Customer Reviews

The Copper Scroll (Political Thrillers Series #4)

5 star:		(78)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

The Copper Scroll (2006) is the fourth evangelical thriller in the Last Jihad series, following The Ezekiel Option. In the previous volume, a massive earthquake occurred under Jerusalem. Then red hot stones fell out of space to strike Russia and her allies when they attempted to destroy Israel. Military units and installations were the hardest hit, but government offices, shrines, mosques and other buildings were devastated. Mecca and Medina were smashed flat.

Jon Bennett and Erin McCoy were saved from Russian security and army troops by yawning crevices that swallowed their pursuers. As Moscow burned around them, Jon and Erin fled down the river in a speedboat.

In this novel, Jon and Erin are married in full church ceremony. Shortly after the minister pronounces them man and wife, pagers start going off among the witnesses. A suicide bomber has attacked in the heart of Washington, DC, but the victims are only ordinary people.

After dining with their friends, Joh and Erin leave for their honeymoon. They swear a mutual pledge to leave politics behind and just enjoy their new marriage. After their first night together, Jon asks Erin where she would like to spend the rest of their honeymoon and she chooses Ronda in Andalusia.

After enjoying being together and visiting the intriguing landmarks of the town, Jon finds an urgent message at the hotel from Ken Costello, who had taken over Jon's former position as senior advisor to the President. Returning the call, Jon learns that Eli had been ambushed in Israel and was undergoing emergency surgery. Jon and Erin rushed to Israel to be with their old friend.

Eli tells them of a new evil rising after the War of Gog and Magog, but he dies trying to pass on one more piece of information. Israeli Prime Minister David Doron confides to Jon that Eli had put together a team of archaeologists to track down some new information about the Copper Scroll. But Eli is the fourth member of that team who has been killed by some unknown group.

Doron also mentions that the Israelis are planning on building the Third Temple on the devastated Temple Mount. Jon is appalled at the idea, since it would infuriate the Muslims. Doron says that Islam has been wiped out, but Jon points out that the Islamic Jihadists have been destroyed, but other Muslims still remain. Doron seems not to care.

Doron provides Jon with a phone number of another team member, Yossi Barak, the chief archaeologist at the Israel Museum. He calls ahead to alert Barak of Jon's interest. When Jon calls the number, the phone is answered by Natasha Barak, another archaeologist and Barak's granddaughter. She arranges a meeting the following morning at the museum.

In this story, Jon and Erin learn about the discovery and translation of the Copper Scroll. They also find out that another scroll is the Key to the Copper Scroll. Acting on their own, they follow clues toward the Temple treasure that was supposedly hidden from the Romans. Along the way, the learn that this treasure may include the Ark of the Covenant.

Once again, the author tracks biblical prophecy toward the End Days. After the destruction of the military and political power of Russia and most Islamic nations in the previous volume, it should be obvious that Jon and Erin are destined to survive to the very end. But they will presumably be lifted up to heaven during the Rapture, so who will be the protagonists when the Anti-Christ appears?

In Old Testament prophecy, the building of the Third Temple will signal the coming of the End Days. Since the Temple is not rebuilt in this novel, another sequel must be forthcoming. Stay tuned!

Recommended to Rosenberg fans and to anyone else who enjoys takes of biblical prophecy, desperate shootouts and hidden treasure.

-Bill Jordin

I reread The Ezekial Option to get me back up to date on events leading up to The Copper Scroll. Scroll starts off where Option leaves off - Bennett and Erin get swooped up in another adventure in the volatile middle east - Iraqi President Al-Hassani wants to unite Arab countries after the devastation of The Ezekial Option. Eli Mordechai gets the Bennets on a hunt for the Key Scroll to the Copper Scrolls, found in the 1950's, that say the Scrolls deciphered shows the place of treasures that were mentioned in the Bible - including the Ark of the Covenant! Israel is going to rebuild the Temple, and the bad guys don't want it to happen. So the chase begins - This is an exciting story with current overtones of the tension in the middle east,of great faith, and giving yourself into that faith.

Rosenberg is one of those writers that puts you in the game with the characters and action as well as Old and New Testament writings and how the are relevant to the present.

Ready for the next one, Joel!!

