Customer Reviews

Joshua's Hammer

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

During the Russian occupation of Afghanistan, Saudi Arabian billionaire Osama bin Laden becomes a leader of the resistance. He uses his vast funds and charisma to fight the invaders. When the Soviets depart, the heroic bin Laden calls for a Jihad against the west. He finances terrorist activities that have killed thousands, but now prepares his most horrific scheme to date. He bought a nuclear device from one of the former Soviet Republics, planning to use the mass destruction weapon in the United States.

The CIA knows he will strike soon, but surprisingly bin Laden instead asks, through a circuitous path, for a meeting with a high-ranking agent. Deputy Director of Operations Kirk McGarvey goes to meet with the terrorist in Afghanistan, but a foul up occurs. The Americans launch a missile strike that kills bin Laden's precious teenage daughter. There is no room left for discussion as the stricken father sends an emissary to kill Kirk's daughter as well as the child of the President. Only Kirk stands in the way of an eye for an eye.

David Hagberg is one of the more interesting writers of thrillers in the new millennium. His works rival that of Clancy, Koontz, and Cornwell. With JOSHUA'S HAMMER, he probably surpassed these notable authors. The heart thumping story line is a chilling thriller that gets inside the heart and soul of its cast, humanizing a terrorist and a CIA operative. Mr. Hagberg turns the genre into his personal playing field with this realistic drama that never eases up the throttle.

Harriet Klausner

This is a very fast moving novel that captured me almost from the first moment. It is simultaneously a sympathetic view of Osama bin Laden and the United States intelligence and antiterrorist efforts. In Kirk McGarvey, the deputy director for operations Hagberg has created a believable hero with a believable family and very human frailties. This book is a cross between Tom Clancy and Ian Fleming. Assume that bin Laden acquires a tactical nuclear weapon that is easy to hide (they do exist, both we and the Russians have them, some of the Russian depots have been unpaid, and the system could leak.)

The plot involves bin Laden sympathizers in Central Asia that may have infiltrated the vulnerable Russian system. Bin Laden wants to use this threat to achieve an American withdrawal from his homeland of Saudi Arabia. The United States deciding it can take no chances launches a preemptive strike using Tomahawk cruise missiles to hit bin Laden's camp. Nevertheless, the action neither kills him nor hurts the nuclear weapon. Bin Laden then decides to use the weapon in the United States and specifically targets someone close to the President who is in a very public setting along with thousands of other people. It will get you to think hard about the real dangers of terrorism and the challenge of creating a strong enough system to defeat it. I am going to look for more novels by Hagberg.

Ever since I picked up my first Kirk McGarvey novel about 7 years ago, I have been been a HUGE fan of David Hagberg and he has done nothing but inspire that trust in novel after fantastic novel of high adventure and international intrigue. 'Joshua's Hammer' is easily one of the best McGarvey tales yet. An absolutely riviting yarn which walks the fine line between fiction and reality.

First off a meeting is arranged with notorious world terrorist Osama Bin Laden. Apparently Osama wants things to change, and he needs the help of America in order to pull it off...but the CIA sends their chief of station from Saudi Arabia and Osama only wants someone higher up to make the arrangements. But before that happens the former Chief of Station and his entire family are killed vacationing in Orlando. Did Osama order the hit, or was it one of his underlings? Kirk McGarvey steps in and decides to find out by going himself to negotiate with Osama. Kirk has a GPS chip implanted on his body so the CIA will always know exactly where he is...and if something goes wrong, the President is strong-armed into ordering an attack. Osama apparently is dying of cancer and wants to return back to Saudi Arabia, but that cannot happen unless things change, and it looks as though the beginning of a possible truce is forged between him and Kirk...but not before the GPS chip is discovered and surgically removed, and accidentally broken. Washington now believes Kirk to be dead, and before he can get word otherwise to the powers-that-be in DC, the attack is launched on Osama's compound.

