299 Days The Stronghold

299 Days The Stronghold

V for Vendetta meets the American Patriot. Isn’t it interesting how the ideas of self-sufficiency and smaller government have indeed become revolutionary in modern times? Wouldn’t many of us be on a POI (person of interest) list In an era where taking responsibility for the well-being of yourself and your family is considered subversive by the powers that be. Glen Tate’s 299 Days series forces a person to question their ever-increasing dependence on a bloated, incompetent and corrupt government. In The Stronghold, the fourth book in the 299 Days series, the faltering economy has the government on the ropes, grasping to power through bribery, propaganda and downright thuggery. The economy has failed on a massive scale. Food, fuel and medical supplies are becoming scarce. The government is handing out electronic ration cards called “FCards” to feed the masses. These “FCards” are funded through the confiscation of funds in bank accounts and 401K’s which people can no longer access. Unfortunately, through desperation, many people, especially in larger urban areas, are happy to get help from the government and eagerly hand over the last of their civil liberties for these rations. In contrast, Pierce Point, while dealing with the same scarcity, is becoming a bastion for common sense cooperation. People are looking for a simpler, practical, common sense approach to community. Don’t misunderstand, Pierce Point isn’t some self-sufficient, Constitutional utopia but Grant Matson, his friends and neighbors are willing to work together in a fair and common sense way that might just make our grandparents proud. The Stronghold presents some compelling possibilities and is an insightful exploration into the all too real possibility of an economic collapse.

299 Days The Community

299 Days The Community

The third book of Glen Tate’s economic collapse series 299 Days called The Community is a fascinating exploration into the nature and function of both large and small groups of people and how they form a society. With the world coming apart at the seams in an inflationary depression, many of the functions of modern government have been returned to the community. This is especially true in the Pierce Point area where Grant, his family, friends and neighbors reclaim the burden of responsibility for maintaining their own well-being. Each level of the community, starting with the family unit, cooperates to address specific concerns like safety and security. Grant Matson, being a politically insightful person, uses both his “team” of civilian gunfighters and his ER Doctor wife as political capital to gain access to the Pierce Point’s inner circle. The Community is formed with the premise of providing safety and security for its residents. In contrast, we watch as the government of Washington State, operating from within a National Guard base, is actually using the collapse as an opportunity to increase their control by dissolving many of the remaining civil liberties. They seek to enhance their power by seizing private operations such as the transport and food production in order to provide basic necessities to a large portion of the population, namely the larger urban centers. Additionally, the government has taken over the savings and retirement accounts of millions of people in order to pay for its new safety net. It is really an interesting contrast, with Grant and his people rallying to become more self-sufficient and the government seeking to actually increase public dependence as a way to maintain control and to increase their power. The Community is a very well-considered and detailed account of how new communities may form and how the powers that be may react to a widespread economic collapse. On another level, The Community really is a common sense exploration into the very nature of human cooperation.

299 Days Giveaway!

299 Days

What do eggs have to do with these books?!

You’re probably asking yourself, “what do eggs have to do with the 299 Days series…has this guy lost his mind?…maybe he’s been reading too much of the doomer stuff?” Well, I’m glad you asked. Eggs are significant on a number of different levels but on a very basic level, leaving their genetic/reproductive aspects aside, they are simply a nice little package of nutrients and energy. These eggs just happen to be today’s harvest from our 12 hens that are starting to produce now on a regular basis. To me these eggs represent the beginning of a return to a more self-sufficient lifestyle similar to the one that Glen Tate envisions in his 299 Days series. This series presents some important and powerful ideas that I think would be beneficial to the lives of millions of people. Hopefully, through this giveaway for the first 4 books in the 299 Days series, which features a worldwide economic collapse, others will wake up to reality and start to fend for themselves rather than depending on help that may never arrive. Learn more about the 299 Days series @ http://299days.com and check out some of the podcast interviews listed below.

