Unintended Consequences

I'd heard mention of this book for a few months, and decided it warranted further investigation... Then forgot about it. Weeks later, someone on one of the boards brought up the book again, and everyone echoed that it was a must read for any gun owner. I did a little more research, and found that the ATF tried to intimidate publishers (among other things) to stop the book. Now, I was REALLY interested. I looked at the huge book, and wondered if it was going to join the ranks of so many other books with dog-eared bookmarks on a page number usually under 100.

I looked at the first page, and began my marathon of reading. It was hard to put the book down, and on the last couple hundred pages it was impossible I actually called in sick to finish it. Yeah. That's right. I know everyone likes to say that a book was "hard to put down" but I'm an extremely jaded reader, and have little tolerance for things that waste my time. Even if I like a book a lot, I'll still stop to do things like eat, answer the phone, or save orphans from burning buildings. Such was not the case with this book. (pooooor little Timmy)

I'm the last person who would review a book. I don't like reading books for extended periods of time because I don't have a good reading position that lets me read for more than 20 minutes without giving me a neck ache for the rest of the day. I don't see the value in reading "stories" about things that do not obviously help me with my life or my immediate concerns. When I do read, I usually read reference books, and would regularly shift myself into odd positions on the couch to figure out a way to allow me to continue reading without killing my neck, and continually adjust the light to keep from tiring my eyes.

Even though I had all those things against me, I had extreme difficulty stepping away from this book.

So what exactly made this book so amazing? I'm not sure. It's a mixture of history, anger, outrage, humor, astonishment, thrills, and (of course) guns. The book begins retelling history. The author admits that while the history isn't 100% accurate, it's as accurate as he can make it. He talks about the origins of gun control and the incrimentalism that brought us to the laws we see today. The book is fiction, but the history is accurate. It deals with court rulings, and specific cases that have resulted in the progress of gun control. Along the way, history is developed for the fictional characters who will play important roles in the rest of the book. Once all the history is set, we find ourselves in the present day, this is where most of the action takes place. This is where the ATF gets mad.

(Mild spoilers ahoy!) Our hero repels some ninjafied attackers from his friend's property, only to find they were federal agents of the F-troop (that's the ATF, I was going to hyperlink "f-troop" to the ATF's website, but since my site would show up on the reference, I was afraid they'd find me, blow up my house, shoot my children in the back, shoot my wife in the face while she nursed our child, unload an mp5 at me from a van as I stand unarmed on my porch holding my baby daughter, apply liberal amounts of "tear" gas then incendiary grenades, attack me without identifying themselves, shoot each other, tear my house apart and say "oops, lolz" and leave, raid and shoot me due to a paperwork error on their part, stomp my cat to death, shoot my dog, laugh about it, execute a ninjified no-knock raid without checking the address first, burn my house down, fire automatic weapons at my house from helicopter gunships, "return fire" preemptively, then "find" evidence that I'm a polygamist pedophile spy who deals guns to terrorists and coke to babies while setting puppies on fire and not rewinding videos before I return them) (seriously, I would do it as an "FU", but I know their record with people who say "FU" to them) (anyways, back to the story!) Our hero decides that he's finally tired of what the ATF is doing to people, and begins the process of inciting the second civil war. Fought to regain the rights of the amendment that protects all the others.

Most of the book is history, but it's told though fictionalized character which keeps the drama and excitement levels high. I really don't want you to roll your eyes when I say "history" it's extremely well written (unlike other "gunnie" books), and that makes the pages fly by. I was surprised when the story got started that I'd gotten so far though the book on just history.

The story from "present day" on is non-stop action and thrills, I'd recommend stopping once you get there if you have things to do that day (or the next day depending on the time), and returning once you have a big enough block of time to finish.

This isn't exactly "light fiction." This book deals with some very serious issues that we face in America today. This book deals with the beginning and end of a violent civil war, and the overthrowing of some systems of government. This is truly an important book. (in my humble opinion :)

If you're a gunny, this book will run you through the gamut of emotions. You'll be seeing red one minute, and cheering the next, it's really quite an amazing book. This book is also important for reasons I won't go into publicly. If you're a GFW, this book will have you pegged at "fear and five eighths"; it will scare the heck out of you. (if that isn't a promotion for gunnies, I don't know what is!)

Unintended Consequences truly is required reading for gun owners, and for people who take their liberty and freedoms seriously. (I know I just said "required reading" and I mean it. THIS MEANS YOU!) (No, seriously, buy it now!) (WHY ARE YOU STILL READING?!)

Unintended Consequences is again available on Amazon. If the book was $100, I'd still buy it in a heartbeat. In fact, I'm thinking of buying two in case the ATF burns one of them.