Rating: 
Summary: Very Good, but not as good as Last Jihad
Review: This book starts out explosive, but seems to get somewhat intrenched in backstory and tends to go on with long periods of time between action sequences. An excellent library read, but maybe not a purchase for those saving money. Joel Rosenberg is an excellent writer, but this novel seems to leave you wanting more.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good, but not as good as Last Jihad
Review: This book starts out explosive, but seems to get somewhat intrenched in backstory and tends to go on with long periods of time between action sequences. An excellent library read, but maybe not a purchase for those saving money. Joel Rosenberg is an excellent writer, but this novel seems to leave you wanting more.
Rating: 
Summary: A Breathless Geopolitical Roller Coaster Ride
Review: Tom Clancy rocks.There, I just had to get that off my chest. And now you know my secret --- that even though I could be called a snob when it comes to fiction, I have a soft spot for fast-paced global political thrillers in which Americans are always the good guys. It's my own form of escapism. That's why when I read that Joel C. Rosenberg's latest book was "Clancyesque" it was a good omen in my eyes. Indeed, THE LAST DAYS, the bestselling sequel to the bestselling THE LAST JIHAD, is a breathless geopolitical roller coaster ride. It follows on the heels of THE LAST JIHAD's war on terrorism plotline to focus on the potential for peace between Israel and her Arab neighbors. The cast of characters is familiar to readers of THE LAST JIHAD and Jon Bennett, Wall Street strategist come senior White House advisor, takes the lead as the architect of a plan for peace between Israel and Palestine. Its basis? Vast oil reserves found in the region stand to make every Palestinian and Israeli man, woman and child wealthy beyond their dreams if they can just learn to work together. Assassinations and attempted assassinations ensue. A Palestinian civil war breaks out and several shadowy groups with their own interests do their best to wreak havoc with attacks on sensitive locals such as the Dome of the Rock and Washington D.C. Admittedly, for reasons I'll talk about in a moment, I wanted to put this book down. But I couldn't. I was hooked and had to know what would happen next. Perhaps my biggest endorsement of the book would be the fact that I stayed up until 3AM to finish it. One of the ways Rosenberg creates the narrative vortex that sucks you in is by warping the timeline and populating his story with real people in imaginary places. As the story opens the war in Iraq has just ended. Saddam Hussein is dead. His sons are dead. And the year is 2010. Huh? Didn't most of this just happen a few months ago? You don't even realize that it's 2010 until later on in the story. By then you're also scratching your head at the appearances of Abu Mazen as prime minister of Palestine. In the real world Mazen relinquished the role several months ago in 2003. And while the president in 2010 is the imagined James MacPherson, references to the real President George W. Bush, officials in his current administration and their policies also add to a sense of reality that is slightly askew. I'll warn you: for a few days after reading THE LAST DAYS the stuff of the nightly news will seem so seven years ago. The reason I wanted to put the book down stems from what I perceived as Rosenberg's conservative political agenda. As a sometimes-conservative evangelical Christian with Jewish roots, I share a lot of the affections of the author. I like democracy. I like Israel. At the same time, I'm generally critical of those who use fiction to make a point that could be made more honestly in a nonfiction arena. The tip-off to me that this might be the case with THE LAST DAYS is its cellophane-thin characters, the most offending of whom is Jon Bennett's bodyguard and romantic foil Erin McCoy, an "Uzi-toting, Arabic-speaking CIA supermodel." Please. The characters are at their strongest when they're engaged in action --- running through rat-infested sewers or trying to escape the Rock of Gibraltar --- which, thankfully, is the bulk of the book. Dialogue is a weakness. When the characters start talking about the issues or where extended attention is given to their inner thoughts, everyone is the straw man for Rosenberg's ideas and perspective. In contrast Tom Clancy, conservative though he may be, has a habit of creating rich characters with minds of their own. Neither author writes what I would consider life-changing fiction, but Clancy is the more honest storyteller. Having said this, I think Rosenberg is consciously trying to represent perspectives other than his own --- this is admirable --- and shares with Clancy the ability to keep the reader engaged. THE LAST DAYS benefits greatly from the author's intimate knowledge of the Middle East and his understanding of the competing interests in the region and the Washington D.C. political machine. His vision of the potential for peace in the near future in the Holy Land is intriguing. And while I think that the thin substance of the story is better suited for a two-hour movie (one I would go see), the larger time investment required to read this book won't detour many from burning the midnight oil to see what happens next. --- Reviewed by Lisa Ann Cockrel
Rating: 
Summary: fantastic political thriller
Review: United States President James MacPherson sends Secretary of State Tucker Paine and White House advisor Jon Bennett to the Middle East to broker a peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Accompanying the American envoys is Jon's Arabic speaking CIA body guard and lover Erin McCoy. The hope this time is based on a find of a major oil reserve that can make everyone wealthy and thus desiring stability and peace. However, the terrorist group Al-Nakbah assigns Arafat's personal bodyguard Khalid al-Rashid to commit suicide by blowing himself along with Arafat and Paine to death in the explosion. Arafat's death leads to civil war in the Gaza Strip. Jon and Erin struggle to survive with their mission demolished by the suicide bombing. Al-Nakbah also brings their brand of terrorism to America and challenges Israel, forcing the Zion State to react with an invasion of the West Bank and Gaza. The tale uses recent real world events like the Iraqi War to bring a sense of reality to the tale, with the story line taking place under the direction of the forty-fourth president. The action is fast-paced and never slows down from the moment Arafat is assassinated until the climax. Fans of the author (see THE LAST JIHAD) will enjoy this fantastic political thriller that is escapist fun especially for the Viagra enhanced action crowd. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: WARNING: The reveiw just before this one contains a plot spoiler that ruined it for me!!!! WARNING!!!! SPOILER IN PREVIOUS REVIEW!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Inaccurate but decent...
