"Lights Out" by David Crawford

Cabinetman

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I did search here about this book but couldn't locate any previous posts. If this is a dupe, Sorry!

I'm just getting into this book and find it to be really entertaining and authentic. You can do a google search for it. The first handful of chapters were initially posted up on the net and you can still find them if you look. The entire book, however, is quite thick.

The story revolves around an EMT event that kills all electronics (cars, phones, etc.) and the way Crawford lays this out has been really excellent. You get sucked in pretty quickly.

Anyone here read it yet?

Rome
 
i read it online. it was the first book i had read in years, and i couldnt put it down. bought it for my dad, and im going to buy it for myself to read again. its a fantastic book.
 
an electrical metallic tubing event? oh boy.

just kidding. i just finished the book about 2 days ago. excellent read. better than JWR's books for sure
 
Once I started reading it, I couldn't stop. I don't read a lot, but I couldn't put that book (errr...pdf) down.


And I think you meant EMP. Although if the EMTs of the world revolted, I suppose driving ourselves to the hospital would suck.
 
A great story and an easy read - hard to put down. I also picked up the PDF online.[wink]

It really makes you think. And, it makes you think about reality if the lights went out for a year or more.
 
Yup, it is a must read, and better than every book in its type so far (compared to others I've read or tried to read). The situations are actually plausible. The characters are more real, not some kind of prepper superhero that few could aspire to be, yet they figure out how to make do with the situation. And, it makes me ponder what I might do in similar situations.
 
I've read it about three times now. It is definitely the best book of this type that I have read. I'll probably end up starting it again soon. I just have one Vince Flynn novel in the queue.

If you're looking for similar books (but none quite as good), these are others that I have read this year:

Patriots by James Wesley Rawles
Survivors by James Wsley Rawles (his new book, and not all that good)
One Second After by William Forstchen
Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank (Kind of the 1959 version of One Second After, and really good)
Molon Labe! by Boston T. Party (Not really a survival book, but great if you love guns and freedom)
 
mclina said:
If you're looking for similar books (but none quite as good), these are others that I have read this year:
Click to expand...

Add these to the must-read list:
1. Enemies Foreign and Domestic - all 3 in the series. I could not put these down. While not a complete SHTF, things are getting bad, and it is total SHTF in the 3rd book for a good part of the country that was destroyed by earthquakes, and the government brings in foreign troops to "pacify" the region.
2. Unintended Consequences - also not a SHTF, but a great gun-themed book.
 
I tried Booksamillion before for this book. They took my money, kept it for 2 months, said they couldn't get the book, and returned my money. [frown]

Maybe I'll try the dealer that wants $60 for the book.

I wish they'd just reprint it!
 
Any idea why it isn't being reprinted? It could be done as simple as releasing it as an ebook. This is almost no work on the part of the author, with nothing but additional money coming back in return.
 
P-14 said:
The correct link is here and it only cost $5 to download a pdf of the book using the "day pass."
Click to expand...

I doubt the author authorized that download or gets any money from it. Can anyone confirm? If my hunch is correct, might as well get a free download.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
 
Just finished reading Lights Out. Really good read. Far more depth and complexity than Survivors. Love Gunny. Many of the characters have real depth, as do the plot lines.

I ripped through the pdf in 2 days.
 
I'm only a 1/4 of the way through Lights Out right now and it's leaps and bounds better than Survivors.
 
Does anybody know if Lost and Found has been published yet? I read the first 6 chapters on Survivalmonkey, and I've been dying to read the rest of it. It's the one where a young guy is bugging out on an ATV.

It shows up in the search bar on Amazon, but then there is nothing there.
 
I thought it was a very good book as well. Looking forward to Lost & Found whenever it comes out.
 
dbott63 said:
I thought it was a very good book as well. Looking forward to Lost & Found whenever it comes out.
Click to expand...

i read what has been released on lost and found. it was a really good read. it hasnt been added to in years, and im not sure it will actually get finished [sad]
 
I really enjoyed the book, and it gave me a good deal to think about. I've come to the conclusion that if I'm still living in MA if the SHTF, my probability for survival long term drops precipitously.
 
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Thanks for recommending a read on "Lights Out." Haven't been able to put it down for most of the evening. Taking a break to give my eyes a rest.... and shop for AR parts. :)

Fitz
 
Fitz said:
Thanks for recommending a read on "Lights Out." Haven't been able to put it down for most of the evening. Taking a break to give my eyes a rest.... and shop for AR parts. :)

Fitz
Click to expand...

That's the same thing i did last night lol
 
Bill-Katt mentioned the book to me and I'm reading it. I'm stuck around 100 pages in for lack of time, but a good read.

So far, the people seem oddly calm. I'm thinking there would be a little more widespread panic, a little less cooperation between people...

mclina said:
I've read it about three times now. It is definitely the best book of this type that I have read. I'll probably end up starting it again soon. I just have one Vince Flynn novel in the queue.

If you're looking for similar books (but none quite as good), these are others that I have read this year:

Patriots by James Wesley Rawles
Survivors by James Wsley Rawles (his new book, and not all that good)
One Second After by William Forstchen
Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank (Kind of the 1959 version of One Second After, and really good)
Molon Labe! by Boston T. Party (Not really a survival book, but great if you love guns and freedom)
Click to expand...

Alas Babylon was good. Now I'll have to look up the others...

Lucifer's Hammer is a great PA book. Follows several groups of survivors that eventually wind up at the same place.

What I esp like about the book is the clear descriptions of the places they each pass through. You can literally map their progress using Google Maps to their eventual destination, just about down to the Senator's ranch.
 
I have to say, despite my originally giving Survivors pretty good feedback here on the forum, it leaves a lot to be desired. I read it before reading Lights Out and Alas Babylon. I also read several WW II memoirs(Screaming Eagle, With the Old Breed) in between Lights Out and Alas. The criticisms about how two dimensional the characters are in Survivors are right on, and a lot of the book seems like it is on rails. That is to say, if you read survivalblog.com, there aren't too many surprises and character development is weak because you are expected to know the characters and the roles they play.

However, Lights Out, while long, does a good job of filling out a lot of the characters, developing plots and subplots, and seems less fatalistic with respect to people. Alas Babylon(which I think Lights Out is based on heavily for overall plot, if that isn't a given) reads like a regular book. Once I got past the slow start, the book drew me in. Basically, I cared about the characters, and what happened to them.

My wife read Lights Out recently, and she actually liked it. She picked apart quite a few of the many issues regarding willing suspension of disbelief(like the convenience of someone having a well, and how well everyone worked together and formed a community, which anyone who has lived in a condo knows is fiction ;p). On the other hand, she is much more interested in my defensive plans, has given me carte blanche, and wants to know where to get some of that "junk silver" stuff, which might be good to have around.

If these books are supposed to be more than simple entertainment, they need to be approachable, readable, and informative. They are all informative, but all broadly approachable and readable.
 
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