A Bomb Built in Hell

by Andrew Vachss

Andrew Vachss' pre-Flood novel A Bomb Built in Hell was written in 1973. It was rejected by every publisher, one of whom described it as a "political horror story," others of whom berated it for its "lack of realism," including such things as Chinese youth gangs and the fall of Haiti. And the very idea of someone entering a high school with the intent of destroying every living person inside was just too ... ludicrous.

Readers of Vachss' Burke series will immediately recognize Wesley, the main character of A Bomb Built in Hell. This is his story.

The cover is by the one-and-only Geofrey Darrow.

Genres: Crime, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Noir, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller

227 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Andrew Vachss has been a federal investigator in sexually transmitted diseases, a social-services caseworker, a labor organizer, and has directed a maximum-security prison for “aggressive-violent” youth. Now a lawyer in private practice, he represents children and youths exclusively. He is the author of numerous novels, including the Burke series, two collections of short stories, and a wide variety of other material including song lyrics, graphic novels, essays, and a “children’s book for adults.” His books have been translated into twenty languages, and his work has appeared in Parade, Antaeus, Esquire, Playboy, the New York Times, and many other forums. A native New Yorker, he now divides his time between the city of his birth and the Pacific Northwest.

The dedicated Web site for Vachss and his work is
www.vachss.com. That site and this page are managed by volunteers. To contact Mr. Vachss directly, use the "email us" function of vachss.com.

Reviews

[Sean Owen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've been reading a lot of thriller/crime type books lately. It's not a genre I normally gravitate to. I have a second job that isn't all that demanding and affords me the opportunity to read while on the clock. I've tried reading more serious books and the constant interruptions and distractions at work make it all but impossible to focus on the book. I figured I'd try some books that were a little less demanding and more plot driven. I'm now wondering whether I just don't like the genre or if the vast majority of the books in the genre are just plain terrible.

Andrew Vachss was a name that kept coming up when reading various reviews and recommendations. He has a huge body of work, but I chose this one because it was available and it was sort of a stand alone/prequel to the rest of his work which generally focus on a character named Burke. "A Bomb Built in Hell" is going to be hard to top as one of the worst books I will read in 2015. The level of writing (and focus on violence) would lead me to believe that the author is a 13 year old boy who probably spends most of his time watching Steven Segal type action movies. There is absolutely no character development and the book can't even keep it's own tangled logic upright.

The book is basically a series of graphic descriptions of violence interspersed with unnecessarily detailed cataloging of the weaponry and special agent type features installed on the protagonists car. There are 2 to 3 sentences describing the make and attributes of the killer's rifle, but almost nothing in the way of explanation as to why he is killing someone. This problem grows and grows as the book continues on until it all but totally collapses in the last 30 or so pages. There's some half baked idea about society being corrupt and needing a wake up call. This leads our assassin to conceive and execute a Columbine type school massacre. I kept reading and rereading these sections thinking that I had missed some critical detail, but there just isn't any apparent reason for any of this.

It's sometimes said that even a bad book is better than a great movie. Andrew Vachss will quickly disabuse you of that notion. A TV guide synopsis of a Charles Bronson movie has more literary merit than "A Bomb Built in Hell"

[Amy Lignor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in 1973, this is one of those novels that’s both intriguing and hard-to-take at times due to some of the in-depth and bloody descriptions. This is not a slam, by the way, this is a real ‘shout-out’ to the writing ability of this author.

Wesley is our main character and is not new to Vachss’ readers. After spending many years in prison, Wesley is now a fabulous hit man. (If you can use that adjective when describing this occupation.) Going back in time, Wesley was a juvenile delinquent who was given a ‘second chance’ by a judge: He could join the Army rather than go to prison. Wesley learned many things in the armed services, but the biggest lesson learned was how to handle a gun and never miss a target. This second chance, however, didn’t keep him out of prison in the future as he was a little too good at his work.

