Rarely, I find a book that is so bad I break my own rule and I don't finish it. Bombproof was so poorly written that I just couldn't take it. I had to stop.
Sami Macbeth was in a van crash with a fellow Roadie - inside the van police find stolen gems and he was off to jail. While inside, his sister gets tangled with criminals and a human trafficking ring. When released, he searches for her, meeting up with the mob Kingpin and a cop who can't let the Kingpin go. Skip to his escaping through London's West End with a backpack full of explosives. By this time I was so bored I stopped. Usually girls getting caught in prostitution and sold to criminal masterminds can lead to some excitement, but this was so badly written.
He went there. He did this. It read more like the outline than a finished story, telling me instead of bringing me into the action.
"Friday afternoon. Quarter to six. Ruiz presses the doorbell. Watches Miranda appear behind the frosted glass. The door opens. She smiles. Kisses both his cheeks. 'I brought flowers', he says. She looks great. She always does. Not just for a woman of her age but for any woman. Any age".
It goes on like this throughout, supposedly so exciting there isn't time to write an engaging sentence.
"Sami tries the nearest door. Locked. Looks for a fire escape. Nothing. The kitchen door is still open. He throws himself inside. Slams the door. Bolts it shut. Topples a metal shelf".
And then the reader goes to sleep.
Michael Robotham was a journalist and ghostwriter of many celebrity and political autobiographies - and has authored several thrillers, his books called "compulsively readable". I've persevered through some bad novels, but this goes beyond a dull sentence - it wasn't worth reading.
I was at a book sale. Found this book. Tried to read it.
Couldn't read it. Left it. Stinks.
2008 / Tradeback / 393 pages
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