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Glen Tate Interviews:

The Survival Podcast

Great Northern Prepper

The Handgun World Podcast

299 Days Giveaway for Books 1 to 4

299 Days

In honor of the recent release of books 3 and 4 of Glen Tate’s timely new book series 299 Days, I am giving away paperback versions of books 1-4. As if torn from the current headlines, 299 Days places you on the precipice of an economic disaster and then pushes you right over the edge. Enter for your chance to win the first 4 books in this powerful and eerily realistic book series below:

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Glen Tate Interviews:

The Survival Podcast

Great Northern Prepper

The Handgun World Podcast

James Wesley Rawles Survivors

survivors

In Survivors, James Wesley Rawles explores the same economic disaster that occurs in Patriots from a different perspective, mostly through a new cast of characters. While the story covers the first years of “The Crunch” in the southwestern United States, the most interesting and unique part of Survivors is the story of the newly discharged American Army Captain Andrew Laine and his journey back home to New Mexico from Afghanistan. With fuel shortages, violence and chaos reigning, Captain Laine is forced to find his own way back to the United States. He travels through post-shit hits the fan (shtf) Germany, France, England, crosses the atlantic ocean to Belize, then finally goes through Mexico and into the US. Much like he does in Patriots, Rawles provides copious details in his descriptions and, with the steady stream of bible passages, the book seems tailored with a fairly specific reader in mind. While the in-depth, detailed information is useful in terms of gaining knowledge, it makes the reading tedious at times. For example, when a character encounters a new gun, Rawles goes into considerable details on the history, mechanics, durability, range and effectiveness of the weapon, making the internal dialogue and narration slightly monotonous and unrealistic. The conversations in morse code are downright painful to get through. To give credit where credit is due, Rawles has packed a lot of useful prepping information into this book. He provides detailed information on a variety of topics including the possible uses of gold and silver as currency, using morse code via ham radio, weapons, food, fuel and even gives basic instructions on how to make molotov cocktails. If you are able to handle the sometimes “preachy” chapter introductions, a lot can be learned from Survivors. Rawles writes informative, “how-to” books in a fictional format. Unfortunately, the fictional aspect often takes a back seat to his strong religious message and “prepping” information. That being said, I would read Survivors again for its crisis preparation advice and its interesting speculation about world travel after an economic disaster.

Click Here for the Audiobook Version

For those of you that are interested in learning more about James Wesley Rawles and disaster preparation, visit his blog at http://www.survivalblog.com/ . In case you aren’t familiar with his site, it is actually one of the most popular blogs in the survival/prepping arena and will provide you with a practically endless amount of useful information.

299 Days Book Two The Collapse

299 Days The Collapse

In the second book of the 299 Days Series, The Collapse, we see the early stages of an economic collapse scenario. In The Collapse, Glen Tate captures some of the unpredictable nature of real life. Events seldom go as planned and they certainly don’t for Grant Matson, who has gone to great lengths to prepare for the safety of his family in the hard times ahead. With so many factors beyond his control, preparation for every situation just isn’t possible. People will make poor decisions, especially when they are blinded by their belief that everything will return to normal, otherwise known as the “normalcy bias”. This is when people just can’t accept that their situation has changed drastically. Often they will disregard or even ignore evidence from their environment that indicates that the new situation is different and indeed dangerous. Grant’s wife Lisa embodies the concept of normalcy bias perfectly. Living her entire life under the shelter of normal, civilized conditions, Lisa is unable to see that the rules have changed with the apparent lack of police and emergency response. It becomes clear after reading this book that normalcy bias is already a widespread phenomenon. How many people do you know that would ignore a collapse situation until it was no longer possible? Oh wait, that would include almost everybody, wouldn’t it?…Most people today carry on with “life as usual”, ignoring every indication that we are indeed on the precipice of some economic calamity. If such a collapse did occur, we are talking a major shift in thinking. …[start of rant…as small, personal example of how self-sufficiency goes so much against the grain, recently with the new addition of 12 hens to the family, I had someone ask me “…you ever hear of a grocery store?”, in a very sarcastic way. For a while, I actually considered this comment, even to the point where I doubted my own efforts. However, after some consideration, I realized that it was this other person that was indeed deluded…The idea that things just come from “somewhere else” with no thought of what this “somewhere else” is all about could just be part of the problem with the modern world. Collapse illustrates what happens when that “somewhere else” becomes “right here, right now”. “The buck stops here” or maybe it always did, except for the thin veil of modern society. Maybe our modern culture was constructed to keep this cold, hard reality at bay. Anyway, I digress. Rant complete]… Without going into too much detail to spoil the book, Lisa is in for a wakeup call. 299 Days: The Collapse does make some political commentary, but I think it goes beyond the traditional right/left political paradigms. I have yet to hear a good argument against the benefits of personal responsibility. So far I am very impressed with the 299 Days Series! The Collapse is a great story with an excellent message, useful information and realistic, likeable characters. I’m really looking forward to the release of the next books in the series!