While sitting behind the iron bars, Wesley meets a man named Carmine Trentoni, a real mobster who believes in the ‘eye-for-an-eye’ approach to life that was the only way of doing things in the old days. He wishes to wreak vengeance on some folks who wronged him and thinks that Wesley is just the guy who can do it.

When Wesley leaves prison he’s on Carmine’s payroll, and has become the world’s #1Hit Man. Being set up in a location by Carmine, Wesley gets his orders straight from the horse’s mouth, and kills a Chinatown boss as well as a Mafia chieftain before then taking on some political targets. He recruits a young boy fresh out of reform school to help him and begins training the boy to take over the business someday. However Wesley has no intention of fading into that goodnight until he plans his final big event.

Readers who like mystery/thrillers will like this book as there is plenty of reality to go along with the fiction. Although some of the scenes are rather extreme in content, the author certainly holds the reader’s attention and keeps them fascinated until the very end.

Until Next Time, Everybody,
Amy

(Review to appear in Suspense Magazine)

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vachss' goal with this book was to do a case study without footnotes and he did so. This is a case study into what can create killers and what happens when the monsters are made. That said until the end you feel for Wesley and are cheering him on to a degree.

[Lindsay Nixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating is more reflective of me than the book. If you like vigilante novels or The Godfather, this is a great choice for you. The author wrote a great story overall, but I don’t much enjoy reading or watching vigilante-type movies/books.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Andrew Vachss makes other crime novels/shows look like Teletubbies." ~ Kevin Elliot introducing Andrew Vachss at Open Books

Ok, so for two weeks leading up to Andrew Vachss' arrival at Open Books back in November, Kevin Elliot the book store guru at Open Books, kept saying how much he enjoyed this author and was so happy to have him come back to Chicago to do a reading at Open Books again.

I had not ever read a book by him, nor had I met him, so I figured I would be a book store volunteer that night in order to check it out. Well, I'm really glad I did.

Andrew Vachss is a child advocate lawyer who writes. He didn't want to read anything from any of his novels. He didn't want to talk about his writing process or any of that other lofty crap that other writers like to talk about during public readings. He wanted to connect with the audience and have a discussion. Question and answers. I felt as if he was the most down to earth person I had met in a while, which was super refreshing. He was opinionated, passionate, and quite funny. All great things.

Once the "reading" was over, I understood why Kevin admires him so much because I did too. So, I picked up this book that night. Andrew signed it and I took it home. When I finally got around to reading it; the story line was gritty, raw, and in your face. It's not a pretty story by any means, but what's presented is needed in order to make a point, which I liked.

Also, check out the website protect.org as all proceeds from the purchase of Andrew Vachss' books go here. I'm looking forward to reading more from him in the near future.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Bomb Built in Hell: Wesley's Story by Andrew Vachss (Vintage Books 2012) (Fiction: Mystery) is the back story of Vachss' greatest criminal creation, or how the only man who Burke fears came to be. My rating: 6/10, finished 8/31/13.

[Updated review 8/13/24 following rereading]

I reread this volume as sort of my "best of" tour through Andrew Vachss' fiction. I didn't find anything to justify a great change in my original review. This is a good story, but it doesn't strike me as a compelling read nor does it properly showcase Vachss' talent.

This did cause me to discover that there are several other Andrew Vachss writings that I have not yet picked up - but I soon will.

My updated rating: 7/10, finished 8/13/24 (3978).

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A curious read, interesting as an exercise in witnessing a first-time writer flexing his chops. Written before the birth of Burke, Bomb wants us to believe there is no hope for reclamation in a corrupt penal system, and only the smart, well connected wise-guys will prevail, molded to wreak havoc on the world. The characters don't have the depth of Vachss later works but that can be overlooked in this first effort, which never saw the light of day until Vachss had achieved substantial commercial success.

