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The Bomb Maker
A bomb is more than a weapon. A bomb is an expression of the bomber's predictions of human behavior--a performance designed to fool you into making one fatally wrong move. In The Bomb Maker, Thomas Perry introduces us to the dark corners of a mind intent on transforming a simple machine into an act of murder--and to those committed to preventing that outcome at any cost. A threat is called into the LAPD Bomb Squad and when tragedy ensues, the fragmented unit turns to Dick Stahl, a former Bomb Squad commander who now operates his own private security company. Just returned from a tough job in Mexico, Stahl is at first reluctant to accept the offer, but his sense of duty to the technicians he trained is too strong to turn it down. On his first day back at the head of the squad, Stahl's three-person team is dispatched to a suspected car bomb. And it quickly becomes clear to him that they are dealing with an unusual mastermind--one whose intended target seems to be the Bomb Squad itself.
As the shadowy organization sponsoring this campaign of violence puts increasing pressure on the bomb maker, and Stahl becomes dangerously entangled with a member of his own team, the fuse on this high-stakes plot only burns faster. The Bomb Maker is Thomas Perry's biggest, most unstoppable thriller yet.
As the shadowy organization sponsoring this campaign of violence puts increasing pressure on the bomb maker, and Stahl becomes dangerously entangled with a member of his own team, the fuse on this high-stakes plot only burns faster. The Bomb Maker is Thomas Perry's biggest, most unstoppable thriller yet.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2018
About the author
Thomas Perry
64 books1,603 followersThomas Perry is the author of 25 novels. He was born in Tonawanda, New York in 1947. He received a B.A. from Cornell University in 1969 and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Rochester in 1974. He has worked as a park maintenance man, factory laborer, commercial fisherman, university administrator and teacher, and as a writer and producer of prime time network television shows.
He lives in Southern California.
His website is www.thomasperryauthor.com
He lives in Southern California.
His website is www.thomasperryauthor.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 438 reviews
July 13, 2018
Thomas Perry has produced here another excellent thriller, perfectly suited for reading at the lake on a lazy summer day--or, for that matter, at any other time or place. A very clever bomb maker, who is in league with some shadowy characters that we don't really meet until late in the book, is engaged in a deadly contest with the L.A.P.D.'s bomb squad. As the book opens, he lures a large number of the squad's members into a trap and kills fourteen of them--nearly half the entire squad--with one blow.
With an obviously talented and determined bomber on the loose and with the bomb squad devastated, the department turns to Dick Stahl, who was once perhaps the most gifted member of the squad. Stahl has retired and is now operating a security firm, but given the emergency, he agrees to step in and take over what's left of the squad until permanent replacements can be found.
Stahl realizes immediately that he's up against a very skilled and unique adversary. The bomb maker clearly understands the steps that the bomb squad would take to defuse a device, and so he builds bombs that will tempt the experts to attempt to defuse them by the book. But when they do so, rather than rendering the device harmless, they will set it off, killing themselves and anyone else in the vicinity.
The bomb maker's objective is to wipe out the entire squad, although his motive does not become clear until late in the game. The result is that Stahl and his team members are in deep, deep trouble. While the bomb maker can put together a large number of devices and leave them around town to threaten the population, Stahl and his team can't afford to make even a single tiny mistake and still survive.
Not surprisingly, the tension in this book is about as high as one can imagine, beginning with the first page. It's a deadly game of cat and mouse, and Dick Stahl proves to be a very appealing protagonist. You can't help but hold your breath, every time he gets near one of the bomb makers inventions.
The technical material in the book is very impressive, and Perry obviously did a great deal of research on this subject. I saw him when he appeared at my local bookstore with this book, and it was very interesting to hear him talk about its development and about the work that went into. I've enjoyed virtually all of his earlier novels and this is clearly another winner.
With an obviously talented and determined bomber on the loose and with the bomb squad devastated, the department turns to Dick Stahl, who was once perhaps the most gifted member of the squad. Stahl has retired and is now operating a security firm, but given the emergency, he agrees to step in and take over what's left of the squad until permanent replacements can be found.
Stahl realizes immediately that he's up against a very skilled and unique adversary. The bomb maker clearly understands the steps that the bomb squad would take to defuse a device, and so he builds bombs that will tempt the experts to attempt to defuse them by the book. But when they do so, rather than rendering the device harmless, they will set it off, killing themselves and anyone else in the vicinity.
The bomb maker's objective is to wipe out the entire squad, although his motive does not become clear until late in the game. The result is that Stahl and his team members are in deep, deep trouble. While the bomb maker can put together a large number of devices and leave them around town to threaten the population, Stahl and his team can't afford to make even a single tiny mistake and still survive.
Not surprisingly, the tension in this book is about as high as one can imagine, beginning with the first page. It's a deadly game of cat and mouse, and Dick Stahl proves to be a very appealing protagonist. You can't help but hold your breath, every time he gets near one of the bomb makers inventions.
The technical material in the book is very impressive, and Perry obviously did a great deal of research on this subject. I saw him when he appeared at my local bookstore with this book, and it was very interesting to hear him talk about its development and about the work that went into. I've enjoyed virtually all of his earlier novels and this is clearly another winner.
December 30, 2017
No BOOM here, just a DUD!
I've never read a Thomas Perry novel before, so I didn't know what to expect, but I tell you what I didn't expect, I didn't expect it to read like a debut novel. Which, I guess isn't exactly fair, because I've read a lot of really great debut novels, but this novel just lacked in so many ways for me. I'm hoping I can clarify what I mean.
Let's start with the narration, the author uses a third person narration, so we get to see different POV's, which is great, I typically prefer this in my novels. BUT, the problem here is that I found the backstories that were often provided were so drawn out that I was so far removed from the storyline that I was just reading and reading and soon I had no idea what I was reading. It was just a bunch of ramblings that I found did not add much value to the overall story or characters. The other big issue for me is that it lacked in imagery and descriptive writing, which is hugely important to me. The only areas in the novel that really seemed to include much descriptive writing were those containing the bombs. Otherwise, all other settings were very vague and hard to picture or get a sense of. I will admit, the narrative hook got me... I thought for sure I was in for a real treat with this book, but soon, I was disappointed. I found this novel just proved time and time again to reel me in and cast me back out.
Next, let's talk about character development. There are a few key characters in this novel, the main three are Dick Stahl, an highly experienced bomb expert and former captain of the L.A. Bomb Squad, then there is Sergeant Diane Hines of the L.A. Bomb Squad, and then there is the Bomb Maker himself... which his identity is never revealed. Let's start with Dick, Dick is no longer a member of the Bomb Squad, after having retired some years ago and now running his own private security company, being somewhat of a badass... or so we're led to believe early on... a Jack Reacher... Jason Bourne... wannabe maybe? After the Bomb Maker wipes out half of the L.A. Bomb Squad, Dick is asked to come back and help out the force until they can retrain new recruits and stop this bomber. Dick reluctantly agrees. This is where we meet Diane, Diane is now Dick's subordinate. After disarming their first bomb together Diane becomes enamored with Dick and the next thing you know, they're in bed together? This is where the eye rolls started and I practically gave up on the novel. Not because it was so cliche for a man to be sleeping with his subordinate, but because of the completely tasteless way in which it was portrayed. I'm not saying I need to have romance, I realize it's not that kind of novel, but it simply wasn't believable... or sexy... it lacked chemistry. These two are suppose to remain emotionally connected to one another throughout the duration of the novel, but I could not feel the connection between the two of them for nothing. I felt like the entire thing was a joke. As for the Bomb Maker, generally, I love when we can get inside the mind of the villain, however, in this case, it practically bored me to death. I was hoping there would be some semblance of psychotic behavior, an edge or creepiness, but there was nothing. He didn't even seem all that calculated to me.
