Five Years After by William R. Forstchen

 

The fourth John Matherson book in the series by William R. Forstchen which began with One Second After continues in Five Years Later. Not much has changed in the five years since the attack. Most of the United States is living hand-to-mouth with subsistence farming and only a smattering of rudimentary technology. President Robert Scales, Matherson's friend and mentor, heads a sort of government based out of Raven Rock. Matherson serves from his Black Mountain home as the nominal vice president as well as president of Montreat College. Supplies at the Raven Rock facility are starting to run out and technology and equipment that breaks are no longer able to be repaired. 

Scales, dying of cancer, summons Matherson to Raven Rock where he meets General Joshua Lawrence. Lawrence is running another hitherto unknown underground (literally) facility that is far better supplied. Lawrence delivers a demand that Scales and his government immediately and unconditionally surrender to him and his organization. 

Meanwhile, a deadly disease is ravaging China and has made its way to US shores. It is through these obstacles that Matherson must navigate in an attempt to restore something of the America he remembers.

The apocalypse and its aftermath in One Second After were novel and thought-provoking. There aren't a lot of new ideas in this book. A good deal of Matherson's time is spent missing cigarettes, finding cigarettes, enjoying cigarettes, rationing cigarettes, and then finding more cigarettes. The underground facilities are reminiscent of the caves referenced in Dr. Strangelove, sometimes explicitly so, but there is none of the humor and self-awareness found in that movie. The characters and the plot in this book are ultimately a little hard to swallow.

Little of what happened in books two and three of the series is necessary to understand what is happening in this book, but reading the first book would be helpful for new readers. Much of the intrigue of the first book is missing here, but fans of the series and completists may enjoy returning to Black Mountain. A disappointing book in the end.

The audio version of Five Years After is read by Bronson Pinchot. Bronson is an amazing narrator who adds a great deal of energy to the characters and the story. His different voices sometimes make you feel like you are listening to a full-cast recording of the book. The dialogue for the main antagonist, Joshua Lawrence, comes across as cartoonish, which Pinchot's narration underscores.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.