Powderhole

Bruce Weiss returns home after his father’s death to Powderhole, Pennsylvania. Since he’s just lost his job in Silicon Valley, he’s decided to move back. He’s not expecting much, with it being an old coal mining town that is no longer receiving revenue from said mines. However, a somewhat random series of events throws him into the middle of a government conspiracy where a secret weapon is killing off the townsfolk. It’s up to Bruce, his best friend Larry, his new friend/love-interest Trish, and a beautiful spy to save this place they call home and keep the government’s secrets safe.

I have a feeling that the author leans toward the side of not trusting the government, or maybe he’s just that good of a writer. Either way, it’s a fun read that is reminiscent of Michael Crichton but a lot shorter and more humorous. I thought his idea for the government’s secret weapon was clever, playing off of something a lot of us already naturally have a fear of. Even with the author’s background in engineering, he didn’t make it sound super complicated and kept the technical side of things short.

The book is a fairly quick read, so there is not a lot of depth to the characters. That didn’t make it any less enjoyable, though. They still kept you engaged and kept you rooting for Bruce to save us all from the government’s mistakes and lies. Overall, it felt like a satirical look at how the government comes up with sometimes very creative ways to keep our country safe and then how it typically responds with the threat of, “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.” All of that to save us from ourselves and, according to them, stop the country from panicking. A funny, thrilling, and engaging story. I think you’ll enjoy this one.