My next gripe is about the dialogue. It's not that the dialogue didn't come across as natural, because it did. I didn't have any issues there. My complaint is that it was just difficult to follow at times. Here is an example:
"Did calling it a fling hurt your feelings?" she said. "Be honest with me."
"I didn't think about putting it in a category before. During those few days, my life consisted of getting through a tough day, and then making up for it with you at night. It was death all day and life at night with you."
"I know what happened, and I understand everything up to the point when my apartment blew up. But what now? I've been trying to figure out what happens next. I think I need you to tell me what you're thinking."
"We move you into my place. We try to stop leaving things out when we talk. We don't pretend that being together was a fling."
"Okay," she said. "Tomorrow when you come, bring me some of the clothes I left in your closet. All I own now is this nightgown with nothing in the back, and I have to hand it over when I leave."
It was like this pretty much throughout the majority of the novel. Sometimes, I had to go back and re-read certain parts to make sure I understood who was stating what.
The last thing I guess I'll touch on is the overall storyline and the ending. Conceptually, this novel had a lot of promise. I haven't seen a lot of novels involving a serial killer/bomber. The execution however, it lacked for me. Although there were several backstories that were delivered, I didn't find it clear as to why the Bomb Maker was hired in the first place. That message was never delivered. I don't think we ever understand what the "big plans" were going to be, and that was disappointing in the end. It was also never clear "who" hired the Bomb Maker. All things that I felt perhaps could have been wrapped up in an epilogue. Instead, the ending was so very bizarre I didn't know what the heck I was reading. It's literally BOOM... then into the next chapter and you have no idea what's happening. I was not a fan of how the novel ended at all. It's almost as if Mr. Perry was tired of writing the novel and just threw the last chapter together in a hurry to finish off the book.
I want to thank NetGalley, Grove Atlantic, and Thomas Perry for an opportunity to read this novel in exchange for my review. Sorry that it didn't work out for me. Best of luck to you Mr. Perry.
I've never read a Thomas Perry novel before, so I didn't know what to expect, but I tell you what I didn't expect, I didn't expect it to read like a debut novel. Which, I guess isn't exactly fair, because I've read a lot of really great debut novels, but this novel just lacked in so many ways for me. I'm hoping I can clarify what I mean.
Let's start with the narration, the author uses a third person narration, so we get to see different POV's, which is great, I typically prefer this in my novels. BUT, the problem here is that I found the backstories that were often provided were so drawn out that I was so far removed from the storyline that I was just reading and reading and soon I had no idea what I was reading. It was just a bunch of ramblings that I found did not add much value to the overall story or characters. The other big issue for me is that it lacked in imagery and descriptive writing, which is hugely important to me. The only areas in the novel that really seemed to include much descriptive writing were those containing the bombs. Otherwise, all other settings were very vague and hard to picture or get a sense of. I will admit, the narrative hook got me... I thought for sure I was in for a real treat with this book, but soon, I was disappointed. I found this novel just proved time and time again to reel me in and cast me back out.
Next, let's talk about character development. There are a few key characters in this novel, the main three are Dick Stahl, an highly experienced bomb expert and former captain of the L.A. Bomb Squad, then there is Sergeant Diane Hines of the L.A. Bomb Squad, and then there is the Bomb Maker himself... which his identity is never revealed. Let's start with Dick, Dick is no longer a member of the Bomb Squad, after having retired some years ago and now running his own private security company, being somewhat of a badass... or so we're led to believe early on... a Jack Reacher... Jason Bourne... wannabe maybe? After the Bomb Maker wipes out half of the L.A. Bomb Squad, Dick is asked to come back and help out the force until they can retrain new recruits and stop this bomber. Dick reluctantly agrees. This is where we meet Diane, Diane is now Dick's subordinate. After disarming their first bomb together Diane becomes enamored with Dick and the next thing you know, they're in bed together? This is where the eye rolls started and I practically gave up on the novel. Not because it was so cliche for a man to be sleeping with his subordinate, but because of the completely tasteless way in which it was portrayed. I'm not saying I need to have romance, I realize it's not that kind of novel, but it simply wasn't believable... or sexy... it lacked chemistry. These two are suppose to remain emotionally connected to one another throughout the duration of the novel, but I could not feel the connection between the two of them for nothing. I felt like the entire thing was a joke. As for the Bomb Maker, generally, I love when we can get inside the mind of the villain, however, in this case, it practically bored me to death. I was hoping there would be some semblance of psychotic behavior, an edge or creepiness, but there was nothing. He didn't even seem all that calculated to me.
My next gripe is about the dialogue. It's not that the dialogue didn't come across as natural, because it did. I didn't have any issues there. My complaint is that it was just difficult to follow at times. Here is an example:
"Did calling it a fling hurt your feelings?" she said. "Be honest with me."
"I didn't think about putting it in a category before. During those few days, my life consisted of getting through a tough day, and then making up for it with you at night. It was death all day and life at night with you."
"I know what happened, and I understand everything up to the point when my apartment blew up. But what now? I've been trying to figure out what happens next. I think I need you to tell me what you're thinking."
"We move you into my place. We try to stop leaving things out when we talk. We don't pretend that being together was a fling."
"Okay," she said. "Tomorrow when you come, bring me some of the clothes I left in your closet. All I own now is this nightgown with nothing in the back, and I have to hand it over when I leave."
It was like this pretty much throughout the majority of the novel. Sometimes, I had to go back and re-read certain parts to make sure I understood who was stating what.
The last thing I guess I'll touch on is the overall storyline and the ending. Conceptually, this novel had a lot of promise. I haven't seen a lot of novels involving a serial killer/bomber. The execution however, it lacked for me. Although there were several backstories that were delivered, I didn't find it clear as to why the Bomb Maker was hired in the first place. That message was never delivered. I don't think we ever understand what the "big plans" were going to be, and that was disappointing in the end. It was also never clear "who" hired the Bomb Maker. All things that I felt perhaps could have been wrapped up in an epilogue. Instead, the ending was so very bizarre I didn't know what the heck I was reading. It's literally BOOM... then into the next chapter and you have no idea what's happening. I was not a fan of how the novel ended at all. It's almost as if Mr. Perry was tired of writing the novel and just threw the last chapter together in a hurry to finish off the book.
I want to thank NetGalley, Grove Atlantic, and Thomas Perry for an opportunity to read this novel in exchange for my review. Sorry that it didn't work out for me. Best of luck to you Mr. Perry.
August 27, 2017
This Arc was provided courtesy of NetGalley. Many thanks to Grove Atlantic - The Mysterious Press for making this pre-release available.
Welcome to the sleazy underground world of a criminal bomb maker. A leech of society. The author guided me through a well written, real world scenario of the many ways a bomb could be made and deployed. Hundreds of ways. Perhaps more. It's only limiting factor would be the bomb makers imagination. Scary. The main character of the story, Dick Stahl came well-developed. It was an intriguing narrative that held my undivided attention.
A bomber's on the loose in the streets of Los Angeles. Not just any run-of-the-mill bomber. An expert. He had been recruited by a terrorist organization for his nefarious skill. Part of the deal was for him to kill off members of the LAPD bomb squad. His only requirement from his sponsors - MONEY.
He was meticulous in his creative design and construction. Even made his own explosive material from scratch. Extremely risky and dangerous. The bomb techniques were an extension of his vivid imagination. There seemed no end in sight to what he was capable of devising. He was a master at his craft. A psychopath mind at work.
