Nach der Stunde Null

by Alfred Coppel

Nach der Stunde Null ist die ungemein spannende Geschichte von Major Garvin, der trotz mehrfacher Bedrohung seines eigenen Lebens beschlossen hat, nicht mehr zu töten.
Seine Situation scheint ausweglos, als ihm das Mädchen begegnet, das sein Schicksal wendet. Ein gegenwartsnaher, in seiner Dramatik harter und kompromißloser Thriller - das Hohe Lied der Menschlichkeit in einem Inferno - von einem der Meister spannender Unterhaltung.

Genres: Science Fiction, Post Apocalyptic, Adult, Fiction

189 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1960

About the author

Alfredo Jose de Arana-Marini Coppel was an American author. He served as a fighter pilot in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. After his discharge, he started his career as a writer. He became one of the most prolific pulp authors of the 1950s and 1960s, adopting the pseudonyms Robert Cham Gilman and A.C. Marin and writing for a variety of pulp magazines and later "slick" publishers. Though writing in a variety of genres, including action thrillers, he is known for his science fiction stories which comprise both short stories and novels.

Reviews

[Jaypee · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best post atomic war novels of the fifties,

I must first of all say that the picture on the cover of the edition posted here is much better than mine; mine--a Fawcett mass-market re-print from 1970-- makes the story look like it takes places on another planet--with people in spacesuits and helmets and the whole nine yards, which is absurd, because the book deals-- quite well- with the devastating effects of a nuclear war upon the West Coast of the United States.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, if one can say that about a book about such catastrophic events...but I was quite impressed by the hard-headedness of the narrative. This book seems close in style to The Postman, with a lone wanderer in a Pacific NW wilderness/wasteland battling bandits, rouge army commanders and what-not. Grim stuff about struggling for survival in a world gone wrong. if you are a fan of John Christopher's novels such as NO BLADE OF GRASS, then DARK DECEMBER will be your cup of tea. Cheers!

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars for this post-apocalyptic novel by Alfred Coppel, published in 1960.
Major Kenneth Gavin, USAF, survived World War III, as he was one of the men underground ( in Alaska) pushing the buttons that sent the missiles flying--which killed millions. With the end of the war, he's a man filled with a great deal of remorse. He decides to to get back to Menlo Park, California, to find his wife and daughter. He has to traverse a devastated world that has descended into anarchy.
This is nuclear war from the perspective of 1960. Most of the towns and cities have been destroyed but it seems to me a lot of people still managed to survive and society could be rebuilt. The US military is gradually increasing its control out of Washington State into Oregon, for instance. Even in California, outside of military control, some people have gotten reorganized and are rebuilding... It's a "Dark December," as the title of the book says, but it could've been a whole lot darker. There could've been more of a struggle to get civilization back on its feet, with no surety that it could be done.
I think we can assume that if nuclear war had occurred in the 70s or the 80s ( or later), there would have been a nuclear winter which just might have caused the extinction of the human race, among many other animal species...
This one is just OK. There are a number of better post-apocalyptic stories out there. "On the Beach" by Nevil Shute (pub. 1957) comes to mind; another is the 1965 "Commander-1" by Peter George, a direct sequel to his "Red Alert" ( which Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove" film is based on).
I suppose "Dark December" would have made much more of an impact on me if I had read it back in the 1960s.
I have to mention that one reason I picked up this book is because I had read three other of Coppel's books, all three of which I enjoyed greatly. My favorite of his is "The Burning Mountain"(1983), an excellent alternate history novel about the American invasion of Japan in WWII. I enjoyed his "space opera" story, "Glory," from 1993. I also liked his thriller set in the Middle East, "Thirty-four East"(1974) and I think I'd like to reread my paperback copy of this book sometime...
Alfredo Jose de Arana -Marini Coppel was born on November 9, 1921, in Oakland, CA, and died on May 30, 2004, in Menlo Park, CA.

[Checkman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alfred Coppel was an interesting person. Born in 1921 he served with the U.S. Army Air Force during WWII as a fighter pilot. After the war he became a writer and a prolific one at that. He published numerous stories in the many pulp magazines of the late Forties and Fifties. He published under his names as well as the pennames Robert Cham Gilman and A.C. Marin. He focused on science fiction, but also ventured into espionage, alternate history and action. I read several of his later novels when I was in high school and university during the 1980s.

"Dark December" was the first novel I read by him at the age of 13 (circa 1981). At that time, I was devouring novels set in a post nuclear war world. I found a copy of this novel in my school library and read it in one day - much of hidden behind a textbook in class. I wonder if I actually fooled any of my teachers with that tired old ploy.

Briefly the novel is okay. There are aspects that actually remind me of "The Road" and I suppose that the experiences of the protagonist in post WWIII California were modeled after what refugees in post WWII Europe experienced. Coppel was a veteran and many of those men never forgot watching the struggle to survive in war ravaged Europe and Asia.

However, the story is just a bit flat and overwrought. The main protagonist has become a pacifist due to his war experiences (he was a missile man in the U.S. Air Force) and he spends much of his time sick and dependent on others. It might be more accurate, but I found the hero to be tiresome. It was one of Coppel's early novels and fictional dramas tended to be more overblown sixty (+) years ago. At the age of 13 this went by me of course, but it stands out more in my middle-years. I find the same thing with the original "Twilight Zone" and "Outer Limits". I suppose there are times when one does want a hero who is a bit more on the tough side.

Anyway, not terrible, but not really roller coaster ride either.

