I just finished reading the first book, The Preparation, in the 299 Days series and couldn’t wait to review it. For those that somehow have not heard about this amazing new prepper book series I’ll give you a brief synopsis. The story planned to be a massive ten book series chronicling the collapse of the United states. The author Glen Tate uses his inside the government knowledge to set up a realistic collapse situation that is more like a limited and partial collapse.
The Story
The story in book one, much like the namesake, is all preparation. The first book begins with a scene after the events have taken place and the main character is reflecting back on collapse. This tell the reader right away that the collapse is dealt with and life begins to return to normal. Unfortunately it also removes some tension knowing that the main character and his family all live. After the future scene we flash all the way back to Grant, the main character’s, birth and follow him throughout his entire life. He grows up in a really rural town and lives the country book life. He was active in search and rescue missions, hunting and drinking too much beer. I had a real laugh when he named the beer Pabst Blue Ribbon by name which I have drank way too many of in my life. Grant also had to deal with an asshole Dad at home. I could really relate to some of the scenes with his father. Eventually Grant made his way to college, met a woman, married and became a lawyer. Grant wanted to kill the “loser” from a hick town that he grew up as. He ended up becoming a yuppie lawyer for a few years and got fat, lazy and lost connection with his roots. There are a series of events that cause Grant to wake up and start prepping for his families future so they can survive the collapse he see’s coming. He does this all in secret without telling his family or friends. He lives a dual life during this time learning skills and stockpiling food, ammo and supplies. He eventually makes a few friends whom he can share this with as the wheel start to fall off. The first book begins at the beginning of the collapse. Things are starting to get bad all over and some people realize it where still others are too in normalcy bias to see whats coming.
The Good
Normally I like to go through and list a few things that an author or product does well. Glen did way too much right in this book to list it all. The characters in this book as compared to James Wesley Rawles Patriots book feel like real people. The characters talk and act like people really do and with distinctive personalities each. He does not attempt to censor the word “Shit” in When The Shit Hits the Fan. Glen has a ton of info on survival topics that are beautifully worked in the story without sounding like a technical manual. He simply see what he is doing stuff and why. I like how Grant had a big push on food storage and not all the fancy gear and prepper porn out there. The many visits to the Cash and Carry store in the book prompted me to visit my local one and grab a bag of rice.
The Bad
There were a few things I didn’t care for in the book. Firstly I thought his wife was over the top in her hatred of anything that ran counter to her normalcy bias. During a conversation she literally plugged her fingers in her ears and said she didn’t want to hear it. I find that behavior way over the top from an adult. I’ve told a few girls I was dating about being a survivalist and it goes over pretty well, even better when I continue to have things they need or want. I thought that the character made an intial big push on guns that was too big. Guns are definitely cool though and understandable. While it is true you can eat bullets it is also true if you ever need a gun you really need one. So I really can’t fault him I would just prefer people to begin with food then gun but anything to get you on the right path. Lastly the physical quality of the book was not that great. By the time I had finished reading it the book had fallen apart. The only thing I can guess is that I was reading the book in my car and the heat during the day heated up the glue and caused it to fall apart. It is the only one to do that though.
My final thoughts are you need to be reading this series. As far as I’m concerned this is the best prepper book I’ve read to date. Go grab it and start reading now if for nothing other than the motivation this book gives you.
Have you read the 299 Days book? What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments!
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The wife thing is not so over the top. My wife really doesn’t want to hear about it. I have some “prepper” friends who come over and when this topic comes up, she falls out of the conversation and I get a massive amount of grief about it the next day. “Why do you talking about this, why can’t you be more positive, I don’t want to live my life that way…”. I can tell you stories from a bunch of people I know who feel the same way and they won’t discuss it, and don’t want to hear about it. The normalcy bias is very strong in some people and it shows in different ways. My wife is close Grant’s wife in the book. I hide a lot of what I do from her due to this. I’d be very happy if my wife is right and I am wrong and nothing ever happens.
I think it’s common for people, not just women, to be afraid of the topics surrounding the subjects of prepping, survivalism and “doomsday”. It’s a topic that can, for some, make them have to question their strengths and look their weaknesses right in the eye. It’s hard, especially if that person comes from a plush lifestyle. I would argue that women are more vocal about these feelings than men.