Critical Mass by Whitley Strieber

Paperback

TOR 371 pages

Thriller

Publish date: 2009

Synopsis:

In this overheated thriller about nuclear terrorism, Jim Deutsch, a CIA contract employee whose expertise is counterproliferation, has the world's fate in his hands as he races to foil the Islamic master-terrorist known as the Madhi. When Deutsch learns that some plutonium has been smuggled over the U.S. border from Mexico, he begins to suspect that America's elaborate homeland security apparatus has been compromised. His valiant efforts, alas, aren't enough to prevent the destruction of Las Vegas. As U.S. president William Fitzgerald ponders whether to launch devastating counterattacks aimed at much of the Muslim world, the tension rises. It is a race to the end, will the terrorists be stopped before more cities are destroyed?

My Take:

An interesting idea that reads more like current events then a novel. You can almost sense something like this really happening. The book moves along at a rapid pace despite occasional very apparent blunders by the author. His word choice is questionable at times and his prose is a tad sloppy. He also is over descriptive in places. All of this slows the action down slightly, but not enough for you to put the book back on the shelf. Once you begin this book, and I recommend you do, you won't want to put it back down until you finish it despite the glaring inadequate writing style.

Though I enjoyed the U.S. Government running around trying to stop further destruction carried out by the terrorists, I would love to read a book from the perspective of the everyday Joe who wakes up one morning to the news that Las Vegas was destroyed over night by a nuclear bomb and that every major city around the world has been told a nuclear bomb is hidden in their borders waiting to go off unless they meet the terrorist's demands. What would the everyday Joe do to protect his family? What would you do? I think this book would be a great read. Hell, maybe I will write it myself.

Sorry for the tangent. Back to Critical Mass. If you like political thrillers, you will like this book.

I rate it a 7.5

Memorial Day by Vince Flynn

Hardcover 407 pages

Thriller

2004

Synopsis:

CIA intelligence has pointed to a major terrorist attack on the United States, just as the nation's capital prepares for a grand Memorial Day tribute to the veterans of World War II. Racing to Afghanistan, Mitch Rapp leads a commando raid on an al Queda stronghold in a remote border village — and defuses plans for a nuclear strike on Washington. The crisis averted, the special ops work is done. But Rapp knows, in the face of a new kind of enemy, nothing is as it seems — and it's up to him alone to avert a disaster of unimaginable proportions.

My Take:

This is the best Vince Flynn novel I have read to date. Action from start to finish. This is fiction, but what makes this book even better is the fact that this could actually happen. I am sure terrorists want to set of a nuke in Washington DC. Maybe they have a plan to do so right at this moment and are looking for a way to do it. Though just a book, it reads like current events. When a terror group does get there hands on a nuclear weapon, I hope we have a Mitch Rapp to save the day.

I rate this book a 9.9