Bombshell

Somewhere between the macho-hipster fantasies of Quentin Tarantino and the banshee-activist theatrics of Pussy Riot dwells Varyushka Cash...Now that''s entertainment. - New York Times Book ReviewBombshellis a nuclear thriller set twenty-five years after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in which an alienated young Russian woman born in its shadow undertakes a road trip across the U.S. waging a guerrilla war against the nuclear industry and leaving in her wake a trail of destruction and assassinations. Obsessed with would-be Warhol assassin Valerie Solanas Varyushka Cash recreates her atomic past through escalating violence and her one true goal: an assault on the Indian Point nuclear plant on the bank of the Hudson River. All along she is relentlessly pursued by the CIA eager to capture Varyushka on charges of domestic terrorism. The cat-and-mouse chase leads to a final showdown in a decimated and irradiated New York there on the cusp of a frightening new future.. The initial draft ofBombshellwas completed five months before the Fukushima catastrophe written from the author''s conviction that the twenty-fifth anniversary of catastrophe at Chernobyl Pripyat and beyond would be marked by an echo in the present shadowed by the real threat present in our unguarded and deteriorating nuclear facilities. Bombshell is a combustible and commercial step forward by one of our most creative and intellectual writers today.From KQED/NPR/PBS: *Summer Reading Pick* 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''sBombshellis 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.Bombshellis an entirely creative recasting of the summer read peppered with historical tidbits that will inspire both your fascination and repulsion.. FromThe Rumpus:James Reich''s second novel is an incredibly dense rich and well-paced novel. Within its 259 pages the reader encounters Chernobyl feminism terrorism rendition Valerie Solanas Jane Fonda Hiroshima the Trinity test site and much more.In the hands of another novelist this sheer mass of information and references might result in a novel bloated with digressions. Luckily Reich''s punchy no bull**** prose style and love of action keeps the plot moving swiftly ever forward toward a seemingly inevitable doom-filled climax that has much to say about nuclear power without ever feeling pedantic ...(Bombshell) stands out because for all the loudness of its characters and subject matter it manages to feel subtle and seamless in its execution. It''s a novel that doesn''t sacrifice politics for plot or vice versa and it''s a novel that will pass by too quickly and leave you wondering what in the world its author will dream up next.FromThe Santa Fe New Mexican:The blood-splashed killing scenes (are) the best of their type I''ve read in a good while ... The story revs like a goosed engine until it overheats in the final scenes in a deserted Manhattan. All along the way you can''t help but think the author wants us to seriously consider the nuclear equation and crimes against women. But it''s almost too much fun for that.