Tim Watkins was called to the scene. He was the Commander of the LAPD bomb squad. A threat had been called in by an anonymous source to 911. A house was going to be blown up. Something about the caller sounded believable. It was worth investigating. The bomb unit responded. A careful search of the house was conducted. It had been booby-trapped. Explosive charges in strategic points began to go off. The house imploded upon itself. Now a pile of stucco and wood. The bomb technician just barely made it out in time. He survived. Unbeknownst to them, the bomber was not finished.
Half of the LAPD bomb squad was on scene. They gathered and began to carefully sift through the rubble for unexploded ordnance. They never got very far. It too had been booby-trapped. A dynamic explosion that originated from underneath the house shook the earth. A massive explosion. Fourteen members of the elite LAPD bomb squad were killed instantly. The worst police disaster in the nation's history. Mission accomplished.
Retired, former LAPD bomb squad Commander Dick Stahl had been paid a visit by LAPD Deputy Chief Ogden. Stahl ran his own successful security company. The city of Los Angeles needed his expertise. He was the best of the best. When he was with the bomb squad, his name became Legend. He had trained and knew many of the deceased in the disaster. He was more than eager to volunteer his assistance.
For the next two days in a row, Stahl diffused two more sophisticated
bombs that had been planted in strategic places. They too had been cleverly booby-trapped. Any other bomb technician on the scene would have probably been killed. Luck was with him. Stahl was quickly using up his nine lives. By now, the bomb makers intentions were clear. Eliminate the bomb squad. To do this, he had to come up with better ways of deploying and booby-trapping his bombs. Stahl had been getting in the way and needed to be taken out of the picture.
An intimate relationship developed between Stahl and one of his underlings of his squad, Sergeant Diane Hines. According to strict policy, they knew it had to remain secret. The bomb maker had learned of her address. There was a surprise waiting for her when she got home. Upon her arrival, she realized she activated a timer for a bomb directly overhead. With only a couple of seconds to react, she scrambled behind heavy furniture for cover. She survived the blast but was critically injured. She'd remained hospitalized in a medically coma for over a month.
The bomb maker was feeling desperate now. This Stahl character was interfering with his plans. He needed to be more creative. The sooner he killed off the remainder of the bomb squad, the sooner he'd get his money. A big payday. Ten million dollars. But not if Stahl could help it. He was obsessed with taking down the bomb maker. One of them had to go. Only one would live to tell the tale.
Welcome to the sleazy underground world of a criminal bomb maker. A leech of society. The author guided me through a well written, real world scenario of the many ways a bomb could be made and deployed. Hundreds of ways. Perhaps more. It's only limiting factor would be the bomb makers imagination. Scary. The main character of the story, Dick Stahl came well-developed. It was an intriguing narrative that held my undivided attention.
A bomber's on the loose in the streets of Los Angeles. Not just any run-of-the-mill bomber. An expert. He had been recruited by a terrorist organization for his nefarious skill. Part of the deal was for him to kill off members of the LAPD bomb squad. His only requirement from his sponsors - MONEY.
He was meticulous in his creative design and construction. Even made his own explosive material from scratch. Extremely risky and dangerous. The bomb techniques were an extension of his vivid imagination. There seemed no end in sight to what he was capable of devising. He was a master at his craft. A psychopath mind at work.
Tim Watkins was called to the scene. He was the Commander of the LAPD bomb squad. A threat had been called in by an anonymous source to 911. A house was going to be blown up. Something about the caller sounded believable. It was worth investigating. The bomb unit responded. A careful search of the house was conducted. It had been booby-trapped. Explosive charges in strategic points began to go off. The house imploded upon itself. Now a pile of stucco and wood. The bomb technician just barely made it out in time. He survived. Unbeknownst to them, the bomber was not finished.
Half of the LAPD bomb squad was on scene. They gathered and began to carefully sift through the rubble for unexploded ordnance. They never got very far. It too had been booby-trapped. A dynamic explosion that originated from underneath the house shook the earth. A massive explosion. Fourteen members of the elite LAPD bomb squad were killed instantly. The worst police disaster in the nation's history. Mission accomplished.
Retired, former LAPD bomb squad Commander Dick Stahl had been paid a visit by LAPD Deputy Chief Ogden. Stahl ran his own successful security company. The city of Los Angeles needed his expertise. He was the best of the best. When he was with the bomb squad, his name became Legend. He had trained and knew many of the deceased in the disaster. He was more than eager to volunteer his assistance.
For the next two days in a row, Stahl diffused two more sophisticated
bombs that had been planted in strategic places. They too had been cleverly booby-trapped. Any other bomb technician on the scene would have probably been killed. Luck was with him. Stahl was quickly using up his nine lives. By now, the bomb makers intentions were clear. Eliminate the bomb squad. To do this, he had to come up with better ways of deploying and booby-trapping his bombs. Stahl had been getting in the way and needed to be taken out of the picture.
An intimate relationship developed between Stahl and one of his underlings of his squad, Sergeant Diane Hines. According to strict policy, they knew it had to remain secret. The bomb maker had learned of her address. There was a surprise waiting for her when she got home. Upon her arrival, she realized she activated a timer for a bomb directly overhead. With only a couple of seconds to react, she scrambled behind heavy furniture for cover. She survived the blast but was critically injured. She'd remained hospitalized in a medically coma for over a month.
The bomb maker was feeling desperate now. This Stahl character was interfering with his plans. He needed to be more creative. The sooner he killed off the remainder of the bomb squad, the sooner he'd get his money. A big payday. Ten million dollars. But not if Stahl could help it. He was obsessed with taking down the bomb maker. One of them had to go. Only one would live to tell the tale.
April 23, 2022
*This review was originally submitted to audible on February 11, 2018*
Bomb Maker-Life Taker.
Thomas Perry turns everything he pens into sheer adrenaline pumping, heart pounding, riveting masterpieces! This, the newest release from Mr. Perry, is a mixture of all the things we seek in books, and very rarely find all in one novel. It is one of those anomalies which flawlessly intertwines the perfect mix of psychological, romance, hold on to your hats thrill rides, and raises questions in regards to many of the characters, who are allusive and mysterious, leaving me questioning their motives. This mysteriousness combined with all the other facets meant I was not going anywhere I didn't have to till I heard: "audible hopes you have enjoyed this program." That's an understatement. Whether in audio, eBook, or a print version. . . do not let this one get by you, pick up a copy and enjoy the ride. :)
Bomb Maker-Life Taker.
Thomas Perry turns everything he pens into sheer adrenaline pumping, heart pounding, riveting masterpieces! This, the newest release from Mr. Perry, is a mixture of all the things we seek in books, and very rarely find all in one novel. It is one of those anomalies which flawlessly intertwines the perfect mix of psychological, romance, hold on to your hats thrill rides, and raises questions in regards to many of the characters, who are allusive and mysterious, leaving me questioning their motives. This mysteriousness combined with all the other facets meant I was not going anywhere I didn't have to till I heard: "audible hopes you have enjoyed this program." That's an understatement. Whether in audio, eBook, or a print version. . . do not let this one get by you, pick up a copy and enjoy the ride. :)
December 31, 2017
This is a good book if you are an engineer type, and love to read the technical detail in fiction tale. There are not many of them out there that do that task to this degree. Some in Sci. Fi. but not in this genre.
It's completely action, copper bomb squad LA cored. And it's a singular man that they are trying to contain.
Truly it seems so despicable the injury and horrific outcomes that such a coward can do from afar.
The trouble for me was in middle and end content and its pacing. After the most explosive beginning that left you breathless, so much of the rest? More cold treachery and more cold recitals of more treachery- of the same and the same. Only locations and trigger methods or number of target connections changed. And for me, the two main protagonists held no heat or flirt factor to speak of between each other. Their love affair or sexual encounter dynamic was more like some type of strange job or psychologist's interview. Romance? Not!
