A year has passed since the end of One Second After, which explored the dire consequences of the US being hit by an EMP attack, and once again we are back with retired Colonel John Matherson in a small North Carolina town. However, this time the threat being faced is very different as the United States tries to reform a functional government and not everyone is aligned on who that should be and what it should look like. It all starts when half of the town receives draft notices to report for active duty in the newly formed Army of National Recovery (ANR) and that includes John's own daughter, who is a single mom to an infant child. Losing half the town would condemn those that remain to certain death, not to mention that most don't recognize the authority of this new government. What to do about it though when the town doesn't even have power yet the ANR seems to have working aircraft and the military strength to enforce their will?

I must admit that I expected not to like this one as the change in scope of the story did not seem appealing to me, but I am glad that I gave it a try because it turned out to be just as gripping as the first book. We come to learn that EMPs were simultaneously detonated in multiple parts of the world, but many countries were not hit, so the global balance of power has shifted greatly in the aftermath of "The Day." The US is mostly wrecked and foreign governments have moved onto US soil under the guise of keeping the peace so threats are everywhere for anyone trying to survive and rebuild. It is also impossible to know who to believe, and who has a right to be in power, which puts Colonel Matherson between a rock and a hard place. But once again he chooses to navigate these treacherous waters with a code of honor and that makes him easy to root for in a world that has degraded into might makes right. This story rekindled my interest in the series so now I plan to pick up the final book of the trilogy and see how it all turns out.

The audiobook version is narrated by Bronson Pinchot, who did not narrate the first book, but it had been long enough since I listened to the first book for it not to be jarring to me. Pinchot is an excellent narrator and he does not disappoint, although I might have felt differently about it if I had listened to the first two books back to back.