Tomorrow War

Tomorrow War #1

by J.L. Bourne

In this riveting, ultra-realistic novel from J.L. Bourne, a man struggles to survive after the US infrastructure collapses and martial law engulfs the streets of America.

In the not-too-distant future, during an unacknowledged mission inside the Syrian border, a government operative unwittingly triggers an incredible event that alters the course of society. A terrible weapon has been unleashed—a weapon that, left to run its course, will destroy the moral fabric of humanity.

In the midst of crisis, the population struggles to survive in a world short on vital resources. Inflation cripples the US economy and post-war armored military vehicles patrol the streets.

One man stands up to push back the overwhelming wave of tyranny triggered by the onset of nationwide martial law. How can he possibly succeed against a high tech and tyrannical enemy that is hell-bent on ripping liberty from the pages of future history?

From the author and military expert who brought readers the riveting horror series Day by Day Armageddon, Tomorrow War is a compelling account of an alternate dystopian America located just down the tracks of oblivion.

Genres: Fiction, Post Apocalyptic, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Audiobook, Survival, Horror

269 pages, Hardcover

First published June 30, 2015

About the author

Welcome to the Official J.L. Bourne Goodreads page.

J.L. Bourne is a retired military officer and national best selling author of the horror series, DAY BY DAY ARMAGEDDON, and dystopian thriller, TOMORROW WAR.

With twenty years of active military and intelligence community service behind him, J.L. brands a realistic and unique style of fiction.

J.L. lives on the Gulf Coast but is sometimes spotted toting a rifle and a knife in the rural hills of Arkansas where he grew up.

Reviews

[LA · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know, for the right reader, this dystopian novel would be fun. The United States goes off the grid completely, and with no gasoline to power delivery trucks, the stores empty of consumables in just two days. Riots over food and gas erupt. Bad dudes will follow you home from Sam's Club, then shoot you dead for your granola bars and bagged rice. A young mother of three prostitutes herself for a single candy bar.

Wait.

Okay, yes - this sucker was a bit far fetched. I respect the author who served his country in the military and think he brought a lot to the table as far as tactics go. The main character, also military, and an old guy he befriends decide to strike back at a rogue commander who has taken martial law to a new and dictator-like level.

But the anti-government flavor, the fifth grade reading level (don't get offended - The Hunger Games is fifth grade, too - check Scholastic if you think I'm just being snotty), and the speed from when the initial blackout occurs to total bedlam ensuing combined to make a leap I personally saw as too silly to take. Your dad or your brother (if they are guys who are not big-time readers) might love this book. Ex-military might enjoy the homegrown ops - those were interesting.

I would also guess that any investors selling gold, or the makers of canned chicken noodle soup, Sterno, duct tape, solar panels, two-way radios, camouflage clothing, binoculars, and ammunition (LOTS of ammunition) would be gung-ho for this. The writers for the MacGuyver series also probably wished they'd written this themselves to cash in on survivalist readers.

Look, we live in New Orleans. I know first hand about the loss of cell phones, land lines, power, water, police protection, 911, grocery stores, gasoline, and any sense of personal security. I'm not saying some sort of electromagnetic pulse could never be lobbed at us to knock us off the grid. But if I'm going to read a dystopian story, I just want it at a higher reading level.

Took one for the team. #bookclub #menspick

[Eric Millner · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let me begin with full disclosure - I did not finish this book. More accurately, I could not finish it. I like dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction and had high hopes for this one, especially with all of the positive reviews. Then I started it and all hope was lost. The writing is tedious and dry. The characters were one-sided. I felt like I was reading a compilation of government reports and how-to pamphlets instead of a cohesive novel. In my younger days I might have forced myself to read the rest out of some strange obligation to finish everything I started. The older me has given up on such foolishness. Life is too short. There are so many good books to read. This just is not one of them.

[Timothy Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

J.L. Bourne is back with a new novel not set in the zombie universe of Day by Day Armageddon. In this adventure, he tells the story of society's collapse and one hero's attempt to fight the tyrants that take over. We don't have zombies in this one; instead, we have a combination of politics, inflation, and cyber terrorism drag the world to its knees. This was fine, at first, because it felt realistic and created the same survival story I enjoy about post-apocalypse novels.