 

299 Days The Preparation

299 Days The Preparation

In the first book in Glen Tate’s 299 Days Series, The Preparation, we are introduced to a world, much like our own, that is on the verge of an economic collapse. As the economy deteriorates, Grant Matson, an otherwise average suburbanite lawyer, awakens to the reality that he alone is ultimately responsible for the well-being of his family. We are given an insider’s view through Grant, who works in the political arena and has a very unique perspective on the political and economic situation in Washington State. With the economy failing, federal, state and local governments simply cannot meet their obligations to fully fund pensions while providing social services for an ever burgeoning unemployed population. While there is a certain politically conservative tone to 299 Days, the ultimate realization that the current economic system is unsustainable and that the government will not be able to save us if and when the shit hits the fan is very difficult to argue against, regardless of your political leanings. For instance with local governments around the country laying off police officers and firefighters, how can we expect help to arrive in a timely manner when we call 911? After hurricane Katrina, how is it that anyone expects someone to save them if and when a disaster strikes? 299 Days is a very well thought out, rational exploration of how the state of the current economy in the United States could deteriorate into a full-blown depression. In addition to its realistic “play by-play” of an economic collapse scenario, 299 Days provides a wealth of practical information for those wanting to prepare for any number of disaster scenarios. Without a doubt, 299 Days will appeal to those inclined to like apocalyptic fiction, however, those that would benefit most from reading this book are those that are just beginning to consider the possibility that the current economic system is unsustainable. The message of personal responsibility is a good one and Glen Tate makes an excellent messenger in this well written, thoroughly enjoyable book. As if torn from the current headlines, 299 Days places you on the precipice of an economic disaster and then pushes you right over the edge.

Giveaway – Win a Copy of Glen Tate’s 299 Days Book One The Preparation

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299 Days Book One The Preparation

This cat knows a good book when he sees one!

We just got a copy of 299 Days Book One: The Preparation. There’s still time to enter our giveaway to win a free copy of the first book in the 299 Days Series! Enter below:

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299 Days

299 Days Book One

299 Days is an exciting new book series written by Glen Tate that is set to be released in the beginning of September, 2012. 299 Days is a fictional series based on current events which follows the progression of the economic collapse of the United States. This will be a unique series in that it does not portray the complete and utter destruction of civilization, but rather a smaller, somewhat more realistic economic decline, similar to what occurred in the Great Depression of the 1930’s. While I haven’t had the opportunity to read the first book in the series, I have listened to a number of podcast interviews in which the author Glen Tate discusses his new series (see below for links to those interviews). I was impressed. As a matter of fact, one of the most fascinating interviews that I have listened to in some time was when Glen Tate is interviewed by Jack Spirko on The Survival Podcast. This series is truly a case of fact meeting fiction. From what I have learned about 299 Days, people in many areas of the US will continue to have electricity and other utilities provided. The government will also remain in control in the early stages of the breakdown, though it is forced to accept a less significant role due to its lack of resources and crushing debt. I am really looking forward to reading this new series. The publisher, Prepper Press, will be releasing a total of ten books over approximately a one year time span. In honor of what I believe will be an excellent shit hits the fan, semi-apocalyptic book series I will be giving away a copy of Book One:The Preparation to a lucky person that participates in the Rafflecopter giveaway below:

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Follow the links below to listen to Glen Tate’s recent podcast interviews:

…with Jack Spirko on The Survival Podcast CLICK HERE

…with The Gun Runner Podcast CLICK HERE

…with The Gun Dude’s Podcast CLICK HERE 

…with The Bad Quaker Podcast CLICK HERE

Also check out http://299days.com for the latest updates on the series.

Update – Book 1 and 2 of the 299 Days Series is Now available at Amazon through the links below:

 

 

The Solitary Man

solitarymanThe Solitary Man is Ron Foster’s latest adventure into a post-electric, post apocalyptic world. Ron’s protagonist Donald is quite similar to David from the Prepper’s Trilogy. He is an expert in emergency management that has spent a considerable amount of his time and resources preparing for a collapse of civilization following a solar storm or coronal mass ejection (CME).

