Book Review
of 77 Days in September Sponsored by Bewitching Book Tours
77 Days in September
By Ray Gorham
Book
Synopsis:
On a Friday afternoon before Labor
Day, Americans are getting ready for the holiday weekend, completely unaware of
a long-planned terrorist plot about to be launched against the country. Kyle
Tait is settling in for his flight home to Montana when a single nuclear bomb
is detonated 300 miles above the heart of America. The blast, an
Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP), destroys every electrical device in the country,
and results in the crippling of the power grid, the shutting down of modern
communications, and bringing to a halt most forms of transportation.Kyle narrowly escapes when his airplane crashes on take-off, only to find himself stranded 2,000 miles from home in a country that has been forced, from a technological standpoint, back to the 19th Century. Confused, hurt, scared, and alone, Kyle must make his way across a hostile continent to a family he’s not even sure has survived the effects of the attack. As Kyle forges his way home, his frightened family faces their own struggles for survival in a community trying to halt its slow spiral into chaos and anarchy.
77 Days in September follows Kyle and his wife, Jennifer, as they are stretched past their breaking point, but find in their devotion to each other the strength to persevere.
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/67990
About
the Author
Ray Gorham was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
in 1966. Prior to settling in the United
States in 1991, Ray had the good fortune to live in a variety of locations
around the world. Years in Australia,
England, Lebanon, Japan, Canada, and the United States all helped shape his
background, worldview, and appreciation for other people and cultures.
Upon graduating from college with a degree in Accounting, Ray decided he couldn’t foresee spending a
future studying tax law and sitting in front of a computer all day, so he took
a management position with Wal-Mart and spent the next 10 years in retail
management where he had the opportunity to interact with hundreds of employees
and thousands of customers on a weekly basis.
After growing tired of working for large corporations, Ray next opened
and tried running a restaurant but decided after a year that the restaurant
business wasn’t for him either. From
there, he found a small, log home business for sale in Montana in 2006 and settled
in for what he hoped would be a long-term career.
When the construction industry slowed down in
2008, Ray knew he was going to have a lot of time on his hands, so he
determined to cross off one of the items on his bucket list—writing a
novel. After thousands of hours of
writing and editing, he had the final draft of his first novel, a 108,000-word
story of a husband struggling to return to his family after a major terrorist
attack incapacitates the country. While
agents and publishers have passed on his efforts to this point, Ray has found
significant success in digital format, selling over 10,000 copies of his work.
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/67990
Excerpt 77 days in September
High
above the sun-baked prairies of Lawrence, Kansas, the missile reached its
target. No one on the ground even
noticed the blast. Perhaps had someone
been looking at precisely the right location, at precisely the right time, they
might have noticed a tiny, momentary spark in the bright afternoon sky. Had they seen the flash, it likely would have
been attributed to the glint of sunlight reflecting off a passing
airplane. From every vantage point below
the detonation, there was no sense of the destructive capacity contained in
that tiny speck of light. More than 300
miles above the earth, a nuclear explosion impacts nothing with the force of
its blast. It is merely a large bomb
going off in a vacuum, creating no shockwaves, no fireballs, no radiation, not
even any sound.
Despite
the lack of explosive destruction, this was now the most lethal weapon to be
unleashed in the history of the world, but it was a weapon that would have had
absolutely no discernable affect on mankind 200 years ago, other than creating
a more colorful aurora. Upon detonation,
the bomb expelled an intense wave of gamma radiation in every direction. The gamma rays traveling earthward interacted
with the upper levels of the atmosphere and created a chain reaction of
displaced electrons that rushed towards the surface of the earth at the speed
of light. Most of the these displaced
electrons passed rapidly through the atmosphere and grounded themselves
harmlessly in the earth.
A small
percentage, however, encountered conductive materials: metal, antennas, copper wiring, and silicon
chips. As these conductors absorbed
untold billions of free electrons, they experienced sudden surges in both
voltage and current. In simple items,
like a garden rake, this surge was manifested as a harmless static
electricity-like spark. But in larger
networks and sensitive objects, the consequences of the electron overload were
devastating.
******
They sat
in silence, lost in their thoughts and watching the pandemonium. Ed spoke after a long period of silence. “I don’t think we’ll be flying out of here
today, even if we want to. I don’t think
anyone is. This is completely different
from anything I’ve ever seen or heard of.
With all those crashed airplanes, there should be hundreds of emergency
vehicles from all over the city out there, but I didn’t see a single one. There should have been enough help for us,
even with the other planes down. I bet
we’d still be waiting out by that airplane if we hadn’t come in on our
own. Something is wrong at a level I
can’t fathom.”
Kyle
nodded. “I’ve been thinking the same
thing. I think everyone is. You can see it in their faces; there’s a fear
and helplessness that I’ve never seen.
Of course, how are you supposed to act when you’ve seen an airplane fall
from the sky?”
“It’s
not just one plane wreck, Kyle. It’s
multiple wrecks. It’s no emergency
assistance to our flight, and no response for those other planes. It’s no power in the terminal. It’s total confusion with the airport
employees. You saw them. They had no idea what they should be
doing. Some of the smart ones are faking
it, but most of them look like they want to cry. And the passengers…they’re freaked out
bad. There’s a deeper fear there than
just the power being out, more than a plane crash. Have you noticed that no one is using their
cell phone? We tried mine, but it’s
dead. They’re all dead. In a situation like this, everyone would be
on their phone. It’s like…I know this
doesn’t make any sense, but it’s like we’ve been attacked.” Ed paused a moment before continuing. “You remember 9/11?”
Kyle
nodded. “Who doesn’t? I’ll always remember it. I was listening on my car radio 2,000 miles
away from New York when it happened, but I’ll always remember it.”
“It
feels like that, but ten times worse.
Remember how unreal everything felt that day? How you couldn’t believe it was happening,
even as you watched it on TV? This feels
the same way. I don’t know why, but it
does.”
Book Review:
Since the September 11 attacks, I
have wondered what I would do if anything like that ever happened in my
area. But more often I wonder what would
happen if I was separated from my family.
As a mother I would move heaven and hell to get to my kids and protect
them, but I would also worry about my extended family: sisters, brother-in-laws, nieces, nephews,
cousins, aunts, and uncles. I have a
very close knit family and I would worry.
This book explores a scenario where
a natural disaster has occurred and what a mother is willing to do to protect
her kids, and what a father is willing to do to get back to his family. It is also a story of the goodness of people,
and the evil in people. While people will take advantage of situations like
this, there are good people who will always help.
The story is gripping and
intense. My only complaint was that it
was graphic and I’m not sure that I would recommend it for children or young
teens. I give this story 3.5 out of 5
clouds. I enjoyed it.
This
product or book may have been distributed for review; this in no way affects my
opinions or reviews.
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