The Mysterious Press
The Mysterious Press
The Mysterious Press
“There are probably only half a dozen suspense writers alive who can be depended upon to deliver high-voltage shocks; vivid, sympathetic characters; and compelling narratives each time they publish. Thomas Perry is one of them.” —Stephen King
A bomb is more than a weapon. A bomb is an expression of the bomber’s thoughts about you, his predictions of your behavior—a performance designed to fool you into making one fatally wrong move. In The Bomb Maker, Edgar Award-winning author Thomas Perry introduces us to the dark corners of a mind intent on transforming a simple machine into an act of murder—and to those committed to preventing that outcome at any cost.
A threat is called into the LAPD Bomb Squad, a team dispatched to a house whose owner is away, and a bomb disguised inside photography equipment explodes in the kitchen. But it is a second bomb hidden in the basement that has devastating consequences—half of the entire Bomb Squad is obliterated within seconds. The fragmented unit turns to Dick Stahl, a former Bomb Squad commander who now operates his own private security company. Stahl is reluctant to accept the offer, but senior technicians he had trained were among those killed. On his first day back as the head of the squad, Stahl’s team is dispatched to a suspected car bomb outside a gas station. It quickly becomes clear to him that they are dealing with the same mastermind behind the weapon that killed fourteen highly trained men and women barely twenty-four hours before—and that the intended target may be the Bomb Squad itself.
As the shadowy organization sponsoring this campaign of terror puts increasing pressure on the bomb maker, and Stahl becomes dangerously entangled with a member of his own team, the fuse on this high-stakes plot only burns faster. The Bomb Maker is Thomas Perry’s biggest, most unstoppable thriller yet.
“The intense thrills of Thomas Perry’s The Bomb Maker are almost unbearable . . . There seems to be no pattern to the placement of these ‘well-designed, insidious and psychologically astute’ devices . . . Before they go off, the tension is killing. And when they do, the damage is spectacular.”—Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review
“Mr. Perry, in this first-rate thriller, proves as cagy as his criminal mastermind: The reader rarely anticipates his next move. He balances breathtaking suspense with romantic intrigue . . . Meanwhile, the bomber is pressured to work harder and faster by circumstances that even he can’t control. His murderous designs, combined with Stahl’s quest to stop him at all costs, ensure that Mr. Perry’s book will have a suitably explosive finale.”—Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal
“Perry is a master of plotting and he ratchets up the suspense so tightly that I read this book in one 12-hour run. Most readers know him from his Jane Whitefield ‘disappeared’ series. His thrillers, of which this is one of the best, are even better.”—Globe and Mail (Toronto)
“Perry’s latest thriller promises to be twisty, timely, and pulse-pounding: It explores how a mind and a culture transform a simple machine into an act of murder.”—Entertainment Weekly, “50 most anticipated books of 2018”
“Perry is a prolific and talented fiction writer . . . The Bomb Maker plants a hook by page 15. It’s a Mickey Finn slipped into your morning coffee that renders you able only to turn pages and hope the book never ends . . . The Bomb Maker, and Perry’s seamless plotting and beautifully freighted characterizations, will win awards and be a keeper you want to read again and again.”—Jeffrey Mannix, Durango Telegraph
“A thoroughly engrossing thriller, as well as a lesson in explosives.”—Lisa Levy, Literary Hub, “5 crime must-reads for January”
“The Bomb Maker will feed your inner paranoia, even if it is securely enclosed in a lockbox deep within your psyche. Thomas Perry, who has demonstrated time and time again over the course of a 35-year career that he is incapable of writing badly, pulls out whatever (invisible) stops he may have had and lets it all flow on this one, from first page to last. Once you start reading, you won’t be able to stop . . . Perry never fails to surprise and entertain, but with The Bomb Maker, he raises the suspense level to teeth-grinding . . . This is a masterwork by an author who always delivers more than is required or expected.”—Joe Hartlaub, Bookreporter
