Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank

I just read Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank and thought it was excellent. I know a lot of people who read it in high school/middle school, but I never did, and picked it up on a recommendation. It was one of the creepier accounts of what a nuclear war may be like. The descriptions of the bombs exploding around the small town struck me as truly scary.

Spoiler:

This isn't to say it was without flaw. I had some problems with the section of the book that deals with the highwaymen. All of a sudden, the main character turns into some tough guy, ready to go out and kill the bad guys as if he's Clint Eastwood. This just felt out of place.

What did you think of the novel?