A recent Senate Intelligence Report estimated that 50 to 100 million Americans could die from starvation if a little known weapon was detonated in America’s upper atmosphere.

Chris Stewart details the frightening possibility in his new novel, Fury & Light. The weapon, well known to military analysts and government officers, results in what is known as an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP). When a nuclear device is detonated in the upper atmosphere it emits predominantly gamma and x-rays which in turn produces an incredible burst of energy that destroys anything with electronic circuitry.

If an EMP of sufficient strength were to occur, any vehicle built after 1984 would cease to function. It would be the end of medical care as we know it. Electronic power grids, transportation systems, mobile phones and telephones all lose function. And, any airplane flying at the time of detonation would be instantly doomed. The effects of an EMP would instantly hurl the U.S. back to the 1880’s. There would be no quick return to normal life—all systems would have to be rebuilt from the ground up.

Starvation would be the reason most Americans would lose their lives, with no refrigeration nor clean running water. Americans would have to rely on food and water stored at home, and few Americans are prepared to face life with food storage for any extended period of time.

Stewart, a nationally recognized author, has written about the EMP phenomenon in his latest novel, Fury & Light, volume four in a fast- paced, riveting, last-days series, entitled The Great & Terrible.

Stewart, a former record-setting military pilot and military insider, is clearly able to convey the reality of current threats to the U.S. His knowledge of weaponry and their effect leaves readers feeling as if they are reading tomorrow’s headlines. It is a startlingly realistic account of a nation in the midst of chaos that is enthralling from cover to cover.