Customer Reviews

Unintended Consequences

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3 star:		(21)
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1 star:		(11)

 

 

We all remember those events in our life that make memories so sweet: Summers with your parents, riding bikes with friends, your first kiss, first lover, finishing high school and then college. This book was a milestone in my life.

Being raised a democrat and generally considering my self an independent, I never really gave much thought to the gun rights and gun control movements. Then, 4 years ago, I picked up a second edition copy of John Ross' masterfully written novel and it changed my life. (I now own a signed first edition as well)

He is entertaining and lively in describing the firearm culture and development in the early part of the last century. The life of a young man growing up in this culture and becoming a driving force in the novel. The story is a page turner, and one breezes through this tome in no time. A dramatic chain of events in the lead character's life leads to a near revolution in the country. The ending that has you cheering as the good guys win!

Since reading this novel, I have read tens of thousands of pages of political thought, historical record and legal documents and have come to understand just where continued gun control is taking us...it is a place I do not wish to go.

In the last four years, I have become a champion for the second amendment rights community, a holder of a federal firearms license , a collector with over 60 firearms, a hobby gunsmith and a lobbyist for the firearms community. All this from a person who voted for Clinton his first term!

Get John Ross' book, it will open your eyes.

I'm a pretty conservative guy. I follow rules because I find it comfortable to do so. I stop at stop lights and do a lot of things I would rather not do as well as not doing things I would like to do because I find this an orderly and secure way to live.

I do recognize that there are many stupid poorly conceived laws and rules but I still comply. I have never thought about starting a revolution because the trivial moronic little rules and regulations that we are requested to comply with are unreasonable in a free society. But that is the topic of this book.

Few books in my life have changed my thinking over the long term. Unintended Consequences did this. This book is about the gun culture. How it began and where it is today. I never never never thought about how not only many of the Federal firearms regulations are but in a more global sense how many of our regulations are ridiculous.

This may sound like a vague description of a 800+ page book. But this book is so global. It talks specifically about Henry Bowman who grows up shooting guns as a hobby like many others collect stamps or ride motorcycles. Yet he explains very slowly and methodically how his life experiences with his hobby are hampered unreasonably by Federal regulations. You do not have to be a gun lover or hater to appreciate this book. You only have to have a hobby or passion; any hobby or passion. You will see how our Constitution and Bill of Rights have been beaten and changed, how we are losing our individual rights and how dangerous the repurcussions.

Please read this book for the message, it will change you.

Note--I have no connection with anyone involved in the creation or publication of this novel. I bought this book at the Dallas Gun Show in March, following a recommendation by a friend. It was a $28.95 investment, so you can imagine it was a solid recommendation. I got a lot for my money. UC is a hardback running 861 pages, and there's a lot of print per page. It is published by Accurate Press, St Louis, Missouri. If you are the impatient type, understand this: READ THIS BOOK NOW! BUY IT FOR EVERYONE YOU KNOW WHO DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THE GUN CULTURE. IMPERFECT THOUGH IT MAY BE, THIS ONE COULD REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Excuse my shouting. This is easily the best novel about the gun culture I have ever read. I don't agree with all of it, but it includes an informed, logical and passionate statement of everything I have ever wanted to express about bureaucracy and the loss of personal freedom. The novel covers the period from 1906 to 'The Present day' (which is actually the period of office of the next President of the USA). John Ross has read his 'How to Write a Novel' books. In a contemporary style the book describes how, even during the golden age of America (pick your own dates), freedom has been jeopardised. Through reconstruction of the events surrounding the passing of the gun laws in 1934, 1968 and 1986, Ross illuminates the encroachment of the freedom of all Americans. The present day harrassment of dealers and owners of restricted weapons: machine guns, suppressors, and short-barrelled long arms by the ATF, is documented in immense detail. Some firearm owners may feel this doesn't concern them, but it does. The restricted weapons' owners are just at the bleeding edge of bureaucratic totalitarianism. Waco, Ruby Ridge and a number of other atrocities are told with considerable attention to detail. The author makes no pretence of putting together a 'balanced view', rather making the case against the ATF with the precision of a high court prosecutor. The result anticipated by Ross is a bloody one. As with all revolutions, large and small, the innocent suffer with the guilty. Revolutionaries incite and anticipate revolutionary fervour in the general population. With the inertia of a large number of well-fed people to overcome, innocent blood is going to be shed. To his credit, Ross does not shirk this issue. The reader must make up his own mind. Be assured you will find no racism, homophobia or religious fundamentalism in Ross' arguments. There is some kinky sex, although this seems more at the advice of Ross' literary agent than due to any real need within the book. The dust jacket is similarly lurid. Politics and history apart, this book should be read for its arcana of firearms' matters. Here you will find good information on: -body armor; -machine gun mechanisms; -suppressor technology; -long range rifle shooting; -dangerous game hunting, and many other topics. I learned a lot, and I've been reading about firearms for twenty years. If I wasn't living in Switzerland, I'd buy a case of these books and give them away as Christmas, birthday and retirement presents to everyone I know.