This is where the story goes from fast right into high gear. Osama is spared in the aftermath, but his daughter is killed, and now the filthy American Infidels MUST pay. Osama's bargaining chip was a small suitcase-sized nuclear weapon he purchased from a weapons depot in one of the Soviet Union's many break-off nations. Obtained with the ultimate hope of forcing America to accept peace on Osama's terms, now is scheduled to be transported to San Francisco only to be detonated under the Golden Gate Bridge during a Special Olympics footrace...a race that stands out because the President's mentally handicapped daughter will be running in it. The race is truly on. Can Kirk stop them? Will they truly detonate this 1-kiloton device? Finding out the answers is really a great deal of the fun that this novel provides--which it has aplenty, too. Not just good, but a GREAT example of a novel charged with excitement literally from page ONE. Trust me, get to know Kirk McGarvey, and soon you too will understand why he is compared constantly to Jack Ryan and Dirk Pitt. Highly Recommended.

Since I first read Critical Mass, Hagberg has had me hooked as a reader. I read Clancy, Bond, and others, but Hagberg seems to have more of an edge, like he's actually lived this life of covert operations. When I read Joshua's Hammer and the plot unfolded to involve Osama Bin-Laden, I was again hooked. When I learned that Bin-Laden indeed was thought to have cancer, it hit me that either Hagberg had this information through his intelligence circles well before us, or he just made a really good guess.

I believe that his dynamic, realistic writing style owes a great deal to credible research done in the field by either Hagberg or some of his unnamed associates. The Bin-Laden storyline gives further credibility to this and in my mind establishes Hagberg as the pre-eminent author of this genre.

I have been an avid reader of David Hagberg since Countdown. Each novel is better than the last. Joshua's Hammer gave me the feeling that I was able to get a look into the life of Osama bin Laden; realizing of course it is fiction. I have always found Hagberg's knowledge of "the secret" world of spys and high-tech intelligence a little creepy to say the least. Joshua's Hammer is no exception. To anyone who has never read Hagberg, you are missing out. I anticipate ever new "work of art" he puts out.

David Hagberg has once again written a good book. This book has good characters,an outstanding plot,and excellent action.I was very impressed with the use of Osama bin Laden in this book. Hagberg also displayed how large and far reaching bin Laden's terrorist network is.Kirk McGarvey once again plays the role of hero to the max. He once again saves the day. His daughter also steps up to the forefront in this book. One of the more sinister characters in this book is bin Laden's chief of staff Bahmad.He is one of the more evil people that Hagberg has used.In this book bin Laden goes on a mission of vengance witk a purchased nuclear device.The United States through the efforts of McGarvey must find a way to stop this plan. The book is one of nonstop action as the forces of good do battle with the forces of evil.You are given a good look at Bin Laden's
terrorist empire in Afghanistan.Even more haunting is the fact
that this book was written before 9/11. This book has it all. Buy this book and read it. You will not be dissapointed.

(This reviewer read the novel prior to 9/11/01, but wrote the review after that fateful day)

Those who enjoy the adventures of James Bond or the thrill of Tom Clancey will probably be favorably impressed with David Hagberg's novel. It takes the reader behind the scenes of the current world situation. There is the obligatory love story. Interwoven, though, is an intense drama about preventing the world's number one terrorist, Usama bin Laden, from detonating a nuclear bomb aimed to destroy the daughter of the President of the United States as well as one of the nation's most loved cities.

It has all of the intrigue of the 1960's Man From U.N.C.L.E. Yet, the author presents facts that,though the average reader won't know how accurate they are, give a chilling look at the mind of the terrorist. When reading the book prior to the bombing of the WTC and the Pentagon, much of the action seemed overstated. WRONG! This novel's plot is no longer impossible to dismiss as "just a story." It is a mirror of our times.

It's a good story and well written. The action is moving and the suspense is gripping. Well worth the read.

Good airplane novel with the occasional passage that chills you to the bone, based on how prescient Hagberg was - given current events. It's written in a plodding style, and would have benefitted from an editor - the words shear/sheer, worse/worst being misused constantly, among others. A decent tale; didn't toss it, didn't cut my fingers racing to turn the page.

Story line above

Overall I think David Hagberg does a fine job in his latest thriller. The action and dialogue in the first two thirds of the book is great. Towards the end it seemed that Hagberg couldn't keep it as intense and I found myself drifting. I also found interesting, McGarvey's-or is it Hagbergs?-love of the philosophy of Voltaire

Recommended

The plot intrigues, and the dialogue works, more of less, but someone fell down on editing this book. It is redundant to the point of being overwritten, and the skill level of the writing is sophomoric---high school, not college.