The Copper Scroll is the forth book in Joel C. Rosenberg's end times series. Its a very fast paced and exciting read, that is based around the Ancient prophecy's of the Bible. What Rosenberg does is look at the Bible prophecy's and modern trends and write up a fictionalized account about what may happen soon. He has had the uncanny ability to hit some things right on the head such as terrorists using airplane's in a terror attack (which he wrote of in his first book The Last Jihad) The death of Arrofat (in his second Book, The Last Days) and much more (the third Book in the series is the Ezekiel Option. Rosenberg's Books are centered upon His fictionalized cheaters; President James "Mac" MacPherson, Jon Bennett and Uzi Toting Super Model Looking CIA agent Erin McCoy; and many others. In the Copper Scroll Rosenberg center's on the search for the Ark of The Covenant, the treasures and implements of the Jewish temple, which have been lost for century's. The Copper Scroll a very fun read and at the same time educational, You will learn some of the important prophecy's that may soon come to pass. I cannot wait for the 5th book.

I can't get enough of this author. He is fantastic. All his books are well researched down to the last minute detail. I've learned so much about the history of the mideast from reading his works.

His characters are so alive you almost feel like you know them. Rosenberg is a great story teller. His books are fast paced and easy to read.

Don't miss this one

This book is probably the best action novel I have ever read! It kept me up till 2 in the morning and I have to work tomorrow. I just had to write this review so that you can go to the store and pick this book up. The Copper Scroll has all of the elements that one would want in an action novel: Heart-stopping action, riveting suspense, a great love story, a treasure hunt, and the Gospel, what more could you want! Joel Rosenberg has really hit this one out of the park, I'm just sad that I will probably have to wait at least a year till his next book comes out. I suggest reading the previous books in this series, or at least The Ezekiel Option before this one to get some backround considering many of the characters are the same. Make sure you get this book, you wont regret it!!!!

The Copper Scroll is the newest thriller by Christian author Joel Rosenberg. Before reviewing the book, I want to say that this is the first novel I have read by this author. Perhaps I did myself a disservice, because, while not completely necessary, you should read the Ezekiel Option before reading this book. The Copper Scroll is falls into the end-times genre (Left Behind series), and thus it operates in a different world under different circumstances. In this new world, Islam followers and holy sites have been destroyed everywhere. Russia and Iran have just been defeated in a war with Israel, their defeat attributed to God and prophecy from the book of Ezekiel. The events of the EZEKIEL OPTION are referenced often. I don't think it is necessary for you to have read all books before this one, but I recommend it. Previous books would probably give you a frame of reference for the world these fictional characters are operating in.

The book opens with a thrilling chase. An FBI agent spots a man on a terrorist watch list. Before the agent can catch him, the terrorists succeeds in blowing up the lobby of an elegant Washington DC hotel. The CIA thinks that the President was the target, when in reality it was an archeoligist meeting with an agent about a book. Soon another archeoligist is killed. Newlyweds Jon and Erin Bennett are soon on the case, trying to find out the reason one of their friends died. They soon discover why, and the chase is on to find the Copper Scroll. The Copper Scroll is believed to contain the hidden location of the treasures of the 2nd Jewish Temple, and possibly even the Ark of the Covenant. I won't go into any more detail. If you need to know more, then read the book. Rosenburg covers it all.

While there are various subplots, the book's primary focus is a treasure hunt. John and Erin spend days chasing down scrolls and treasures while avoiding the thugs that are hot on their tail. At this point the story somewhat bogs down. Characters often go into lenthy speeches of explanation to tell the reader the history of an artifact or why the Bible should be interpreted a certain way (shades of the Da Vinci Code). Also, any time a code was broken, John, Erin and friend Natasha, would read a Bible scripture then all agree on its obvious conclusion, when I'm thinking how did they get that out of that. (Kind of like in the movie NATIONAL TREASURE). Also, I don't know how I feel about creating a fiction novel out of so much Biblical scripture.

If you're considering this book, then I recommend you start at the beginning of the series. The characterization in this novel is poorly done. Rosenburg never tells the reader anything about John or Erin Bennett, the two main characters, and none of the minor characters receive any characterization either. I assume it was all done in earlier novels in the series.