So the 2 main characters and the staff that was highlighted? After that beginning, they seemed like figures with names on their uniforms. Stahl? You got his history but I did not feel any iota of his core, or depth except that he had to have a death wish.
It's completely action, copper bomb squad LA cored. And it's a singular man that they are trying to contain.
Truly it seems so despicable the injury and horrific outcomes that such a coward can do from afar.
The trouble for me was in middle and end content and its pacing. After the most explosive beginning that left you breathless, so much of the rest? More cold treachery and more cold recitals of more treachery- of the same and the same. Only locations and trigger methods or number of target connections changed. And for me, the two main protagonists held no heat or flirt factor to speak of between each other. Their love affair or sexual encounter dynamic was more like some type of strange job or psychologist's interview. Romance? Not!
So the 2 main characters and the staff that was highlighted? After that beginning, they seemed like figures with names on their uniforms. Stahl? You got his history but I did not feel any iota of his core, or depth except that he had to have a death wish.
September 30, 2017
I am not much of a thriller variety reader however, I did so enjoy this book about the struggle to capture a man who was intent on killing members of the bomb squad. Dick Stahl is called back into service when a bomb goes off and kills twelve members of the bomb squad pretty much decimating their ranks and throwing the city and the police into chaos. Stahl, owner of a private security company accepts this job and learns through going on a second bomb call that he is dealing with a brilliant explosives expert. He begins to rebuild the teams of people sent out to mitigate a bomb situation and they learn from him how to be proficient in recognizing the danger that this bomb maker has in store for any who are careless. This bomb maker follows no rules except, as it soon becomes apparent, to kill bomb squad members.
Stahl becomes involved with one of the team members. However, the focus is on getting this bomb maker who in the meantime, has become involved with a sinister group of men who are planning a terrorist hit on LA.
All of this builds to a harrowing experience as Stahl and the men and women of the bomb squad desperately try to find the bomb maker. The bomb maker devoid of any kind of feelings about causing death is intent on his mission. Mr Perry never really reveals why the bomb maker is on this mission but does create a character with enough menace and diabolical behaviors. The one fault that the novel does seem to possess is at the end which seemed to be somewhat abrupt. We never really learn who the terrorists were nor do we know much about the bomb maker, not even his name.
Thanks to NetGalley and Mysterious Press for an ARC of this novel.
Stahl becomes involved with one of the team members. However, the focus is on getting this bomb maker who in the meantime, has become involved with a sinister group of men who are planning a terrorist hit on LA.
All of this builds to a harrowing experience as Stahl and the men and women of the bomb squad desperately try to find the bomb maker. The bomb maker devoid of any kind of feelings about causing death is intent on his mission. Mr Perry never really reveals why the bomb maker is on this mission but does create a character with enough menace and diabolical behaviors. The one fault that the novel does seem to possess is at the end which seemed to be somewhat abrupt. We never really learn who the terrorists were nor do we know much about the bomb maker, not even his name.
Thanks to NetGalley and Mysterious Press for an ARC of this novel.
July 11, 2021
Thanks to Thomas Perry, NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC OF THE BOMB MAKER.
Thomas Perry is a brilliant story teller. In his newest novel, he pits a bomb maker against the LA bomb squad. The bomb maker is adept it designing and making bombs that have trap doors, secondary devices, switches, motors and rotors, on and on. Yes, it did get a bit ( actually VERY technical), but I can overlook that because it was just so darn enthralling! This bomb maker extraordinaire delights in making bombs and setting them to fool the EOD techs to produce as many fatalities to the techs as possible. The protagonist, Dick Stahl, is an EOD specialist extraordinaire, and the story line centers around these two outwitting each other.
The opening scene is utterly riveting and the thrill ride is off to a grand start! The thrills keep coming and coming in this fast paced novel! Mr. Perry usually stages something clever at the end, and he did not disappoint! Cute and clever ending!
I love Perry's writing style, and enjoyed reading this book because of the intensity and suspense. That being said, I was hoping for more from this acclaimed author. I must mention that character development is poor ( uh, non existent). We never learn the bomb maker's backstory, motive, or even name! The "businessmen" are secondary fodder and are more of a distraction than anything else.
THE BOMB MAKER is a drama ( policemen being killed), However, due to the aforementioned, it is not a deep read. Mr. Perry certainly has the ability to write a serious piece using many facets of "authors' craft". However, this one is a quick read, beach read, maybe a road trip read!
THE BOMB MAKER is a suspenseful, fast paced story that held my interest throughout!
Thomas Perry is a brilliant story teller. In his newest novel, he pits a bomb maker against the LA bomb squad. The bomb maker is adept it designing and making bombs that have trap doors, secondary devices, switches, motors and rotors, on and on. Yes, it did get a bit ( actually VERY technical), but I can overlook that because it was just so darn enthralling! This bomb maker extraordinaire delights in making bombs and setting them to fool the EOD techs to produce as many fatalities to the techs as possible. The protagonist, Dick Stahl, is an EOD specialist extraordinaire, and the story line centers around these two outwitting each other.
The opening scene is utterly riveting and the thrill ride is off to a grand start! The thrills keep coming and coming in this fast paced novel! Mr. Perry usually stages something clever at the end, and he did not disappoint! Cute and clever ending!
I love Perry's writing style, and enjoyed reading this book because of the intensity and suspense. That being said, I was hoping for more from this acclaimed author. I must mention that character development is poor ( uh, non existent). We never learn the bomb maker's backstory, motive, or even name! The "businessmen" are secondary fodder and are more of a distraction than anything else.
THE BOMB MAKER is a drama ( policemen being killed), However, due to the aforementioned, it is not a deep read. Mr. Perry certainly has the ability to write a serious piece using many facets of "authors' craft". However, this one is a quick read, beach read, maybe a road trip read!
THE BOMB MAKER is a suspenseful, fast paced story that held my interest throughout!
February 6, 2018
★ ★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
---
Oh man . . . this brings me back to the conflict I felt trying to discuss Sarah Pinborough's Behind Her Eyes. This is a heckuva read until it's not -- but we'll get to that in a bit.
I know precious little about Bomb Squads, and have read precious little about them. I think Crais' Demolition Angel is the only other book with a Bomb Tech in it for more than a few pages that I've read. So I was pretty excited to give this one a shot -- incidentally, I do think there are areas of overlap between this book and Crais' that'd make for interesting reading. Sadly, it's been about 15 years since I read Demolition Angel, so I won't be writing that. Still, my main point is that there's not a lot written about Bomb Techs, and that seems pretty strange, because this kind of thing makes for some great tense moments -- the kind of thing that thriller readers love.
(feel free to fill up the comments telling me how wrong I am and that there are dozens of great examples of Bomb Tech/Bomb Squad literature out there)
What we have here is a guy, never given a name, or dubbed with one by the media that we'll call "the bomb maker." We know nothing about him at the beginning, and learn only a little about him later on -- for some reason, he's decided to kill off every bomb tech in LA. And he does so by making bombs designed to sucker the Bomb Techs into doing X or Y, which will both set off the bomb itself. In his first attempt, he kills half the division -- 14 of 28, including the commanding Captain.
What's the LAPD to do? Thankfully, one of the Deputy Chief's knows a guy -- the last guy to command the Squad still lives in town, running a high-priced security firm. So the Chief recruits Dick Stahl to come back and help the LAPD through this time. Stahl knew most of the people that died, trained many of them himself and would like to help get some justice for them and prevent others from joining them.
