KQED ARTS – Bombshell: A Novel Reviewed by Ingrid Rojas Contreras
July 29th, 2013
“When hunting for a summer read, the obvious thing to look for is explosions. Explosions and something a little sexy, a little decadent, a little radical. Moving cars, motels, an impossible goal, down-and-out characters. James Reich’s Bombshell is all of these except inside out. Imagine an unhinged heroine, a criminal road trip,
a dark race to jumpstart America’s first total nuclear meltdown. Bombshell is an entirely creative recasting of the summer read, peppered with historical tidbits that will inspire both your fascination and repulsion. …Reich tends to adopt a mellifluous tone, but he is at his best when evoking the visual language of comic books. In one scene Cash jumps into the Rio Grande to escape the authorities. Her clothes and bag become dead weight and she struggles to stay afloat. Reich writes, “Water flecked and then poured into her windpipe as the current hauled her down. Cash began to drown, kicking weakly and reaching blindly into the nothingness that swallowed her. She coughed water into water. Silver bulbs exploded.” Very Tank Girl. Explosions, heroines, terrorists. It’s what summer is all about.”
