One Second After, by William R. Forstchen

I just finished reading an incredibly depressing novel about western North Carolina in the post apocalypse world. In this world an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) released from a high altitude nuclear detonation destroys all our computer controlled machinery and infrastructure. To summarize: society breaks down, people turn into beasts (except the protagonist) and most everyone dies. The really depressing thing is that the danger of an EMP is not just hypothetical. Evidently it's a real possibility. We really do need to invest in a modern, safer, energy grid. We need a system in which every household can generate a minimal amount of electricity to keep functional in case of strikes against our grid. We need a system that is diversified, and efficient, and localized as well as centralized. It's creepy to realize how dependent we are on modern technology, and how vulnerable our technology really is.