So begins a great cat-and-mouse game. The bomb maker is pretty smart and knows how Bomb Techs think, so he fools them into setting bombs off. Stahl doesn't know much about the guy beyond that, so he goes out of his way to overthink the bombs and finds the tricks that were included and thinks around them. Some of the squad start to think like him, and others don't. You can guess how that works out for all involved. The bomb maker sees how Stahl is figuring him out, and steps up his game, making bombs that are more clever and more devastating.
This aspect of the book -- which really is the bulk of it, thankfully -- is just great. Perry could've given us another 100 pages or so of it and I wouldn't have complained.
There's a little bit romance between Stahl and someone, which complicates things and could've bery easily annoyed me because it seems so extraneous. I think the way Perry dealt with it and used in to tell his story ended up working, but I'm not going to argue with anyone who was bothered by it (I easily could've been). But for me, when you add these complications into the cat-and-mouse thing, it just makes for a better read.
Which is not to say that this book doesn't have its share of problems. We get a lot of backstory on a couple of incredibly minor characters. There's one character whose sole purpose is to find a bomb and call the police, yet we get a lot of detail on the career she gave up, why she did so, and what that costs her to this day, just to have her find a bomb. I liked the character (what we got of her anyway), her part of the book was well-written, but it seems silly to get that much detail on someone who disappears almost immediately. It's like on award shows when they introduce a minor celebrity just so they can come on stage to introduce the award presenters. It's just pointless. Perry does this kind of thing more than once here, meanwhile we don't get a lot of information about most of the Bomb Squad members we do get to see do things. It makes little sense, adds little, and ultimately detracts from the suspense he's building. I don't get it.
One thing for sure, I add mostly as an aside, between the mysterious bad guy in Silence and the bomb maker here, I'm sure that Thomas Perry can write a great creep. Not just a bad guy with no respect for life or property or whatever, but a real cad who should never be allowed near a female. I'm not suggesting that describes all of his characters, just some of them -- just the fact that the paid assassin is a step-up for Sylvie Turner (also from Silence) compared to the previous guys she was serious about says something about the kind of creep Perry can write.
I'm going to get close to a spoiler or two here, so feel free to skip this paragraph. If you're still here, in the last 40 pages (less than that, actually, but let's keep it vague), this becomes a different kind of book. It feels like Perry realized what his page count was and wanted to keep it below 375 so he had to bring the cat-and-mouse thing to an end. The action kicks into high gear, and the very intelligent thriller throws out the intelligence and becomes a couple of action sequences. Well-done and compelling action sequences, but a very different feel from the rest of the book. He also switches from giving us too much detail (like the life story of the lady who found a bomb) to giving us almost no information to help wrap up the closing events of the novel. I won't even begin to talk about the last four pages, the final chapter almost doesn't belong in the book -- it does give us a teeny bit of resolution, but again, feels like a different book than what had come before. My kids can testify to this, I was yelling at the book during the final few pages, because I just didn't get what Perry was up to.
This was a solid, smart, compelling thriller about the kind of characters you want to read about -- smart professionals, acting for the public good and for the sake of their teammates up against smart professionals out to do wrong. I had a blast with most of this, and could forgive the tangents he went off on, up until the end. I did, generally, still like the end, even so. I still recommend this and think you'll like it -- I just wish Perry'd landed it better. It was almost a 4-star book, possibly more, but that ending . . .
If you have -- or eventually do -- read this, let me know what you thought of it. I'm really curious to see what others thought.
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
---
Oh man . . . this brings me back to the conflict I felt trying to discuss Sarah Pinborough's Behind Her Eyes. This is a heckuva read until it's not -- but we'll get to that in a bit.
I know precious little about Bomb Squads, and have read precious little about them. I think Crais' Demolition Angel is the only other book with a Bomb Tech in it for more than a few pages that I've read. So I was pretty excited to give this one a shot -- incidentally, I do think there are areas of overlap between this book and Crais' that'd make for interesting reading. Sadly, it's been about 15 years since I read Demolition Angel, so I won't be writing that. Still, my main point is that there's not a lot written about Bomb Techs, and that seems pretty strange, because this kind of thing makes for some great tense moments -- the kind of thing that thriller readers love.
(feel free to fill up the comments telling me how wrong I am and that there are dozens of great examples of Bomb Tech/Bomb Squad literature out there)
What we have here is a guy, never given a name, or dubbed with one by the media that we'll call "the bomb maker." We know nothing about him at the beginning, and learn only a little about him later on -- for some reason, he's decided to kill off every bomb tech in LA. And he does so by making bombs designed to sucker the Bomb Techs into doing X or Y, which will both set off the bomb itself. In his first attempt, he kills half the division -- 14 of 28, including the commanding Captain.
What's the LAPD to do? Thankfully, one of the Deputy Chief's knows a guy -- the last guy to command the Squad still lives in town, running a high-priced security firm. So the Chief recruits Dick Stahl to come back and help the LAPD through this time. Stahl knew most of the people that died, trained many of them himself and would like to help get some justice for them and prevent others from joining them.
So begins a great cat-and-mouse game. The bomb maker is pretty smart and knows how Bomb Techs think, so he fools them into setting bombs off. Stahl doesn't know much about the guy beyond that, so he goes out of his way to overthink the bombs and finds the tricks that were included and thinks around them. Some of the squad start to think like him, and others don't. You can guess how that works out for all involved. The bomb maker sees how Stahl is figuring him out, and steps up his game, making bombs that are more clever and more devastating.
This aspect of the book -- which really is the bulk of it, thankfully -- is just great. Perry could've given us another 100 pages or so of it and I wouldn't have complained.
There's a little bit romance between Stahl and someone, which complicates things and could've bery easily annoyed me because it seems so extraneous. I think the way Perry dealt with it and used in to tell his story ended up working, but I'm not going to argue with anyone who was bothered by it (I easily could've been). But for me, when you add these complications into the cat-and-mouse thing, it just makes for a better read.
Which is not to say that this book doesn't have its share of problems. We get a lot of backstory on a couple of incredibly minor characters. There's one character whose sole purpose is to find a bomb and call the police, yet we get a lot of detail on the career she gave up, why she did so, and what that costs her to this day, just to have her find a bomb. I liked the character (what we got of her anyway), her part of the book was well-written, but it seems silly to get that much detail on someone who disappears almost immediately. It's like on award shows when they introduce a minor celebrity just so they can come on stage to introduce the award presenters. It's just pointless. Perry does this kind of thing more than once here, meanwhile we don't get a lot of information about most of the Bomb Squad members we do get to see do things. It makes little sense, adds little, and ultimately detracts from the suspense he's building. I don't get it.
One thing for sure, I add mostly as an aside, between the mysterious bad guy in Silence and the bomb maker here, I'm sure that Thomas Perry can write a great creep. Not just a bad guy with no respect for life or property or whatever, but a real cad who should never be allowed near a female. I'm not suggesting that describes all of his characters, just some of them -- just the fact that the paid assassin is a step-up for Sylvie Turner (also from Silence) compared to the previous guys she was serious about says something about the kind of creep Perry can write.
I'm going to get close to a spoiler or two here, so feel free to skip this paragraph. If you're still here, in the last 40 pages (less than that, actually, but let's keep it vague), this becomes a different kind of book. It feels like Perry realized what his page count was and wanted to keep it below 375 so he had to bring the cat-and-mouse thing to an end. The action kicks into high gear, and the very intelligent thriller throws out the intelligence and becomes a couple of action sequences. Well-done and compelling action sequences, but a very different feel from the rest of the book. He also switches from giving us too much detail (like the life story of the lady who found a bomb) to giving us almost no information to help wrap up the closing events of the novel. I won't even begin to talk about the last four pages, the final chapter almost doesn't belong in the book -- it does give us a teeny bit of resolution, but again, feels like a different book than what had come before. My kids can testify to this, I was yelling at the book during the final few pages, because I just didn't get what Perry was up to.