The best thing about Tomorrow War was that J.L. returned to the roots of what made his first novel, Day by Day Armageddon, one of my favorites. J.L. knows how to survive when society collapses, and we get a detailed look at how we might do the same. For those who fantasize about this kind of survival, this book will be candy. The people our hero, Max, encounters are at times displays of the worst of humanity and at other times examples of how we can succeed when we selflessly band together.

The most disappointing thing about Tomorrow War is that the conflict either came and went too quickly, or felt too easily resolved. Max's friends are either very helpful with their background or equipment, and Max is too good at what he does. He's a trained agent for exactly this kind of scenario and it shows.

The narrator does a fine job and didn't detract from the action or characters. I enjoyed the listen and viewpoint into a possible apocalyptic scenario. However, my enthusiasm in the setup lessened as I closed in on the end because it lacked strong punches of conflict and climax I was hoping for. The situations J.L. put characters Max befriends or cares about didn't rise to any significant level of empathy either.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been in a reading rut lately, but today may have ended that. This book was what I needed. It's dystopian sci-fi, which if I'm being honest, is a genre I love. While I didn't love love this particular book, I liked a lot of the elements here. So it was a solid 4 stars for me.

I loved how the author started this. His systematic approach to the collapse of law and order in the US was well thought out. I could easily picture it. I also liked the MC. He was the all American guy next door. I also liked Rich. He was a great character who was more than interesting.

There were a couple of things that didn't ring true to me. A few elements fell into place way to easily....a good fortune fairy was present and accounted for. These things hurried the story along at a fair clip....it was wild how fast things happened. Some of these events were so isolated and could have used some anchoring points for plausibility. One thing that really had me scratching my head was the warped military presence. I would have liked a little more set up on how it got to be so bad and brutal so fast. But all in all, I liked this. I'd definitely read more by this author.

[Greg at 2 Book Lovers Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a book that looks at what would happen when the $#it hits the fan. Usually these books are about zombies, mysterious infections or over the top natural disasters. Tomorrow War goes well beyond any of those unlikely scenarios, the cause of this “apocalypse” is completely man-made and well within our current technological capabilities. Tomorrow War is scarier because this could actually happen.

J.L. Bourne has paid meticulous attention to details. Our hero, Max, is so well prepared for the end of the world as we know it; it makes the best prepared preppers look like amateurs. What I normally love about a post-apocalyptic book, is thinking to myself: What would I do? Could I survive? The simple answer in Max’s world is “NO!”

Max is an incredibly well developed character. We meet Max early on in his training. It is evident from the start that Max has “it” - the skills that are required for the special ops jobs that his country has planned for him. His training creates the Max who can survive in this new dangerous world. But Max is more than just a survivor, he is a man unwilling to give up his principles; just because things have gotten dangerous, doesn’t mean that a person’s basic rights have changed. These are rights that others have fought and died for and Max is willing to make this same sacrifice.

Tomorrow War is an intense portrayal of what could happen, what we could become. J.L. Bourne has done a fantastic job of telling this gripping story that kept me on the edge of my seat with my chest clenched. One thing that I do know for certain; if things ever do get that bad, Tomorrow War will no longer be a fictional story, but my personal survival guide.


*I received a copy of the book from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received an advanced digital copy of this book from Gallery Books via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I'm sort of conflicted about what to say about this book. I'm not sure if the reasons I didn't like this book were because of honest "problems" with the book or just things that wouldn't have bothered me if I were the target audience. Although, I'm not quite sure who that audience would be; perhaps people who want a how-to novel on surviving the end of times?

Quick summary: this book is supposed to be the digital journal of a man named Max who watches the downfall of America as we know it and chronicles it. Within a few short days of helping plant a computer virus, the entire infrastructure of America collapses and Max is forced to fight for his survival.

I kept thinking of Liam Neeson while reading this, "I have a very particular set of skills". Max is unbelievably qualified to ride out the apocalypse. Like, seriously. The rest of us are dead by day 3 in this story's scenario. Maybe that's what bothered me. In addition to not feeling anything for this character, and the choppy writing (again both could be because of the journal style format), I felt like the whole book was trying to sell me on survivalist classes. Even Bourne's introduction at the beginning seems planted. I really couldn't tell whether he was serious or not with his prologue basically consisting of, "this could really happen and it could happen soon, take note"! Talk about bleak!

