Like Stolen Lives, Broken Arrow combines a real event with a murder mystery. "The military uses the term “broken arrow” to describe any incident in which a nuclear weapon is lost, stolen or inadvertently detonated." (source)

Drawing again from his journalistic experiences in Spain, Pritchard includes the unemployment and the corruption that plague many countries, but the crux of the plot goes back to an incident in 1966 when a US Air Force accident dropped 3 H bombs on southern Spain. I doubt many Americans remember the Palomares incident, not only because it was so long ago, but also because it happened elsewhere.

"The first weapon to be discovered was found nearly intact. However, the conventional explosives from the other two bombs that fell on land detonated without setting off a nuclear explosion (akin to a dirty bomb explosion). This ignited the pyrophoric plutonium, producing a cloud that was dispersed by a 30-knot (56 km/h; 35 mph) wind. A total of 260 ha (2.6 square kilometres (1.0 sq mi)) was contaminated with radioactive material. This included residential areas, farmland (especially tomato farms) and woods.[22]" (Source)

The mystery plot involves a cover-up attempt involving a residential area with an unusually high rate of cancer. Once again, Pritchard integrates fact and fiction in a compelling adventure that keeps Danny Sanchez attempting to stay a step ahead of disaster.

Corporate greed trumps humane policy. Now that doesn't sound like fiction, does it? Health and safety are disregarded more often than we like to admit when profit is at stake. (Broken Arrow is also available on Kindle Unlimited.)

If you want to read about the Palomares incident, you might try Broken Arrow - The Declassified History of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Accidents.


NeGalley/Endeavor Press

Mystery/Suspense. March 17, 2017. Print length: 368 pages.