Rating: Summary: Timely work Review: This book is extremely timely and the subject material is of very current interest. The plot seems more than feasible compared to the usual Hollywood fluff approach in handling current events. I would have liked a little more detail on the demise of bin-Laden, but the main thrust was concerning Iraq and the political machinations necessary on our side to achieve the goals being now espoused by our current administration. The author obviously has an inside track on the political level required to understand how the world works. The plot and characters are well-defined and I reccommend this book to anyone who likes both political intrigue and action-adventure.
Rating: Summary: Terrific Review: I like Joel Rosenberg's fantasy books even more, but this is an utterly terrific political novel.
Rating: Summary: A piece of irresponsible writing... Review: An irresponsible author who is trying to capitalize on the current political conditions; attempting to hijack the feelings of our vulnerable citizens. I wish he could be more constructive...
Rating: Summary: Wake up America - please. Review: The fact that this book has reached number 2 in the Amazon sales ranking (combined with the recent election results) just goes to show the extent to which Americans are buying the US government PR. (not that this book is necessarily) If you want to know what I mean by that, please inform yourself by visiting the whatreallyhappened (dot com) website. If it's not there, (as a result of US government actions to remove it) simply go to google and search for 'whatreallyhappened mirror'. Please stop swallowing PR for your own sake and the sake of the planet!If you want a good book on the subject, try 9-11 by Chomsky.
Rating: Summary: You Will Not Put It Down Review: This is a terrific book. I have a habit of reading 2-3 books at a time. Read a few chapters of one book one night, and then a few chapters of a different book the next night. I read this book cover to cover. It is that good. Moreover, while this is a novel, you still get the real impression that earlier in the evening on NBC a breaking news story mirrored Chapter 9 of Rosenberg's book. In other words, one moment you're reading "The Last Jihad", and the next moment you're listening to Brokaw announcing what you just read in the book. Tremendous book... the movie will have to be one major extravaganza to do the book justice.
Rating: Summary: Where fiction meets fact Review: Joel ably taps his experiences working for such luminaries as Bill Bennett, Rush Limbaugh and Steve Forbes to weave a compelling story grounded in reality. His characters and story know the way around Washington because Joel does, too. One of the best political / military thrillers to come down the Beltway in a long time.
Rating: Summary: What a Page Turner! Review: OK... You can't judge a book by it's cover, right? But, with all of the positive comments that were on the book's cover it had to be good. Actually, it was better! I literally could not put the book down. I got it just before Thanksgiving and finished it with in 3 days. The plot is quite involved. Just when you think you have things figured out, there's a new twist. I don't want to give details of the plot as it will ruin the surprise of discovering the twists: just know they are there and that it makes for a fun read. One of the things that I liked about the main plot was it was so believeable. In fact, I heard about this book while watching the author, Joel C. Rosenberg interviewed on Hannity and Colmes. I heard Joel say that while writing the book, 9-11 hit and he had to do some adjusting to the plot due to how real his initial premise was to what had just occurred. The characters become your friends, just as in any good book. I liked the character development, much like a Tom Clancy novel, in that the reader seems to be drawn into a world of reality that most of us only see from the outside. How do they set up security boundaries for Presidential motorcades? How do they draw information out of a suspect that may be reluctant to talk? I have wondered about that very thing while hearing of some of the information drawn out of the actual Taliban prisoners held in Cuba. How do they get these "loyal" Taliban top aides to talk? I got an idea of how it might be done in Chapter 5... All in all this was one terrific read. If the first chapter doesn't get you hooked, then have a Urologist check out your adrenal glands. For the rest of us, lay off the caffeine. This book is a good substitute. My only complaint: It'll take Joel C. Rosenberg at least a couple of years to pound out another book...
Rating: Summary: A Meticulously Crafted Insider Perspective Review: Rosenberg draws on his years as an aide-de-camp to Limbaugh, Bennett, Forbes and Netanyahu to deliver a national security insider's view of "The New Brinksmanship." I could not put this book down. Every page rings with pulse-quickening alerts, alarms and warning sirens. He paints a compelling and entirely believable picture of courageous American leadership responding to the clear and present danger posed by Islamic fundamentalist madmen. It's a thriller that thrills without having to rely on gratuitous profanity or promiscuity as background color. If you own a first edition of Clancy's Hunt for Red October, its worth a fortune. I'm holding on to my first edition of The Last Jihad because this author is sure to cause its value to appreciate.
Rating: Summary: Pretty bad to the point of laughably bad Review: If you like thrillers with no heroes, no action, and no plot coherence, this is the book you should read. While it starts off with a bang, even the bang doesn't ultimately make sense. And it starts off with Jon Bennet negotiating a deal, but he ultimately does as close to nothing as possible. C'mon, the good guys are e-mailing each other on their Blackberry's during a gunbattle? How s-l-o-w-l-y can you type s-t-u-p-i-d when bullets are flying?
Rating: Summary: Estimable effort from a writer to watch Review: Joel Rosenberg, a political columnist for World magazine, has written quite an amazing first novel. One of the interesting things about it is that it proves evangelical Christians can write international thrillers and get published by New York publishers if their stories are strong enough. And this one is. Rosenberg, not really a Washington "insider," nevertheless either knows enough about Beltway affairs or has done his research sufficiently to render the world of Washington in all its tawdry splender very effectively. The author also writes quite astonishing action scenes, e.g., the opening sequence where a Gulfstream G4 crashes into the President's limo, the shootout in the former top Mossad agent's house in Jerusalem, and the sniper sequence prior to the memorial service for the secret service agents. Not everything works optimally. I felt the main character's expertise--the ability to see patterns in the most obscure details, put them together, and forcast events--could've been more effectively used in the last half of the book. Also, there's not a whole lot of chemistry between the hero and his purported love interest. But these are quibbles. All in all, it's a fine effort.
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