|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
Daniel Becker is a young man filled with hate who is convinced that he knows what is best for everyone and society and he will do whatever it takes to make the world a better place. He will kill anyone who disagrees with him whether they are black, Jewish, or part of the government. And he doesn't waste any time in BLOWN. As the novel begins, Becker has an agenda that involves the death of hundreds of people all in order to get revenge for the death of his leader and to create a better world in his image. He has a long list of people who deserve to die, traitors to the cause, and the thing is that he follows up on it. He is scary, meticulous, and always two steps ahead of law-enforcement. He is a marksman, a planner, and a killer. He is not the type of person that you would want to double-cross. Becker is a member of the American branch of an international extremist organization known as 30 April (date of Hitler's death). In THE CUTOUT, Mlan Krucevic, the leader of 30 April, was killed with the assistance of US special agents after he murdered the vice president of the United States. America was given a heavy blow and was not planning on taking things sitting down. The 30 April organization was dealt a heavy blow in retribution leading to its complete dissolution in Europe. Apparently that was not the case in the United States. Now, all the surviving players from THE CUTOUT are working against the clock in order to prevent another act of domestic terrorism in BLOWN. They are reluctant to admit that Becker is smarter and more resourceful than your average terrorist. He has to be stopped. I wish I could give this book a positive review but this novel had too many things going against it. THE CUTOUT (which I have not read) first came out in 2001 and now five years later its sequel comes out. It might have worked if it was in a motion picture or television but in book time it is a bit long. Also, the events in BLOWN take place less than a couple of days from the previous book. All of the surprises from the previous book are revealed which doesn't give readers an incentive to find out what happened earlier. The characters are mainly forgettable within their limited roles inside this current novel adding insult to injury. Becker is the only one who stands out. I doubt that this was the author's intention. BLOWN might have worked better as a standalone instead of a sequel. I hope that Francine Mathews' next book takes a different direction and uses new characters. This one was just not worth it and that is a shame. It could have been a great suspense novel if things had been handled differently.
Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, August 2006
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
