I listened to this one.

This was probably the most terrifying book I’ve ever read. It is nonfiction, and though it outlines a possible scenario, it is something that could actually happen. All of the players have this actual capacity. We have the information from what has happened in Japan after being struck by nuclear weapons to know what would happen to those struck by it or those affected by the fallout. 

I also thought this was extremely well researched. I like the way she laid out the book - it wasn’t boring and information overload. It felt like a thriller, action packed, and truly scary. The author is an amazing story teller and makes information like this accessible to every reader. I would definitely read something else by her.

I wouldn’t recommend this to everyone - it is anxiety inducing and terrifying. 

I'm not sure whether to give this a 5 for its immense standard of research and clarity of writing, or a zero because now I just want to hide under the bed clothes and never come out... 

Boring at parts. Anxiety inducing at others. 

Easily the scariest book I've read in a long time. If you're prone to feeling anxious about what-if scenarios then I don't recommend you read this. 

I do not recommend this book to anyone who feels anxiety about this topic. I do NOT recommend the audiobook. 

While this book was interesting, I am docking a star because of the chapter about what would happen to animals in the zoo in her scenario. That chapter and the descriptions within was unnecessary and cruel. 

I listened to the audiobook, and it was terrible. The author reads it, and I would ask that she has someone else re-record it. For 8 hours, I felt like I had Siri reading to me about Armageddon. 

I think this is an important book, and I wish world leaders would take the time to read it and understand what’s at stake. I feel some comfort knowing that they probably know launching a nuclear weapon equals mutually assured destruction. They can’t do it just to win, because nobody wins.  

"Everyone loses. Everyone."

Simultaneously fascinating and utterly terrifying, this genre-bending book made my heart race and eventually gave me nightmares.  Annie Jacobsen has spent decades researching the nuclear weapon situation across the globe.  She includes so much detail, from the development of these unfathomable weapons to the protocols set in place... hence, the "fascinating" element.  Jacobsen then took the facts and intel she collected and used it to weave an intricate scenario of what we might experience if a nuclear war unfolded... that's where the "utterly terrifying" comes in.  Jacobsen did a great job narrating the audio herself.  I found her voice and cadence added to the tension of the scenario, but also felt that she sometimes sounded unnecessarily tense during the "History Lesson" chapters.  

This was a great read, but it may simply be too upsetting for some.  I'm not a highly anxious person, but I found myself needing to step away from it at times.  For me, though, the most frightening thing about it all were the times she describes the "close calls" that nearly catapulted the world into nuclear wars.  Countries have spent billions of dollars on making these weapons exist with the thought that their mere existence will make them ultimately unnecessary. All we can do, is keep our fingers crossed that that remains true.