Again, I gave it a generous two stars on the off chance that maybe it was just me but overall, it didn't click. I didn't have any investment in the main character and I'm not sure if I was supposed to. I honestly wonder if the author just really wanted me to take some classes in survival skills, buy several guns and ammo, and pull all my money out of the bank. You know...just in case.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. I love books set in a dystopian future environment; usually they take place many decades/centuries in the future. Picked this up thinking it looked like an interesting "what if?" read about our current world.

The story's not terrible, though the characters are pretty boring. However, the book constantly turns into what I could only describe as "prepper porn" and it is pretty distracting.

I guess it's easier to suspend your disbelief when a story takes place 1,000 years from now, but Tomorrow War is apparently Bourne's view of a very real America in the next decade. I found myself constantly laughing out loud at some of his unrealistically paranoid ideas of what would happen were our economy to collapse.

I wouldn't recommend it.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a 2-star for me, but let me be clear that this doesn't mean it's not a 4/5 star for other tastes. I like apocalyptic, dystopian end of the world scenario books a lot, but I couldn't stomach this one. The super libertarian, "constitutionalist" politics weren't even an undertone, but more of a primary theme ranging from your right-to-bear-arms/freedom from oppression type themes to a mistrust of the marketing claims about how long batteries last. If that kind of thing is your jam, then this would be a recommend. If not, steer clear, especially if you're the kind of person that can't give up on a book. It will be painful.

[Yossi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started reading this book because I thought it was related to the new Chris Pratt movie and I wanted to read the book before I saw the movie. About 10% I understood my mistake. This book has only a similar title, nothing else is the same. There is no time travel here. Strike one.
Reading on, I felt stupider and stupider. The premise of the book is ridiculous and plays out like a story from a bad 80s show. A super-secret agent and an extra-sensitive macho guy who happens to play a role in the most idiotic conspiracy in the modern age (really, what was the end game here?). A descent into chaos that happens so fast you wonder what world the author lives in!? An anti-government war because the author's perceived government is only a step away from dictatorship? Bah. Strike two.
While the action was decent and the technical details interesting, the whole storyline made no sense and was too heavily dependent on happenstance, the evil of the villains, and the stupidity of the reader. Strike three.
No more of this for me.

[Loraine · Rating 1 out of 5]

reads like it was written by a 14 year old libertarian. Possibly the worst book I've ever read.

[Jean Farrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like a good post-apocalyptic novel as much as the next guy, and this one had a lot of things that I liked, including detailed technical information about how to prepare and what would happen if this or that disaster actually happened. It was certainly a quick read. But I only give it 3 stars (I'd probably give it 3.5 if I could) because the "plot" seems designed simply to give our hero an excuse to display all his skills. You don't get a lot of sense of what happened before, or what really is happening after the disaster happens. (Trying not to be spoilery.) And our hero, Max,always seems to have just what he needs right at his fingertips. I really liked the beginning, the set-up, but then when I realized that the whole rest of the book would simply be demonstrations of Max's skills, without a lot of character development or story, I grew a little bored. The ending was pretty anti-climactic as well. If you dig post-apocalyptic novels, and like survival tales, you'll probably like this book. If you like such tales surrounded by a little more story and background, you might want to skip this one.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all the types of books that I read, end of the world novels are my favorite. I prefer the never going to happen scenario of zombies or vampires. Tomorrow's War, while an end of the world novel is more gut-wrenching and horrifying to me than zombies are vampires could ever be. What is described in this book can totally happen. We see our constitutional rights being eroded everyday, it's not a stretch to think the government would rise up against its own citizens to behave the way the government behaves in this book.

If you're looking to read something that will keep you awake at night this is the book.

[Peter · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted a quick, light read between longer, more serious books and so when I came across this, I thought this would fit the bill quite well. I like post-apocalyptic stories and was intrigued by the description of 'ultra-realistic' in the blurb. I even read a few reviews and it sounded like the main gripes were that the writing was a bit straightforward and that it had a big emphasis on survivalism; both of which I thought I could easily overlook. However, while I could manage to let those issues slide, I couldn't really get over how unrealistic the story was and how much it read like a conspiracy theorist's propaganda piece.

Let's rather not go too deep into all the technical issues with this book. I'll summarise them by saying that there's absolutely no depth to anything, especially not the characters or world. The writing was very basic which made it a very easy read, which coupled with its short length, made it easy enough to power through. The pacing was extremely fast, something I'd normally enjoy, except that here it meant that we seemed to lose a lot of world-building and setup for the latter parts of the plot.

