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The beautiful thing
about learning is that no one can take it away from you.”
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THE DISASTER
DIARIES…
How I
learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Apocalypse
By Sam
Sheridan
Genre:
Non-fiction on prepping with a little fiction thrown in.
When I asked
about what types of books I should write reviews about people responded
frequently they wanted to hear about books on prepping. With the state of the world around us I
understand this completely. They wanted
both fiction and non-fiction on the subject.
This book fills the bill on both levels.
Sam Sheridan
writes about his true life mission to become safe in the world no matter how or
when the apocalypse hits.
Before
marrying and having a son he was an adventurer. He had worked as an EMT, a
wilderness firefighter, a sailor, a cowboy, and even a construction worker at
the South Pole.
He had also
traveled the world as an amateur boxer and mixed martial arts fighter. He had thought he was prepared for anything
and everything and he worried it would all hit the fan some day. He had been a soul that was filled with what
ifs from childhood.
Then he married
and had a child and he suddenly realized full force how unprepared he was. This book is the story of his journey to be
more prepared than your average prepper.
Well beyond the usual buckets of grain and deodorant in the
basement.
The fiction
in the book is the ongoing “story” of why he sought training in so many
fields. The fictional story starts with
the “big one” hitting near his home in Los Angeles, CA and with his son and
wife trapped in the back seat of their car under a slab of bridge.
In this
scenario he needs to figure out how to rescue them before a semi-truck that is
dangling on the remaining bridge pieces above them falls to crush them fatally. Obviously he needs to move the heavy concrete
swiftly and get them out of the car, but how?
This is
where the non-fiction steps in and he tells of seeking out an Olympic weight
lifter for specialized training. He goes
into the details of how to do a proper lift.
He gives some wonderful detail on the type of training he received, who
he received it from and what NOT to do.
Back at the
fiction part you find out if the training works, or what other knowledge he
might have to include to protect his little family as they struggle to survive
not only the earthquake, but other scenarios as they struggle to live the next
several years in TEOTWAWKI.
The
continuing story covers just about every apocalyptic scenario you can think of
and the specialized training he took in real life to not only survive, but to
thrive.
It’s all
covered from rioting gangs, thru zombie attacks, to three years of solid snow. You
learn along with him on how to drive like a stunt driver, shoot like a sniper,
knife fight dirty, steal cars, do first aid, drive a sled dog team, build an
igloo and much more.
Survival is
the theme of this nomadic family as they flee LA just ahead of the mechanical
giant alien spiders and run into other troubles along the way.
The book is
written in a no nonsense manner and if you are easily offended by the rare
swear word (and I do mean rare in this book) then this book is not for
you. If you are interested in learning
some basics on survival in all aspects of a possible TEOTWAWKI situation then
it is a good book to read to get the basics of true survival under your belt.
In my rating
system I gave it a B. Although the swear
words were rare, I saw no need for them at all, but that is my own preference
and that is not why I gave it a B.
Parts of the
book really dragged for me. I know that
at my current age I am not going to go train with an Olympic weight lifter, nor
am I likely to take up Eskrima. I’d be
happy just to be able to pick up a fifty pound bag of feed and carry it right
now. So all of the training detail was a
bit slow for me. I did read it
thoroughly though so I’d know how to move that feed without hurting my back in
the future.
Nor am I
ever likely to take on a gang of zombie like creatures intent on eating me and
mine for dinner with nothing but a sharp knife.
Yet, I did read that section in case I do ever find I might need
to. I’m going to be the pot roast for
certain.
Like I said
the book drug a bit for me toward the end, after the fictional part was
finished and I more skimmed than read the last few pages. But then it was late that night and I was
tired.
Would I
recommend this book? Yes, if for no
other reason than to be an eye opener as to how unprepared we all are for any
doomsday scenario.
Jan who
needs to take the stairs more so she could possibly at least walk to safety in
a hurry if need be in OK
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