Pretty much the same as the first. Won’t ever be confused for a classic, definitely not a well written book. But interesting and keeps my interest...so on we go. ( )

A. American is getting better at fiction writing. I couldn't put it down. Love it! ( )

It's a little better than the first one. ( )

Going Home: A Novel of Survival and Surviving Home by A. American (Angery American in copyright) are two end-of-the-world survivalist/conspiracy theory novels.

In Going Home we find out that an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) or a coronal mass ejection (CME) has hit the USA and fried the electrical grid. Morgan Carter is 250 miles away from home and he must walk back through a land where society is collapsing. He begins traveling with Jess, a college student trying to get home) and Thad (another survivor trying to get home). They in turn meet, along the way, Thad's friend, Sarge, retired military, who suspects that what happened may not be an accident. The way home is fraught with danger as the unprepared people want to take what others (Morgan, etc) own.

Morgan is well prepared for the disaster. He always travels with ALL the gear he would need to survive and a backpack to carry his supplies. The beginning of the novel is like a list of survival supplies one should always have in their possession just in case and a step by step outline of what Morgan did, which is all written in first person: I did this, I packed, I ate, I had... And the way Morgan and crew just happen to come across or manage to acquire things they need in Going Home seems a bit too far-fetched.

Surviving Home follows Morgan and his family and neighbors, Thad and his family, and Sarge and his men as they make their way in the rapidly deteriorating society. It appears that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) could be behind the event - or at least took advantage of it to perpetuate nefarious deeds on unsuspecting Americans. Those in the know are fighting back while at the same time they have to fight off their neighbors (sheeple) who didn't prepare for an emergency and are now jealous of what Morgan and the others have. Morgan is most assuredly very well prepared for this disaster.

Let me just say right from the start that I get being prepared for emergencies, something that I carried over from my childhood on the plains. I keep enough food around so that no one will starve if we're snowed in for a The Long Winter amount of time. I buy stuff on sale and store it. That's just common sense. There's water just in case something should happen. But, my car is not filled up with a personal survival kit. If an EMP or CME hit during a normal day, I'd be within an easy couple of mile walk from my home. Right now my car contains 3 umbrellas (don't ask) a gum wrapper, a plastic grocery bag and there might be a water bottle under the seat.

Yes, being hit with an EMP or MCE (as of this writing we just missed one a couple weeks ago) is a frightening prospect, but the idea of always carrying survival equipment and weapons just in case is... scarier. Of course you need an emergency kit if you are traveling distances, but I have a feeling that most people's idea of an emergency kit is closer to my idea rather than a full out pack of survival gear, MRE's (military meals ready to eat) and weapons.

While both novels have an interesting premise, the actual quality of the writing is bad enough that it detracts from the credibility of the storyline. The author also assumes that everyone reading will know what all the acronyms and abbreviations stand for, which was not the case. Certainly some of them are easy to figure out (DHS, MRE) but I had to sit and think about what was happening when Morgan pulled out his binos. Wouldn't it have been just as easy to write binoculars? Do people actually call them binos? I have a pair of good binos, but I've always said binoculars.

The story in both novels is good, if a little paranoid, but the actual technical quality of writing leaves a lot to be desired. If you want to read Going Home: A Novel of Survival and Surviving Home and know that you can easily overlook the problems with the writing, the story is interesting. If you know you will be annoyed by problems with the writing, you better skip these novels.
Note that the second novel, Surviving Home, is actually better written than the first, Going Home. There should also be a third coming out sometime based on how the second novel ended. Recommended for the story, not the execution.


Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of the Penguin Group via Netgalley for review purposes. ( )

Interesting take on how society would act and react to events surrounding the loss of power nationwide. Morgan at times seems somewhat overqualified but not to the point of detracting from the story as a whole. The pace is just about perfect through the entire book. The author did a fine job with descriptions and character development. For a popular plot this one felt fresh enough to be enjoyable and keep the pages turning. Certainly worth picking up and reading; once you do you won't want to put it down. ( )