Review: The Attack by Kurt Schlichter

Good day all. It’s been a while since I did a review. Basically, nothing has jumped out at me that grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. However, I just completed a novel by Kurt Schlichter titled “The Attack.” The story revolves around a potential October 7^th style attack in the United States amped up on steroids.

The book is set up like Max Brooks’s book World War Z. You have an unnamed researcher who is going around the country speaking to survivors and first responders of the worst terrorist attack in history. The book is broken into several sections. Be advised that there will be spoilers so if you haven’t read it, then buy the book first then come back. Still here? Good.

The book opens five years after what has become known as “The Attack.” People are recovering as best as they can from a massive Hamas style attack across the United States. The first section deals with the first stage of The Attack. You have thousands of Arab terrorists, generally in 4 man cells attacking schools, shopping malls, anyplace that there were large crowds of people and no means of defense.

They are also setting off car bombs and shooting down airliners with surface to air shoulder fired missiles. The terrorists are armed with fully automatic AK-47’s, RPG’s and hand grenades. They are also generally wearing body armor and go pro cameras. The plan is for the terrorists to commit every atrocity they did in Israel on October 7^th and upload it to social media.

The stories are of average people, many of them liberals and progressives, who are suddenly thrust into a life and death situation. They talk about what they saw and people they lost. You also have stories of people who, when they saw what was happening, stood up and used their own guns to shoot back at the terrorists, usually with lethal effect. (Even an Alaskan bear got into the act)

One of the stories was a secret service agent in the White House on the day of The Attack. He talks about how the agents really didn’t like the President and his family, (Yes, it’s the Bidens), but how they will do their duty. As they are standing there, the White House is attacked by a 40 man terrorist team.

The Agent talks about grabbing Biden, who is basically a mental basket case and dragging him to the White House bunker. When they come to a staircase leading down to the bunker, the lighting is poor and Biden flat out refuses to proceed. He ends up being forced down and manages to fall and break his hip. There is a medical unit there set up to handle anything and they start working on Biden.

Because he is incapacitated, they notify the Vice President, Kamala Harris, that she is in charge. She’s in full panic mode, refuses and locks herself into a room. Eventually, Both Biden and Harris are removed from office and the Speaker of the House is sworn in as President. The Agent is “Retired” since Biden was injured on his watch.

There are many other stories like this. Medical first responders who came into the scenes of mass murder, mass rapes, mutilations and hundreds of dead. Police officers who, at first, acted as police officers, then, once they understood what was happening, started acting as soldiers.

The second section revolves around Day Two. Here, the government has told everyone that the worst is over, but to remain home and that the country is under martial law. The troops were deployed to public areas that had been targeted the day before. The terrorists, who didn’t want to get into knock down fights, instead went into the neighborhoods and started attacking people in their homes.

Here you have stories of people who had family members at home while they were away getting calls begging for them to come home, or worse, terrorists using the family member’s phones to send their loved ones videos of the wives and children being butchered. You also have stories of people who brought out their own guns and engaged the terrorists. One thing that runs through all the stories is that terrorists were rarely taken alive when caught in the act. Many were summarily executed.

The third day of The Attack differs from the first two. In this case, the terrorists aren’t going for mass casualties, but are hitting the American infrastructure. You have massive cyber attacks knocking down the digital infrastructure and the Internet shut down. Power stations and refineries are attacked with heavy damage. The power grid is heavily damaged as transformers are shot up. Finally, The Attack is over and we come to the aftermath.

First, you have some politics going on as the Democrat leadership understands that their president and vice president are not only not up to the job, but are abject failures. The Speaker of the House, (Kurt Schlichter doesn’t actually name him, but it is Mike Johnson), agrees to be a caretaker president, who will not run for reelection or make any judicial appointments. Both side agree that the election will happen on schedule, period. Since Biden and Harris are out, a law is passed to allow the Democrats to put someone else on the ticket. (Again, Mr. Schlichter doesn’t name names, but the candidate comes across as Gavin Newsom)

The Aftermath goes into stories about rebuilding the infrastructure, dealing with the failures by government agencies and flat out retribution. The acting president, once he learns that Iran is days away from testing a nuclear weapon, and is also claiming credit for The Attack, launches a nuclear strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, their terrorist training camps, and their deep bunkers. One chapter deals with the crew of one of the B-2’s sent in to drop the first nuclear weapons used in anger since Nagasaki.

Other chapters deal with a General who handled the invasion of Mexico. The goal was simple. The terrorists and weapons were smuggled in by the Cartels, along with the drugs. They didn’t know, or so they claimed, that this was going to happen and made excuses. The American response was not what they expected. Flat out invasion with very simple rules of engagement. Kill them all.

Another chapter deals with a Navy Seal who was part of a team, one of many, that was going around the world to kill everyone involved with The Attack. This included Americans who joined in. In this case, they were tracking down a leftist who had been granted asylum by the Norwegian government. They walked into a meeting where she was speaking and summarily executed her in front of the audience.

This brings us to another chapter with a Marxist lawyer who was called in to provide legal counsel to defendants who were arrested during and after The Attack. Many were Arab terrorists, but a lot were American radicals. These people, generally radicalized college students, though it was going to be just like before. Arrested, and either released or a slap on the wrist. Very quickly the found out that things were different now. Part of the aftermath was the use of military tribunals.

