Something of a slog to get thru,domestic terrorist w a nuclear weapon, and an elaborate plot to cripple the federal government.. I like the author

A nuclear weapon is purchased by a home grown terrorist and is somewhere in the US. A very stupid president is more concerned with his public image than the safety of thousands of Americans. The race is on to locate the bomb before it goes off

Goes along then wham problem solved.

From Follett: Into each of his bold thrillers, best selling author Steve Martini packs fast moving action and convincing characters. Critical Mass is his chillingly realistic tale of nuclear terrorism and a deadly plot to destroy the American way of life. While updating the database at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies in California, nuclear fission expert Gideon van Ry discovers two Russian nuclear devices are missing. As he searches for the unstable components, his investigation points to a renegade militia group operating in the Pacific Northwest. Suddenly he finds himself in a frantic struggle to prevent a disaster too horrifying to contemplate. Gideon's battle with out-of-control hate takes him on a perilous journey from the far reaches of rural Russia to Washington's rocky coast to the United States capital. Narrator Frank Muller's dramatic timing brings out all the riveting tension as the plot twists and turns in a race to the explosive finish.

eh. not one of my favorite Martini novels. This one centered around stolen nuclear devices out of the old Soviet Union, and the possibility of an eminent terrorist cell on an isolated island in the Puget Sound.

This was an audiobook which I listened to driving to & from work. I was unhappy when I got to my destination because I wanted to keep listening! It was very exciting; if I read the book, it would be one I could not put down until I finished it!

Written in 1998, this is Martini's take on 'terrorists bring a nuke to America.' Every thriller writer has one of these; this one is interesting, but poorly structured. Jocelyn, a smart, sassy lawyer scraping by in a backwater of Oregon, meets a charming, handsome man who piles cash on her with a vague story about building a factory. She's so sharp and cynical, but she doesn't really check him out. Did they have the internet in 1997? Even if they didn't, they had Dunn & Bradstreet, and they had credit bureaus. Turns out, the reason Jocelyn has been retained is to provide a way of dragging her into the story.
The writing is nothing but sloppy. We jump around in different POVs, sometimes without warning or signal. I stop, go back a couple of paras, reread, try to spot where we changed views. We don't really get to know the characters, good or bad. Backstory is provided, but it just feels like filler. The bad guys are simplistically bad, the good guys are dedicated, for some reason. The plot plays out with good action, providing excuses for shootings, chases, explosions. All of which have the feel of being staged for the reader--it's too early to catch the bad guys, so this time the good guys miss.
Tepid.

I think I missed something about how the nuclear device got to its final destination, but that did not deter from the rest of the story line. A president who is more concerned with his reputation than a national emergency, a lawyer who is deceived by her client, a mercenary, and a group of people who for personal reasons hate the government are all combined in this thriller that focuses on what could happen in the post cold war world where nuclear devices are stored, but not enough resources are dedicated to their security. Martini keeps throwing curve balls at you until the end.

Good, easy read

This is a well written and exciting book. The plot is how a group of terrorists, including home grown ones, attempt to blow up the president along with the house and the senate. The book seems to be fairly realistic and scary. Many people said they didn't like the ending, but I thought it was well done. Not every story has a fairy tale finish. I thought the epilogue left room for another book. Recommended.

A trifle far fetched.

Will review in detail later. OK but not up to Martini's usual standard.