299 Days: The Collapse (Book Two) - book discussion [SPOILER ALERT]

[Heavy G]

I have a blog post up explaining the soundtrack songs for Book Two.

http://299days.com/meaning-of-the-songs-accompanying-book-two/

If you've read Book Two, definitely read this blog post.

[Jesse2004]

Just finished book two. Tried to spread it out, but had a very hard time putting it down. One of the things I loved about it was that I had to take notes while reading. I've been prepping for a while now, but there were some good ideas and points that I felt I needed to address in my own preps. Now I can't wait for the next books.

I agree with Dusti.  Having finished the first two books has added significant urgency to my prep 'to-do' list.  I'm fortunate that my family is mostly on board.  Can't wait for the next books either...

[N. Cal]

I do kinda agree with Grant leaving Lisa and the kids behind. After killing someone in that situation is he just supposed to sit there and be arrested, thrown in jail, and rot? He could do nothing to help his family then. His Neighbor Nancy had it out for him and would have insured that he was arrested at least. If not by the cops then by the comunity. Bugging out without the family was also better in case the cops were after him. Really enjoyed the books.
N. Cal.

[romeojuliethotel]

Question for the other readers... as you read these books, did you have moments where you stopped reading and thought, "Wow, this me?"  When Grant was describing the way in which he discovered TSP and relaying his thoughts, it took me by surprise.  I actually stopped reading for a minute and my mind wander back to when I stumbled in the "Church of Jack." Maybe there are others with the same feelings since we are community of listeners - and now readers, and we're all going through this together in the real world.

[cheryl1]

My husband-who is not a TSP listener- made a commont wondering if these books were a plug for the podcast. He said something like -he's a lawyer, doesn't he know how to look stuff up on the Internet without taking this Jack guy's word on everything? Then we had a nice conversation about how when you start looking for "survival" type stuff on-line you end up with a lot of sites that you really don't want the FBI to know you opened. And about how nice it was to find the TSP site and forum, because it was one of the few sites not filled with kooks. (we just have enough kooks to qualify as a diverse community;) )

[romeojuliethotel]

My husband-who is not a TSP listener- made a commont wondering if these books were a plug for the podcast. He said something like -he's a lawyer, doesn't he know how to look stuff up on the Internet without taking this Jack guy's word on everything?

I understand how your husband could think that, but as you probably surmised, TSP doesn't need a plug.  TSP is growing more and more as our world plunges into the hands of nefarious individuals.  People are riding the wave of hype and starting to figure out that there is a lot of nonsense out there when it comes to prepping.  Stay strong, your husband will eventually come around and start respecting your decisions.  It is eerie, the level of accuracy of the book in relation to real life.

In regards to the part about, "he's a lawyer..." I've worked in IT for 15 years and I can attest, just because a person is an attorney (or Doctor), that title has no bearing on their technical aptitude.  You'd be surprised at the number of people in these professions that are unable to use a computer to do detailed searches or find specific information.  I rack it up to laziness since everything else in this day and age is presented to us with little or no effort.  So, Grant's character being a lawyer that has to rely on a forum for information is completely plausible.

[Heavy G]

My husband-who is not a TSP listener- made a commont wondering if these books were a plug for the podcast. He said something like -he's a lawyer, doesn't he know how to look stuff up on the Internet without taking this Jack guy's word on everything? Then we had a nice conversation about how when you start looking for "survival" type stuff on-line you end up with a lot of sites that you really don't want the FBI to know you opened. And about how nice it was to find the TSP site and forum, because it was one of the few sites not filled with kooks. (we just have enough kooks to qualify as a diverse community;) )

Cheryl:  Tell your husband this was 100% true.  I describe in the book exactly how I came to TSP.  That's what makes Book One and Book Two feel so "real": because they are real.

The books aren't a plug for the podcast, just an acknowledgment of how I started prepping.  One thing to remember is that I mention TSP two or three times in 3,200 pages.  That's one unfocused plug.  But I wanted to give Jack credit because he got me prepping and thereby probably saved my life and my family's.  That's a big thank-you.

[cheryl1]

I posted his comments because I thought it was an interesting perspective from someone who is sympathetic to prepping, but not on this forum. He relies on me for a lot of how-to info on prepping, and really has no idea how hard it would be to pull all this info together on your own.

[romeojuliethotel]

Posted today: "The U.S. government's debt rating could be heading for the "fiscal cliff" along with the federal budget.  Moody's Investors Service said Tuesday it would likely cut its "Aaa" rating on U.S. government debt, probably by one notch, if budget negotiations fail."

http://economywatch.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/11/13803929-moodys-warns-it-will-cut-us-bond-rating-if-budget-talks-fail?lite

[Smurf Hunter]

After reflection of some of the characters in this book, AND people I know in real life, I'm convinced there's going to be all manner of moronic behavior during a crisis.

I just got a huge dose of normalcy bias from facebook "friends" regarding 9/11.  Only 11 years later, there's a vocal minority of Jihadist apologists spewing stuff like "if American's policies weren't so..." or "we're a society obsessed with violence and owning assault weapons...", "...we had it coming".

My cage is rattled - glad TSP is here 

[N. Cal]

On the news today they were saying that Moodies was considering lowering the USA's credit rating. This on the heals of reading about it in Glens book. Serious times ahead.

[cheryl1]

Cheryl:  Tell your husband this was 100% true.  I describe in the book exactly how I came to TSP.  That's what makes Book One and Book Two feel so "real": because they are real.

The books aren't a plug for the podcast, just an acknowledgment of how I started prepping.  One thing to remember is that I mention TSP two or three times in 3,200 pages.  That's one unfocused plug.  But I wanted to give Jack credit because he got me prepping and thereby probably saved my life and my family's.  That's a big thank-you.