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is actually the first book Vachss wrote but could not get it published. I think Wesley is probably one of the uniquest characters in fiction and in this book we find out how he was trained, in prison, and what he did when he got out. Plenty of action, much violence which is to be expected and a good thriller as he takes on the mob and finds his place.

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm torn between 1 or 2 star. I opt for 2 because the first 1/4 was interesting and progressive. The next 2/3 was plain weird and lacking sense. That leaves 8% and the end left me speechless. 3 of 10 stars

[Zak Mucha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whoever put this book up (neither the author nor the publisher) has both the book title and the author's name incorrect. It should be: A Bomb Built in Hell by Andrew Vachss.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

4*

[Bene Vogt · Rating 1 out of 5]

So many thoughts, so little enthusiasm to write about this.
I’d been aching to read this for over 20 years, when I was on my teenage Vachss trip and read it an interview with the author that his first novel had been about how a monster is made and publishers had run screaming because the novel was so hardcore and the protagonist too unsympathetic.
Having now finished the novel, I’m not sure either of those statements were true.
Yes, the protagonist is horrible well beyond any classic anti-hero, complaining about having forgotten to rape a woman before murdering her, blowing up a methadone clinic and organising a school shooting.
But his origin is nothing more than a bundle of cliches found in thousands of books, the going ons happen in a fashion that nobody could mistake as realistic which puts a damper on any possible social commentary hidden among all the murdering and, apart from shock value and a perverse interest in how much worse the described transgressions can get there is absolutely nothing to the story.
Lovely Geoff Darrow cover, though.

[Alan Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been a big fan of Vachss for decades, and this one didn’t disappoint. Interestingly, I read a much earlier version of this book which Vachss released only on electronic form decades ago—before ebooks were a thing. It has been thoroughly revised and edited since.

The basic story is familiar to anyone who has read the first dozen or so of Vachss’s Burke series (and if you haven’t, you should). Wesley’s story begins in prison, where he is schooled by an old con in the ways of assassination. The con dies, Wesley is released, and death follows.

Can totally be read as a stand alone, or as an off shoot of the Burke series. Either way, an excellent entry in the Vachss catalog.

[Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book hits you in the stomach like a pile driver. It is Wesley's story and Wesley makes Burke look like Snow White. Wesley is nothing less than an example of the system that formed him. He is a Stone Cold Killer.
The book was written in 1972 and was then considered nonpunishable, it was too graphic and too violent. Yet a story in the book, might be ripped out of today's headlines.

[Chris Lott · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can tell this was Vachss first novel, it was a rough read but he was setting up themes for later use. Proto Wesley with a little bit of Burke thrown in. Whole parts of this was chopped up and reused for his first few books, word for words in some case. Was a tough read because Wesley feels similar to who he was in the Burke series but also vastly different.

[Sean Duggan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read, but I don't get it

I enjoyed reading the book, and it was interesting dealing with an amoral protagonist. Reminded me of the Parker novels by Westlake. But in the end, it all felt a bit pointless. But maybe that was the point.

[James S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

An early work from Vachss, an interesting author. It has some intriguing moments, but overall the violence is presented so flatly so often that it loses any impact. Maybe that's the point. But it became repetitive about halfway through.

[Ernie · Rating 5 out of 5]

For Vacchs fans a must read!!

[Susie Vavasour · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just so bad.

[Mathias · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vachss first book, and it reads like it. still worth it tho!

[David Macpherson · Rating 2 out of 5]

THe story of a man made into a killer. It had some great hardboiled sections, but ultimately, the ending was off to me and I just couldnt get behind it.

[Frank Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before Burke there was Wesley ! Vachss at his most hard boiled. New York in the ‘70’s. I love tales of The City before Disney ruled Times Square and the rich kids flooded the L.E.S.

