The Last Jihad

Rating:
Summary: An absolutely thrilling read.
Review: Along with the many other things in the world that the events of 9-11-01 changed, the world of the international thriller genre of popular fiction changed as well. The direction of these novels is never more apparent than in Joel Rosenberg's "The Last Jihad".

Published in 2002, part of the initial storyline is already outdated. To prefix the book, it's stated the Osama Bin Laden is dead and Saddam Hussein is the threat to the world. In our present state, Hussein is in custody and Bin Laden is still at large. Nevertheless, the premise is both credible and exciting. From the opening chapters, the events that happen to and surrounding the President are not only chilling but all too real. Just as Clancy's view of terror attacks and thwarted terror attacks in "Debt Of Honor" and "Rainbow Six" were before their time, the same could be said for Rosenberg. The events seem to be ripped from headlines of the future.

It's not just the plot that makes this such an easy yet fun read. Rosenberg's writing style flows very well. Some authors see fit to use over the top language that makes you think they're just trying to impress the reader with their vocabulary, but Rosenberg keeps it simple and let's the story, the action, and the characters do all the work.

The story and the characters also have added meaning for any Christian reading the book. It's obvious that the author himself is a Christian, and this is reflected in several of his characters. You can see the influence that this has on his characters, and in the language used in his book, and is something that is welcome to the world of fiction.

All in all, this is a fantastic effort from a fairly new author on the popular fiction scene and one that makes me anticipate the sequel, "The Last Days", even more. In fact, I'm ordering it now.

Rating:
Summary: Not Clancy, but not bad
Review: Either I'm a fast reader, or there are some slow-poke readers out there. Two sittings, 2 days - cover to cover. It's that fast paced a book.

The first thing to consider is that this book was being written when the attacks on New York and the Pentagon actually occurred - so rather than being immediately dated, Mr. Rosenberg tried to bring them into his novel.

The second thing to consider is that the scenario of history is one that was entirely possible - that the U.S. simply declared war on terrorists, and then went after them without actually utilizing more than special forces and/or troops in Afghanistan. Certainly in 2002 that was feasible.

A comment made by another reader - that your vehicle taking a GPS reading wouldn't let you know where that vehicle is - has apparently never really paid much attention to GM's On-Star (tm) system - which ALWAYS knows where those vehicles are. Or has she never heard of Lo-Jack (tm)?

It's a proven fact that Saddam had WMD. The whole world knows that - he used them. It's also a proven fact that he kicked the UN inspectors out. If the U.S. hadn't invaded Iraq in 2003, then the rest of this is entirely plausible. As it is, now it must go into the fiction and/or alternative history pile. Although it is interesting that a recent news headline mentioned that it appears that Saddam Hussein, in prison in 2004 may be suffering from prostate cancer - which Rosenberg has him suffering from in 2010.

The characters in the book needed to be expanded quite a bit. As it was, while I found the action sequences to be quite thrilling, the character developement left something to be desired. The use of everyday technology by the main character was interesting, but I find it difficult to care, really, whether Bennett and McCoy end up married.

Certainly riveting, though - from the kamikaze attack early on, to the dropping of the nuclear warheads in the end. (The sad thing is, though, I had Mr. C figured out in advance - or at least who he had to be.)

Rating:
Summary: A real shame...
Review: I picked this book up for a quick beach read on the recommendation of several popular newspaper columnists and talk-show hosts. Unfortunately, all they really accomplished by recommending this book was to damage their own credibility and the conservative cause. As I was reading I could just imagine the savage reviews from liberals that would be posted here on Amazon, and they are certainly well-justified. The author clearly has no understanding of technology and his characters' espionage tradecraft apparently has not evolved since their days of forming secret, tree-house clubs! Case in point: One of the "spies" who is a cabinet level official in the US administration receives secret emails sent to his AOL account, some of which are forwarded to the wireless device he carries to cabinet meetings! In another incident, the US government is able to locate an Iraqi vehicle when it "requests its location" from a GPS satellite. This is a bit like believing that your local radio station can find you when you tune in their signal!

None of this is surprising since Rosenberg is a journalist. What the smug liberals posting reviews here should keep in mind, however, is that most of the journalists they depend on for their science and environmental news are just as ignorant as Rosenberg. At least the author of The_Last_Jihad--unlike many at The New York Times--understands that he is writing fiction.




Rating:
Summary: Excellent! Action packed page turner!
Review: With all the scare of terrorism today, it seemed very real and frightening. It was never boring, keeps you turning the page to find out what happens. Characters were slightly dry, but only slightly. I didn't feel I got to know them as well as I would of liked. I also recommend the sequel, "The Last Days".

Rating:
Summary: Please, we've suffered enough ...
Review: If you're looking for an unlikely story populated with Saturday morning cartoon hero and villain stereotypes, "The Last Jihad" fills the bill. It lurches along a crude, poorly researched plot-line that culminates in well-telegraphed, brutish wish fulfillment. It's an unending drone of inane situations and dialog punctuated with so many product placements that you'll have to check the cover to be sure you didn't pick up a Sharper Image catalog by mistake. It's a howler right down there with Plan 9 from outer space.