Critical Mass [NOOK Book]

Whitley Strieber provides an exciting thriller

Contractor Jim Deutsch works for the CIA as a NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) expert whose prime specialty is nukes though he has been involved in preventing the sale or development of the other weapons of mass destruction. He learns that Islamic terrorist Madhi has obtained weapons graded plutonium that he has smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico and concludes homeland security has failed to protect the border. Mahdi announces he has nukes planted throughout the western United States.

To prove his assertion, he nukes Las Vegas. A stunned President William Fitzgerald considers nuking the Muslim world back into the stone age, globalized tension rises as the crisis seems out of control with Middle East governments considering their options and Mahdi ready to destroy another city if his demands for a Muslim fundamentalist world, Mahdi style is not met.

CRITICAL MASS is a fascinating look at efforts to counter the flow of nuclear weapons around the globe. The story line is action-packed with dedicated Jim and his Muslim wife struggling to prevent further tragedy from happening. Although the language turns oddly poetic at crisis moments which jars the reader, Whitley Strieber provides an exciting thriller based on the very plausible concept of nukes ending up in the hands of a fanatic.

Harriet Klausner

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Predictble fare

This was an only OK book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

An Interesting Take on a Modern-Day Plausibility

I would consider Whitley Strieber rather bold for taking on a such a heavily dramatic scenario as he does in Critical Mass. The book ripples with intensity vis-a-vis politics and religion, those two no-no topics for day-to-day conversations. Even though this is a fictional work, the state of international affairs is quite real, and consequently, created a heaviness in my heart and mind as I read the book. The situation played out in Critical Mass is plausible to me, and I think that's why I read the whole thing with a voracious appetite. That, and I couldn't help but picture Harrison Ford as the book's main character-- a character who, I believe, closely resembles Ford's Jack Ryan. Needless to say, the pace and action are intense, and I'm glad to have had Striber give the reader the perspectives of all the many players in the game, not just American government official and operatives but also other world leaders, the terrorists, and the Average Joe. If you're ready for a strong dose of heavy drama and globe-spanning intelligence operations, then this Thriller is a read for you.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

It was very fast

It's hard to me to say... I really liked most of the book (i will not give away much) but there were things I thought were really stupid. I felt toward the end a little impatient.... but overall it held my attention.

Did not put it down until I finished the last page. An entertaining read!

Possible scenario but almost a stretch. Good entertainment.

Plausible Page Turner

Both my wife and I were grabbed by this story. I was up a couple of late nights because I was so hooked on the story. It is similar to other terrorist themes but well put together and gripping. We can only hope it never happens.

Not credible

Critical Mass by Whitley Strieber is not a credible story.
It is impossible to introduce a nuclear weapon on US soil because of NEST, the Nuclear Emergency Search Team. The difficulty in smuggling a nuclear weapon or nuclear components into the United States was researched while I wrote my novel The Cruise, ISBN 9781438914718, thru Author House under the pen name Edouard DesLauriers. The Cruise is a novel about nuclear terrorism on a cruise ship.
The technologies used by NEST would unmask any nuclear material brought into the United States in very quick order. A lot of research went into The Cruise to include some cloaking methods the terrorists used which, frankly, I don't think would work against NEST capabilities. But even my cloaking methods were based on science, and a good fiction story must have solid roots in fact.
Critical Mass is on very shaky ground based on what NEST can do. It protects the United States against a nuclear attack with classified overflights monitoring the United States 24/7. Satellite surveillance is also included.
Without NEST Critical Mass is a good read; but with the existing technologies used by NEST, Critical Mass falls short.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Kyrie Eleison

There is a blurb on the cover of Critical Mass by Douglas Preston, whose book Blasphemy I liked so much. When he tells me that I am holding in my hands "a frighteningly plausible conspiracy thriller" it gets my attention, so I bought the book. What I got was a little different, or so I think.
Whitley Streiber has a grand idea for a thriller, with nukes being hidden in large cities and the world scared out of its mind. It's Muslims v. Christians again, but this book does not read like a classic thriller. It's no page turner. Rather, Streiber takes the time to put some intelligence of the brain kind in the story, so he often interrupts the thrill to explain this or that on behalf of the character, or the situation. Well, I can't fault that. I found the book to be more interesting than thrilling, and, even in the last 30 pages I had no trouble putting the book down to do something else. But it is a good book, worthy of buying.

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