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A New Book from Mike Kelly

Coming August 20, 2026

Book Cover of After Ground Zero Book by Mike Kelly Writer and Journalist with northjersey.com

After Ground Zero

Everyday Americans and the Unhealed Scars of 9/11

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On September 11, 2001, columnist Mike Kelly crossed the Hudson by tugboat to reach the smoke and rubble of Lower Manhattan. He did not yet know that the crossing was the first step of a decades-long journey through another kind of rubble — the pain left behind, and the scars that never healed.

Drawing on twenty-five years of first-hand reporting — from Ground Zero to Iraq, Guantánamo Bay, and Washington — After Ground Zero follows first responders, soldiers, clergy, and grieving families as they search for answers, accountability, faith, and healing. It is a powerful reminder of just how forcefully 9/11 reshaped the lives of countless Americans.

What People Are Saying

  • “A searing global, political, legal, social, moral, and generational account of a turning point in our history — researched impressively over decades, reported with insight and humility, and told in a way that should resonate for ages.”

    Anthony DePalma, former New York Times correspondent and author of On This Ground and City of Dust

  • “With a sharp eye and a compassionate heart, Kelly explores the scars that have healed, and those that never will. This poignant book is laced with tragedy and with hope.”

    Susan Page, Washington Bureau Chief, USA Today, and author of Madame Speaker and The Rulebreaker

  • “A raw, in-your-face reminder of that horrific Tuesday morning and the 25 years of pain and suffering since. You will come out appreciating how precious life is and how vulnerable we all are.”

    John Feal, 9/11 responder, advocate, and author of I Will Follow You Anywhere

  • “Mike Kelly’s fine After Ground Zero tells how 9/11 still reverberates in us a quarter century later, and why we should never forget it. One way to honor the fallen is to read this book.”

    Michael Daly, columnist at The Daily Beast and author of The Book of Mychal

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