Terrorists who were captured along with Americans who aided them were tried in a military court. If the evidence showed their guilt, (Murder, rape and other atrocities), they were found guilty and sentenced to death. They were generally taken out the next day and shot once in the head. (Mr. Schlichter’s flair for the dramatic no doubt) The lawyer simply couldn’t believe what was happening. That chapter ends with the “Narrator/Author” getting up and walking out. You can just feel the disgust with the lawyer who thinks The Attack was justified.

You also have a chapter of a senior FBI agent who is retiring. He is a former member of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team and is an Old School agent. He is not happy with the way things are going in the agency. His team was sent to arrest someone who is absolutely no threat who was praying outside of an abortion clinic. (Mr. Schlichter appears to be looking at what’s been happening in England of late)

While they are dealing with this, they get the calls about the mass terrorist attack and that they need to return to Quantico. The problem is that all flights are grounded and the airspace closed and they can’t get permission to fly back. They end up driving hundreds of miles.

An aside in the story is that one of the cars gets separated and runs into a citizen road block set up to defend against the terrorists. The older agent remarks that the agent in charge is one who is “All In” on suppressing people who they deem to be anti-government. (Republicans, Conservatives, people speaking up in front of school boards)

The older agent remarks that this was a situation that cries out for deescalation. (It’s implied that if this had happened, the agents would have been cheerfully helped on their way) Instead, the arrogant agent stepped out and apparently threatened the people manning the roadblock. He comments that the investigation counted over 200 bullet holes in the vehicle and none of the agents survived. Additionally, no one saw what happened or who was manning the roadblock.

The conversation happens in the Hoover Building, the HQ for the FBI. It’s all but empty and the Agent is basically a caretaker. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s complete failure to protect the country, and instead becoming basically a political secret police force has led to it’s being disbanded and it’s various duties spread around several new agencies.

All through the book are remarks and comments, primarily by people outside of the United States on how the Americans reacted to The Attack. Most were in utter disbelief at how “Disproportional” the American response was and continues to be.

Some, while a bit shocked, understand just how Americans actually think and react. Massive, overwhelming disproportional responses are America’s stock in trade. Consider the Pearl Harbor attack. We lost some battleships so we burned every Japanese city to the ground and nuked two others.

I purchased this book for my Kindle Thursday. I was finishing up another book and didn’t start it until late Thursday night. I had a hard time putting it down to get some sleep and ended up reading it off and on during the day as time permitted. (Working the real world job takes priority) I finally finished it late Friday night/early Saturday morning. I haven’t had a book like that in a very long time.

Now there are a few things that I think Mr. Schlichter missed out on. To begin with, what would be the state of gun control after the attack? I suspect that the “Blue” states that are tearing up the 2^nd Amendment would see demands that they “Rethink” their laws. I also suspect that we would see the repeals of the 1968 gun control act and the National Firearms act. It would have been an interesting story line if a gun collector with a legally owned machine gun, say and old Lewis gun, took on a group of terrorists.

Some of the stories were of people who were carrying guns who engaged the terrorists. I think Mr. Schlichter might have gone into further detail on this, along with the fall out regarding the anti-gun politicians and media. There was the story regarding incidents in Texas, and others where people on Day 2 broke out their rifles to protect their neighborhoods.

Another thing that I think Mr. Schlichter might have looked into, particularly in Los Angeles, what how some of the “Gangbangers” might have reacted. These are criminals, most of whom should be hanged, who weren’t involved with the smuggling of the terrorists and weapons, but who have to deal with the terrorists who come into their “turf” and start shooting them up.

Granted, most of these punks can’t hit the broad side of a barn, (Shooting “Gangsta style” gun straight out and held sideways isn’t conducive to marksmanship), but the two sides going at it may save the lives of innocent bystanders, and perhaps earn a few of these punks pardons.

I also think he should have looked into how the 2024 election went in this scenario along with the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election. I think Mr. Schlichter may have underestimated the electoral slaughter of both Democrats and certain Establishment Republicans. He mentions this offhandedly in one of the stories in the aftermath but doesn’t go into detail.

He also mentions two of the members of “The Squad”, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar being expelled from Congress. I think he missed a potential story line here. Perhaps he could have gone into the responses to The Attack by the members of The Squad and what happened to them. I can see Tlaib not only being expelled, but tried for treason. As for Omar, she could have had her citizenship stripped and been deported to Somalia to an unhappy ending. Perhaps these ideas can be done in the “Directors Cut” version of the novel.

Mr. Schlichter, in his preface, talks about conferring with people who “Know things” and that he also limited some of the potential details of what could actually happen. This, of course, makes sense. The late Tom Clancy did the same thing in several of his novels, especially The Sum of All Fears, and I recall that a magazine that showed you how to make a grenade said that if you actually tried to follow the instructions, it would blow up in your face.

Thanks to the open border, we know that terrorists are crossing in illegally. How do we know? They’ve actually caught a few. That between the 10-15,000 that were in the fictional Attack might actually be here s not a stretch of the imagination. I see this novel as both a good yarn and also a warning. I heartily recommend that you purchase and read it.

Thatisall

(4 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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