While The Solitary Man does not have as many of the laugh out loud moments that were ever-present in the Prepper’s Trilogy, it does convey a new sense of urgency. Apparently, Ron Foster believes that we are getting very close to large solar event entering into 2012-2013 during what is called the solar maximum period. In fact he references the upcoming solar maximum period specifically numerous times. In the epilogue he even suggests that the next book in the series might never be released due to this impending solar event. The premise of The Solitary Man is certainly plausible but I found the plot and fictional aspects to be a little thin. It’s almost as if the story was secondary to the information contained within the book. As always though, Ron Foster, for whom I have much respect, includes some very solid advice on preparing for any type of widespread disaster. You can get it through the link below:

 

The Prepper Trilogy by Ron Foster

preppertrilogyWho knew that an EMP wiping out the electric grid could be so much fun!  Ron Foster creates a truly unique world that is down right hilarious at times. In this post-apocalyptic journey, an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) that is caused by a solar flare has destroyed the modern world as we know it, disabling almost everything with electronic components.

The protagonist, David, provides the very unique and often humorous perspective that makes this post-apocalyptic world so much fun.  David doesn’t take himself too seriously and likes to have a good time. He’s no fool though. In fact, he’s a military veteran with a keen sense for survival.

Along with frequent laugh out loud moments, The Prepper Trilogy has a lot of great ideas and practical prepping tips. For me, the laid back, conversational style of the story makes it easy, fun reading. These are very entertaining books. If you can appreciate some “down home”, southern survival fun with a ton of laughs and practical knowledge, the Prepper Trilogy is for you. Ron Foster reminds us that a good sense of humor is an excellent asset in any crisis situation.  

It is refreshing to see some fun and humor in the post-apocalyptic landscape. Let’s not take ourselves too seriously. After all, isn’t laughter part of what makes survival worthwhile in the first place?

Apocalypse Law 2

Apocalypse Law 2 by John Grit is the second book in the series following the Ex-Army Ranger, Nate, as he struggles to keep his family safe in a post-apocalyptic world. This is a very fast paced and enjoyable read. Nate is a humble, reluctant hero that in many ways is the post-apocalyptic version of John Rambo. With Apocalypse Law, John Grit brings me back to the action movies of my younger years that I remember so fondly. Being vastly outnumbered and overpowered by an unrelenting, extremely violent group of ex-military raiders, Nate is forced to pull out all of the stops and resorts to using some “unconventional” weapons in defense of his farm. Nate and his female fighting companion, Deni, are truly stretched beyond their limits as they take on this gang of marauders. While you might be tempted to see this story line as cliché, Apocalypse Law 2 is full of surprises and will hold your interest until the end. If there is a post-apocalyptic action sub-genre (which there may very well be, excuse my ignorance), the Apocalypse Law series would certainly rate at the top of the list!

Apocalypse Law

Apocalypse Law by John Grit is a very entertaining story about a man and his son struggling to survive on a small farm after an influenza strain kills a large part of the human population. After the last few books that I have read, it was truly fun that the main character in Apocalypse Law, Nate, is a retired Army Ranger that can kick some major ass! (what can I say, sometimes I get tired of the bad guys running the show!:) Naturally, some unsavory types make their way past the farm in the period following the outbreak and Nate is willing and able to defend himself and his son. Apocalypse Law reads more like an action movie. It is fast paced and full of suspense. This is a good book to read after you finish The Road by Cormac McCarthy. You could argue that The Road may be more realistic but Apocalypse Law sure is a lot more fun!

 

The Walking Dead: Season 2, Episode 6, Secrets.

The Walking Dead: Season 2, Episode 6, Secrets explores the dynamics between a number of characters in this group of survivors in the post-apocalyptic, zombie infested world. Human relationships sure do get complicated, especially when secrets are kept and this show holds nothing back. Shane sets the tone for this show when he reminds Dale that the world is no longer a place to make casual threats when he says “…if I would shoot my best friend, imagine what I would do to someone that I don’t even like…” Tailgaters beware: if civilization ever deteriorates to this point, we all better be careful with our words and actions.

The Walking Dead: Season 2, Episode 5, Chupacabra.

Season Two of The Walking Dead forges ahead with the post-apocalyptic tale of survivors in a zombie infested world in the fifth episode, Chupacabra. This episode starts out in a flashback where they show a few of the main characters looking over the Atlanta skyline as bombs explode and gunfire is everywhere. It is clear at this point that the world has drastically changed forever. If you missed this episode follow the link below to watch it now.