Easily consumed in one or two nights, like a bag of potato chips. This is an enjoyable series. The good guys are good, and the bad guys are bad (and they always get their just desserts). The good guys are mostly Christians, so most of them do not fear death. That usually helps them do the right thing, even at extreme personal sacrifice.

People who hate religion will probably be put off. You know...the ones who characterize anyone with any flavor of Christian faith as "religion freaks" (something they would never say about a Muslim or Jew).

The author uses a lot of pretty obscure prophetic old testament bible passages to build the story. For those that are curious, it leads to some interesting research.

In the end, as with any good series, the next adventure is all set up.

Rosenberg is on-par with Vince Flynn and Oliver North, not as technical as Clancy. If you intend to read him, start at the beginning. All four books are related, and each is written with equal skill.

Joel Rosenberg has gotten a lot of press lately with his end-time prophesy novels that seem to predate actual headlines. His latest book, The Copper Scroll, takes off from where The Ezekiel Option left off. It's not quite as good, but still it's an enjoyable read with a few things I need to research further...

Jon Bennett finally gets married to Erin McCoy (from the prior novel), and they are both ready to bid farewell to public government service. But as soon as they are pronounced "man and wife", world affairs interfere with their "happily ever after". A suicide bombing attempts to take out the President, and Jon & Erin are slowly dragged back into service to offer insights. When Mordechai, the Jewish person who came up with the Ezekiel Option during the last attack on Israel, is gunned down, they are driven to help solve the murder. This murder, and a number of others, are all related to the "copper scroll", one of the finds from the Dead Sea Scrolls. The copper scroll reportedly tells where a vast fortune of treasure is stored, but they first need to find the "key scroll". That will point the way towards solving the mystery, and it will also lead to the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. Naturally, there are a number of Arab groups who will do anything to stop this, and these groups are the ones that are willing to kill to keep things as they are...

I didn't think this was quite as good as The Ezekiel Option, even though it's intriguing. I didn't know there even was such a thing as the Copper Scroll, but Rosenberg has plenty of references and annotations so you can do your own investigation. While this particular item might truly be a way that the Temple is rebuilt in Jerusalem, I didn't get the same "this is happening now" feeling as I got from his prior work. Still, it's not as if this couldn't happen or transpire in a similar fashion.

Good as entertainment, with the added element of realism that has been under the radar of most stories about the Dead Sea Scrolls. If you're a fan of Rosenberg's work, you'll enjoy this...

When Russia attacked Israel, a supernatural firestorm destroyed the invaders most of Russia, the fundamentalist Arab nations and Germany and Austria. The world is still trying to bury the dead and clear the debris away while the only Arab nation to remain unscathed is Iraq led by Mustafa al-Hassani. Iran and Israel are the only two oil producing nations in the Mideast since the governments of all the other nations and the pipelines were destroyed.

Al-Hassani intends to rebuild the Babylonian empire with him as the ultimate authority and he intends to destroy Israel but first he has to stop the Land of Zion from building the third temple on the Temple Mount now that the Dome Of The Rock and the al Aksa Mosque has been destroyed. The Jews have in their possession THE COPPER SCROLL listing where the treasure from the second temple is hidden. The people who are looking for the Key Scroll, a list of the treasure and where the Ark of the Covenant can be found are systemically being killed. Jon and Erin Bennet try to find the Key Scroll but terrorists are trying to stop them for if the treasure is found there is no doubt that Israeli Prime Minister Doron will build the third temple and fill it with the treasure from the second temple.

Every book about international events that Joel C. Rosenberg has written has come true in the not so distant future. If his record holds up, Russia will attack Israel but will be destroyed; the treasure from the second temple will be found; and the new Iranian leader is making plans to absorb other nations into a new Arab empire. THE COPPER SCROLL is filled with action, political intrigue and great characterizations as Mr. Rosenberg has written a thriller that is so exciting and fast-paced that readers will feel they are along on the ride of a lifetime

Harriet Klausner

This is pretty good fiction, which means it is better than most everything you will run across. Though I have been a student of Eschatology for over thirty years I found myself reading the tale with the Bible open. I am looking forward to the next offering in this series.

Dr. Michael L. Ford

Jonsquill Ministries