Author: W. Kendall

Imagine what would happen if a handful of unrelated mistakes, errors in communications, misguided actions, and natural disasters sparked a worldwide tragedy, an apocalypse… Would you be ready to handle the fallout?

Here’s the story of a rogue nuke in the wrong hands explosively starting a Black Autumn, as authored by Jeff Kirkham and Jason Ross. Like other post-apocalyptic literature, it’s the people who don’t survive the initial explosion who may be the lucky ones. But those who follow the Ross/Kirkham way of life have an edge. A most vital edge in surviving and thriving in this new world order.

Jason Ross and Jeff Kirkham cast themselves as characters in the book: Jeff, a highly- experienced American Special Forces operative, and Jason Ross as the well-prepared owner of the expansive Ross Homestead property. In the novel, they organize a group of families who have spent years preparing for the possibility of a tragic event requiring sustained emergency survival. Some members of the group view their membership in the group as a social activity, with the possibility of a cataclysmic event as improbable. Others, however, understand such an event is not just plausible but probable, and any chance of survival will fall to those who are well prepared.

This book begins with separate, spontaneous and unrelated, terror-filled actions on the world scene. These actions have unintended and catastrophic consequences. These families must now work together in earnest, in primitive circumstances, to forge any sort of a future.

But like most post-apocalyptic novels, there are the “haves” and “have-nots.” Masses of unprepared and desperate people on the outside threaten to steal Homestead’s provisions, and they will do anything to get their hands on even a morsel. Likewise, the local governments beg Ross and Kirkham to enter into negotiations for supplies under the threat of moving in and taking what they want.

Tactical planning and confrontations are detailed, fascinating, and deadly. But this book goes beyond the maneuvers and weaponry, exposing the fragility of human emotions and endurance. Complex loyalties and relationships are tested, with thought-provoking debates over the most important questions surrounding life and death.

In case you think this is a survivalist guide disguised as a novel, think again. From the first page to the last, readers will step into a world that is currently not their own, but perhaps, may be one fateful day.

These authors live what they write. Jeff Kirkham served nearly three decades as a Green Beret and is the proverbial brains behind ReadyMan’s survival tools and products. Co-author Jason Ross has dedicated twenty years to mastering preparedness in raising sustainable crops, composting, shooting, small squad tactics, solar power, and animal husbandry. In other words, these guys know from what they speak.

Black Autumn could be a revelation of what is to come. The catalysts of the novel are based on scenarios much of our population may scoff at, but others, foresee as a certainty. Whatever side of the fence you fall on, Black Autumn is a chilling portrayal of humankind’s possible future, and one that readers will not easily be able to put down without asking, “Am I ready?”