Just curious , you know COVID and all , ain't much to do.. wanna find something to read

The Survivalist series by Aurthor T Bradley is entertaining and has some humor

One second after.

The Remaining series by DJ Molles is my number 1 favorite of all time

Thank you , I'll look into it

Tom Brown Jr. books

Attached File

Check this thread in the Arfcom Survival Sub-Forum.  Literally 100s of SHTF books listed.

After it Happened series by Devon C Ford. 9 books. Based in Europe after a plague killed 90% + of the population.

James Wesley Rawles "Patriots" series is GTG, albeit more technical. There are elements he puts into the books for the express purpose of putting topics on the table. I also dig A. American's books his characters are hilarious and the story is decent.

Here are a few that haven't been mentioned....

1. As Wind in Dry Grass and In The Valley of Dying Stars by H. Grant Llewellyn.
- Hands down my favorite two SHTF books.  Brief synopsis....trucks stop running due to terrorist attacks.  Things get worse.   Very dark.  Darker than The Road and more realistic about human nature than One Second After.  This book made me re-think things the most.  Must read if you like SHTF fiction. 10/10.

2. Lights Out by David Crawford
- One of the classics.  You can still find .pdf files floating around the internet.  A must read.

3. Going Home Series by A. American
- I remember reading it as it was posted in sections on survivalistboards.  I read the first 5 then got busy with life.   Extremely good character development left you wanting more.  Sarge is awesome.

4. Random Forum Authors
- A large amount of this genre is found on forums written in post form on internet forums.  Some of the OG authors include Halffast, Jerry D. Young, Fleataxi, Tired Old Man(TOM), TimJ, etc.  Some of them are better than others, but there is enough out there to keep you busy.

5. Black Knight Squadron: Book 1: Foundations by John "Chappy" Chapman of Forge Tactical
- Great SHTF book about the cities going to shit and a SWAT team based out of Alliance, OH.  Lots of gear and tactics from someone who knows it well.  I think it's only $3 on Kindle right now.  Great book that leaves you eagerly awaiting the second one.  Chappy is a good storyteller and needs to keep this one going.

6. Unintended Consequences by John T. Ross.
- Not quite a SHTF book, but you'll enjoy it.  Fiction and non-fiction wrapped into a unique masterpiece.

7. American Apocalypse: The Collapse Begins by Nova  (and the rest in the series)
- This is a unique series.  It starts of like most SHTF books but takes almost a sci-fi/supernatural direction.  I really enjoyed the characters in this one and it was definitely not a kids book.  If you are looking for a realistic doom porn type novel, this is not it.  If you want an excellent story that is like a modern day Homer's The Odyssey with a little bit of Carrie Ann from Poltergiest, this is the one.  On my list to re-read this summer.

8. The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse by Fernando Aguirre (FerFAL)
- Not fiction, but a guy who lived through the economic collapse in Argentina.  Lots of personal stories and practical, timeless information in this book.  Probably the most relevant "survival manual" for our current times.  Read this one with a highlighter.

Cool thanks..... Starting a wind in dry grass now!

How about the set of 12 FOXFIRE books ?

Currently reading the Black Autumn series by Jeff Kirkham and Jason Ross.

Alas Babylon.

Just got through with "Fourth Dimension". Short synopsis: a teenage girl, teen brother and Marine mother are preparing to go camping, EMP (or solar flare, or computer virus?) erupts, all computers are gone. They canoe to an offshore island and try surviving. It has the realistic phases of an SHTF event... people on their own, start banding together to form groups/gangs, begin fighting for dwindling supplies, etc.

It's similar with the "Rule of Three" series, same author, where the kid (teen) has a home-made ultralight and the skills to fly it, and that gives his community an edge.

There is no such thing as a "good" SHTF book LOL. They are all horribly written and all contain a plentiful amount of cringe.

That's not true. There are many classic SHTF books that are well written.

The Foxfire series.

Ok I'll give you that. More like the "resurgence" era of shtf books led by the likes of Lights out and One Second After are over rated and full of cheesy douche chills and cringe.

The Chronicles of Max series by JL Bourne.  Really good.  About Max who goes on a mission to insert a computer virus in a foreign nations banking system.  It shuts down the economy of that nation and then spreads unchecked to the rest of the world.  Everything shuts down except the US gov't.  They use the shut down to take over as rulers.  Max fights back.  He's not a super seal or gigantic green beret, and he screws a lot of shit up along the way, but it's a really good SHTF series.

299days

There is a whole lot of garbage in the genre.


Essentially, it's a GD jerkoff fantasy.  Bad thing occurs.  No idea how or why and you might get two or three paragraphs of explanation.

By chapter three the survivors have accumulated everything from handguns to Strykers and spend the rest of the book killing zombies/aliens/gangs. Add in an author who did no research whatsoever and  it really gets old after a while. (The 25 mm Bushmaster is an excellent weapon but it cannot destroy a house down to the foundation with one shot)

There is a decent one I'm reading now, up to chapter 10 and no characters have died yet but you have an incredibly detailed story as to how the Chinese destroy the world economy thru cyber warfare.

"Zero Day code" by John Birmingham.

Did you just call Cormack McCarthy a bad writer?

I enjoyed blood meridian. Never read the road though.

The Survivalist Series by Arthur Bradley is great.   So is One Second After

You're correct. The self publishing trend where anyone can publish electronically or through low volume vanity publishers doesn't do some authors any favors.

You know those term papers in school where you tried to get through with fluff by increasing the font size and the margins? That was my literal first impression when I held my copy of The Road for the first time. Regardless of the quality of the story I'm not sure why the publisher and author went with that presentation of the material.