Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse is an intriguing, fast-paced, suspenseful, well-written novel. The setting is now, or in the very near future, about a group of survivalists originally from Chicago, who flee to their safe place in Northern Idaho. The group started about nine years prior to the main timeline, having met while most were in college. The members of the group felt as if something major was going to happen in the future, and they wanted to be ready for "it." They didn't know at the time what was going to trigger the event; whether it would be a nuclear or biological attack, or something elseso they prepared for several possible scenarios.
The event, called in the novel "The Crunch," is a worldwide economic crash that soon takes the country into a TEOTWAWKI (the end of the world as we know it) scenario, like some people felt might happen with the turn of the century computer problem (y2k). The Crunch starts with runaway inflation, the government trying to respond by printing more money, a worldwide economic collapse, and eventually anarchy taking place.
The story is about how this group copes with the collapse. It covers how they planned for the event; skills they learned, things they did, and products they acquired to prepare for the event. Throughout the story lots of practical ideas are written into the plot. And to my surprise, several real people and companies were used in the story line. It even solved my problem of where to purchase an item I've been seeking.
There are a few negatives about the book: it's a bit gruesome in at least one spot, there is too much details about guns used in the story, and the author's religious beliefs are apparent. But if you survived the Rambo shoot-um-up movies, enjoyed the book Lucifer's Hammer and the movie The Postman, with Kevin Costnerthen you will enjoy Patriots.
Ironically, while I was reading Patriots, the stock market suffered it greatest one day loss ever. I hope this wasn't a sign.
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Original date: April 25, 2000
Last updated: April 25, 2000
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