Mike's Reviews > Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon

This story, without a doubt, is a masterpiece. If Sheinkin's previous title, The Benedict Arnold, set a new standard for how non-fiction should be written for children; Bomb raises that bar.

Fact can be stranger than fiction. So why is it so difficult to get kids reading it? As Steve notes on the author flap, he's a former text book writer trying to atone for his sins. Shienkin prides himself as a story detective, taking a factual event and teasing it into a gripping retelling. Benedict Arnold was utterly compelling throughout it's first half. While the political climate is an essential element to the plot, it definitely slows the story before coming to a very satisfying conclusion.

Bomb is an overwhelming success from the first page to the last. Commensurate with Sheinkin's style, the story of the atomic bomb open's at the close. From there he seamlessly stitches together multiple subplots, each more exciting than the next. The climax is perfectly placed at the point where bomb is tested. My heart beat with the dedicated scientists as they anxiously awaited the result of years of theoretical physics. You know you're in the hands of true talent when you're on the edge of your seat even though you knew the outcome before you even cracked the cover.

The true merit of this account is in how quickly Sheinkin takes you from jubilation over the success of the science to utter heartbreak over that same reality.

Bomb has some inherent advantages over Arnold's story, namely, the language. While Sheinkin always assisted his young readers in understanding the language of the time period, Bomb doesn't require that same bridge. And it free's Sheinkin to let loose this immense story at a rip-roaring pace. I've seen others describe it as a James Bond novel, but more precisely it reads like a James Bond novel written by Michael Bay.