Ford, G.M. – BLOWN AWAY

[LJ Roberts]

BLOWN AWAY (Suspense-Pennsylvania/Calif-Cont) – VG Ford,
G.M. – 6^th in series
William Morrow, 2006, Hardcover

Frank Corso, now highly successful and very well paid, has been sent to Pennsylvania by his publisher. There he is to investigate the death of a young man who was sent in to rob a bank, a bomb attached to his body. But the young man is killed when the bomb is set off. The town refuses to talk about it and even an attempt on Corso’s life is written off as a suicide attempt. But when the FBI whisks Corso and this new research assistant, Chris Andriatta, off to California, they discover there have been other incidents similar to the one in Pennsylvania and the crimes are escalating.

With one of the best first sentence hooks I’ve read in awhile, Ford’s sixth Corso book is off and running. Corso is smart and dogged in his determination to find answers. Ford’s females are tough and independent. He creates excellent tension, sense of place and dialogue. He knows how to balance humor and violence, and puts in enough twists and revelations to keep the reader guessing but without letting the story get out of control. The motive in this was a bit weak. I have not decided how I feel about the ending yet, except it certainly had the “oh, wow” factor. Ford knows how to keep the reader on the edge of their seat and turning the pages from beginning to end without stopping. This is another series I definitely recommend reading in order.