A disturbing potential scenario of the future of America. John Ross was encouraged by his publisher to write Unintended Consequences under a pseudonym - after reading it you will understand why!

One could get the gist of the book by reading the last 200 pages only, but John Ross takes you through a tedious, but worthwhile character development excursion into the psyches of the main players in the first 650 pages. The book would not have had the same impact had I skipped them.

Unintended Consequences is destined to become a classic but may eventually be thrown in with the genre of books such as 'The Turner Diaries' and other so-called hate, anti-government, or extremist literature.

I am sure that the many organizations and individuals that monitor so-called hate and anti-government groups, including the Federal government itself, have reviewed the book thoroughly and have drawn conclusions about the sentiments of the author and the collective cultural psyche of Americans that mirror the image he creates of the personalities in the book - principally those of the 'gun culture.'

The plot poignantly demonstrates what could happen if the bureaucracy and internal security forces of the Federal government continues to run amuck generating high profile cases like the Gordon Kahl shootout, Ruby Ridge, Waco, the OKC bombing, and thousands of other not so well known bureaucratic blunders, that have resulted in vast numbers of nameless and faceless individuals languishing in federal penitentiaries, or who have lost their lifes work, savings, and assets, because of some infraction or misunderstanding of federal 'tax'laws with regard to firearms.

It also calls into question the true motives of agencies such as the BATF, originally created as revenue enforcers but portrayed in Unintended Consequences as an SS or Gestapo like agency dressed in black ninja suits, with machine pistols and coal-scuttle Kevlar helmets, as the impressive book jacket aptly portrays.

The book, if made into a motion picture, would have to be rated 'X' or about half of it cut out due to sexually explicit and perverted material and disturbing violence. Not a book for bedtime reading to the children for sure.

For his first novel, John Ross has done an outstanding job in portraying a very disturbing, politically incorrect (but accurate), and seedy dimension of the United States Federal Government , and how the freedoms we believe we have, are illusory for the most part, and can be stripped from anyone at anytime.

Some 20,000 new laws are passed every year in this country. The United States has more individuals incarcerated per capita than any other country in the world. We now live in a state where we are all 'citizen suspect,' eventhough we try our best to be law abiding citizens, the sheer number of laws make all but children, criminals by the time they reach adulthood.

Unintended Consequences makes me long for the days when you could leave your doors unlocked, wave at the police without them pulling you over - the FBI were G-Men protecting us from real domestic and foreign threats, and only true criminals knew what BATF stood for.

During the '90s, the Federal goverment has transformed our country into no less than a police state which you would expect only in the Soviet Union, South and Central America, and China and other Southeast Asian nations.

After reading Unintended Consequences, you will come to this realization and a sense of uneasiness and anxiety will sweep over your body as in an intense and disturbing revelation.

I highly recommend reading "Unintended Consequences". It is, at its root, a book about the fight for freedom and the cost of keeping that freedom.

I ordered "Unintended Consequences" from the publisher when it first came out and felt fortunate to receive a copy of the book signed by the author. I read the book twice. The first time was a marathon "can't put it down" read. After starting it, I found it to intriguing to stop reading until I had reached the end. I waited several months and then read it again, but at a slower pace, and I took notes this time.

I found the detail in this book to be amazing. John Ross knows what he's talking about when it comes to gun culture. I did some investigative research after the second reading. A lot of the information in my notes turned out to be factual pertaining to gun laws and historical events.

Another point about this book that I enjoyed was the way the author combined fact with fiction to the point that it was often very difficult to know if what you were reading actually happened or was fiction. Very catchy the way it was all interwoven.

Some people would find this book an uncomfortable read because of what it implies from both sides (as a citizen and as a member of law enforcement or government). I was at times uncomfortable while reading it, mainly because of the victimization of innocent people and at the erosion of our second amendment rights over the years, which this book does an excellent job of uncovering.

Some people would regard this book as being fanatical but the question has to be asked, "How is it people can justify fanatism about the environment, women's rights, animal rights, or whatever right they think is "right" but when that fanatism extends to the second amendment, suddenly that right is wrong?"

This is probably the most important novel written about the subject of liberty in the last part of the twentieth century. I had never heard of this novel but came across it when checking the new listing for my own book of similar subject matter. I am very glad I came across this book. It is the book that anyone concerned with its subject could wish he/she had written. It has been compared to Ayn Rand's classic novel on the same subject, ATLAS SHRUGGED, and the comparison is warranted.