This was a solid, smart, compelling thriller about the kind of characters you want to read about -- smart professionals, acting for the public good and for the sake of their teammates up against smart professionals out to do wrong. I had a blast with most of this, and could forgive the tangents he went off on, up until the end. I did, generally, still like the end, even so. I still recommend this and think you'll like it -- I just wish Perry'd landed it better. It was almost a 4-star book, possibly more, but that ending . . .
If you have -- or eventually do -- read this, let me know what you thought of it. I'm really curious to see what others thought.
May 3, 2018
My lowest rated Thomas Perry story ever. This thing meanders all over, sheds lots of lives and leaves a poor taste. 0 of 10 stars
August 13, 2019
Well, I don't know what it says about me - since the story is about a bomb maker who loves to kill police, but I enjoyed reading this book.
Well plotted, I liked the 2 main characters especially and well written.
I will definitely seek more books by Thomas Perry.
Unputdownable.
Well plotted, I liked the 2 main characters especially and well written.
I will definitely seek more books by Thomas Perry.
Unputdownable.
January 5, 2018
I've been a Thomas Perry fan since I first read The Butcher's Boy and this is one of the best. Not as much depth of characterization as with some of his books and a new twist in that he never names the bomber or goes into any detail about his background, just detailed information about the *trade* of making bombs and sociopathic. Great depth of detail, which I expect of the Perry books and an interesting twist at the end.
March 7, 2018
I try and read all of Thomas Perry's books. He is a meticulous writer, and his Jane Whitefield series is very good. His prose is accurate, well-researched, yet can be a little dry. This book is not uninteresting, but it's all about bombs. I would rate it 3.5 stars.
The two main characters in this book are an apparently psychopathic, but brilliant, bomb-maker (with no name, just "the bomb maker") and Dick Stahl, a former Bomb Squad commander who now operates his own security company. Stahl is called upon by the LAPD to help when it becomes apparent that the bomb maker is planning to kill off the bomb squad itself.
The book lost a little steam with this reader with the love interest angle. I don't think that is Perry's strong suit, and all those sections felt a little too dry and stilted to me. But clearly he knows his stuff about making bombs, and he paints a frightening picture of the murderous bad guy. The ending was a good resolution and quite satisfying.
The two main characters in this book are an apparently psychopathic, but brilliant, bomb-maker (with no name, just "the bomb maker") and Dick Stahl, a former Bomb Squad commander who now operates his own security company. Stahl is called upon by the LAPD to help when it becomes apparent that the bomb maker is planning to kill off the bomb squad itself.
The book lost a little steam with this reader with the love interest angle. I don't think that is Perry's strong suit, and all those sections felt a little too dry and stilted to me. But clearly he knows his stuff about making bombs, and he paints a frightening picture of the murderous bad guy. The ending was a good resolution and quite satisfying.
February 10, 2018
Perry is BACK fullbore! As if he ever went away. The Bomb Maker has you on the seat of your chair reading into the wee hours non-stop. Hopefully, one or more surviving characters will appear again. This was just an excellent read!
March 10, 2018
Suggestion to other readers -- Don't turn to your husband in an airport and tell him you're reading this great book called The Bomb Maker......
Great, tense read with a slightly wonky, off-kilter ending (but still worthy of 4 stars)
Great, tense read with a slightly wonky, off-kilter ending (but still worthy of 4 stars)
October 1, 2018
I'm not quite sure what to make of this one. I've read all (at least most) of Perry's other books. He's one of my favorite authors due to his logical plots, realistic action, & self-contained books. This one was lacking in all of those areas. It was still a really fun read, but thinking about it afterward isn't as satisfying as most of the others.
The hero was just too much. He's a bomb expert, so I can see him extending his expertise into security systems, although the thoroughness was a bit of a stretch. The opening chapter's rescue & final chapter were over the top. Both were fun, but snapped my suspension of disbelief when taken together. This hero is Superman! Yuck.
There's also the total lack of skill on the part of the others in the unit. They KNOW it's the bomber, have no reason to take chances, & yet still do the dumb thing.
While we get a fair amount of information about the bomber & the other bad guys, their motivations aren't really clear. Too much of their history is missing. It's nice to leave something to my imagination, but this is just too nebulous especially given their total lack of redeeming features.
Basically, this was just action-porn, not what I expect from Perry. In Metzger's Dog, the bad guys were likeable & complex. While that's his finest work, IMO, he's done well with other bad guys, too. He really missed the mark for me in this one. He did manage a good bit with the TV reporter's motivations, but she was just one small part.
So, I liked it, but it didn't read like a Perry novel, more like a beach read. It lacked the typical Perry complexity & read like a first novel.
The hero was just too much. He's a bomb expert, so I can see him extending his expertise into security systems, although the thoroughness was a bit of a stretch. The opening chapter's rescue & final chapter were over the top. Both were fun, but snapped my suspension of disbelief when taken together. This hero is Superman! Yuck.
There's also the total lack of skill on the part of the others in the unit. They KNOW it's the bomber, have no reason to take chances, & yet still do the dumb thing.
While we get a fair amount of information about the bomber & the other bad guys, their motivations aren't really clear. Too much of their history is missing. It's nice to leave something to my imagination, but this is just too nebulous especially given their total lack of redeeming features.
Basically, this was just action-porn, not what I expect from Perry. In Metzger's Dog, the bad guys were likeable & complex. While that's his finest work, IMO, he's done well with other bad guys, too. He really missed the mark for me in this one. He did manage a good bit with the TV reporter's motivations, but she was just one small part.
So, I liked it, but it didn't read like a Perry novel, more like a beach read. It lacked the typical Perry complexity & read like a first novel.
April 3, 2022
Despite detailed technicalities about the process of bomb making, this is another outstanding thriller by Thomas Perry. I've come to the conclusion that Perry can't write anything except 5 star crime fiction and this exceptionally original novel is no exception. Very highly recommended.
September 19, 2018
Two of my favorites--author Thomas Perry and narrator Joe Barrett--in an unsettling thriller that builds in intensity. After two cleverly set devices kill 14 members of the LAPD bomb squad, Dick Stahl, the team’s former head and now head of a security firm, is called in to help catch the bomber before more lives are lost. As they defuse the explosives, Stahl forces his crew to outthink the bomb maker, who clearly enjoys toying with them. The realization that the squad itself is the target ups the ante. Story story moves at a good clip, driven by the urgency of the situation and the high stakes; involving characters (although the villain is stereotypical) including a talented female bomb squad member with whom Stahl becomes involved; plot driven by a ticking clock as squad tries to outwit bomber, riveting plot twists; detailed descriptions of bomb making and defusing; suspenseful, dark, edgy tone. The open ending makes one wonder if this might become a series.
March 30, 2018
While I certainly haven't read all of Thomas Perry's novels, those that I have read have been interesting and exciting. The Bomb Maker is no exception.
A fast paced book from the opening chapter. Perry keeps the suspense level high and in some places unpredictable. Others, the reader pretty much can guess how things are going to go.
Both strong male and female characters in this one. Something for every reader of action stories. Sit down, strap yourself in, and enjoy the ride.
A fast paced book from the opening chapter. Perry keeps the suspense level high and in some places unpredictable. Others, the reader pretty much can guess how things are going to go.
Both strong male and female characters in this one. Something for every reader of action stories. Sit down, strap yourself in, and enjoy the ride.
