Francine Mathews, Blown

Blown

Bantam, May 2005, $24.00, 336 pp.

ISBN: 0553803301

The 30 April terrorist group was thought to have been destroyed during a deadly shootout in Europe (see THE CUTOUT). However, unbeknownst to the CIA this lunatic fringe has an American cell. One such devotee, Daniel Becker commits mass murder at Washington's Marine Corps Marathon. Distributing water during the race, Daniel included deadly Ricin in the drinks he served to the runners.

CIA intelligence analyst Caroline Carmichael ran that fatal race and almost succumbed to Daniels' deadly elixir. She soon learns that the perpetrators behind the mass murder marathon belong to 30 April, a group that she and other members of a task force thought they eliminated across the Atlantic. Now, bragging to the Washington Post that retribution for the European debacle has begun, this dangerous group plans vengeance on a biblical scale with Caroline being one of the eye for an eye targets.

Carline makes BLOWN must reading for readers who appreciate a powerful terrorist vs. anti terrorist action-packed thriller with the enemy wrapped inside the American flag. A sidebar involving a 30 April task force peer falling in love with her adds depth to the heroine, who loves her spouse, an undercover operative somewhere in Europe. Caroline, a human epitome of the energizer bunny, keeps on ticking even when confronted with overwhelming odds including her husband compromised by DC bureaucrats forcing her to choose between her country and her man. Francine Matthews provides a fabulous action-packed tale.

Harriet Klausner