Bomb by Sarah Mussi

Title: Bomb

Author: Sarah Mussi

Release Date: May 7th, 2015

Standalone

Rating:


Review:

Bomb has an extremely interesting premise but it didn’t live up to my expectations.

Genesis goes on a date with a guy she met online and wakes up the next morning with a bomb strapped to her. An earpiece has been glued to her ear and she is given instructions on where to go whilst being threatened with the bomb around her torso.

We find out that an extremist group is to blame for kidnapping her and making her an unwilling agent of mass destruction. It’s very relevant to today’s society with the increasing threat of ISIS manipulating young people. We learn a little about how they are recruiting willing members but it doesn’t go into any great detail. It does seem like they have more popularity than ISIS do though as their beliefs have infiltrated through to fashion trends and public advertising.

I would have appreciated some more character development. I appreciate that Genesis has a bomb strapped to her, and so I can’t really expect her to ooze personality, but I just found her a little…dull. I struggled to connect with her and really didn’t have any strong feelings towards her at all. I should have been feeling anxious for her but I was just a bit bored. Some more background information may have helped with this but I can see why it’s lacking in that area as the story is very much focused on the present, immediate, threat.

The ending was a little unexpected. One minute it's all action and then it just ends. We are left to determine the conclusion ourselves. I think an epilogue would have been a great inclusion here. Are our assumptions correct? What happened to Dave? I know why it ended like this, and I know it'll work for a lot of people, but I wasn’t a fan. I’d like a little more finality.

This is definitely an interesting novel and I think the theme is a good one to tackle as it is very relevant in today's society. Although parts of it didn't work for me, I still think it's a story worth a shot.

I received a copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.