Both novels deal with the attempt of government to dominate and with a generally apathetic and, by default, willing public that allows its freedoms and creative enthusiasm to be drained slowly away. Both postulate ways in which a defiant, passionate minority might respond.

There are also differences, of course. Rand's novel dealt with the erosion of freedom that comes from confiscatory taxation and government sanctioned socialism. Rand was an immigrant from Russia, and she despised socialism. UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES deals primarily with incremental infringements on the second amendment and the threats this poses on all other basic freedoms that Americans presumably enjoy, so far, because of the force conveyed to the citizenry inherent in that segment of our constitution.

Though neither novel has an actual narrator, ATLAS SHRUGGED was written from the vantagepoint of a sophisticated, somewhat aloof (and even workaholic) New York woman. UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES is from the perspective of a man from the Midwest, with a narration style that is more informally conversational or "down home."

Some reviewers have challenged the literary value of this story, whatever that means. A novel is important to an individual reader for a variety of possible reasons. Some people have cherished the stories of Hemingway (as I do), but for those who demand a vibrant plot, his stories would have little worth as they are predominately about mood. (I am sure there are those who would challenge this assertion.) Though many rave about what a great novel is ATLAS SHRUGGED (as I do), it is endlessly redundant and at times maddening to wade through to finally get to the point. Yet that was Rand's style; we have to put up with it (if that is how one might put it) to mine the gems. UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES is much more important for its subject matter than its mood. Though its story is still an engrossing one for those who care about the concepts of that subject matter.

Another criticism of this novel has been that it at times resorts to gratuitous descriptions of sexual events that do not contribute to the story. I disagree. This is a novel for adults who understand, among other things, that there is violence in society, and sometimes it is random and senseless. The assaults depicted against a couple of the main characters, and their responses to them, are consistent with feasible, even probable, psychological adaptations that people might assume from such experiences. My work two decades ago in an inner-city Chicago hospital where I had significant exposure to the emergency room and some overlap with people from the social services department leads me to find these segments quite believable, and one more example of an "unintended consequence" of events that take place in the story.

Though UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES is deliberately written to be easy to read it is brilliant in its historical scholarship and in its analysis of the precariousness of our present condition of personal freedom. It offers a stark example of where we may be headed as far as our liberty is concerned. It is a worthy antidote to the leftist political slant predominantly presented in "mainstream" newspapers and television news, where the philosophical outlook seems to be that big government knows what is best for all of us.

Time alone will tell if UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES really becomes a classic in the manner of ATLAS SHRUGGED. But given that when Ayn Rand's novel appeared in 1958 it was with all the fanfare that publishing giant Random House could muster, and that John Ross' book is spreading solely through the grapevine (read the publisher's note above), and still is gaining momentum, it appears to be well on its way. It is an important book, and thoughts therein deserve serious consideration by those who seriously value liberty.

As a peace-loving, libertarian and advocate for the Bill of Rights and a return to constitutional government, I absolutely love this story. Plus, the historical references were very informative and inspiring. This book serves as yet another reminder of how the 'nanny-state' always precedes the police-state. I recommend this book to any freedom-loving american who can tell the difference between 'flag-waving' nationalism and true american patriotism.
Many praises and thanks to John Ross and the gun culture.

A very good book. The use of historical detail to demonstrate the issue of government abuse of power is compelling. Details of the Weaver case from this book were corroborated in other books I've read. I recommend this book to anyone who fancies themselves as thinkers.

The editorial review criticizes this tome as being for the fringes of society but missing the middle. This opinion is flat wrong. Although this is work of fiction, Ross is an accomplished arms historian and economist. These traits are mirrored in the main character. The reader can find other sources that collaborate Ross's remarkable --sometimes unbelievable-- accounts of historical events. I, being a former police officer, have "insider" information that corraborates Ross's accounts of more recent events described in the book. This is a highly suggested reading for Americans concerned about the future of our society, government and freedom. It describes history in the making that we live in today.

John Ross is definitely a storyteller and I hope he will continue to weave new tales. The action, the technical aspects of the shooters stock in trade were excellent. I wish the scenario was fashioned as well as the story was told.

The future is not bright for the continued enjoyment of our Constitutional rights. Sadly, most Americans have lost their heritage already. They have willingly surrendered their birthright.

Read John Ross' book. Look past the fictional nature and less than plausible turns of events. The core of what is happening to us still shines through. Pass this book to family, friends and colleagues until it is dogeared. As a companion to this novel I would also recommend "Transfer-the end of the beginning", by Jerry Furland. Step by step Furland takes us forward in time to a Utopian nightmarish vision of America as it surely will be if we don't wake up and take charge of our own destinies. The tyranny is already far along and the despotic rule of a perverted and controlling Orwellian Government is all but assured if we fail to act now. Read both of these fine novels and spread the word-often, loudly, as if your life depended on it. Because, it does...