GodBomb!

De: Kit Power

Narrado por: Chris Barnes

Somebody wants answers.

It's 1995 in North Devon, England. There's a born-again revival meeting in a public building; the usual mix of the faithful, the curious, and the desperate. And one other - an atheist suicide bomber. He's angry. He wants answers. And if God doesn't come and talk to him personally, he's going to kill everyone in the building....

©2015 Kit John Kelly Baume Power (P)2015 Kit John Kelly Baume Power

It was ok I guess

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher. I'm sure it's a good book if you like this sort of story but I just couldn't get into it. Not my style.

action packed thriller

~ another book I just couldn't put down till my eyes blurred and the clock was saying 3am time to sleep ~ kept me right on the edge till the last page ~ great job and love the storyline ~ will I tell much about the book absolutely not and ruin it for you just know you must get this one ..

“I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.”

Shrodinger's cat: faith affirming and challenging

What did you love best about GodBomb!?

Several disparate and desperate souls have gathered in a community center in a small English village seeking salvation or healing from the traveling preacher who has come offering God’s grace. However, one person in particular, a nervous young man who has taken the floor asking to be heard, has a very specific miracle he’s come to seek. He is hoping to actually meet God on this day, or there will be hell to pay.
The God Bomb by Kit Powers is a tense and spell-binding psychological thriller told through the eyes of numerous characters, each who has had the misfortune to have chosen the absolute worst day to try for their individual miracle. Each chapter moved in POV and each POV is assigned the title of a book of the Christian bible. There’s the priest, a devoted man of God who fundamentally believes his own claims to be able to bring miracles to those who are genuinely deserving. There’s the born-again former druggie who now leads the band. There’s the militant atheist who has come to shower the fakir of a minister in rainbow glitter for spreading homophobic hate. There’s the crippled teen who sometimes believes in miracles, but no longer believes in them for herself. There’s the married couple expecting their first child, and there’s the man holding them all hostages with a bomb strapped to his chest.
As the story moves from POV to POV we learn of the motivations and prejudices each harbors. Some personalities we grow to like, others we grow to perhaps dislike; but in each case the characters are individuals with their own thoughts, opinions, fears, and desires. Some are brave and stoic. Some are reckless but well-meaning. Some are cowardly but trapped. Some are just frightened and want the whole thing to end peacefully. Spoiler alert, it doesn’t end peacefully. Throughout the story several of the hostages are murdered in cold blood by the bomber who wants to believe in God, but can’t fathom one who would allow him to do the terrible things he’s doing in His holy name when all He has to do is make an appearance to bring the carnage to an end.
The story carefully walks a very precarious tightrope. As a non-believer I found the approach of telling the story through the ideas of the characters to be safe but clever. A character who believes in God can tell the reader there is a God without it being the message of the book, while for believers, the atheist character’s struggle with faith can also be read as incidental to the story without coming across as the theme. In that sense, the story can be a Shrodinger’s cat – simultaneously faith-affirming and a testament to the futility of faith.
The audio book version is narrated by Chris Barnes whose Scottish accent keeps the listener anchored in the UK setting, which may otherwise have been taken for the deep south of the US, given that the preacher feels less Anglican and more Baptist in his approach to spreading the word. At times, it’s a bit of a struggle for an American ear to make out specific words, but the context quickly clears it up.
The story moves at a good pace, with the action starting from the very beginning and lasting ‘til the very last chapter. The style is intense but accessible, and the concept is unique but feels like it could have come straight from a real life news story. Among some of the best scenes are the deaths, told from the point-of-view of the victims, each realizing that he or she was passing, and each with a different take on how it felt and what it means.
If I had to find a negative, it would be that we only come to understand part of the motivation for what set this radical plan in motion; but we are given enough of it to know that something like this could happen, and that if it did, no amount of reasoning would ever make it seem justified.

Good Narrator, not so great story

I really enjoyed the narration and the narrator did a great job making the different characters stand out. He was a lot of fun to listen to. However, the story I didn't really care for. It started out great and really interesting but then got predictable and the ending was such a let down.

What if YOU demanded for God to talk to you?

Would you listen to GodBomb! again? Why?

Yeah, I would listen again to pick up on little things that I may have missed. Despite the shorter length, the book does have a lift of complex characters that have very important roles to play in the tale.

What did you like best about this story?

Definitely enjoyed the locked room atmosphere. The entire book has just one setting, with zero outside interference for the most part. Like the horror side of Agatha Christie or something.

What does Chris Barnes bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Suspense, and a tense overtone. He brought the characters to life, but left a lot for the listener to experience for themselves.

Any additional comments?

Well done all around. I would have to say though that with the way the book built and built and built until the boiler was about to explode, I felt the end needed a bit more time to be fleshed out.

Overall I still really REALLY enjoyed this book and its a solid 4 star book with a 5 star performance from Chris!