I was quite happy to turn off my brain and see where things went initially, where the emphasis really was on surviving the initial stages of society's collapse. I was even sort of enjoying it, thinking it could even be a 3-star if the story could kick on from there. Unfortunately, it just devolved from around the halfway mark into a Rambo gore-fest that quickly went from silly to just plain stupid. Again, I don't have the time to write an entire essay on all the stupidity and leaps of faith the reader was required to make in order to think that any of the events depicted were even remotely plausible. Let's just say that the author is a big fan of deus ex machina and hyperbole.

Even though I went in with very low expectations, this still managed to disappoint me. I guess if you're the target audience of either hard-core survivalist, angsty teenager who's paranoid about the government or a member of the NRA, you'll probably love this. However, if you don't fall into one of those categories, I can't imagine anyone enjoying this drivel. Give this a skip and do literally anything else with your time and money.

[Beaumont · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up randomly at a small bookstore in DC and I'm glad I did. While it took me a bit to crack into it, the dystopian theme did pull me in once I got going. Think of this book as similar to the movie "Civil War" by Alex Garland, where the CIA does what they do and the whole world melts down because of it. The way that Bourne details everything from the types of guns, radios, fertilizer, etc. really made me feel like I was right there on the struggle to survive with Max. I was kept on my toes about where the story was going and that made it easy to keep reading. I gave it four stars because of the ending, I feel like there wasn't closure on the situation with Peterson, and I really wanted to see a tie back to Maggie at some point. If you like dystopian survival stories, this is a pretty good one. Might need to go buy some canned foods for storage.....

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is harrowing and so frighteningly feasible. But I do love witnessing heroes emerge in bad situations, so I was not disappointed! The rapid escalation of events did have me questioning the timeline, but it is also explained well enough to satisfy my skepticism. And this pacing makes this book a very quick read that is nearly impossible to put down. I do think that we had one too many pointed references about the government and gun control. Although that’s probably more me than a flaw with the book—I have mixed feelings about gun ownership in general. Plus, I was happy to read all jabs at freedom of speech restrictions, where my views align exactly with the novel.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the method of storytelling for this book. It really put into reality a doomsday scenario and how it would impact and affect the average or not so average person. I love highly trained soldiers who are not Rambo and who back down from a fight they know they cannot win.

[Will Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book could have easily been a very simple by the numbers survivalist story in a post apocalyptic setting and it mostly is but it makes some changes to what you would usually expect with this kind of story which helps to keep it fresh.

[Jeff Swystun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bourne hooked me a decade or more ago with his Day by Day Armageddon series. It prompted me to read over seventy zombie novels in the interim (yes, I know...nerd alert!). That genre was soon deluged with repetitive, purloined substandard works that only accelerated and grew in number with self-publishing. Now it is challenging to find an inventive novel featuring the undead. Worse, too many authors are trying to write series not because they have much to say but because they see dollars.

Thus endeth my rant on the slide in quality zombie tales. After all we here to cover Bourne's new survivalist series. Similarities exist. One man up against a global threat. In this case it is the collapse of the financial system, communications, and then law and order. Our hero is well equipped, trained and situated to pull through.

Bourne spends the entire novel setting the stage for future action. So this first outing drags and I kept thinking, "Money grab". Not only because he wants us to buy numbers two and three but because the plot and characters are exceedingly weak. And there is nothing fresh to chew on.

I read over fifteen of Jerry Ahern's, The Survivalist series, throughout the '80's. It was pulpy good fun that may have taken itself seriously but I never did. That interpretive dichotomy is not present in Tomorrow War. Still, I will pick up the second in the series because I owe J.L. that but he owes me much more in those pages. More originality, more humorous ambiguity, and more atmosphere to create "the what-if?" in reader's minds.

After all, readers pick up apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction to be fascinated with potential scenarios and to assess how well they would do if something similar played out.

[Audioreader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not nearly as entertaining as Bourne's Day-By-Day Armageddon zombie series.

This is a one-man kind of survival story after the collapse of the economy and social order in the United States. In that sense it is similar to the Day-By-Day Armageddon series. And this book does have some of the pleasures of that series - detailed and realistic accounts of the strategies and tactics the main character is following as he runs things through his head, and interesting accounts of the tangles he gets into. I like the friendship and brothers-in-arms kind of thing the author finds with another character. Plus, the audiobook reader is the same as the other series and has a fantastic weary lone tough-guy voice.

