Customer Reviews

America's Last Days: A Novel

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I enjoyed the story itself, and the way it was written.
However, I think in the ending the author wanted to leave room for a sequel, and in doing so, instead of leaving a little room, he left a gaping hole.

I think the ending could have been much better.

REVIEWER'S NOTE: This review contains reveals plot twists, although I doubt that will take away any reader's enjoyment of the novel.

America's Last Days has a highly interesting premise that I find wholly plausible. In times of increasingly bitter partisanship in Washington, the only thing that keeps us from being embroiled in a second civil war is the fact that we're soft. If the power ever does go out, all bets are off. That's what kept me engrossed in this book. It really could happen. All it would take is a dedicated core group of motivated, intelligent insiders.

Author Douglas MacKinnon loses stars for uninspiring character development and dialog. His characters feel like they might be based on real people, but they speak in ways I cannot imagine real people talking.

Lots of people will hate America's Last Days or love it based on their own political viewpoints. That makes it likely that more than half of this book's reviews will be highly biased and based not on readability but on personal enjoyment. There is certainly nothing wrong with that.

Readers who classify themselves as progressives or left leaning will probably not feel good about this novel. Readers who classify themselves as classical liberals or right leaning or libertarian will probably enjoy the book immensely.

One of the most contentious events in the novel will be the nuclear detonation near the end. Could such an event happen? Absolutely. In fact, I think such an event is quite likely in the next 50 years. Whether the device will be triggered by homegrown groups is not certain, but there are plenty of separatist movements inside this country, and there always have been.[...] None of them has been as competent as the 1776 Command or the country would already have split asunder.

There are many useful historical tidbits scattered throughout the book that you may not have picked up in school. These relate primarily to the Civil War.

I can heartily recommend America's Last Days, both as an entertaining read, and a thought provoking statement about one potential future the United States is facing. An apropos novel about uncertain times written in uncertain times.

This book is a great page-turner. I couldn't stop reading it. It's set in the near future and presents an incumbent conservative US President with a tremendous moral dilemma--how to prevent an elite group wanting secession from killing millions of US citizens. It's actually pretty scary stuff.

Strong, life-like liberal characters make the plot all the more real. I would compare the 'top' Democrat in the book with Barak Obama or even Hillary. He's someone who has strong convictions and stands up for what he believes in... in an eloquent and inspiring manner.

Also, if you've ever visited DC you'll have a better appreciation for the book. You get an insiders view of DC: everything from the Secret Service to the people inside the Pentagon, the White House staff to the Hotel Washington dinner conversations.

The short chapters and detail-oriented narration make the story even more fast-paced and believable. Overall it's a fascinating read, for anyone who has anything to say about the current state of the Union.

Buyer beware:

The high ratings given from other reviews here for AMERICA'S LAST DAYS are mostly for the book's political and social sentiments. In all honesty this is a third-rate espionage novel, utilizing almost every hackneyed literary device in the genre.


The book's hero, Michael McNeil, is of the type you see in so many of these kinds of novels: a disillusioned company man, no wife, distant in his dealings with his kid, etc. etc. It is clear that the female lead character, Louise Mansfield, exists soley to provide a sexual and romantic interest for McNeil. As for the adversary, Roger Allen, he is so over-the-top an egomaniac he is rendered a ridiculous caricature. Snidely Whiplash is a more realistic individual in comparison!

Throughout this book there are some very intriguing things mentioned; the border war with Mexico, for example. Unfortunately, such incidents are only mentioned in passing. Instead of delving deeper into these things, MacKinnon rather waste page after page by having McNeil running all over the place with dingbat Louise (ala DA VINCI CODE), or having Allen throw yet another tirade, or -worse yet!- Judge Walters making the same speech about "Them Good Ol' Days." over and again. Indeed, the only true action in this story doesn't take place until we're two-thirds into the book. After which we are supposed to believe that the American people are going to sympathize with a nuclear device being detonated by Judge Walters' rightist faction! I can't even sympathize with the corny name he's given to the breakaway republic - "Jefferson." For Pete's sake, couldn't these guys at least call the place "Jeffersonia," or something (and we wonder why Hollywood and so much of the creative arts are filled up with lefty-leaning pinkos)? Although I disagree with much of his politics, the only interesting character in this whole rotten tale that reads like one of Rush Limbaugh's or Michael Savage's wet dreams is the Democratic presidential candidate, Brian Jackson. It's really a shame that the author has made the other side's guy the most complex personality here, while the supposed heroes are cliches.