[Elli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This author is a lawyer who has specialized in child abusive situations for years. He has only represented children only for some time. He wrote a series revolving around Burke, a survivor who never knew his own family and grew up in the state system. The author has a real flair for portraying the natural spunk of kids making do and making things work for themselves in impossible situations. Burke and other some other survivors rather developed their own "family" with strong affections and loyalties to one another. And they certainly did not necessarily live by the "book!" They also recognized others, an unspoken rapport, and helped out one another. Wesley was another survivor and that is who this particular book was about. And it was effectively done! Was there a lot of violence? Of course there was! How could one present a life through those eyes with these experiences without it! When the book was first written, publishers universally rejected it as unrealistic, although time has proved much otherwise. I wish this author would write a novel using a youngster snatched or disappeared on a senior class trip or a family vacation which didn't turn out to be quite as safe as indulgent parents thought it would be. He did write one about forced sexual slavery, but didn't hit it from the youngster angle in that way. And I think he'd do a tremendous job! Not everyone is an inclined social activist, but knowledge and empathy that a good author can give can begin to offer more attitude growth and understanding of the people who have been involved, one mind at a time.... But this book is not for everyone! However if it is of interest, I recommend it as well as the Burke series. If there be criticism, I do think some parts were a bit wordy and drawn out. But it still a good book!

[Neil McCrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I know this: it's gonna be right here -- no more of this overseas stuff. Right here, right in our own country."
"It's not our country."
"Then whose is it? If we can't have it, maybe nobody should have it."
"Nobody can blow up America, Wesley."
"Right. But I can sure as hell make them think somebody can."

Here we finally have the legendary/infamous lost Vacchs novel, and it's everything I've ever loved about his writing without all of the baggage that comes with long running series. The novel was written in 1972, and while publishers loved Vacchs' writing, it was rejected for two reasons. The mass shooting at a high school was found to be unbelievable, and the characters were found to be too difficult to like or care for. Sadly, school shootings are all too common these days. The characters are still problematic from our current perspective, but that may be a virtue in this case.

I've encountered Wesley many times in the Burke novels, so I thought I had an idea of what to expect, but brief appearances in other novels is nothing compared to walking around in his head for a full 240 pages. Burke always told us that Wesley was a monster, a remorseless killing machine for hire, but in the Burke novels Wesley inevitably ended up aiding Burke, and while that didn't exactly put him on the side of angels it leavened our understanding of what exactly Wesley is. In A Bomb Built in Hell there is no mitigation of the character, the monster we've long been told about is fully revealed. We may come to understand the circumstances that created him, perhaps even have a degree of empathy for the man, but there is no longer any mistaking him as anything other than a monster.

Vacchs boiled to the bone prose is as compelling as ever, and if one can stand looking into the abyss for a while, his first novel may very well be one of his best.

[Evangeline Jennings · Rating 3 out of 5]

I see some readers criticising Andrew Vachss' writing style. I don't understand that at all. His prose is as tight and brutal as the world he is describing. It's completely at one with the rhythms of the story.

The problems with A Bomb Built In Hell have nothing to do with Vachss' technique. They come in two plot flavours.

First, Wesley is a recurring character in and touchpoint for Vachss' landmark Burke series. Yet this story - originally written before the first Burke - does not sync with the canon as I recall it. I found A Bomb Built In Hell a disorienting read as a result. It felt a little like stepping through the looking glass into something like the Walternate world of Fringe. Is, for example, the unnamed "kid" actually Burke?

Second, the three set piece mass killings at the end of the book were increasingly risible.

I found it hard to suspend my guffaws when Burke used a spring-loaded backseat as a murder weapon in an earlier - or later, depends how you look at it - book. It was kinda the moment Burke jumped the shark for me. Wesley uses exactly the same device. Which means Vachss had been hanging onto the idea for maybe thirty years. And yet this is far from the most ludicrous thing Wesley does.

The first half of A Bomb Built In Hell reminds me why I love Andrew Vachss. The second half reinforces my belief that it may be time for him to stop.