But the similarities end there. For one thing, this book seems to lack focus and purpose...it just feels like a "bunch of stuff." Secondly, although it sounds funny, it's way less realistic than his zombie novels. I just can't see many of the events unfolding like they did. It seems like the author has created a world in which he revels in the fact that a "certain type of person with certain ideas" now has the last laugh and was "right all along." By this I mean, a southern US, outdoor-savvy, hunting-type, gun-type, military-type, right-wing type a person. It's almost as if feels very maligned by modern society, the "global economy" and "suits" and actually craves for a time when guys like him are the ones who survive in the new social order. He constantly inserts his political views, warning about US government and police authoritarianism, continually expressing outrage that his fictional federal police are not following the amendments of the constitution and making unlawful arrests in the non-existent US state, and he even manages to get a scoff in at universal health care. The book is a smug tirade of how obvious it was that all of this was going to happen and how misguided and stupid the "people in charge" and the "ordinary citizens" are.

Don't get me wrong, I do believe that societal collapse IS a possibility. I do believe that the ones who would best stand a chance are the firearms-trained, self-sufficient outdoorsmen. I DO believe that there are inherent dangers in our system and that we tend to overlook those and not usually focus on the important things in life. But I don't think it would play out like this at all. Within weeks, the Feds and cops have a Big Brother scenario going in which they are propagandizing the people and terrorizing them by teaming up with biker gangs?

Another annoying thing is that the main character is supposed to be without character flaws. Bourne tries so hard to make you like him - by making him soooo remorseful when killing really bad dudes, by giving food to women with starving babies, and by having him continually chastize and beat up on himself for the things he "did wrong" when they clearly weren't. And he never really gives the character morally ambiguous situations to deal with, which I believe would be far more likely in an apocalypse than always facing off against necrophiliac bikers and other thugs. What's more interesting in these kinds of situations is that otherwise good people will find themselves at odds with others to survive...not just with moral monsters.

I'll be reading the second book in this series just because it's an easy, fun read, and some of the survival scenarios are interesting. Beyond that, there's not much to redeem this.

[Ned Frederick · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot to like about this book. Prepper arcana galore and a long and entertaining string of episodes highlighting Max and others' struggles to survive. For fans of the post-apocalyptic genre, this will be a fun read. But like so many recent books of the genre the author feels compelled to jury rig some totally unnecessary Tea party/NRA propaganda to stoke yet more anti-government paranoia. Just what we need. Unnecessary and a distraction, in my opinion, a distraction from the gut wrenching survival struggle that Max must live through and that is the main thread woven through the narrative. Must we genuflect to the NRA by adding a sub-theme involving the "government" conspiring to take away our guns. The mechanism Bourne created here is that if you registered for concealed carry the government knows who you are and what guns you have. Not in my experience. My application, for example, was for concealed carry and made no reference to the type of gun or a specific gun. Also the application is local and based on state laws not federal. The idea that the federal government knows what guns you have and needs you to turn in that gun in order to get federal food assistance is part of this story. It just makes no sense. Ironically, this is an unnecessary distraction from the real threat to most of the survivors in this story, I.e., all the non-government guys with guns who are looting, robbing, and killing. Despite these distractions the first 2/3 of the book is a masterful dystopian creation. Love the hybrid ultralight by the way, and Rich's mad tech skills. Unfortunately, the final 1/3 of the book degrades into an unimaginative paranoid anti-government fantasy complete with black uniformed "federal" jackboots apparently unattached to any particular agency. Unclear what agency they represent, if any, and not apparent what their reasons might be for their massacre of unarmed civilians other than control of NW Arkansas. I'll be passing on future installments of this new series if this trend continues, as is foreshadowed.

[JoMo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok, I confess I didnt finish the book. I gave up at around page 180 when the resistance is planned as the book just got a little too silly for me. Thoughts (a few minor spoilers ahead):

1. Curious when read in the author's note "draconian gun control". He pins his politics to the mast, it's mighty fine to know his standpoint on guns except when it starts to seep through the pages.