He asked me today how many people actually listen to the podcasts and are on the forum. He was impressed with the growth since you found the podcast just a few years ago.

[16onRockandRoll]

Romeo-I thought the same thing when I hit on how he found TSP.  I might as well have written it about myself.

[romeojuliethotel]

Romeo-I thought the same thing when I hit on how he found TSP.  I might as well have written it about myself.

Thanks for the feedback.  Good to know it wasn't just me at that point in the book.

I am travelling for work this week and I finished both books mid-way through my trip

[Nicodemus]

Kung Pow kicks ass... That is all. 

[fritz_monroe]

Kung Pow kicks ass... That is all. 

You ain't seen nothing yet.

[Black November]

Book two was great, can't wait for three & four.

I was expecting parts of the book to happen very differently, but that is why this book is so great. In a real collapse, gunfights won't commence at every stopped car, A Nancy may overreact, and a Lisa may under react.

Hollywood has desensitized us to the reality of everyday life.

Examples:
Why is there a murder in every episode of "Murder She Wrote"?
Why do the main characters of NCIS miraculously survive every gunfight?
Did anyone ever use the restroom during any of Lord of the rings movies?
How many once in a lifetime discoveries can Indiana Jones have?
 
Thanks to Hollywood we expect adventure around every corner, death defying feates, and million-to-one odds.

This book has something that most books don't; realism. Bravo!

[16onRockandRoll]

Why do the main characters of NCIS miraculously survive every gunfight?

Kate didn't...

[nimzy88]

Just finished book two, knocked it out in one slow night at work. I will be honest it took a couple weeks to get through book one, as at times it did feel a bit too much for me, which was possible due to the dose of reality included. Not to put down Heavy G but I could tell it was a first attempt at writing, which made an easy read just not as clean and fluid I guess, this though from a guy that hasn't written more than a 3 page story in 8th grade.

That being said I finished the second book in one night and thought it was very fluid, engaging and great. So great job, can't wait for the third book.

Demographics 24, white male

[Smurf Hunter]

Maybe my biggest literary pet peeve are infallible characters.  The world is far from black and white, and oversimplified characters who have no doubts or don't make mistakes bore me to no end.

[Heavy G]

You ain't seen nothing yet.

Yep.  Fritz is one of the handful of people on the planet who has read all ten books.  Pow does some cool shit.  I'm BBQing with him on Sunday.  He's a totally solid guy in real life.  Exactly as I describe him in the books.

[Heavy G]

This book has something that most books don't; realism. Bravo!

Thank you.  I tried hard to keep it real.  Actually, I didn't try that hard.  I just wrote down what's real and it all came together.

Now bear in mind that Book One and most of Book Two take place in the past or present.  It's easy to keep it real when it's describing things that have actually happened.  It's harder to keep it real when predicting things in the future.  Although, another prediction in the book (that the US credit rating would be lowered AGAIN happened just today).

[monkeyboyf]

Book Two to short.  Hurry!

[Serenity Gulch]

In our family I'm the prepper and my husband is the one with normalcy bias. He's on the same page politically but his idea of action is posting outraged memes on Facebook. Today I decided to push a little bit. I said "Honey, I'd like to make a stock-up run to Costco tomorrow. With the way Bernanke is screwing with the economy I think we should buy as much food as we can while we still can afford it" and he said "OK, that makes sense" YAY!!

[Heavy G]

In our family I'm the prepper and my husband is the one with normalcy bias. He's on the same page politically but his idea of action is posting outraged memes on Facebook. Today I decided to push a little bit. I said "Honey, I'd like to make a stock-up run to Costco tomorrow. With the way Bernanke is screwing with the economy I think we should buy as much food as we can while we still can afford it" and he said "OK, that makes sense" YAY!!

Wahoo!

[shambo]

I just finished the second book yesterday from start to finish, largely due to the book would not leave my hands until done.  I did have a big gripe about  Pow using his CCW badge around his neck.  These damn things can bought by anyone and can get  you  in a lot of trouble in the real world.  But then I realized that it was important to show how people with a bad case of normalcy bias just wanted to believe there were cops out there and were here to save them.  Pow used this belief to his advantage. Great story.  I would never buy these fake badges cuz they will get you charged and get your guns taken away if you flash on of these things.  But it worked for Pow and it worked in the story.

[Serenity Gulch]

Just curious, why didn't Grant prep for a power outage? We've read lots about beans, bullets, and bandaids but I haven't heard anything mentioned about a generator. Did he just decide if they do lose power at the cabin they can just use candles and cook on the BBQ?

[Smurf Hunter]

Just curious, why didn't Grant prep for a power outage? We've read lots about beans, bullets, and bandaids but I haven't heard anything mentioned about a generator. Did he just decide if they do lose power at the cabin they can just use candles and cook on the BBQ?

I dunno about grant, but I sure prep for power outages.  A typical winter for us has at least 1.5 days without power.  We live on top of a hill, with exposed power lines and LOTS of big trees that like to blow down.  Oddly enough, I do not own a generator.  See Steven Harris' recent podcast.

[Heavy G]

Just curious, why didn't Grant prep for a power outage? We've read lots about beans, bullets, and bandaids but I haven't heard anything mentioned about a generator. Did he just decide if they do lose power at the cabin they can just use candles and cook on the BBQ?

An excellent question.  Not sure I have a solid answer.  The main reason Grant doesn't prep specifically for a power outage is that all the other things you'd need in a collapse--food, medical, guns--would be needed in a grid down situation.  Also, Grant can pull off some secret prepping but a generator would be hard to get past Lisa.  *based on a true story*

[Heavy G]

Book Two being read by a young Patriot...