Review: Amazingly Good
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 21, 2013
Bombshell by Barbara Collins and Max Allan Collins (collectively known as "Barbara Allan") is, without question, a five-star or more read.  The Collins' obviously have a fascination with Marilyn Monroe with Max having written "Bye Bye Baby," a five-star novel in its own right about the last days of Marilyn Monroe and her involvement with the Kennedy brothers, with Frank Sinatra, and the mysteries concerning her untimely demise.  Max has an entire series of books (the Nathan Heller series) that combines fiction with history.  This book is different from the Nathan Heller books, although it too combines fiction with history.Initially having read the blurb for the Bombshell book about Marilyn Monroe meeting Nikita Kruschev, I thought it sounded quite comical and indeed absurd.  However, that was before I googled the two famous names together and realized that, strange as it sounds, the reality is that these two people actually met in person.  I also found that, in 1959, Kruschev took a tour of America, a bizarre and strange tour.So, there is a factual basis for this book.  The writing is superb and it reads quicker than you would imagine.  Here, we have Marilyn Monroe in her star's dressing room, getting ready for a production.  We have Jack Harrigan, the famous secret service man, preparing to host the leader of America's biggest rival state, one which had atomic warheads aimed at every American city.  We have school children at Emerson Junior High (a real school) preparing for drills to duck and cover and a schoolchild wondering what the point of such an exercise was since, if the bombs really dropped, there would be nothing left to duck under.  We have Nikita Kruschev preparing to come to America, hoping to among other things, meet the famous actress, Marilyn Monroe, and go to Disneyland.  We also have a story about how the Soviets violently put an end to the Hungarian revolt a few years earlier and how Kruschev played a part in machine-gunning the voices of freedom and how some of the survivors fled from Budapest.  All these points of history come together in this fictionalized account of history.And, we have Marilyn Monroe, out to prove that she's no dumb blonde.  In fact, she doesn't agree to meet with Kruschev unless the State Department preps her for his visit on all the relevant historical details.I cannot say enough positive things about this book.  It was a pleasure to read.  The characterizations ring true.  The action is intense and, although comical at times, always true to the story.  I enjoyed climbing into Monroe's mind and seeing how she thought and acted.  I also enjoyed climbing into Kruschev's mind as he rode through the streets of Los Angeles in his limousine and assumed the American wealth he saw was all fake and put out there in a feigned effort to embarress him.