Product Description

Jon Bennett is a top Wall Street strategist turned senior White House advisor. But nothing has prepared him for the terror that he will face. Saddam Hussein dispatches his top hit men to assassinate the President of the United States. Iraqi terrorists spread carnage throughout London, Paris, and Riyadh...and the Butcher of Baghdad has a nuclear ace in his hand that he has not yet played.

Only a solid Arab-Israeli coalition against Iraq can keep the U.S. and other Western nations from
certain devastation. And only Bennett and his beautiful partner, Erin McCoy, can make that happen. Their secret project - a billion dollar oil deal off the coast of Gaza - could be the basis for an historic peace treaty and enormous wealth for every Israeli and Palestinian.

But just before the treaty can be signed, Israeli commandos foil an Iraqi scud missile launch, recovering a nuclear warhead and evidence that the next attack will level Washington, New York, and Tel Aviv.

Now, the Israeli prime minister gives the American President an ultimatum: melt down Baghdad within one hour...or Israel will do it herself.

From Jerusalem, Bennett and McCoy must summon all of their stealth and savvy to save themselves - and the world - from absolute destruction.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1230890 in Books
• Published on: 2002-11-26
• Released on: 2002-11-26
• Format: Unabridged
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 6
• Binding: Audio Cassette

From Publishers Weekly
Timeliness adds considerable juice to Rosenberg's frenzied political thriller, set a couple of years in the future. In the wake of September 11, popular American president James MacPherson has spearheaded an international effort to destroy terrorist training camps in the Middle East and North Africa. Osama bin Laden has been killed, but Saddam Hussein continues to plot against the West. The novel opens with a coordinated international terrorist attack, in which Paris and London and several sites in the United States are bombed. Quick-thinking agents deflect an assassination attempt on the president, but MacPherson is gravely wounded. The reader follows the crisis through the eyes of Jon Bennett, a Wall Street strategist putting together a stock deal in Israel when the terrorists strike. Bennett once worked closely with MacPherson on Wall Street. After a tortuous interrogation at the Jerusalem airport on his way back to the U.S., Bennett passes out, expecting to be killed. When he awakes, he finds that he has passed a crucial test and is now a member of President MacPherson's inner circle of advisers. So far, Rosenberg (Not Quite Scaramouche, etc.) keeps a lot of narrative balls in the air with lean writing and breakneck pacing, but at this midway point the novel loses focus and urgency. Rosenberg's failure to give the characters dimension is exposed when the story slows down and moves away from dramatic scenes of action. Intelligence reports indicate that Saddam may be planning a nuclear attack, and the advisers engage in a lengthy heated discussion about a first strike. Though the characters in this debate come off like talking heads, the energy and scope of the dispute breathes new life into the last half of the novel and hints at greater things from the author.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
This new novel from a Washington, D.C., communications expert scores big on timeliness. It's the very-near future, and the U.S. president has won a midterm election, succeeding George W. Bush. Saddam Hussein has sent assassins to gun down the newly elected president. Meanwhile, Iraqi terrorists attack the leaders of U.S.-allied countries. America sees one hope for the Western world: an Israeli-Arab alliance with the single goal of stopping Hussein. Only two people can make the alliance happen: Jon Bennett, a Wall Street strategist, and his partner, the lovely Erin McCoy. Can our plucky heroes orchestrate the giant business deal necessary to forge the alliance and save the free world? In today's get-Hussein political climate, the novel is sure to find an audience, but some readers may not find the book as exciting as expected. While Rosenberg works a couple of genuinely surprising plot twists into his story, and his grasp of international politics and terrorism seems solid, his prose style is, at best, adequate. Although fans of Robert Ludlum and Tom Clancy will no doubt enjoy it, readers who like their narratives elegant and their characters more than paper-thin may be somewhat disappointed. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"...a high speed, heart-pounding, edge-of-your-seat roller coaster ride into the heart of darkness..." -- Sean Hannity, host of the nationally syndicated "Sean Hannity Radio Show" and Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes"

"...challenges The Sum of all Fears as the best nuclear terrorism novel ever! One hell of a read!" -- John Farris, Bestselling author of The Fury and The Fury

"...may be the definitive nuclear terrorist novel of the 21st Century-and a pulse-pounding blood chilling thriller to boot!" -- Thomas Fleming, New York Times bestselling author of The Officer's Wives

"A rocketing, rollicking roller coaster ride that makes The Sum of All Fears look like a day at the beach." -- David Hagberg, #1 bestselling author of Joshua's Hammer

"Rosenberg nails it-a provocative, conservative political thriller that reads like a major Hollywood blockbuster. In the spirit of Tom Clancy's Sum of All Fears, Rosenberg's The Last Jihad absolutely crackles with high energy and a chilling premise-what if the war on terror goes nuclear."--Rush Limbaugh, host of the nationally syndicated, Rush Limbaugh Radio Show

"Buckle up! The Last Jihad is a high speed, heart-pounding, edge-of-your-seat roller coaster ride into the heart of darkness . . . just when you think you know where you're going, along comes a twist that you never saw coming . . . scariest of all, Rosenberg's post-9/11 scenario-a nuclear showdown between the US, Israel, and Iraq-feels ripped from tomorrow's headlines . . . this stuff could really happen!"--Sean Hannity, host of the nationally syndicated, Sean Hannity Radio Show and Fox News Channel's Hannity & Colmes
-- Review

"a provocative, conservative political thriller that reads like a major Hollywood blockbuster...crackles with high energy and a chilling premise..." -- Rush Limbaugh, host of the nationally syndicated "Rush Limbaugh Radio Show"

"Rosenberg nails it-a provocative, conservative political thriller that reads like a major Hollywood blockbuster. In the spirit of Tom Clancy's Sum of All Fears, Rosenberg's The Last Jihad absolutely crackles with high energy and a chilling premise-what if the war on terror goes nuclear."--Rush Limbaugh, host of the nationally syndicated, Rush Limbaugh Radio Show

"Buckle up! The Last Jihad is a high speed, heart-pounding, edge-of-your-seat roller coaster ride into the heart of darkness . . . just when you think you know where you're going, along comes a twist that you never saw coming . . . scariest of all, Rosenberg's post-9/11 scenario-a nuclear showdown between the US, Israel, and Iraq-feels ripped from tomorrow's headlines . . . this stuff could really happen!" --Sean Hannity, host of the nationally syndicated, Sean Hannity Radio Show and Fox News Channel's Hannity & Colmes

Customer Reviews

Estimable effort from a writer to watch
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.

Put your To-Do List Away
All other items on your to-do list will have to wait once you being this book. Don't be surprised if you find yourself engrossed from the very beginning..and hold on to your socks from there. No matter what your stance is on terrorism and war in the Middle East you need to read it.

What a Page Turner!
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...