Review: Well, I too, dislike inaccuracy, and Rosenberg should do much better research... The Navy has no sergeants. The Seahawk (or the Blackhawk, at that) has no "yoke"... etc., etc., etc. So at that level, he gets one star... On the other hand: FINALLY A BOOK YOU COULD LET A THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD READ!!! (Well, assuming you warn the 13-year-old in advance about the inaccuracies). No unnecessary sex scenes, no anti-military trash ... I wonder, how could the editors let this slip by?...
Rating: 
Summary: An insult to readers
Review: When I read a thriller I expect certain things. Paramount is accuracy. While the first book, The Last Jihad, seemed to have very little in the way of technical errors, The Last Days just abound with them, and they detract from the story, such as it is.
There are plot gimmicks that are cheats. In one instance the author gets his hero into a life or death situation with no way out. Then, shades of "Dallas", Bennet, the hero wakens to find it was all a dream. Later in the book when Mr. Rosenberg had evidently figured out how to extricate everybody, the same sequence is used, but with a happier ending.
Technical errors are glaring. In what is a favorite of writers who don't do their research, Mr. Rosenberg has his hero taking off the safety on a .357 magnum pistol. A revolver? With a safety! As a side note, that little push lever is what you use to swing out the cylinder on a revolver in order to reload it. Later we have "clips" being used to reload this same revolver. For the record, even with a semi-automatic pistol, the item that holds the ammunition is called a magazine. A clip is used for rifles, and not pistols. This shows poor research.
In another scene we have one of the characters taking the "safety" off of a Glock semi-auto pistol. The Glock pistol, in all of its iterations, does not have a safety. That little lever is what is used to take apart the pistol for cleaning. The only Glock that uses anything else has a lever that switches it from semi-auto to full automatic fire, but no safety. Again poor research.
One scene has the main characters being rescued by Seahawk helicopters from the Gaza Strip area and taken to the USS Reagan off the coast of Israel. Bennet, the main character, hopes they won't fall into the Atlantic Ocean when they land on the carrier. The ATLANTIC ocean??? That must be some Seahawk to make it from Israel to the Atlantic. Just poor research.
There is an ongoing plot device that uses continuous rainstorms blanketing the entire area from the Straits of Gibraltar to Israel. These storms of course interfere with rescue attempts and flight operations, but only for the good guys. Evidently the bad guys can launch aircraft in any weather and simply fly around it. This is reminiscent of the old Star Trek episodes when Scotty couldn't beam them up due to "ion" storms or somesuch.
The entire operation, and I won't give it away in case you decide to punish yourself and actually buy this trash, is run by the president of the US. From Washington D.C. We have FBI agents calling the president to get approval on basic tasks. While micro-management does happen, this book thrives on it. No one, from the FBI director to any military leaders to anyone else can make any decision, no matter how trivial, without the direct intervention of the president. I suppose this was supposed to make the McPherson presidential character appear to be in charge, but what happens is it makes everyone else appear to be incompetent, and the president doubly so since he appointed the leader.
Unless you're a glutton for poorly researched novels, don't bother with this one. Don't waste your money.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!! RIVETING!
Review: With the exception of very few instances in the book, I was mesmerized by the complexities of the story line. From the moment the bomb was triggered that killed Yassar Arafat and the entourage from the United States to the breathe taking finale at the "Rock" I couldn't put the book down.
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