Red, White and Boom

By: Karl Puttlitz
Publisher: Adventure Street Press
Publishing Date: April 2011
ISBN: 978-0-9844910-0-1
Reviewed By: Mary Lignor
Review Date: November 2011

This terrorist fiction/thriller starts as Jeb Foster and his Rapid Intervention Team working with the US Department of Defense, are getting ready to enjoy a weekend in Washington, DC with family and friends. Just as Jeb is settling in with his ladyfriend, Darla, he gets a call from his Director that there is an emergency meeting scheduled for his team that he must attend. This starts the weekend off badly but, duty calls.

Jeb and his team that include Max, Jeb’s good friend and an analyst; Sorina, who is with the Department of Energy and not known by any of the team members and Kaj, who is not popular with the team and is extremely rude and annoying to all, are being asked by the Russian Government to help recover weapons-grade materials that have been stolen. It seems that many thefts have taken place at locations that were thought to be protected. When the team leaves the meeting, Jeb is put into a taxi to be delivered to his home and someone tries to hijack the cab and get rid of Jeb. The hijacking is stopped by some good police work and Jeb and his team are put on a plane to Russia. The team’s assignment is to find radioactive materials used to make “dirty bombs” that will be placed in the US by terrorists. However, when the team arrives it seems that anyone who would be able to help them find these thieves and the material they stole is killed before Jeb and Company can find them. The team knows that if the material gets into the hands of terrorists in the United States there will be an attack in an American city. This is the disaster that Jeb and his team have been sent to stop.

The story goes on with many turns which foil the team as each lead the team comes up with is littered with bodies of people who were involved in the thefts but still no nuclear materials. They are finally faced with the fact that there is a “mole” in their own organization and they are on the run back to the United States to try and prevent a catastrophe from happening.

After reaching the states the fun really begins. There are car chases, helicopter chases, and an unbelievable climax. Red, White and Boom is an action-packed mystery filled novel that is a real edge-of-your-chair read. The heroes are fantastic and the bad guys are as evil as they come. While the story occasionally slows down a little, the author is obviously very knowledgeable about nuclear materials and, with all the unexpected twists and turns, you won't lose interest in this book.

Quill says: A unique cliffhanger that will bring nuclear terrorism to the attention of the reader.

For more information on Red, White and Boom, please visit the publisher's website at: www.adstpress.com