A cross between Tom Clancy and Robert Ludlum (the Bourne series) The Last Jihad is a speculative political thriller and as such not the kind of book I usually read, but I found myself really enjoying it! Written in 2002, The Last Jihad envisioned a world where Saddam Hussein had not only acquired the wherewithal to produce fully functional ICBMs (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles) but was launching one against the United States. A fascinating and terrifying scenario then, it is no less relevant now six years later though the Butcher of Baghdad is dead.With the Russian Bear reasserting his claims on eastern territories and poor Poland again scrambling desperately for protective allies, it's hard to say which timeperiod today's chessboard is more reminiscent of: pre-World War II or the Cold War era. But either way, although some things have changed, more have remained the same. Nuclear warfare remains a very real, ultimate and dangerous possibility.This is a fast-paced, well-written book. It is dated, obviously, but still it deals with timeless issues: warfare, leadership, loyalty, greed, good verses evil, weapons of mass destruction, religion, etc. In fiction, we are able to look at how, when, where and why nuclear weapons might be used and examine some of the moral, social, and political issues inherent in their use while still reaching -- even entertaining -- an average audience. This book allowed me to hearken back to my own days in Strategic Air Command, when I sat in a nuclear Command Post and contemplated participating in unleashing nuclear holocaust. It was a fearsome proposition then; it's no less so today.Mr. Rosenberg is clearly a Hawk--although I cannot imagine too many people wanting to read this book who wouldn't at least consider themselves in the peregrine family. And although I appreciate many things about his writing style, storyline, and especially some of his character's succinct assessments about particular wars, there was one observation I appreciated above all the rest--appreciated and found highly ironic.In the story, there was a character, Dr. Mordechai who predicted Saddam Hussein's August 1990 invasion of Kuwait within three days of its actual occurrence. When asked if he had any inside information, he said, no, he didn't need any. Everything a person needed to know in terms of basic intelligence, and fact-finding was available in the newspapers. It wasn't about having the information, but knowing how to analyse it and draw the right conclusions. The difference between Dr. M and the U.S. government was that Dr. M believed Saddam both capable of and prone to acts of unspeakable evil. Dr. M believed that evil forces make men do evil things. The U.S. government did not. So even though the government had more and better information, it did not believe Saddam would act as he had consistently acted in the past and was consequently surprised by the Iraqi invasion of 5 August. Dr. M, an Israeli, said his country was born out of the ashes of evil, the Nazi Holocaust. Until the United States wakes up to the reality of evil and its power, many innocents will suffer.
This book is kind of hard to explain. The first draft to the publisher or editor was complete before September 11th. Because of the subject material, after 9/11, they put this book on hold for almost a year. Once it felt more appropriate, they modified some of the plot to be post 9/11 by almost 10 years. The reason that is important is because it was released before the U.S. invaded Iraq as a preemptive strike. So, in this book, Saddam is still alive and leading Iraq. Since the invasion of Iraq, we have learned that Iraq's nuclear ambitions were not as advanced as we thought but, despite what the media has reported and/or chosen to ignore, Iraq was attempting to develop WMD's and had the materials and such. The reason for the explanation above is that this book takes place in a world that couldn't have existed. If you can as a reader in 2008 accept the premise that we have terrorist problems with Iraq in 2010 because of Saddam, then this book is one of the most exciting books I've read in years. It is a page turner. I ended up reading it in 3 nights, staying up entirely to late every time. I would recommend it to anyone. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because I won't re-read it ever. I can't wait to read the follow up books to this one.Holy F! I just noticed that today is Sept. 11. Kind of appropriate for this review.
What do You think about The Last Jihad (2006)?
"The Last Jihad" starts with an assassination attempt on the President. It is soon revealed that Iraq was behind the attempt and has developed nuclear weapons. When they attempt to use them against Israel, the US is forced to respond.The story is interesting but there are so many characters that are introduced and then dropped that I found myself having to flip back to straighten myself out. As this is Rosenberg's first book, I am hoping his characterization improves. I have heard good things about his later books in the series so I do plan to move on to the next.
—Iris
Political thriller. I picked it up because I recently saw the author interviewed on CNN by Glenn Beck about his latest book. I first read and enjoyed his book, Epicenter, in which he describes how he arrived at the ideas for his series of political thrillers. This is the first book in the series. He bases the series on prophecies about the last days in the Book of Ezekiel. I was interested in trying one of the books out. I've given it only two stars because I had to struggle through it. There we
—Karen
This was the first book in the series and I enjoyed it a lot. It was very interesting and kept me on the edge of my seat. It was a little hard to stick with at first because the Arabic names were confusing and it was hard to keep track of who was who. Once I got the hang of that, it was a nail-biter. The ONE thing that bothered me though, and this was one that I had to really over look, was the occasional use of profanity. I believe, based on Joel C. Rosenburg's later books, that he got convicted of them being in his books and took them out completely. (I admired that.) If that had not been the case and the rest of his books had had that in them, I wouldn't have followed through and read them. I recommend the entire series and loved it.
—Kimmie
