5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Mediocre Thriller, June 26, 2009
This review is from: Critical Mass (Hardcover)
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.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Apocalyptic Terror, February 26, 2009
This review is from: Critical Mass (Hardcover)
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
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disapointing, April 3, 2009
This review is from: Critical Mass (Hardcover)
I have enjoyed a number of Mr. Strieber's books, but this wasn't one of them. At the end of the day, there was just too much that was not believable. In short, it's about terrorist organization who managed to penetrate the US government and to acquire nuclear weapons - one of which it uses on Las Vegas early in the book. I find it unbelievable that such an organization would be unknown to everyone but the Russians (as is suggested) and that they would be able to get as much nuclear material as they did. The way the president acted throughout the book never made much sense, either.
A lot is never explained - how did the terrorists penetrate the government as deeply as they did? How did they get a recording of that the President was saying? The actions of the Russian government were also totally unbelievable.
I didn't find the hero of the book to be very interesting - nor his ex-wife for that matter. Overall, I wanted to like it and the fast pace was good, but overall it just wasn't a very good book.
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