2. The main plot device to get to societal breakdown seems a little ... stupid? Unplanned? Sure every book needs a plot device to keep things ticking over but maybe a little more plausible in a book set in our current time frame. But here we get something that goes put the thing over there in that country and as a result absolutely stuff the world and our own country as well. Good plan. Great plan. What was the endgame? Did it spiral outta control? How does the government still function? Actually why did they need to do it in Syria why not just in the USA? Oh because then Max wouldn't have the ultralight!

3. Hey there's a train over there lets get bolt cutters and see whats inside ... nah, two boxcar doors are open and there's nothing there so that means the other 100 box cars must be empty ...

4. I gave up shortly after Max blows the mean ole Feds to kingdom come at his family home and his main issue with this was the unconstitutional nature of the search. Max prattles on about gun rights and free speech a great deal which just seem so contrived so as to put the author's politics on the page.

5. As essentially a how to manual to survive the (non) zombie apocalypse one thing kept going through my mind about the bunker .... wheres the bathroom :-)

[John Cheeseman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read all of the Day by Day Armageddon books by J.L. Bourne and quite liked them so thought I would give his earlier work a try. If I read this first instead then I would never have read another of his books as I found this completely farcical and like the rantings of a far-right prepper nutcase who hates the government.
Why he feels that people would become inhuman selfish monsters or starve to death within 2 or 3 days of the banks closing and that everyone working for the government is evil (except him) I dont know, maybe it was just to create excitement and drama but it just made the story uninteresting to me.
I'm sure J.L. Bourne knows his stuff about the military as he really takes his time explaining tactics and weaponry, so much so that at some points I thought it was like a terrorist training manual.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing. Unlike so many other authors these days J.L. Bourne is tactically accurate. I honestly found myself taking notes while reading this book. The setting and circumstance seemed surreal to me considering the current state of affairs with the world.

The book has a very believable plot. I found myself not wanting to stop reading. This was one of the few books that I was sad that it ended.

I'm really hoping that Mr Bourne decides to make the switch to writing full-time. I know he has a fan in me for life. His zombie novels are seriously the best I've read.

[Ricardo Mota · Rating 5 out of 5]

JL Bourne era do meu agrado com o seu "Day by day Armageddon". Com este livro; afasta-se das temáticas de zombies dos anteriores e salta para uma distopia plausível de uma terceira guerra mundial e das suas raízes nesta era da informação. Brilhante e vivo, é um thriller de nos manter agarrados e só peca por, a dada altura, nos dar a entender que o scope não se afasta muito daquela América rural. Ainda assim, merece as 5 estrelas porque se sabe que é apenas o início de noiva série de livros.

[Derrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

So bad, so so bad. FYI, not the basis for the scifi movie with Chris Pratt. Feels like crawling into a right wing conspiracy nut’s wet dream.
The main character is what every nerdy right wing pro-gun incel thinks he will become in a dystopian event.
Everything from characters to plot are one-dimensional and it’s a dimension straight out of foxnews.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Written in the same "first person journal" format as Day by Day Armageddon.

[J.R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!

[Tilly Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inhalt/Meinung
Endlich mal wieder ein Endzeit-Buch. Tja, ich bin eigentlich ein relativer großer Fan von J. L. Bourne, hat er doch mit „Tagebuch der Apokalypse“ einen Nerv bei mir getroffen. Jedenfalls solange, bis ich Band 3 las. Danach flachten die Gefühle ab. Deswegen war ich sehr zwiegespalten, ob ich mir „Tomorrow War“ wirklich geben soll. Oder eben lieber nicht, denn noch hat es sich der Autor noch nicht ganz verscherzt. Ich erlag dem Buch und kaufte es mir. Aber hat es sich gelohnt?

Ich muss ehrlich zugeben, dass ich das Buch nach ca. 20/25% abgebrochen hätte, wenn mir nicht jemand dem ich meinungstechnisch vertraue, empfohlen hätte, es weiterzulesen. Der Anfang zog sich wie Gummi, ich fand es langweilig, öde und oftmals einfach nur ätzend. Max, der Protagonist, der das alles aufschreibt, weiß im Grunde selbst kaum etwas, sodass auch ich kaum etwas weiß. Am Anfang wird Max ausgebildet und durchläuft mehrere Stationen, in denen er verschiedene Techniken lernt. Das alles gipfelt in einem Auftrag, den er mit einer Frau erfüllen muss. Dieser Auftrag verändert alles und Max beginnt, zu planen.
Bis hin zu diesem Auftrag hat es mir wirklich nicht gefallen. Es ist alles bis ins kleinste Detail erklärt, aber das, was mich wirklich interessierte, was in den Aufzeichnungen geschwärzt. Namen wurden kaum bis gar nicht genannt und wenn, dann waren sie wahrscheinlich nur Decknamen. Ich mag Endzeitgeschichten wirklich gern und bin offen für jedwedes Szenario, aber wenn der Anfang schon so einschläfernd ist, finde ich, hat es eine Geschichte wirklich schwer.