August 3, 2018
The eponymous Bomb Maker has a text book case of Obsessive Compulsive disorder not to mention a twisted mind. You can't but admire his sense of detail, but, of course it is hard on his victims. Perry with his usual sense of perfect pacing, has written a book which will make most readers OCD as well.
March 30, 2018
During the first three weeks of March (2018), five package bombs exploded in and around Austin, Texas. Two people were killed and five more were injured. The whole country watched, in anguish.
The suspect blew himself up inside his vehicle on March 21 as police moved in.
I finished reading "The Bomb Maker" as the Austin story grew in intensity. And I didn’t need reality to make me feel any more convinced that the idea of a ruthless bomb expert was a genuine possibility.
Dread and anxiety play tag-team in this masterfully suspenseful tale. I have a hunch the reason it works is that Perry is as matter-of-fact as his fictional killer. The prose needs no extra purpling. The story and facts are horrific as is. The killer knows his stuff and Perry lays it out with a cool confidence, too. Detonators, blasting caps, circuits, remote controllers, chemical processes, barometer switches, motion sensors, Semtex, C-4, RDX crystals…on and on. As someone who gets nervous setting a mouse trap, let alone trying to figure out how to use mouse trap components in a freaking bomb, I know nothing about bombs and how they work, but I know for sure that Perry knows.
“The bomb looked like a bomb, but it was the kind of bomb it appeared to be. The clock would complete the firing circuit to set off the dynamite and the layer of plastic explosive he’d sewn under it in a few hours. He had also placed a layer of Tannerite next to the main charge. Tannerite was the substance used in exploding targets. It was harmless and inert until a high-velocity projectile hit it, at which point it would explode.”
You get the idea. (It’s easy to follow and not overdone.)
Perry’s bomb maker works with his materials in cool and meticulous fashion. He’s a pro’s pro. He’s willing to take on just about any cause. And he’s adept and making the bombs appear as if they can be diffused only to reveal an ‘uh-oh’ moment for the bomb expert who realizes he’s been duped by a deadly trick.
Our hope is with retired bomb squad guy Dick Stahl, who gets recruited away from his private security gig to help return the collective blood pressure of Los Angeles to normal levels. Stahl runs afoul of the police department regulations when has a steamy fling with a female bomb expert and "The Bomb Maker" powers along on a variety of levels, including some City Hall politics and complications with a nosy reporter.
Stahl “had been both a soldier and a cop, two professions that never left a man unchanged.” He’s forty-four and carries a bucket load of confidence, which he’s going to need. That’s because the bomber seems to be after the bomb squad itself. The first device detonates and takes out one-half of the bomb disposal specialists. In order to be successful in this case, Stahl has to figure out the bomb maker’s attempt at disguising the trigger-within-a-trigger ruse and then fighting every instinct of how he’s been trained. He also has to stay ahead of the bomb maker’s ever-shifting strategies.
"The Bomb Maker" is scary. I have to concede I’m a bit worried about how easy this all sounds to, well, execute. I heard Perry talk about this book at a recent conference and he said all his information and research was readily available online. Gulp.
In Perry’s book, the bad guy (unnamed throughout) gets tempted to sell his skills Rto terrorists with very big plans. Some of the bomb maker’s purchases and maneuvers seem as if they might have left a blip on law enforcement radar somewhere, somehow. But we don’t really care. We want a showdown and we get it in the form of one big fiery release, though Perry doesn’t let our bad guy go down too easily.
"The Bomb Maker" is a story where high concept meets solid research and much-too-real reality.
Memorable.
The suspect blew himself up inside his vehicle on March 21 as police moved in.
I finished reading "The Bomb Maker" as the Austin story grew in intensity. And I didn’t need reality to make me feel any more convinced that the idea of a ruthless bomb expert was a genuine possibility.
Dread and anxiety play tag-team in this masterfully suspenseful tale. I have a hunch the reason it works is that Perry is as matter-of-fact as his fictional killer. The prose needs no extra purpling. The story and facts are horrific as is. The killer knows his stuff and Perry lays it out with a cool confidence, too. Detonators, blasting caps, circuits, remote controllers, chemical processes, barometer switches, motion sensors, Semtex, C-4, RDX crystals…on and on. As someone who gets nervous setting a mouse trap, let alone trying to figure out how to use mouse trap components in a freaking bomb, I know nothing about bombs and how they work, but I know for sure that Perry knows.
“The bomb looked like a bomb, but it was the kind of bomb it appeared to be. The clock would complete the firing circuit to set off the dynamite and the layer of plastic explosive he’d sewn under it in a few hours. He had also placed a layer of Tannerite next to the main charge. Tannerite was the substance used in exploding targets. It was harmless and inert until a high-velocity projectile hit it, at which point it would explode.”
You get the idea. (It’s easy to follow and not overdone.)
Perry’s bomb maker works with his materials in cool and meticulous fashion. He’s a pro’s pro. He’s willing to take on just about any cause. And he’s adept and making the bombs appear as if they can be diffused only to reveal an ‘uh-oh’ moment for the bomb expert who realizes he’s been duped by a deadly trick.
Our hope is with retired bomb squad guy Dick Stahl, who gets recruited away from his private security gig to help return the collective blood pressure of Los Angeles to normal levels. Stahl runs afoul of the police department regulations when has a steamy fling with a female bomb expert and "The Bomb Maker" powers along on a variety of levels, including some City Hall politics and complications with a nosy reporter.
Stahl “had been both a soldier and a cop, two professions that never left a man unchanged.” He’s forty-four and carries a bucket load of confidence, which he’s going to need. That’s because the bomber seems to be after the bomb squad itself. The first device detonates and takes out one-half of the bomb disposal specialists. In order to be successful in this case, Stahl has to figure out the bomb maker’s attempt at disguising the trigger-within-a-trigger ruse and then fighting every instinct of how he’s been trained. He also has to stay ahead of the bomb maker’s ever-shifting strategies.
"The Bomb Maker" is scary. I have to concede I’m a bit worried about how easy this all sounds to, well, execute. I heard Perry talk about this book at a recent conference and he said all his information and research was readily available online. Gulp.
In Perry’s book, the bad guy (unnamed throughout) gets tempted to sell his skills Rto terrorists with very big plans. Some of the bomb maker’s purchases and maneuvers seem as if they might have left a blip on law enforcement radar somewhere, somehow. But we don’t really care. We want a showdown and we get it in the form of one big fiery release, though Perry doesn’t let our bad guy go down too easily.
"The Bomb Maker" is a story where high concept meets solid research and much-too-real reality.
Memorable.
May 20, 2018
The bomb maker is an expert. He has trained for this his entire life. He has pitted himself against the entire LAPD Bomb Squad and in one fell swoop, he decimates the team, killing 14 with a secondary device after the team responded to the first charge. Faced with a difficult recovery, Deputy Chief David Ogden brings in retired bomb expert, Richard Stahl, who now runs his own security business. But Dick cannot resist the chance to take on a clever foe. Dick has also trained for this competition his entire life, first in the army, then as a member of the LAPD Bomb Squad, where he trained most of the people who were killed on that dreadful day. Then he meets Diane Hines and begins a relationship that will change his life. Hines is also a bomb tech but when the bomb maker figures out Stahl and Hines are a couple, he blows Hines up and almost kills her. But, the bomb maker has a agenda and no one but him knows what it is...and time is running out. An adrenaline-laced, hard-to-put down thriller. Don't start this book at bedtime if you plan on sleeping.
August 17, 2018
Story had a lot of good aspects. However, for my taste, it was disjointed and poorly written. Something may be going on between writer/publisher contract. The ending clearly was written for further expansion.
