The Bomb Maker

October 23, 2017
An unnamed bomber wreaks havoc in this exciting if frustrating thriller from bestseller Perry (The Old Man). When a large cache of explosives blows up under a Los Angeles house, killing the 14 members of the LAPD Bomb Squad at the scene, Dick Stahl, a former bomb squad captain, takes over the squad on a temporary basis. On his first day, Stahl and his team must deal with an intricate car bomb, which he leads them in disarming. That evening, Sgt. Diane Hines, who drove Stahl to the site of the car bomb, arrives at his condo, where the two begin a relationship that grows over the course of the book. The detailed descriptions of the bomb maker’s devices and Stahl’s methods to disarm them are fascinating, but Perry puts considerably less effort into developing his characters. Stahl is annoyingly perfect, and his subordinates, who never attain his expertise, suffer in their careers as a consequence. The motives of the bomb maker and his mysterious backers remain vague. Still, action junkies will be rewarded. Agent: Mel Berger, WME.

Narrator Joe Barrett's phlegmatic tone is simpatico with protagonist Dick Stahl, a retired bomb disposal expert who now runs a security company. The villain is a nameless bomb maker for hire who aims to decimate Los Angeles' bomb disposal team to clear the way for an unknown (even to him) terrorist act. Therein lies the problem: Stahl and his partner, Elaine Hines, are fleshed-out characters, but there is little other character detail. And while there's a lot of information on bomb making, the bomb disposal scenes lack the necessary tension. The listener will despise the bomb maker's actions, but will find it difficult to engage enough to really hate the two-dimensional villain himself, despite Barrett's valiant efforts. C.A.T. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine