Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #300368 in Books
• Published on: 2009-02-17
• Released on: 2009-02-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780765322531
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
In this overheated thriller about nuclear terrorism from bestseller Strieber (2012: The War for Souls), 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, but the impact is undercut by some uneven prose (She looked back at him as if from another dimension, her gaze resplendent with the unquenchable hope of youth, her mother's proud lips, determined, supremely confident that her dad was the great man she believed him to be). (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Strieber, known for his science fiction and nonfiction speculation about extraterrestrials, tackles the war on terror in a page-turning thriller. James Deutsch, a government agent and expert on nuclear weapons, fears that a terrorist organization has brought a bomb across the Mexican border. While investigating, he finds himself facing roadblocks at every turn, forcing him not to trust anyone. Does someone in the government have inside knowledge? Then the unthinkable happens, and it appears to be only a matter of time before the U.S. collapses. Strieber knows how to create suspense, and he provides a too-realistic-for-comfort scenario that should land him on the talk-show circuit declaiming on terrorism. For thriller readers, though, the important thing to remember is that this novel is less a Vince Flynn–type action romp than it is a rant about the bureaucratic bunglings of government agencies amid the chaos of a terrorist threat, so steer readers accordingly. --Jeff Ayers

Review

Customer Reviews

Mediocre Thriller
I am big fan of Mr. Strieber but this story just does not hit its mark. The plot is topical and could have been exciting and suspenseful but the story seemed hurried and not really developed. Nor are the characters fleshed out and seem very typical and one diminsionable. In fact, some of the dialogue is quite corny and contrived. Fleshing out the characters and making the book somewhat longer would have helped. This is more of a "book to a movie" type of story. Wait for the paperback.

Apocalyptic Terror
Whitley Streiber's new novel, "Critical Mass," is more than a thriller, more than a spy story, more than science fiction.

It takes on the premise: what if terrorists DID nuke an American city and had devices in place to terminate Western civilization? What if America could counter extremists with an equally devastating weapon of reprisal?

The hero, Jim Deutsch, is equal parts McGyver, Jack Ryan, Indiana Jones, and Bourne. Add in Jim's love, a Moslem woman, Nabila, who works for American security. A cast of characters from the Pope to the American president to a host of foreign extremists completes the page-turning tension.

Streiber is at his best with the small details of horrifying death [the people] "tumbling toward the flame, in the dust, in the chaos," and "The wall exploded inward. . .burying the smoking chucks of . . .bodies in the fiery debris. So each soul started with a question, entered a moment of horror, then knew death."

Moreover, he uses the clarity of the theme of people in power, those who could prevent catastrophe, those who do not act. And he warns that this time is coming, that nuclear proliferation is a threat to life as we know it. As he did in "Nature's End," Streiber presents the facts of environmental and human disaster, using the evidence that is already in front of us, but personalizing it with characters we care about.

Although the narrator states, ". . .nuclear destruction remained something that was really beyond imagination, and its effects were far more terrible than its planners had anticipated," it is clear that Streiber is calling for action NOW to prevent disaster SOON.

This is a terrifying, realistic, absorbing book

Critical Mass-for some people

The world is a dangerous place. Agent Jim Deutsch and his Muslim wife, Nabilia, who work the intelligence lines thread the needle between knowledge and protection. Their mission is simple, to stop the Mahdi from further bombing American cities. Las Vegas is the example, and other cities are on the list and primed for destruction.

As much as I enjoyed the build up and rampage as Deutsch follows the trail of plutonium and bomb parts, I was overtaken by a sense that his guy could and would do anything. His journey from the Mexican border to the White hosue is astonishing. While 'loose', his ability to secure whatever he needs is almost beyond belief. Jam packed with adventure and political espionage, Critical Mass does make a point that 2001 might have been a taste of what might be.

The big question this book raises is whether or not this book is supposed to be entertaining, or a piece of government propoganda (much like Homeland Security)? And, if it is supposed to be entertaining, why does it go at such a break neck pace so readers cannot catch up with the action?

In the press pack, Whitley does explain the amount of research he did is remarkable. Perhaps he packs too much in the details and nuances that we do not understand?

Yeah, it might make a good movie, but it would have to be boiled down to simple plot constructs. Whitley is a good writer, but this one is over the top and oozes a much longer and more detailed treatment.

www.tor-forge.com

Tim Lasiuta