There's something profoundly terrifying about apocalyptic fiction which grants it a potency far superior to horror fiction. It lies somewhere in the notion that modern civilization, which is nothing more than a construct of technological advancement and economic prosperity, could disappear in seconds if the right kind of disaster is allowed to occur. We live so far beyond our hunter-gatherer origins that only historians and anthropologists truly understand the Hell we would experience if forced to return to whence we've come. But while One Second After taps into that power, imagining the impact on American civilization of an EMP strike which knocked out electronics for most of the continent, its author's failure to create, in any way, fully realized characters dooms it to the second rank of alarmist literature.
John Matherson, a retired colonel in the U.S. Army, and now a professor of history at a local community college, is still adjusting to life in smalltown North Carolina. His wife having recently died of cancer, Matherson is preoccupied with parenting his two teenaged daughters when, in the blink of an eye, the world he once knew ceases to exist. Cars, cellphones, televisions, power grids... No piece of non-military electronics is safe from the EMP detonated over the United States which, in an instant, wipes out civilization. In the immediate aftermath, being one of the first to realize what's occurred, Matherson helps rally his rural, mountain town which, in addition to maintaining some semblance of public services, must contend with finding a steady supply of food and establishing a defense against external threats. But no matter how hard Matherson works, no matter how mobilized the town becomes, people are going to die from starvation, disease, and a total absence of medical supplies. Only the hearty core will survive to face the rapacious gangs who, having exhausted the food in the cities, spread out to work their will upon smaller targets. The future is, to say the least, bleak.
One Second After is a portrait of post-apocalyptic life in America where electronics no longer function and survival is dependent upon necessities like food and weapons. But while the premise seems to have been well-researched, Mr. Forstchen's inability to animate his characters squanders the fear in the reader he was so careful to cultivate. Sure, there are a few moving moments, like when Matherson realizes his diabetic daughter no longer has any access to the medicine she needs to survive, but these are tiny rays of sunshine amidst the heavy bank of clouds which prevent any warmth from seeping into these two-dimensional archetypes. Everyone here is straight out of central casting, from the devoted but overwhelmed police chief, to the afraid but competent mayor, to the zealous and earnest youth. But of all, Matherson is by far the worst. If he has a single moment of genuine fear, I missed it. Grief for his daughter is as close as he comes. But no, Matherson, the reluctant hero, he knows what to do. He knows how to hold it together. He knows how to maintain law and order. Because he's an old-fashioned American hero, from a time when men were men and things were built to last.
There's a value to exploring civilization's vulnerabilities, but doing so while emphasizing the horrific and discarding the emotional leaves us with little more than an entertaining but half-baked piece of American patriotism in the face of all odds. Lots of potential, but weak execution. (2/5 Stars)
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