As I read more about this title and then when I began reading it on my Kindle, I wondered how much it would have in common with One Second After, another novel about the aftermath of an EMP attack on the US. However, as I read more, I realized that both are very strong novels, and would recommend both. Yes, they have superficial similarities, including the reluctant hero, the descent of what we know as civilization as the lights go out and a fair bit of action, but if you're into the genre, or just enjoy a fast paced read, would say read both.
Light's Out has a lot going for it, and without going into the details of the plot (I hate reviews which essentially tell you what happens- kind of takes the fun out of discovering it yourself), here are a few things I enjoyed:
1. The characterization: every crisis, whether a family spat, a workplace issue or indeed a catastrophe of the sort portrayed in this novel, brings out the best and the worst in people. One would naturally assume the main protagonist gets the full treatment in terms of fleshing out characters, but where Crawford deserves kudos is in ensuring even smaller characters are nicely fleshed out, and you see the best and the worst being brought out in them eg. a young man who seems incapable of bringing himself to use a gun to defend himself turn into a fearless hero when confronted with a situation that makes him snap, or the politicking deputy sheriff who sees this as his ticket to power.
2. The portrayal of how the world would be turned upside down and what we value becomes worthless and what we have perhaps forgotten become the most important skills eg. computers are useless but farming and being able to grow your own food becomes incredibly important when the lights do go out and all electronics stop working. Many post-apocalyptic books do that, but Crawford scores in the details- of how to rig up generators, how to get running water going etc...which makes it all the more credible.
3. The realistic action- this is at its core a book of action, and it does not disappoint on that count- if you're into that kind of thing, there are gunfights galore, lots of small unit engagements and a lot of details on guns. They are handles very realistically, portraying all the chaos and confusion of battle and one area I particularly liked is how he treats the martial arts skills of the protagonist (no doubt inspired by Mr Crawford's own third degree black belt in Karate). A lot of books and films make martial arts some mystical power where the hero single handedly bashes up dozens of bad guys- Mr Crawford treats this the 'Karate Man's' martial arts skills in the most realistic way I've seen portrayed- and how such skills would actually play out in real life- something I enjoyed as someone who learnt Karate for seven years myself.
Net, well worth a read...the one area that the book did get me thinking about was the whole debate on gun rights in the US. Not being American, I haven't really had much of a strong point of view on the matter, but a book like this gets you thinking about both sides of the debate. With the widespread gun ownership, the lawlessness can be exponentially worse if the s*** does hit the fan as in this book and marauding gangs of looters become infinitely more dangerous. However, by the same token, an ordinary man is also infinitely more able to defend his family.
The only nit (but it is just a nit- as a writer, I respect the fact that every author creates his/her own world the way they see it- and our job as readers is to enjoy the whole, not pick at small bits) is that it's never really revealed what happened- was it a terror attack? Was it an attack by a foreign power? The narrative of the story does not really allow for such a revelation as its told from the micro perspective of 'Karate Man' and his family and community- but in the epilogue, where the time fast forwards a couple of generations, would have been nice to know what happened. But as I said, just a small nit- I enjoyed this book and thoroughly recommend it.
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