Rating: 
Summary: Completely engrossing, a must read for every gun owner.
Review: At first glance it may sound like a rehash of some anti-government manifesto, but I beg you to give this book a chance. If it doesn't hit any of your buttons or at least open your mind a little, than most likely you're not really a gun owner after all. The facts that Mr. Ross points out regarding our country's current and past views on gun rights should chill you to the core. The book opens with a history lesson from the turn of this century, then the main characters are brought in, and finally a hypathetical situation is portrayed considering actual historic events. I can honestly tell any one considering this book that I finished it in less than ten days. Probably not a record, but it was a damn sight faster than I thought it would take. I simply couldn't put it down!! If you own firearms, are thinking about buying your first gun, or simply want to know more about how our government views your value as a human being, you must read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: so much potential; a firm editor was needed
Review: If ideology were the only determinant of what I had to say about this book, this would be a very positive review. I pretty much agree with Mr. Ross about what has gone wrong. But this book needed a firm editor prepared to do some cutting.The book is simply too long, and many parts of it are polemic thinly disguised as dialog. (There are other parts that are a technical manual on sniping and a primer on gun safety thinly disguised as novel. These are very good in their own way, but they don't belong here.) There are parts of the book that really work as entertainment, such as the sequence in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. I had just finished reading Israel Gutman's Resistance, a history of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and Ross's depiction of those events was riveting. The D-Day events were also powerful, as was the last 1/4 of the book, once the rising starts in America. The literary tool of having an American return after 30 years away, to find that many of our! ! freedoms have been removed, piece by piece, was a clever and effective technique for demonstrating how effectively you can "boil a frog." (Read the book if you don't already know how to boil a frog.) But there are too many places that I can only call self-indulgent fantasy, in which the protagonist, Henry Bowman, is John Ross's alter ego. Let me carp about something else. Ross's book is filled with historical facts. Some of them I know are clearly correct. (My MA is in History, and my published books and journal articles are such that I have researched some of the events to which Unintended Consequences refers.) Some of the facts referred to in Unintended Consequences are incorrect, though generally minor details, such as the date the Sullivan Law took effect in New York State, or more arguable than Mr. Ross suggests. There are a number of fascinating assertions made in Unintended Consequences that, if they are true, need footnotes, and if they are historic! ! al imagination, that would be useful as well. I fear that ! too many people are going to assume that because much of this novel is about real events, real people, and real cases, that all of it is -- and it's hard to distinguish the historical facts from the imagined details in Ross's work. (And yes, I'm a little jealous because I write serious, scholarly history books that should sell to Unintended Consequences's readers but that don't sell anywhere near as well, because most people would prefer to be entertained, not educated.) One other warning: there is material here that is inappropriate for children. There is excessively graphic rape, sex, and mayhem throughout the work. Some of it is there to advance the plot and explain motivations (especially Henry Bowman's), but it is still rough sledding for sensitive adults or nearly all adolescents. (I suspect that most conservatives are going to be a little disappointed at the underlying assumptions and lurid descriptions of sex in this book.) At the same time, Ross fails to convey! ! the brutal and random violence that an attempt at overthrowing the U.S. government would almost certainly produce. It is fantasy in many ways, and while intended as a warning to the police state defenders of where they may be taking us, I don't think it strongly enough conveys the hazards that ALL of us face if push comes to shove on this issue. It's worth reading, if nothing else because so many have read it and adopted it as a sort of "Bible," for their political beliefs, but don't expect it to be a polished and perfect novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't read this book, it's not really about freedom...
Review: ...it's about sex, Sex, and more SEX. I found the main plot with the firearms history, loss of freedom, fighting back, etc. interesting and compelling; however, the authors took this good and informative story and poisoned it with tons of sex. I can take some sex in a book, but this was all pervasive and sick. It has everything including rape, homosexual rape, lesbianism, and oral sex, often in great detail. The two main female characters are lesbians, one was kidnapped as a teenager and became a mistress/prostitute for a crime boss, and one (I think it was the same one) becomes an exotic dancer at a topless nightclub. Some reviewers have compared Unintended Consequences with Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, but there is no comparison. Atlas Shrugged is a great story and a great piece of literature, read it instead.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible, but almost true:
Review: Unintended Consequences is the most interesting "big" book I have ever read. The book can be enjoyed on a number of levels, usually simultaneously. There is enough factual information regarding the slow but constant erosion of freedoms in America to alone warrant purchasing this book; there is enough firearms-related information to justify it also; in addition, this is a well-written piece that could survive as a work of pure fiction. We know it is not. If you buy only one book this year, make this the one.
Rating:
Summary: Invest in Hogs. It one day will come true...maybe tomorrow!
Review: Futures in the hog market will prove very valuable.........read the book, you'll understand. Praise to you John Ross for having the guts and skill to compose a complete history of the firearms laws as they are today, and be able to predict the future................... Thanks Henry Bowman. Keep your powder dry!
Rating:
Summary: Wish Fulfillment?
Review: I just read John Ross's book "Unintended Consequences". After all the positive comments, I wanted to find out for myself if it was really as good as readers reviews claimed it was. Here is my opinion: I found the book to be a combination of the writing style of Stephen Hunter (author of some excellent books on sniper culture) with some elements from "The Turner Diaries" (a book which described the overthrow of a zionist occupied US by patriots.) There were also the types of acts described typical to wish fulfillment fantasy novels. An o.k. book but certainly not the greatest work of fiction on this subject. I wonder if reviewers would think it was still a great book if the hero was homosexual instead of his girlfriend???
Rating:
Summary: The most important literary work of the century - READ IT!
Review: I had put off reading UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES for over a year after seeing the first ads for it. I thought - Oh, it'll be another "B" grade novel by some wacko militia-type. Wrong! This book is extremely intelligently written as well as the absolute most enjoyable book I have read in years. Ranks right up there with Tom Clancy and Mark Twain in readability, and with the Bible in importance to our future. EVERY American should read this book. I've heard it said that every American who is concerned with our loss of freedom should read it, but I think that those who are NOT concerned should especially read it. The scenario laid out here is one that is not at all far-fetched and I fear it may be inevitable if there aren't some major changes made in our government's policies. Before reading this book, I'd heard all this before, but UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES made me realize that this type of revolt is a real possibilty. I'm with Ross: Liberals, read this book and change your ways before it's too late.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, compelling and thought provoking!
Review: This book was well researched, thought out and planned. Above all it was well written. Ross was able to address the issues facing the "GUN CULTURE." Taking the opposition of gun control and federal intervention to extremes yet, avioding the pitfall of over romanticizing or villifying Henry Bowman. The main characters are aptly portrayed as Americans defending thier constitutional rights from an increasingly controlling and tyrannical government bureaucracy. The fact that Bowman is John Wayne, James Bond and the Jackel all rolled into one, is the only thing that makes this book read like a novel and not a historical account. I would also like to know where Rossgot his information about Waco and Ruby Ridge and how accurate is his account of the incidents? GREAT READING!!!
Rating:
Summary: Cut off the television and read this book to your family.
Review: This is right there withn Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" as a great novel of ideas. Read it and see just how much freedom you have lost in the last 60 years.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book I always love a book with a happy ending!!
Review: Fast paced, great action. historically accurate and with no dull moments. Great Book, Great ENDing.
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