Finished Book 1 late last week, will likely finish Book 2 on the train home this evening. Reading on Kindle.
Concerning Style:I noticed there was at least one commenter on the Amazon store who gave the book 3/5 based upon the editing. For as enthralled as I was by the story, I have to say that I did notice that too... not so much the editing (a few swapped words here and there, but nothing that makes it look too amateurish), but the sentence structure. It's not a "right" or "wrong" thing, it's just a writing style that takes some getting used to.
Short, simple, staccato sentences are personable, even if they don't flow. It matches the way you think internally, but it makes for slightly awkward reading sometimes, especially if you have an internal pattern like I do. Like I said, it's a personal preference, and once I got used to it it didn't impact my enjoyment of the books at all. If it makes you feel any better, it's a lot easier to get used to than Hemingway's prose, and while there's plenty of discussion about his style you can't argue with his results.
If there was any additional editing work to be done, I'd just mention that with the "internal dialogue" style you need to be clear about who's "internal dialogue" you're reading. Typically it's Grant's, which is perfect for his type of character, but other times it shifts to another character (where it feels slightly out of place), and sometimes it's without a character and you're inside the author's head... not necessarily a problem, but it is noticeable.
Concerning Content:The story here is very engaging. Anyone who's got any background at all in preparedness is going to enjoy these, because it puts on paper the things we think (and talk) about all the time. Seeing this from someone else's perspective, and not knowing how the story will progress is endlessly fascinating. At every critical moment you're thinking through the "Choose Your Own Adventure" scenarios and either nodding in consent with the character or (silently) cursing him out for not doing what you'd do, but not in a comical "horror movie" way where you know what's going to happen to them.
You've got a very good mix here of action and doldrums, and the right amount of going into details for someone who's a relatively newb-prepper (explaining some basics while leaving others to be explained by context). I'm not a gun guy, but I absorb a lot of it through forums and podcasts. If there's any one area where there may be a few
too many details it's probably here, but again, that's coming from a guy who's not all that into guns.
Without a doubt a page-turner, and I'm confident you'll be reading
"Couldn't put it down!" reviews from everyone around here. Not quite sure how it will be received outside of the TSP, if at all, but I think you've done a fantastic job here.
I'm a little skeptical about trying to get this into my wife's hands, if only for the large amount of firearms info in Book 1, but I do think that this is a very good
"Intro to Prepping: Get Your Mind Around This" kind of book for anyone who is at least
mildly comfortable with the idea of owning a weapon. If they're not open to that, I don't see them enjoying the first one (and therefore not moving onto the rest)... but then again, this book certainly wasn't written for "everyone".
Excellent. I, like everyone else here, is anxiously awaiting the next two installments.