“Plenty of character, plenty of emotion, plenty of insider expertise, but most of all plenty of irresistible momentum toward a fantastic climax—in other words, The Bomb Maker is typical Thomas Perry.” —Lee Child, #1 bestselling author of the Jack Reacher series
“An explosive (pun intended) new book from an old pro. Thomas Perry has skillfully captured the super stressful world of the LAPD Bomb Squad, and gotten deep into the head of a mad bomber. This is the ultimate cat-and-mouse game, a story so tense and riveting that you’ll find yourself holding your breath as the timer ticks off the seconds. The Bomb Maker is a unique achievement, a wonderful mix of psychological thriller and high-tech entertainment. Perry always delivers.” —Nelson DeMille, bestselling author of The Cuban Affair and Gold Coast
Praise for Thomas Perry:
“There are probably only half a dozen suspense writers alive who can be depended upon to deliver high-voltage shocks; vivid, sympathetic characters; and compelling narratives each time they publish. Thomas Perry is one of them.” —Stephen King
“[Perry is] a master of nail-biting suspense.” —Los Angeles Times
“Perry is so skillful with the old chase-and-pursuit routine, creates such interesting characters, and writes about them so tellingly, one wants more immediately, not next year—right now.” —The Boston Globe
“The best thing about Thomas Perry’s thrillers are the devilishly ingenious schemes his protagonists devise to outwit their pursuers. . . . Perry keeps readers engrossed with wickedly smart protagonists . . . Perry can really write.” —San Francisco Examiner
“Spellbinding . . . Jane shares some traits with another outstanding protagonist, Lee Child’s Jack Reacher. Both are resourceful, fearless, and whip-smart.” —Seattle Times, on Poison Flower
“Perry’s heroine, Jane Whitefield, continues to be one of the most original and intriguing characters in contemporary crime fiction. . . . Perry plunges us into his patented nerve-wracking, extended chase scenes before the novel’s harrowing climax.” —Booklist (starred review), on Poison Flower
“Clever protagonists, cunning killers, white-knuckle action . . . Thomas Perry delivers all that good stuff in The Boyfriend.” —New York Times Book Review, on The Boyfriend
“The best thing about Thomas Perry’s thrillers are the devilishly ingenious schemes his protagonists devise to outwit their pursuers. . . . Perry can really write.” —San Francisco Examiner, on The Boyfriend
“[Perry’s] work is characterized by tight, clean prose, well-drawn characters and heart-pounding suspense.” —Associated Press, on The Boyfriend
“Perry’s prose is perfect. The Boyfriend is a model for thriller writers and one that should reinforce the reputation of the author of The Butcher’s Boy and The Informant. If you haven’t read anything by Thomas Perry, you’re in for a delightful surprise.” —Huntington News, on The Boyfriend
“Mr. Perry’s characters come to life with a single sentence. . . . He’s one of the greatest living writers of suspense fiction.” —The New York Sun
As he walked, he congratulated himself on his success. He made weapons, but didn’t consider himself a warrior. He was a bomb maker, a person who killed unseen and from a safe distance. All bombs came from a small, scheming, self-protective part of the mind. No bomb came from bravery. At most they were cunning or imaginative, cleverly disguised as something harmless—or even appealing. The Russians used to use helicopters to drop small delayed bombs designed to look like toys so Afghan children would try to pick them up. The monumental cynicism that led to the design of those devices still excited and amazed him.
One of his specialties was making bombs that came from his observations about human impulses and temptations. He liked small, routine-looking bombs that would beguile a bomb technician and tempt him to try to defuse it. The technician’s efforts would then set off a bigger bomb he hadn’t seen or imagined was hidden nearby.
He loved the power. He had the ability to obliterate anything he wanted. And he liked the perversity of bombs, the way he could make his enemies use their own skill and intelligence and selflessness and bravery—especially bravery—to kill themselves. When he wanted to be, he was death.
One of Entertainment Weekly’s 50 most anticipated books of 2018
One of Lisa Levy’s 5 crime must-reads for January (Literary Hub)
An Amazon best book of the month in the Mysteries & Thrillers category
An Independent Literary Publisher Since 1917
