American Exit Strategy (The Economic Collapse Chronicles) Paperback – September 8, 2013

Very relivent to this time and ageGives Birds Eye view of what is happening now. Be ready be wary!

It was a page turner for me. Worth every penny & am buying the next one in the series as soon as I'm done writing this review! Enjoy. God bless.

Warning: SpoilersI have read quite a few 'prepper books' in the last year and the honest truth is most of them suck. Weak, one dimensional characters, outrageous assumptions, irritating preachiness and just a general misunderstanding of how politics and the world in general work. Don't get me wrong, I 100% believe that SHTF is coming. I just dont think it will happen as presented in most prepper books. Rawles is a perfect example. I know lots of people think hes Citizen #1 in the prepper community. Im not really sure why. His books are about as compelling as young adult novels, the preaching is so in your face its annoying (Im very involved in my church but for whatever reason Rawles injections of faith in his books just turned me off), he advocates buying silver and gold (which he conveniently sells on his website)...etc. I couldn't force myself to finish book 2. I enjoyed Joe Nobody's books but by book 4 they started to get a little ridiculous too. The 'average joe' of the story is now bigger and badder than Rambo. So my search for good prepper books continued.Then, along comes Mark Goodwin. On the surface, his book is very similar to Rawles books. The protagonists are all good, honest Christians. The story involves the collapse of the government. (Ok thats pretty obvious given the genre lol) He even injects lots of very overt Christianity in his book. But in this story it didn't bother me one bit. I actually enjoyed it. Why? Because Mark Goodwin is actually a great story teller. His 'preaching' didn't get in the way of the story it actually made me feel more connection to the characters. And Goodwin's descriptions of HOW the government crashed actually made sense. Rawles take note! The whole election aspect of the book was also very interesting. I honestly dont know how realistic it is that a 3rd party candidate would be 'big' enough to be at a debate with the GOP and DEM candidates (considering how rigged the system is) but again, I could get past that because the story was well written and interesting.The really scare thing about this is the 'sheeple' in the story were the most realistic I've seen in any prepper book. They sounded EXACTLY like the majority of my friends and family. Well done, Mr Goodwin!PS: Please forgive all the hating on Rawles. I think the real reason I dislike him so is because he was a 'Military Intelligence Officer.' You know what an MI Officer does all day? Admin work. Just like every other officer. Now, if he had been a WARRANT OFFICER, Ok I'd be at least acquiesce that you know how to gather info. He just puts that crap on his books to make 'tacticool' retards think he knows how to be an 'operator'... Dropping lots military acronyms doesn't make you a Navy Seal, guy.That brings me to the last thing I wanted to mention. I enjoyed the action in Goodwin's book. It wasn't dramatic or sexy. If this was a movie, it would have been an action scene without music. It just happened fast and was over. Bang Bang. Then vomiting. Thats actually realistic. Once again, well done Mr Goodwin.

I'm acquiring this book because I think Mark and Tate probably share the same level on a lot of things. I have enjoyed the 299 Days series by Glen Tate and after I heard Mark Goodwin's interview with Glen Tate on Prepper Recon, I am sure you can't go wrong with taking a look at "American Exit Strategy." I'm on it! Three stars right off the bat for being Prepper Recon extraordinaire. Will update after I read it.-------------------------GREAT BOOK! GREAT BOOK!Update 20140219: I never thought I would be mentioned during a podcast but I think Mark was referring to me in the 18 Feb podcast during another awesome interview with Mr. Tate. Hilarious. I guess I do owe you an update and you receive a much deserved 5-star rating!I wanted to submit a comment prior to reading it because I thought it was interesting, at least to me, that you two authors are somewhat acquainted with one another a little bit beyond being in the same genre as far as authorship is concerned. Not only have I finished "American Exit Strategy", but as soon as you (Mark) mentioned last week that "American Meltdown" was out for purchase, I hit the Amazon Prime and got it ASAP. I'm about half-way through. I would give you a 5-star on that one too but I will wait to finish!"American Exit Strategy" is another example of the ability of the author to develop the characters to such an extent that I feel like I know the people personally. Glen Tate does this masterfully. 299 Days is a little different because the depth of the main character is such we know his background and life going all the way back to conception really..."American Exit Strategy" doesn't really go back that far with individual development but nothing is lost because of it.Another thing I enjoy about the writing style of these authors is they both paint a picture of what is going on all over the country with different people and demographics. It's all very holistic.One thing you mentioned Mark about some reviews comment on the "preachiness" of your writing, I don't really see it, I like the quotes at the beginning of each chapter from Jefferson, Paine and the Bible, it kind of drives home our country was founded on Christian ideals and that the founding fathers specifically created the Constitution to guard against tyranny and the overreach of government which even to the layman appears to be coming to a head.Mark, didn't you interview Joe Nobody too? Anyway, I started down the path of the "Apocalypse Law" series too, I think it's because I heard about him on one of your interviews. I enjoy your podcasts along with The Survival Podcast and anytime you have people on like Mr. Tate is even more enjoyable.Anyway, great books, can't wait for #3, keep them coming, keep up with the tips and tricks you weave into the situations and I'll keep reading. Thanks for the shout out too!

Al Muhammed = Barry Soetoro aka Barack Obama aka Obama The Destroyer.Mark Goodwin definitely owns the shtf fiction genre.

Excellent book! I read dozens of novel every year and read all 3 in this series! Reminded me of the '299 Days' series!

This so realistic it's like the news from Ferguson wish a bit more a out false flag events and it is so believe able also a great way to introduce friends to the concepts in context. The use of early founders quotes was great in framing the context. Also the biblical verse helped if a little wordy in some places. Off to read rest of series.

would recommend

This was one of the most amusing books I've read. I was reading it in public when I read the name of the president in this fiction, needless to say I was in hysterics with laughter. Clearly I'm reading this from a non-survivalist, non-American, and non-Christian perspective, but I must say I like good fiction.It needed more Mrs. Mae.

This book is ridiculous; it was difficult to make it past the first couple of chapters. There are far more worthwhile books regarding collapse in North America than this one. However, this book does provide some interesting insight into the mindset of (hopefully) what are a minority of “preppers”. But this insight is woefully thin given that you have to wade through lectures about the evil of abortion among other favourite topics of a certain extremism belief of Christianity.First, from the standpoint of prepping, this book is a total waste of time. None of the people prep, they react. I gather that the major premise here is that if you are part of this religious sect then somehow you will be favoured into getting the last of the ammo as you dart, like a squirrel, for the hills. I’m curious what the characters will do once their last roll of toilet paper is gone although given their lack of food that may not happen before they resort to eating dirt.“Prepping” in this book means reading the bible with a smattering of the constitution. And that is where this book provides some interesting views into the mindset of this type of person. The fact is that a main character shoots a person (ostensibly a looter) in the face right after the guy’s buddy gets it in the chest. Then the main character calmly drives away. So what we have here are sociopaths who happen to have strong religious beliefs.I think the only value in this book is that you might be able to better realize why you just want to stay away from these folks. “Never argue with a crazy person” could be the motto here. Certainly if your doomstead is near this type of people I suggest moving. Based on the lack of prepping and scary behaviours you are likely to end up as “what’s for dinner”.Better reading is Rawles (and reading his stuff still requires filtering out a lot of pseudo military crap as well as some religious overtones) and Steve Bull’s “Olduvai”. If you really want value then John Michael Greer and Kunstler have actual good books on the topic.