[Lyle Landstrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a Cold War Era book written by someone with obvious military experience. After the nuclear war with Russia where no side won, Major Gaven, a "missile man," who spent most of the war underneath a missile bunker in Alaska is dismissed from service and needs to find his way home to his family in California. Because of the limited resources and depleted command structure of the military, he is left mostly to his own resources. He soon realizes what a nightmare the surface of the world has become. And like most good dramas, there is more than one conflict. Near the beginning of his Journey, Gaven reports a corrupt and sadistic fellow officer that he meets on his way. This person is out for revenge. As the story unfolds, Gaven is exposed to the horrors of the aftermath of the war and the bad elements of what society has become. As well as some good. Along the way he makes some friends who become family. The story ends with him and his fellow travelers finding their way "home" with a glimmer of future hope.

[Beauregard Shagnasty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would like it more if the hero's central conceit were not so heavy handed. I am trying to say this without any spoilers, so I will just leave it at that.

[Paperback Papa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This 1960 novel is the best post-apocalyptic novel I've ever read. So many (like Stephen King's "The Stand" and Robert McCammon's "Swan Song") are long, thousand-page marathons. This one weighs in at a mere 208 pages, yet feels like a much longer book because of the excellence of the writing. Coppel was a terrific wordsmith who gives you everything you need to know, but nothing you don't.

The story is a familiar one. In the aftermath of nuclear war with the Russians, a man makes his way home to find out what happened to his wife and daughter. The story takes place in the great Northwest: Washington, Oregon and northern California. The landscape is desolate, the forests are filled with bandits and psychopathic paramilitary types. And that's in addition to the risk of anthrax and radiation poisoning.

The novel is a thriller, to be sure. But if you want to look deeper, you can find a lot to think about: the value of human relationships, the power of love to keep us going when nothing else could, the ease with which man slips into depravity, the power of the past to control us, and the importance of going on even when all seems lost.

One thing I loved about this book is the likability of the protagonist contrasted with the utter depravity of the bad guys he encounters. There is a storyline with a Major Collingwood, one of the worst bad guys in any book ever, that is a highlight of the book.

Finally, this book was published in 1960, a time when almost every American was worried about nuclear war with the Russians. If it packs a wallop now, I can only imagine what people must have thought when they read it then.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book made me reflect on the existential threat of the Cold War. The threat that I feel hasn't existed in the last 30 years. That our way of life and everything we know will no longer exist after the bombs are dropped and our country is invaded. There has been a shift in media from the post-apocalyptic wastelands of the Road Warrior and nuclear-shattered earth to a more government-overreaching, oppressive society that takes away our rights like The Hunger Games. When we look back from this new paradigm, past decisions look cruel and evil. And they may have been that, for sure, but lost is how much fear dominated these decisions.

But, about the book itself, there isn't anything wrong with it. It is just that the story arc and the character arcs didn't resonate with me. Anything below that radioactive surface level never came through. The reconciliation and mental journey of the main character did not match the physical one, so the main brunt of the argument is softened.

Still, this book was first published in 1960, and it is interesting to try and see the world through the lens of then. To remember that for a long time, World War 3 always felt just on the horizon. That fear may still peek its head out, but many newer fears have now pushed ahead of it.

[Joachim Boaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...

"Occasionally my childhood love of survival tales—whether post-apocalyptic nightmares or sailors stranded on Pacific islands—rears its head and I am forced to track down a book, languishing in some forgotten corner, that satiates the craving. Alfred Coppel’s Dark December (1960), an unknown gem, successfully distills in ultra-realistic [...]"

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a decent read!
(some spoilers)



We quickly learn the main character is a missile launch soldier, and he's summoned as the war ends to be discharged and sent home. The rest of the story is how he proceeds to get there from where he was stationed during the war. First printed in 1960, the story weaves a military mindset, and civilian perspectives on war. I don't feel there is more to gain by reading it again, but I will still keep the book, for now.

[Jedediah Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very clean and lean novel. The message gets heavy handed but it's not surprising for the fever pitched late 50s.

[Paul Jarzabek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent post limited nuclear war story. Set in the west coast states of America... Basically finished it in one sitting.

[Andy Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story follows an American Air Force major, Kenneth Gavin, who helped launch nuclear missiles in World War III. After a nuclear war lasting two years, hostilities end and Gavin is released from his duties and allowed to leave his bunker to return home to his family. This is unusual for two reasons in tales featuring nuclear war. Firstly, most stories will have you believe (probably correctly) that a nuclear war would quickly escalate and would be over very quickly (usually less than a day, and certainly less than two years). Secondly, after such a long war and after so many nuclear missiles have been launched, there is relatively little damage to the USA.

The rest of the book is a fairly standard post-apocalyptic story of a man travelling across America trying to reach his family. This has been done many times in other books, sometimes better, sometimes worse. The 'twist' here is that Gavin refuses to fight anyone after being responsible for so many deaths during the war. It's a pretty decent story, but it's nothing amazing. That said, I read the book very quickly once I had started as I couldn't put it down, so the author must have done something right, even if some aspects of the story are a bit unlikely.

[Gerd · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, although it is quite formulaic and rather simple writing.
A short adventure story, set after a third World War, it's a quick and diverting read, but the author seldom manages to capture the suffering and horror of the survivors - it ges mostly just alluded to.

[Brett]

Science Fiction

[DoctorM · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lost sci-fi novel about a realistic post-World War III world, as imagined in the very early 1960s. Not "Mad Max"--- no. Sad, understated, realistic. Worth finding.