Blown Away is the latest in Ford’s series about Frank Corso, in­ves­tiga­tive reporter, best­selling author, and abrasive jerk. Corso is pressed by his publisher to look into a year-old case in Penn­syl­va­nia where a victim was sent into a bank with a bomb chained around his neck, then blown up in the parking lot when he was pinned down by the police. Corso’s questions provoke a couple of assaults upon himself, and then the FBI drag him to Los Angeles, where a series of identical bank robberies is taking place.

This is a fast-paced, well-written thriller, with a somewhat improbable plot, cul­mi­nat­ing in a harrowing finale.

Rec­om­mend­ed.