Naja, jedenfalls las ich weiter und denke, es hat sich doch noch gelohnt dran zu bleiben. Nicht, dass Tomorrow War mich jetzt gänzlich umgehauen hätte, aber das Bild, was Max mir als Leserin zeigte, war interessant. Ressourcen beschaffen, sich zurückziehen. Haltbare Grundnahrungsmittel lagern, Konserven, Waffen! Max zog sich in sein Elternhaus zurück, baute sich einen Bunker und fing an, sich für das Ende der Welt zu rüsten. Ab diesem Moment wurde die Geschichte interessanter. Sie erlebte keinen Höhenflug, war aber auch nicht mehr so langweilig und trocken wie der Anfang.
Max lebt in einem Gebiet, in dem seine Nachbarn weit entfernt sind und hat reichlich Land zur Verfügung. Er sichert sich mit allem ab, was möglich ist, denn um ihn herum bricht die Welt zusammen. Die Wirtschaft geht komplett vor die Hunde, Geld ist nichts mehr Wert. Es scheint, dass trotz dieser Katastrophe, die Menschen sich irgendwie arrangieren. Marodierende Gruppen streifen umher, aber mit ein wenig Rückgrat wird man ihnen Herr. Bis die Regierung eingreift und den Menschen ihre letzte Möglichkeit sich zu verteidigen nehmen. Ab diesem Punkt wird Max mehr ins Geschehen einbezogen, als ihm lieb ist und letzten Endes muss er seine Heimatstadt vor einem selbsternannten Sheriff verteidigen. Ganz schön interessant, was Max alles auffährt, um die Situation unter Kontrolle zu bringen.

Manchmal fand ich es sehr seltsam, warum gerade Max immer so derart involviert wird. Er könnte die meiste Zeit in einem Bunker leben und bekäme so rein gar nichts mit, was um ihn herum passiert (klar, dann gäbe es wohl auch keine Geschichte). Aber irgendwie scheint immer da, wo Max ist, irgendwas los zu sein. Ich hatte hin und wieder das Gefühl, als greife der Autor in die Story ein, es lief nicht immer so flüssig, wie es vielleicht sollte. Was die Regierung selbst von Max wollte, ist mir ein Rätsel und warum diese Hyperinflation ausgebrochen ist, kann ich auch nicht sagen. Dazu fehlen mir einfach zu viele Infos, die Max aber selbst auch nicht hatte. Das machte es wirklich nicht immer leicht, das ganze zu verstehen, denn er tat ja bestimmte Dinge. Nur war mir nicht immer klar, warum er das tat. Da wusste der Autor anscheinend mehr als ich.

Das Ende ist quasi der Anfang von Band 2, wobei ich mir noch unsicher bin, ob ich diesen auch lese. Eigentlich möchte ich schon wissen, wie es weitergeht. Andererseits hab ich noch trölftausend andere Bücher hier, die ich auch lesen könnte.

Fazit
„Tomorrow War“ hält meiner Meinung nach nicht, was es verspricht. Ein sehr langatmiger Anfang sorgt für einen Dämpfer, was das Interesse an der Story angeht. Es wird zwar besser, aber auch nicht so überragend, als das ich den Anfang hätte vergessen können. Es lohnt sich, den Anfang auszuhalten, denn dann wird es interessant, aber man sollte nicht mehr so viel erwarten.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this at New York Comic Con 2018 from the Simon & Schuster booth. Recently I went through my TBR to weed out books that have been there for years and years by playing "read it or un-haul it." I'll read a chapter and if I like it I'll keep it and if it doesn't grab me I'll sell or donate it.

When I read the first chapter of this one it got my attention. It turned into a different book than I was expecting. Good, but I do have a few critiques.

It's told in a journal format that has been found in the post-apocalyptic future. From the beginning I though it would be more of a story about being in the military and going on secret missions. It soon turned into a story about surviving after the collapse of society and the institution of marshal law.

