Following the events in Without Warning, where a mysterious energy wave kills off most of the population of North America, comes After America by John Birmingham.  Set five years later in the future, we find a country – and a world – trying to find itself and battle forces looking to take advantage of the vacuum that was created by the essential disappearance of the United States.

President James Kipper is leading what remains of the United States population.  A former Seattle city engineer, his city and a few others were spared by the energy wave.  He now has the thankless task of trying to govern a country where there is no population in the majority of that.  What happens then?  The empty area is a magnet, for pirates, looters, treasure hunters, and terrorists.

Three characters who readers met in the first book are here and readers get to follow their continuing story.  Caitlin is a deep-cover CIA operative who is living in England with her family, trying their hand at cooperative farming.  When her family is nearly killed by men sent by the bin Laden-like terrorist she had been after when the wave hit, she sets out to hunt him down once and for all.

Lady Julianne is still the grafter with a heart.  She’s working in the New York City clean-up as President Kipper attempts to establish an eastern port for the country.  The problem is the pirates that have taken over, although once the story gets going it’s apparent that the resistance there is far too organized to be merely opportunistic pirates.  Lady Julianne and former Coast Guard officer Rhino are seeking paperwork for a client who is in a safe in his former residence which could prove quite lucrative as they dodge in and out of the fighting going on.

Finally, there is Miguel.  He escaped Mexico with the help of Lady Julianne in the first novel.  Now he is part of the settlement program attempting to bring people into Texas to re-populate the country.  The problem is there is resistance in the form of Retired General Blackstone who has been elected the Governor of this territory.  He has many followers who don’t appreciate the new immigrants in the country.  Miguel and his daughter Sophia are out one day when the raiders come to their ranch and kill their entire family.  After exacting a little bit of retribution for the horror that has occurred, Miguel and Sophia flee toward Kansas City, hoping the government there will listen to what he has to say about what’s going on.  Along the way, they come across a band of Mormon cattlemen struggling with the same issues and band together.

Seeing the United States once again as a bit of a frontier is interesting, especially considering all of the “toys” are just lying around waiting to be picked up again.  President Kipper’s struggles with his decisions are interesting to watch as he tries to figure out what is the right thing to do.  Putting the issue of Blackstone on the back burner, though, might be his ultimate undoing.  The storylines of Lady Julianne and Caitlin left me feeling a little mixed.  It’s hard to believe that with everything else going on in the world, people would have time for personal vendettas, but that is what is fueling both of their stories.  The best story was that of Miguel and Sophia, and even that felt as if Birmingham perhaps didn’t do as much research as he should have. His characterization of Mormons leans more towards the Amish or Mennonite than Mormon, although the story is a good one as we get to see what Sophia is developing into.

The pace of the story is a bit uneven as well.  There were times in the middle when it bogged down and I wanted it to just move along.  It wasn’t terribly repetitive, although there were times the same information is brought up over and over again, but I had to fight the urge to skip ahead because it seemed like there wasn’t much happening in a particular sequence.

Finally, I’m not too sure about the idea that if the United States disappeared (or at least the government and the majority of the people), we would immediately see the entire world plunged into a holy war at the mercy of radical Muslims.  Even in countries where the Muslim religion is the main one, the majority of the people seem to be moderate.  I can’t see entire neighborhoods in Germany where women suddenly have to wear Burqas or can’t go out at night unescorted.  Would the leaders take advantage of the vacant land in the west to establish themselves? Yes, I can see that.  But the notion that radical Islam would suddenly dominate the planet seems to be a bit like playing to the radical right here.

I’m not sure if it’s just because it’s the second book in the series or if the idea Birmingham had just isn’t working the way I thought it might.  I enjoyed his first series, and his premise here is a good one.  Supposedly he was on vacation in 2003 when he heard someone say they wished the United States would just disappear and this is his concept of what would happen.  The best story is what’s going on in Texas as well as the trials and tribulations of the President, which I think are about to come together in the third book.  I’m just not sure that I am happy that I started this series, although I’ll see it through to the end.

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