Day of Wrath [Hardcover]

Larry Bond (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1998

Prince Ibrahim al Saud is a member of the Saudi royal family and a brilliant international businessman with a personal fortune worth billions of dollars. He is also the world's most dangerous terrorist, having purchased nuclear weapons from Russia's corrupt military. Only two people stand in his way: U.S. Army Colonel Peter Thorn and FBI Special Agent Helen Gray. Following a trail that leads from the former Soviet Union, across Europe, and finally to America, the two find themselves hunted by the very people they're trying to protect...and time is running out.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

U.S. Army colonel Peter Thorn, former Delta Force squadron commander and counterterrorist expert, harbors two passions. One, he loves to lead the troops. Unfortunately, for the past six months he's been logging more time behind a desk than behind enemy lines. So, when he hears of an opportunity to investigate a plane crash in Russia, Thorn jumps at a chance to once again see some field action, as well as to rekindle his second passion: a partnership with FBI special agent Helen Gray.

Gray and Thorn have led cases together before, although this time they've both been instructed by the U.S. government to take secondary roles to the Russian task force investigating the crash site. By nature, Thorn and Gray can't sit on the sidelines for long, and within a few days they have found inconsistencies in the case. Deciding to investigate further, they manage to attract the attention of the Russian police, a German ex-Stasi, and the U.S. government, all of whom, for their own reasons, want the pair off the case.

But the twosome agree that the case can't be closed. If their hunch is correct, it appears that someone has stolen a Russian nuclear warhead. By going undercover, the two have a chance to avert a potential catastrophe, although it means directly disobeying government orders. As a result, they must finish the investigation alone. Colonel Thorn will soon find himself in situations that draw on his years of training in armed combat (as well as skills honed playing flight simulation computer games!).

Though Day of Wrath does have its clichéd moments and awkward dialogue, the book is made interesting by Bond's knowledge of nuclear warfare and intelligence strategy. Anyone with a head for military hardware and a penchant for post-Cold War intrigue will enjoy this technothriller. --Kris Law

From Publishers Weekly

A by-the-numbers affair about a terrorist nuclear attack on the U.S., Bond's lackluster latest begins when FBI agent Helen Gray and U.S. Army colonel Peter Thorn arrive in Russia to investigate the mysterious crash of a Russian cargo plane that happened to be carrying a team of American arms inspectors. The local authorities try to make the crash look like an accident, but their thinly veiled attempts at deception fail to convince Gray and Thorn, who quickly find evidence of a hidden shipment of nuclear missiles and embark on a hunt that takes the duo across Europe, where they are betrayed by a high-level FBI mole, and eventually leads them home?to Washington, D.C., where a corrupt Arab prince is masterminding plans for a lethal warhead launch. An engaging, adventurous romantic couple, Thorn and Gray have a flair for high-risk solutions that pushes the pace in the second half of the book. But Bond spends far too much time in the first half following the missiles on their labyrinthine journey, and there's nothing terribly innovative or exciting in that part of the narrative or any of the subsequent plot twists. Readers who enjoyed the high-stakes hijinks of Gray and Thorn in The Enemy Within may find their curiosity piqued, but there's little in this tale to separate Bond's fifth novel from the flotsam and jetsam of the genre.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Warner Books; 1ST edition (June 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446516775
• ISBN-13: 978-0446516778
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,272,925 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

LARRY BOND is the author of numerous New York Times bestselling thrillers, including Vortex, Cauldron, and The Enemy Within. He previously worked with Jim DeFelice on the Larry Bond's First Team series. A former Naval Intelligence officer, warfare analyst and anti-submarine technology expert, he makes his home in Springfield, Virginia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is NOT your typical James Bond story, December 22, 2006

By 

Alberto Leon (Arlington, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Day of Wrath (Mass Market Paperback)

I almost gave this book 5 stars. The action is there, non stop. Peter Thorn really knows how to keep moving. Helen Gray was so manly that she might as well be just another guy helping Peter out. After all, it seems they don't know what to do with each other. Their "intimate" moments are the only awkward parts of this book.

An interesting part in this book is that an American undersecretary gets blown out to pieces at an Egyptian airport and there is hardly any comment about it. That part wasn't part of the main story I think. It was just there to make us dislike Prince Ibrahim.

I loved the language and the dialogues, especially when Gen. Farrell (ret.) enters the story. I never heard so many "Hells" and "Christs" and "Damns" and "God****" among military men. And I used to work with tough guys form SPAWAR and SPECWAR units. Well, I think they just talk that way out there in the field.*

The book is a good read, very entertaining, but it was written in a different world, so I don't know how many people would enjoy a story such as this today. Stasi mercenaries, incompetent Soviet military, fanatical Arabs, all ugly ghosts from the Reagan era are brought back to life. Loved the chases, the killings, the murders, the non stop action, and all the heroin wasted in this story.

But I agree with some of the other reviewers. It was a good read, but highly impossible

*(OK I admit it. I was just a PMT assigned to shore duty with a bunch of Navy corpsmen, bunch of yeomen and a whole lot Marine I&I's.)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What a disappointment!, October 10, 1999

By 

David Albright (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Day of Wrath (Mass Market Paperback)

I looked forward to reading this book. Normally I can read Larry Bond's books in two or three days, they're so engrossing. This one took me almost a month. I had to force myself to continue reading most of it. Totally unbelieveable cardboard characters - and that's the two heroes. If Bond's next book has these two characters (Thorn and Gray) in it, I'm not going to bother to read it. Like I'm going to believe those two can off scores of highly trained killers with every time of gun and hand to hand combat on three continents and save the USA from nuclear annihilation. Not a single reason to like these two cartoon characters. C'mon Larry, I know you can do better because I read your other books.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining time-filler in a big way!, July 18, 1999

By 

Mr N Forbes-warren "author of RESURGENCE and ... (Newport, South Wales, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Day of Wrath (Hardcover)

A well-paced actioner featuring the main characters from THE ENEMY WITHIN, Col Peter Thorn and the FBI's Helen Gray. This time a plane carrying UN weapons inspectors crashes in Russia, and investigations lead to the trail of blackmarket tactical nuclear warheads for sale . . . and what interest does a Saudi prince have in these weapons? The outcome may be predictable and the characters may seem like they have leapt out from a LETHAL WEAPON movie, but the strengths of this book are the story, the research behind the weapons themselves and how they could be transported into the US and a good, fast-pacing and simple prose. The action scenes are undeniably entertaining, and the bit that made me laugh was the bad guy's last word before being shot . . . Noooooooo! That is sooo Hollywood! In fact, why hasn't this(or any other of Larry Bond's novels, for that matter) been made into a movie yet?