posted on 23 Jun 2017

Bullet Catcher : Blowback by Chris Bradford

Bullet Catcher: Blowback is the final book in the Bullet Catcher trilogy and sees Chris Bradford’s young super-human agents facing their toughest test yet. Don’t be dismayed if, like me, you haven’t read the previous instalments, the book is perfectly readable as a thriller in its own right – although once you’ve finished this you’ll probably want to go back to the earlier books and catch up with the agents of S.P.E.A.R and their adventures in Terminus City.

This is very much a book that will appeal to fans of the Marvel/Avengers super-hero comic books or films – in fact it would be very easy to see how this could have been produced as a comic book or graphic novel because Nelson Evergreen’s illustrations add a powerful dimension to the story.

This really is a non-stop, all action romp. Troy is a ‘bullet catcher’ – someone who can’t be killed by bullets – until now. Suddenly however he fears he’s losing his powers. And it’s a bad time to start having doubts because he and his fellow agents (who are also imbued with various super powers of their own) are under sustained attack by The Judge – a sinister terrorist who has his own team of super-charged associates who are determined to seize power from Terminus City’s mayor.

There are pitched battles aplenty as the Judge and his cohorts storm the house in which the mayor and his daughter are being kept by S.P.E.A.R and there’s no let-up in the relentless battle for superiority as the young super-humans battle it out. Ideas of good and evil get tested and alongside the violence and mayhem there are some useful messages here about trust, loyalty and commitment.

As with all Barrington Stoke publications, a lot of thought has gone into the production of the book. The story is tight and fast moving to keep the potentially reluctant reader engaged and there’s no doubt that it’s a page turner. By including the illustrations the book has another dimension that again helps with readers who struggle with too much text. It’s all well-judged and pretty successful in terms of the audience I imagine would be interested in reading this and it would, I hope, send them on to the rest of the trilogy or other titles from the same author.

 

Terry Potter

June 2017