Genre: Thriller
Description:
“Terrorists smuggle two nuclear bombs into the United States through a
Mexican drug tunnel in a bold plot to destroy the United States. While world
attention is riveted on the fiery destruction they aim to bring to downtown Los
Angeles with the first nuke, they intend to detonate the second bomb at the
bottom of an experimental NASA geothermal well located in a remote corner of
Yellowstone National Park. The nuclear blast will rip open Yellowstone’s
sizzling caldera, triggering a massive eruption that will obliterate half of
the United States.
FBI agent Malcolm Hendricks, special agent in charge of a
counterterrorism task force in Los Angeles, thwarts the LA bomb only seconds
before two of the suicide bombers can detonate it near USC where the agent's
daughter is giving her PhD thesis defense. He has learned the identity of the
terrorist leader, Abu Hadi al-Maliki, through actions he took in defiance of
his superiors in Washington. In recognition of his bold work, the president
puts him in charge of finding Maliki and the second nuke, but the only clue
Hendricks has to go on is a trail of bodies that ends in Idaho near
Yellowstone.
As Hendricks unleashes every resource available to find Maliki and the
second bomb, the terror leader and his zealots attack the geothermal site,
killing most of the drilling rig workers and many of the journalists who arrive
by bus to report on the project. Trained for the mission to operate a drilling
rig, Maliki and his commandos begin lowering the bomb two miles to the bottom
of the NASA well.
All that stands in the way of the fanatical plot to destroy America
are Hendricks’ relentless efforts to find him, the resourcefulness of the NASA
spokeswoman who brought the doomed journalists to the site, and the brave
resistance of the few rig workers who survive Maliki’s brutal assault.”
Author:
“Terrence Poppa has a background in journalism, private
investigations, and Islamic studies. As a journalist, he wrote a biography of a
Mexican drug trafficker: Drug Lord, the Life and Death of a Mexican Kingpin.”
Appraisal:
I’ll start off by saying that in spite of the less than glowing
rating, I liked the story told here. However, the number of proofreading issues
I saw exceeded what I’ll let slide. These ranged from missing words to extra
words to the wrong word. We even had my personal favorite case of using the
wrong word two times when someone “waived” their hands. As I like to joke, you
can only waive your hands once and then you’ll never be able to do it again.
But if you’re okay occasionally getting thrown out of the story as you try to
figure out what a sentence should have said then this is a pretty intense and
entertaining thriller.
The book’s description gives a pretty high-level idea of what happens
although how it all turns out and the many tense situations the good guys have
to deal with to figure things out and hopefully prevent the majority of the US
from being wiped out keeps the reader engaged. The concept of the damage the
Yellowstone Caldera could do if it exploded, either naturally or induced to do
so as this book imagines is one I’ve seen before. A short story collection
called “A Land of Ash” that I read several years ago had multiple authors
imagine this happening and writing short stories based on it. That book
prepared me to understand just how high the stakes were in this book. The story
was driven home for me too because the terrorists and those trying to find and
stop them traveled through places I’ve lived so I could picture myself there as
the author described an area.
In the end, if you’re into thrillers, able to overlook a fair number
of proofreading misses, and the book description sounds interesting, this is a
good read that you should give a try.
Buy now
from: Amazon US Amazon UK
FYI:
Some adult language.
Format/Typo
Issues:
As indicated in the review, more proofing issues than I find
acceptable.
Rating: ****
Four Stars
Reviewed
by: BigAl
Approximate word count: 80-85,000 words
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