I still have That's How I Roll and Aftershock to read. But if they disappoint as much A Bomb Built In Hell and Blackjack - both old work revamped - then I am going to stop investing my hard-earned in Andrew Vachss.

[Roger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Andrew Vachss writes about the least among us and his main creation, Burke, is a warrior for children-wronged. I have only read a few books about Burke (and too many years ago) so maybe I have it wrong. Vachss wrote this book before "Flood" and all that came after. It wasn't published because it was too 'dire', or at least so it's reported. After reading this book I don't buy that. This is Wesley's story. To call him an anti-hero is to cut him way too much slack. He is a sick, twisted madman who rationalizes killing men women and children because the world isn't fair and the weak are preyed upon and the system is corrupt and the system manipulates and fingers folks and works them to do "its" work and people need to wake up-so lets blow up a school in the rich enclave because Wesley is following something he doesn't understand but still trusts and hard knocks made him this way and --- bullshit. He's a madman and deserves nothing. If this is supposed to be Burke's mentor and the 'kid' in this story (who is never identified as anyone but the 'kid') is supposed to be Burke, well I'm not buying it- because then Burke was born from the abyss and is what the German called "The Götterdämmerung".

[Hanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though this book is a work of fiction, it is also a work of truth. Andrew Vachss is an analyst, he's able to precisely assess political and social systems and his books always deal with larger issues than the simple plot of a story.
What scared me the most in this book, was not Wesley. Even though he's one of the coldest protagonists I've ever "met". No, what scared me, is that even though this book was written in the 1970's, there are major social and political issues that haven't changed in over 40 years, they've only grown worse. Wesley is nothing more than a product of our society, he's a symptom but not the disease. For me, the book title could have been "A bomb built by the system".

As for the writing, it is as precise and on point as always with Andrew Vachss. The characters themselves weren't built to be likeable and there was little identification possible, but I could still relate to a lot of statements, especially things Carmine said to Wesley.
It won't be among my favorites of Vachss' work, but it I think it's one of the most important books he's written.

[T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark and violent, which is pretty much what I expect from a Vachss novel. It doesn't have the same sharp, clipped style I have come to love from the Burke series, but the story was an interesting look at Wesley's character development. Very disturbing read, as we are watching the shaping of a murderer, which is not quite the view I have of him in the Burke series. Assassin, yes; but this disregard for human life is not what is the most gut wrenching. The most disturbing thing is the apparent lack of boundaries- there are some, related to interpersonal relationships, but he will accept any job: mothers, kids, whatever, with disregard of collateral damage. People may not care for the book if they haven't read any of the Burke series, but this is an interesting perspective of a murderer. I suspect most low ratings for this book are based on the subject matter, not the twisted amoral story a murderer.

[Michael Fredette · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Bomb Built in Hell is Vachss's first novel, written in 1972 and not published until forty years later. It was apparently rejected by numerous publishers for being 'unrealistic' which is ironic because it proved to be a very prescient novel. It tells the story of Wesley, a street kid coerced by the courts into joining the army and serving in Korea where he learns to survive by killing even men ostensibly on 'his side' (including an American sergeant leading them to death). Wesley is given a dishonorable discharge after a bar fight in Japan initiated by a U.S. Marine, and returns to New York City to embark on a life of crime. This is perhaps Vachss's grimmest and bleakest novel. It is a work of juvenilia and doesn't quite reach the heights of his Burke novels, the greatest detective series of a generation.

[Anthony Annucci · Rating 4 out of 5]

As another review said, this book should be read with the understanding that it was Mr. Vachss first novel and that many of it's elements were refined and included in the long-running and brutally hard-hitting and educational Burke Novels.
The truly terrifying thing about this novel is how prophetic it was. The novel was written in the 1970s; long before Columbine and the many similar horrors that have occurred since. It is like Mr. Vachss always says; We make our own monsters.
Unfortunately, our society is continuing to make more monsters every day and will continue to do so until real change happens with respect to the way we raise and protect our children. ALL children...