Retired detective Ruiz, who has a large role in several other of his books, is a pretty significant character in this one but Joe O'Loughlin, my favorite Robotham guy, unfortunately does not. The writing is fine, a little simpler than other Robotham novels I've read, and the action moves quickly. The remainder of the story involves Sami's attempts to remain out of the grips of the police, his interactions with various criminals who are after him and each other, his attempts to locate and free his sister, his love interest, and so on. Subplots abound, and they're woven into the main story seamlessly. However, in his rucksack he retained some of the spoils of his burglary that he can use for leverage later (lucky again). Sami survives (lucky!) but becomes a fugitive when he's spotted on CCTV leaving the scene (unlucky). On their escape, the duo gets on an underground train where Sami's partner jiggles his bag with the remaining explosive a little too much, causing the train car to blow up. The team inadvertently blows up the entire area with an explosive he didn't know how to use. After returning to Australia in 1996, Michael began writing full-time. He worked as a journalist for Fairfax Press before ghostwriting autobiographies for athletes, artists and military figures in the UK. Unfortunately for him, they want him to help another bad guy break into a safe at the London criminal court to steal evidence, even though he has no idea how to do it. Michael Robotham is an Australian novelist of crime fiction.

On his release he discovers his devoted sister has been kidnapped, he uncovers who has her (some really bad dudes, unlucky again), and begins to negotiate for her release.

He's thrown into prison for something he didn't do (unlucky), but he's given credit by the other criminals inside for the safe-cracking caper that they thought he did (lucky) so they leave him alone. Sami, the main character, is both the luckiest and unluckiest guy around. It's a little more light hearted in a way and some of the action crosses the line into 'huh?' territory, but otherwise it's a fine thriller and a tightly plotted story. 'Bombproof' is a bit of a departure from Michael Robotham's typical thriller.

Bombproof by michael robotham