The Tick Tock Man by Terence Strong

The Tick Tock Man by Terence Strong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Tick Tock Man -  the title comes across as a yet another serial killer book. The book is anything but that. The book takes a peek into the lives and attitude of those who are rarely mentioned except when they fail, the BOMB DISPOSAL MAN.

Our Tick Tock Man is Major Tom Harrison a veteran in disposing bomb in the conflict spread Ireland. One of the best things I liked about this book is that it is set not in Af-Pak, not in Iraq but in UK. It's set in a conflict that was as deadly as it was real in Ireland.

The book highlights the fact that be it Ireland or be it Middle East, the people killed in a bomb blast are all innocents who did not deserve to die. It highlights the fact that terrorism has no religion, and it speaks the universal language of violence and extremism to prove a point.

The plot line in this novel focuses on the secret talks between the British government and all the political parties in Ireland. Well as except one the Provisional IRA which soon learns about the secret talks and is not happy at being excluded from the same. Now they want a place at the talks and are ready to bomb their way in.

The only difference is this time they decide to strike in London the capital instead or good old Ireland. The infamous AIDAN bomb team enters London and starts a series of bomb campaign in an attempt to undermine the talks. In desperation the government brings in Major Harrison who is an expert in defusing bombs and is somewhat familiar with AIDAN as they have done their test campaign in Belfast before making their way to London.

What follows is a series of cat and mouse game between Major Harrison and the AIDAN cell.. One trying to prevent the bombings and the other trying to cause as much chaos as possible. Read the book to understand what happens next...

It was a fitting end to my 2012 in finishing off my target of reading 50 books in an year with this one. One of the best books that I enjoyed in 2012.


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