Blown Away
by G.M. Ford
Published by Harper
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Reviewed by Kathy Perschmann
In this sixth book in the series, Frank Corso, the true-crime bestselling author, is sent by his publisher to the small town of Edgewater, Pennsylvania to solve a very strange crime.
Slacker Nathan Marino had staggered into a bank and shoved a note at the teller that says he will be blown up if they do not follow his directions. Through a series of mistakes, including the late arrival of the bomb squad, he dies in the resulting explosion.
This case does not interest Corso at all, but he is forced to investigate it. The price of fame and his recent huge advance is that he must investigate what his publisher wants. As he begins to make inquiries, he realizes his fame (he was recently on the cover of People magazine) is a hindance, and both the Chief of Police and the local newspaper publisher seem to sincerely want him out of town. The more he is urged to leave–by some thugs who try to beat him up in his hotel room, and by a raving snow plow, that shoves him and his car into the freezing river–the more he wants to stay and figure it out. Was Marino innocent? Or was he part of the scam?
Corso demands assistance on site, and his publisher sends out a freelance writer, Chris Andriatta. He needs someone to research who is not well known and not connected to him.
Suddenly Chris and Frank Corso are seized by the FBI as “material witnesses” and flown to L.A., where similar bomb-rigged bank robberies are taking place. The robber/victims are kidnapped by several masked men, then drugged, rigged with a bomb around their neck, and set off to follow directions over an earpiece. Is the only motive money? What is the possible connection to the robber/victims: a Latina nurse and a psychologist originally from Iraq? How on earth does this relate to the Pennsylvania case from a year earlier?
The breathtaking pace and the very surprising twists will astound you.
Armchair Interviews says: If this case sounds familiar, it was patterned on a similar real crime.