"Before: Holding Their Own XVI" by Joe Nobody
https://www.amazon.com/Before-Holding-Their-Own-XVI/dp/1076143857

The sixteenth book in a series of nineteen alternate history books about
the economic collapse of the USA in 2015 and onward. I read the well
printed and well bound POD (print on demand) trade paperback self
published by the author in 2019 that I bought new on Amazon in 2025. I
own the first sixteen books in the series and have purchased the next
book in the series.

Um, this series was published in 2011 just as the shale oil and gas boom
was really getting cranked up. The book has crude oil at $350/barrel
and gasoline at $6/gallon in 2015. Not gonna happen due to oil well
fracking in the USA so the major driver of economic collapse in the USA
is invalid for the book. That said, the book is a good story about the collapse and failure of the federal government in the USA. The book is centered in Texas which makes it very interesting to me since I am a
Texas resident.

The $6 gasoline was just the start. The unemployment rises to 40% over
a couple of years and then there is a terrorist chemical attack in
Chicago that kills 50,000 people. The current President of the USA
nukes Iran with EMP airbursts as the sponsor of the terrorist attack.
And the President of the USA also declares martial law and shuts down
the interstates to stop the terrorists from moving about. That shuts
down food and fuel movement causing starvation and lack of energy across
the nation.

The accumulations of these serious problems cause widespread panics and shutdowns of basic services like electricity and water for large cities.
The electricity grids fail due to employees not showing up to work at
the plants. Then the refineries shutdown due to the lack of electricity
and half of the USA dies in the next several years, struggling for food
and shelter.

Have you ever wondered what life was like for our protagonists before
the apocalypse? Terri works at a bank and Bishop works in security for
an international oil company. Bishop is in the Ukraine guarding his
company's search for oil. But the Russians have already invaded Crimea
and are looking at the rest of Ukraine.

The author has a website at:
https://www.joenobodybooks.com/

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars (188 reviews)

Lynn


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.18
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)