I really want to go explore Montreat after reading these books.

Loved the One Second After series. Spent a lot of time on Black Mountain taking my youth group to Ridgecrest and visiting family in Morganton N.C. so it felt like home reading it. I really want to go explore Montreat after reading these books.

Although I respect and admire William Forstchen, and thought "One Second After" was a long overdue glimpse into what can and may truly happen in the aftermath of an EMP, Mr. Forstchen's writing style had me bogged down and frustrated. Long, run-on sentences, complex​ grammar with overlooked errors considerably slowed the pace. The writing made it almost a chore to get to the ending.

A must read series. The John Matherson series has something for everyone, while also being a reality check. Everyone should read this series, if for nothing more than to learn how fragile our way off life is.

The third book in the series bring the story of how one community in North Carolina copes with an EMP to a page turning conclusion. William Forstchen is an excellent story teller. I look forward to reading more of his work.

I read all three books and am only writing one review. I found this series relatively conflicting. First off I felt the series is well written and although transparent and cliche, I enjoyed the character development and storyline. The blatant pandering to the authors key audience - preppers and tea partiers - definitely made some sections hard to stomach, but I did read the whole series and paid money, so I guess it wasn't that bad.

Now for my soapbox. As far as the moral of the story goes I have mixed feelings. On the one hand I feel that practical preparedness is wise and that we all should have a supply of food that could be used if we lost our job or had a more widespread disaster. On the other anyone stockpiling ammo and building a bunker to "defend" themselves against hordes of looters that should be their neighbor is swallowing a camel. I am disgusted by the attitudes of preppers who have an us vs them mentality and fantasize about the destruction of our nation and way of life. If we Christians followed the example of the disciples at the last supper-- looked at ourselves and asked "Lord is it I?" we would be better at following him. If the 70% of us in the USA actually practiced what we preached, the scenario in this series would never happen, whether we had electricity or not.

Although I respect and admire William Forstchen, and thought "One Second After" was a long overdue glimpse into what can and may truly happen in the aftermath of an EMP, Mr. Forstchen's writing style had me bogged down and frustrated. Long, run-on sentences, complex​ grammar with overlooked errors considerably slowed the pace. The writing made it almost a chore to get to the ending.

A must read series. The John Matherson series has something for everyone, while also being a reality check. Everyone should read this series, if for nothing more than to learn how fragile our way off life is.

The third book in the series bring the story of how one community in North Carolina copes with an EMP to a page turning conclusion. William Forstchen is an excellent story teller. I look forward to reading more of his work.

I love the character development and the core Cadre of unlikely heroes in this series. The writer tackles very dark subject matter and counters it with the only thing that could possibly prevail in such dark times, the light of the human spirit.

This is the third novel in the series that began with "One Second After". It lacks the shock effect of the first novel, which was stunning in its account of what an EMP blast or blasts over Mid-America would do to the country, and put the consequences in very human and personal terms. The second novel, "One Year After", expanded on the long term effects, as the country attempts to recover and the rest of the world is rendered chaotic by the absence of American influence. The third novel is in some ways the best of the three, as it focuses on the weaknesses in our society that made the initial attack possible, and the aftermath a descent into totalitarianism as a result of the cynicism of American self-proclaimed elites. I will not spoil the ending, which is extremely satisfying, at least to me. But this is another thoughtful novel, well worth the reading.

One of the best series I have read. It approaches the topic of the aftermath of an EMP Attack and the rough going to reestablish the human race as a working people. So man hardships with very slow recover, which is in pearl day by day. He has the ability to work in all the problems of todays Governments and work us through what could and most likely will happen.

I remember my training of my Army career and it hits home so hard. He has his own way of making it so real. He has made me a doomsday prepper and I wonder if we could even get as far as they did. This as much as the whole series has scared me very much as to what could happen.

I recommend this series to as many people as I can. Well Done.