As the flight attendent says, 'Please make sure that your seat backs and tray tables are in the upright and locked position, and that you have your seat belts firmly fastened'. This is good advice before reading P. M. Terrell’s latest novel Ricochet. This book is one wild and high speed ride.

The opening starts with a bang, literally, with a suicide bombing in a small U.S. shopping mall, and Ms. Terrell picks up the pace from there. This book is very timely; it strikes chords that we hear almost every day on the TV news.

Terrorism, illegal immigration, and identity theft, these are all issues that effect our everyday lives in the post 9/11 world. Ricochet brings these important issues together in a fascinating and compelling way. It shows how these three seemingly unrelated subjects could become a single entity. The joining together of these three crimes reveals an interesting, and in many ways disturbing view of how our lives could be permanently altered.

The heroine, though oftentimes victim, is Sheila Carpenter, a bright young computer scientist who has decided to join the FBI. Her first mission is to spend four months at Quantico going through the FBI basic training. Unfortunately her career almost ends before it even begins. While shopping with her best friend she finds herself involved in a suicide bombing.

Sheila escapes with minor injuries; her friend, though, is less lucky. They find themselves in a local hospital. Against the doctors' orders Sheila decides to continue on to Quantico.

Over the next few days several bizarre and seemingly unrelated events occur. Ghosts from the past combine with horrors of the present. Increasingly Sheila becomes convinced that what seem completely different and unrelated events may have a common thread. Making a connection between her parents' untimely deaths with the events unfolding before her eyes, the feisty trainee feels an obligation to investigate.

Not being a full-fledged FBI agent, however, Sheila can do little by herself. Steve, her mentor and instructor at Quantico has taken an interest in this young and independent lady. Together they form a team to find out the truth.

This is an action-packed book. The poor heroine seems to stumble from one concussion to the next. She is blown up, she is shot at, she is attacked with large heavy blunt objects - you name it, it happens to her.

As a reviewer I look for many aspects in a book, and this one has a lot going for it. A book should be a fun read, and this is a fun read. The villains are really bad, and the good guys (and girls) are really good. The action is non-stop, and as a reader you are swept along on a magic carpet of writing wizardry.

Although Ricochet is a work of fiction, I must admit that it gave me pause for thought. In the light of recent world events, one wonders if Ms. Terrell is not onto something.

I rate this as a good, exciting, and fun read!

I am hoping that Ms. Terrell will agree to an interview, and I will be publishing that soon.