Book Chatter

Nuclear War: A Scenario
By Annie Jacobsen
Dutton, January 2026, 416pp.

The Short of It:

A terrifying nuclear scenario that could absolutely happen.

The Rest of It:

Terrifying? Yes. Realistic? Absolutely. Nuclear War: A Scenario is based on intel from retired military personnel and walks the reader through a nuclear incident as it’s happening. Second by second. In five seconds, this is the impact. Two minutes in, this is what’s happening. You get the idea.

Reading this book while our current President is building a bunker to rival no other, was chilling and infuriating because given the picture that this book paints, no one is surviving. Six floors of a bunker will not save you. This is hard to read about but factual.

In this scenario, the Pentagon is the target. This seems probable to me. Taking out the command center would be the way to go. Once the bomb is dropped, it provides several stages of destruction. There’s the detonation, the flash of thermal radiation, the blast wave, electromagnetic pulse (EMP), and the formation of a radioactive fallout plume. If you aren’t one of the lucky ones to die on impact, you face horrible burns, immediate loss of limbs, burned out lungs.

If you survived all that, then your real challenge comes next. Survival. Water and food, all contaminated. All food sources, obliterated. This goes on for a very long time.

If there is no water, the fires from the blast are left unchecked and just continue to burn which damages air quality and UV filters, creating a nuclear winter; a projected drop of about 35 degrees. That means crops and livestock are wiped out.

In this scenario, it will take approximately 25K years for the earth to recover. Read that again.

Writing this book had to be quite the undertaking. It’s fascinating and you cannot stop reading even though the outcome is so grim. It’s broken down into locations and time. What’s going on in California? Or D.C.? Or at military bases around the world? More importantly, what is the President doing? His cabinet? Held against this current administration I’d have to say that we have NO HOPE of surviving such an event.

Grim.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

Valet
By J.P. Lacrampe
Simon & Schuster / Saga Press, June 2, 2026, 272pp.

The Short of It:

Entertaining and at times, sweet.

The Rest of It:

Cy is a techbot and artificial companion to his thirty-something owner, Grayson. His primary mission is simple in theory: find Grayson a girlfriend and motivate him to do something productive with his life. In practice, it turns out to be far more challenging, and often hilarious.

Grayson is a genuinely likable guy, but he drifts from one interest to the next without any real desire to settle down or commit to a direction. His wealthy mother believes Cy is the solution to that problem. Adding to the pressure, Cy is required to report Grayson’s progress back to her. Success matters because Cy’s utility score depends on it, and one major mistake could leave him headed for the junk pile.

The real strength of this story is the relationship between Cy and Grayson. Their conversations about dating, ambition, and life in general are funny, charming, and surprisingly heartfelt. Despite being a robot, Cy comes across as genuinely invested in his master’s happiness and well-being, which gives the story a lot of warmth.

My main issue is that not much actually happens. There is a subplot involving some shady business that adds a welcome dose of excitement, but I found myself wishing there was more of it. The characters are strong enough to carry much of the book, but a more substantial plot would have made the story even more compelling.

Overall, I enjoyed this one largely because of the characters. Grayson and Cy make a memorable duo, and I ended up caring about Cy far more than I expected, which is impressive considering he’s essentially a robot.

I’d read this author again.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

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