Blackout

Have you ever been in a blackout? I don't mean a 2 hour "fun" day but a major blackout like the Northeast blackout of 2003. I was in the 2003 blackout and it definitely gave me food for thought as to what might happen if there was a major power outage that lasted more than 2 days (as it lasted for me). At that time, no one knew when the power would come back on and I clearly remember a quick run to the corner store to get food and water that did not rely on using technology (stove/oven/toaster/running water) and being thankful that I had a full freezer of meat and my neighbors had a bbq. This is the horrific reality that Europe is forced to face in "Blackout" when hackers successfully crash electrical grids across not only Europe but the United States as well. A former hacker who has changed his ways begins investigating the cause but becomes a suspect himself because of his dubious past. The novel did start out a bit slowly for me in the first few chapters but as the effect of the power outage grew while the blackout continued I became enthralled by not only the technical aspect but also the sheer human tragedy unfolding. There were so many ethical and long term consequences that I can imagine would be a logical result of a long term blackout of this magnitude. One thing that I found very unnerving and unsettling was when a general in the book mentioned that the next major war would not be fought on a military ground maneuver or nuclear scale but would be fought as a cyber war. It does seem a feasible possibility considering the confirmation of cyber meddling in the 2016 American election. I rounded up the book to 4 stars mainly because of the immense amount of research the author obviously did and also the fact that the novel was well thought out and very well written not only as a warning but also as a thriller. I received a copy of Blackout from the publishers (thank you!) via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.