Hey Heavy G - I finished Books 3 & 4 shortly after they arrived, and hubby is finishing up #4 as I type. Great books - thank you so much for getting up at 4 in the morning to write them! I've enjoyed them - I like the different points of view from the different people/locations, and I like the ideas presented for solving problems. (He just finished #4! He thought "it was great"!) Some folks have mentioned a quickened pace for the timeline, and I had a couple of thoughts about that.
The timeline isn't the same for all the people involved in the book - things move slower in some areas, quicker in others. In the rural areas, it's maybe slower. But where Grant is at Pierce Point, they've seen things close to them escalate quickly - i.e., the stores running low on food, gas shortages, etc. Grant is the main character of the book, so thankfully lots of action takes place around him.
I think, too, that things escalate quicker than we may realize or be prepared for. For example, during this past summer's derecho storm, in our area there were thousands of people without power. We were lucky - only 1 1/2 hours w/o power. But most people went w/o power for anywhere from half a day to 7-10 days. By day 2, people were wanting ice to be handed out for free, because they were going to lose all their food. (Also witness Hurricane Sandy.)
Finally, from what I understand from reading Heavy G's comments and listening to his interviews, I think the idea behind the book was to present the idea of being prepared in a non-threatening way, and how that would be useful. So, in that sense, it's good to have different situations arise to be able to present these ideas.
I like that some of the ideas put forth by Grant and Rich are designed to help others. Being a "prepper" doesn't just mean prepping for yourself; it means being able to help others. That to me is a huge side benefit of being prepared.
THANK YOU for the books, and can't wait for the next round!!