Take away from the book: explosives, terrorism, and the people on both sides need to be in our current thoughts and scrutiny. i.e. visit a VA hospital
Take away from the book: explosives, terrorism, and the people on both sides need to be in our current thoughts and scrutiny. i.e. visit a VA hospital
April 26, 2019
A solid and very enjoyable read. Maybe it's my engineering background, but I was sucked into the world of bomb making and bomb defusing. I'm guessing my old boss and mentor could've shed some light on the art of bomb making.
July 19, 2019
Total escapism for a few great summer days by the pool. I love Perry’s tales. This one has been criticized by quite a few people but I just let that stuff go and enjoyed an interesting and novel adventure. Thanks Mr. Perry!
January 23, 2018
I guess Old Man is going to remain my favorite book by this author. This latest book held my interest up to the point of no return when things could not hold together as plausible.
It starts out with another really interesting, intelligent and skilled man who knows how to rescue kidnapped businessmen. Then he is called on to temporarily head up LA's bomb squad when half the squad is wiped out with one bombing event. A whole lot of bombing events follow.
The profile of the bomb maker was not solid for me, and then came the terrorists.
Three stars because I was on the edge of my seat for 50% of the book.
It starts out with another really interesting, intelligent and skilled man who knows how to rescue kidnapped businessmen. Then he is called on to temporarily head up LA's bomb squad when half the squad is wiped out with one bombing event. A whole lot of bombing events follow.
The profile of the bomb maker was not solid for me, and then came the terrorists.
Three stars because I was on the edge of my seat for 50% of the book.
July 17, 2022
Audiobook. I have read/listened to many of Perry's books and generally I like them. They are perfect for traveling, walking the dog, doing the dishes, mowing the lawn, etc. There does seem to be a common theme in all of them regardless of whether the protagonist is a "good" or "bad" guy and that's the sort of savior or lone man/woman against hoards of overwhelming odds. It makes for an enjoyable read if a bit implausible.
April 3, 2018
Get on board....yes the back story is longer than needed; but the bomb maker storyline made me read more on how people disarm bombs! Very interesting
March 11, 2018
I found the dialogue between characters hard to follow. At times, I could not tell who was saying what. It was weird, even rereading and still finding it confusing. This was upsetting to me because, I had made it through all the technical bomb making descriptions (was so proud to get through it!) and then was excited by the tense bomb search in the house! From there, the reader is lead through another exciting and stressful "rescue". Such promise!! So, to be let down by bad character development and discounted dialogue was sad. Unfortunately, I couldn't finish. I made it to the beginning of the weird "romance" between Stahl and his subordinate and gave up.
December 20, 2017
Thomas Perry writes some of the most terrifyingly suspenseful novels of any writer alive, and he never has a dud. In this story, a retired bomb squad cop is asked to come back to work when half the current squad has been wiped out by someone that wants to kill bomb specialists. I was able to read it free and early thanks to Edelweiss and Mysterious Press. It will be available to the public January 2, 2018, just in time to start the new year with a bang.
Dick Stahl has just returned from carrying out a tricky job in Mexico. Retired from the bomb squad and police work, he owns a consulting firm and is ready for a rest. But someone out there—most likely not a terrorist, since nobody claims credit for the carnage—has taken out half of the bomb squad, and clearly the technicians themselves were targeted. More attempts are made; there are numerous explosive devices planted in a given location. The guy that plants these things wants them to be found, and so there’s an obvious, textbook-type incendiary left in plain view. The bomber’s intention is for the technicians to relax, believing they have destroyed the threat, and it is then that the real bomb—or chain of bombs—is triggered in order to take out as many bomb techs in one blow as is possible. Stahl has his work cut out for him when he is called back to duty to foil this killer and aid his capture.
In addition to Stahl, we see the bomb maker’s thinking and what he is planning. Perry’s villain is a cold, calculating schemer, and there’s a chilling sense of remove in this part of the narrative. The pacing is tight, with minimal word-smithery to get in the way. Perry doesn’t paint anything; he just tells us what’s about to happen…maybe.
Side character Diane Hines, a member of the squad that becomes romantically involved with Stahl, is an interesting addition, a smart, savvy professional. Whereas I am sorry to see the only important female character used primarily as a sexual entanglement that complicates Stahl’s career, I give Perry retrospective credit for his Jane Whitefield series, which is legendary and features a strong female lead.
That said, the journey here is a lot more interesting than the destination. On the one hand, Perry doesn’t cheat the reader by throwing something out to left field and making the conclusion impossible to predict. Perry’s treatment here is respectful of his readership. On the other hand, I am sorry to have such a fascinating story unspool to such an anticlimactic ending.
It's worth noting that although this writer has produced a lot of books, he never uses any obvious formula. No matter how many I read, I don't walk away feeling as if I have read the same book packaged differently.
Recommended for Perry’s fans, but get it cheap or free unless your pockets are deep ones.
Dick Stahl has just returned from carrying out a tricky job in Mexico. Retired from the bomb squad and police work, he owns a consulting firm and is ready for a rest. But someone out there—most likely not a terrorist, since nobody claims credit for the carnage—has taken out half of the bomb squad, and clearly the technicians themselves were targeted. More attempts are made; there are numerous explosive devices planted in a given location. The guy that plants these things wants them to be found, and so there’s an obvious, textbook-type incendiary left in plain view. The bomber’s intention is for the technicians to relax, believing they have destroyed the threat, and it is then that the real bomb—or chain of bombs—is triggered in order to take out as many bomb techs in one blow as is possible. Stahl has his work cut out for him when he is called back to duty to foil this killer and aid his capture.
In addition to Stahl, we see the bomb maker’s thinking and what he is planning. Perry’s villain is a cold, calculating schemer, and there’s a chilling sense of remove in this part of the narrative. The pacing is tight, with minimal word-smithery to get in the way. Perry doesn’t paint anything; he just tells us what’s about to happen…maybe.
Side character Diane Hines, a member of the squad that becomes romantically involved with Stahl, is an interesting addition, a smart, savvy professional. Whereas I am sorry to see the only important female character used primarily as a sexual entanglement that complicates Stahl’s career, I give Perry retrospective credit for his Jane Whitefield series, which is legendary and features a strong female lead.
That said, the journey here is a lot more interesting than the destination. On the one hand, Perry doesn’t cheat the reader by throwing something out to left field and making the conclusion impossible to predict. Perry’s treatment here is respectful of his readership. On the other hand, I am sorry to have such a fascinating story unspool to such an anticlimactic ending.
It's worth noting that although this writer has produced a lot of books, he never uses any obvious formula. No matter how many I read, I don't walk away feeling as if I have read the same book packaged differently.
Recommended for Perry’s fans, but get it cheap or free unless your pockets are deep ones.
January 23, 2018
Very technical (i.e. Stephen-Hunter-on-guns-level of technical details) about bombs: timers, switches, contacts, the whole thing. Love the character building. In typical Perry fashion, the antagonist is as interestingly drawn as the protagonist.
What was a big downer in this book, however, was the abrupt and sudden ending. A couple of dangling plot threads, it seems. Or, if not dangling, not clarified in a way that would otherwise have been more satisfying. Not sure if Perry intends to expand this book into a series - I'd be into that - but the ending certainly left me with a big, "Wha?????"
What was a big downer in this book, however, was the abrupt and sudden ending. A couple of dangling plot threads, it seems. Or, if not dangling, not clarified in a way that would otherwise have been more satisfying. Not sure if Perry intends to expand this book into a series - I'd be into that - but the ending certainly left me with a big, "Wha?????"
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