Five Star, Apr 2004, 25.95, 232 pp.
ISBN: 1594142025
In 1959, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev comes to America to meet with President Eisenhower. Comrade Khrushchev has two special requests of Ike both in Southern California. He wants to visit Disneyland and meet Marilyn Monroe as he saw the actress' film Some Like It Hot at the American National Exhibit in Moscow.
Ike arranges the meeting with Miss Monroe, but vetoes Disneyland as too dangerous especially since several foreign countries want to see the Soviet dead. His speech at the UN inflamed the Chinese Nationalists on Formosa and the crushing of the Hungarian Revolution two years earlier have angered individuals from that satellite nation. Khrushchev arrives in Los Angeles to a rather shabby greeting until Miss Monroe gives him superstar treatment. When she learns that a third group plans an assassination she does everything to keep the Russian bear alive not just to prevent World War III, but because they have become friends.
Though Marilyn Monroe serving as a world savior may seem implausible, readers will believe she did save Khrushchev's life in this remarkable historical tale. The story line flows with life in the 1950s with the threat of nuclear war hanging over everyone. Readers who remember the “duck and cover” exercises in school need to deny it to hide their age. Though terrific insights into the era and Miss Monroe, BOMBSHELL belongs to the vivid full depiction of Khrushchev, who does not get enough credit for de-Stalinization and recognizing his country's lack of nuclear parity by not raising the ante during the Cuban missile crisis.
Harriet Klausner
"
Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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Review Analysis of Bombshell
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book descript. of violence and chases - 10% Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40% How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%
Tone of story
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story:
- 1930's-1950's
Spying/Terrorism Thriller
Yes
Cloak & Dagger Plotlets:
- preventing/finding assassin
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Who's the terrorist enemy here?
- generic terrorists
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- actor
Age:
- 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use?
- none
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Main Adversary
Identity:
- an organization
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- California
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths?
- 0 (not a murder mystery)
Amount of dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