Furthermore also be aware that AMERICA'S LAST DAYS concludes nothing. MacKinnon seems to be using this book to set up a sequel or two. What is it with authors working today, that they can't accomplish anything with close to 400 pages?

What real American hasn't fanticized about chopping the liberal nut jobs off at the knees and leaving them to their own demise? I'd love to move to Jefferson and let the Islamofascists behead what'd be left of Hollywood and New York City.

Of all the books I've read in my life this is, without question, the worst example of proof reading I've witnessed. It's always been a pet peeve of mine when I discover misspellings in a book, but this book goes far beyond misspelling. Numbers in the place of letters in a word, punctuation marks in place of letters and errantly placed in the middle of sentences all of which could easily have been corrected with the most rudimentary spell checking program. The author should be ashamed to offer this book to the public in this condition. The books content is so-so, but the numerous mistakes in spelling, punctuation, etc. make it a laughable attempt.

I enjoyed "America's Last Days," but I had to wonder about numerous points within the story.

For starters, several reviewers have noted the story itself is not written well. Most of the characters are shallow. Roger Allen, the chief anatagonist, is almost inoonceivible. I'm sorry, but I can't visualize a billionaire Protestant fundementalist who drinks and swears like a longshoreman. One character exists just for sexual tension, (and not much of that,) another character is used and discarded until she suddenly reappears at the end.

I'm concerned about another point of the novel: the creation of Jefferson. I wonder if the author has read "Out of the Ashes" by William Johnstone, who created a similar nation out of two of the same states, alothough, this was after a nuclear war, not from the threat of nuclear weapons.

A fissure is developing in the U.S. between politically correct, multiculturalists and Americans' with traditional values. The clashes are occurring over religion, sexual mores, immigration, homeland security, and rights of terrorists. At some point the clash may turn violent. Perhaps a second civil war is coming. This fissure is the basis for AMERICA'S LAST DAYS.

A group of conservative Americans, financed by a ego manic who disguises his personality, plan to take two states and succeed from the union. To do so, they plant "suitcase nukes" is cities to provide leverage.

I will not comment on the story, except to say I enjoyed it, because I am considering writing a novel with a similar plot. But I will comment on the weapons technology. Like most thriller authors, the author gets it wrong. Too many people believe details of nuclear weapons in novels to be correct. "Suitcase nukes" are the creation of the media. Special Atomic Demolition Munitions (SADM) are small, sub-kiloton, man portable weapons. A larger version is the Atomic Demolition Munition (ADM) which can have yields in the 50-100+ KT range. ADMs are shipped in large metal container, not "suitcases," which could be called super sized trunks.

His second error is his description of radiation detectors on page 283. I wish there was a magic wand that could detect a nuclear device outside of a railroad car. Alpha and beta particles will not penetrate a sheet of aluminum foil. Gamma ray can be detected if the source is strong, unfortunately, U-235 and Pu-239 emit low level gamma radiation. Neutrons detectors provide the best detection method, but they are not readily available.

I am afraid MacKinnon's description of the NEST team's rendering safe one of the "suitcase nukes" may be correct. Disarming a real bomb, nuclear or conventional, requires a lot of training and experience, and since SADMs and ADMs were designed to be used behind enemy lines, they incorporate protective fuzing (booby traps). Scientists volunteer for NEST teams. I wonder how many of them have ever attempted to disarm a simple bomb? Walking up to an armed explosive munition, especially a nuclear warhead or device, is very unsettling. Starting out with nuclear weapons in not advisable.

To "Americans" who have sold out to political correctness, this book will be offensive. Followers of Gavin Newsome will not like it nor will the professors at UC Berkeley. For the rest of us who have had the audacity to serve and defend this Republic from enemies foreign and domestic, this book strikes a resonance which is almost a call to arms. As unbelieveable as it may seem, there are still those of us who would still shoulder arms to defend our country from those who seek to destroy it, both foreign and domestic. Is life so dear, or peace so sweet to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Pretty radical stuff, huh?

For those addicted to the Washington based politico thriller, this is the real deal. A fast read with plenty of inside baseball, that reveals what could happen if a few folks followed their most sacred political beliefs, a little further down the line.

Still, I don't think that's why the book had a two page spread in Roll Call. Somehow after the read is over, there are lingering thoughts in your mind, pulling the book's scenarios into the realm of the possible. You try to shake them off . Then you hear Gov. Schwarzenegger say that California has "the technological force of a nation-state". Someone else says Germany can fit into Montana and France into Texas. And over there at the nuclear poker table, all those people are trying for a seat. But, it could never happen. . . Right ?