I'll get the critique out of the way. Because the majority of the story is told through Max's journal we get a narrow view of the world. The prologue has an unnamed (female) POTUS and a redacted person talking about the failing economy and a reset. Only we never learn the point of the reset. (Unless it's in the sequel, Serpent Road?) We never go back to POTUS or the redacted person to find out if their goal was achieved according to their plans. So for me that left the ending unfinished.

Also, what was the point of planting the virus in Syria? Couldn't that have been done on US soil, or somewhere closer to home, like Canada or Mexico? I thought it would come back since the operation was called "Destabilization of the Syrian Regime." But we never go back to Syria and the whole world collapses as a result. Was it to frame Syria as the cause of it all? IDK.

There was a scene as the world is starting to fall apart where Max wonders what will people panic for first (page 55). Food, water, gas, cash, ammunition? This was published in 2015 and I can tell you now in 2025 after living through 2020 that people will panic for toilet paper.

I saw some reviewers say that the world fell apart too fast, and maybe it did for the sake to move the story along, but I've heard it said we are nine meals away from anarchy. So maybe those reviewers are wrong.

So on to the things I liked. Max's survival skills are pretty awesome. Since he was trained for secret military operations he thinks ahead.

I really liked his friendship with Rich, the train hobo who also knew survival skills, and he had information. Looking back their partnership and the two man army they formed was my favorite part of the book. That and Max being a pro-Constitution/pro-Bill of Rights man.

I also appreciated that he held some guilt for his role in Syria and this whole situation.

Despite my criticisms I did enjoy it. It was a fast read and it made me think...of how unprepared I am.

3.5 out of 5 Ultralights.

Memorable Quotes:
Page 22 - "I was hoping that when they pulled the hood off my head after I landed here, that I'd be at Area 51. No such luck."

Page 51 - Bank holiday...they always name these things straight out of 1984. USA Patriot Act, Affordable Health Care Act, NSA's new Domestic Surveillance Regulation Act, all fragrant newspeak.

Page 57 -  People never even cared why webmail providers started asking for their mobile numbers a few years ago in order to "protect their accounts from unauthorized use." All this really did was formally link anonymous webmail services to their names, addresses, and bank accounts. 

Page 133 - The new rumor was that the federalized police would shoot anyone carrying a weapon on sight, regardless of their intent. I couldn't believe that we'd devolved into the police acting as extrajudicial executioners on American soil, but that's where we now stood.

Page 143 - I really need to find some books to pass the time; they don't use batteries. 

Page 161 - "Let me get this straight!" I yelled. "You break into that house without a warrant, you threaten to kill United States citizens exercising their Second Amendment rights on private property, and you're here to execute a warrant on someone for free speech?" There was no answer. "Tell me, Officers, which part of the Bill of Rights are you not shredding tonight?"

[Bonnie_blu · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've read and I like end-of-the-world novels, both "realistic" and supernatural. I was looking forward to this book because of the good reviews. However, I was enormously disappointed. The plot is simply ridiculous with one deus ex machina event after another. In addition, I found the writing more suited to fan fiction than a published novel.

SPOILERS BELOW






Some issues I had with the story:
1. A shadow organization within and without the U. S. government manages to totally cripple the world's technology while simultaneously keeping the technology they need working.
2. While disaster preparedness experts agree that the technological world is "9 meals away from anarchy," the inhabitants of the main character's (Max's) area react strangely when it becomes obvious that resources will become scarcer and scarcer. Instead of using their guns (it is a rural area good for hunting) to ensure their survival, they give them up to the questionable authorities for a promise of food.
3. There are between 270 to 310 million guns in the U.S. I simply cannot believe that their owners would simply hand them over in such a dangerous environment.
4. Max just happens to meet someone with covert knowledge like him and who knows ELINT and how to live the "hobo life" (Rich).
5. Rich lives in a boxcar of a multi-car cargo train that is abandoned. People are desperate for food, but no one, and I mean no one, takes it upon themselves to search the cars.
6. Max just happens to live in the area of a quarry and raids it for explosives.
7. Max is attacked by a pack of wolves. There are wolf sightings in Arkansas but experts say most of them are wolf-dog hybrids or a lone wolf, not a pack.

I could go on, but I've already spent too much time on this book.