Blackout by Jason Elam and Steve Yohn

Title: Blackout

Author: Jason Elam and Steve Yohn

Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers

Book Description:

Riley Covington is still reeling from his father’s brutal murder when he learns he’s been traded. Meanwhile, the counterterrorism division has detected a plot to detonate electromagnetic pulse bombs that could leave the U.S. without power, communications, and transportation—right down to dropping planes out of the sky. CTD scrambles to stop the attacks, but they run out of time. Amid the fallout, Riley, Scott, Skeeter, and CTD must regroup to make sure the second bomb doesn’t reach its destination.

Review:

I have mixed feelings on Blackout. The first half of the story didn’t feel like a thriller at all. Riley Covington, the title character of the series, didn’t play as big a role as expected and his main purpose appeared to be remembering the past and playing football. In my opinion as a reader, the first half of the book could have been condensed into just a few chapters and kept the tension of the story high, rather than taking over a hundred and fifty pages and making me wonder if the “thriller” part of this Riley Covington Thriller would ever start.

The second half of the book, however, was an amazing ride of suspense. It was everything I hope for in a thriller and had an awesome storyline. Electromagnetic pulse bombs aren’t something I’ve seen done to death in fiction, and the glimpse of the devastation an EMP bomb would cause was both fascinating and frightening. Once the story picked up, I couldn’t put the book down. I was drawn into the story and found myself rooting for the good guys and rejoicing when the bad guys took a blow. I came away fully satisfied with the second half of the book.

If you don’t mind a slow start to an exciting story, you might enjoy Blackout. But if you’re like me and prefer a thriller that’s suspenseful from beginning to end, this may not be the book for you.

I received a free ARC of this book through the Tyndale Blog Network. All opinions stated in this review are my own and based solely on my experience reading this book.