Customer Reviews

The Last Days (Political Thrillers Series #2)

5 star:		(66)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

A sequel to The Last Jihad, this book lives up to the interest of it's predecessor in many respects but gets fairly tedious in laying out the Plan for Peace in the Middle East. Getting to the Peace talks alive and getting out of them alive are really what this book is about. And while the story is about that it bounces along in fine fashion as Jon Bennett, the President's "point man" for the Peace Process and Erin McCoy, his CIA protector and love interest endure more perils than Pauline ever imagined. Those that liked the first book will enjoy this one, for the most part.

Jon Bennett and his bodyguard Erin McCoy attend a historical
summit that is also attended by the U.S. Secretary of State and Yasser Arafat. The Palestinian security becomes a suicide bomber
killing the Secretary of State as well as Arafat. A civil war
breaks out among various faction who want to replace Arafat.Our
hero Bennett and McCoy and their delegation have to find a way out of the west bank.You have two villains,a Russian Gogolov and an Iranian,Jibril who are the masterminds behind all of the plans
of evil.The evil planners have decided to dispatch suicide bomber
squads to the United States.Bennett and McCoy finally escape but
face an attack from terrorist forces bent on their demise.There
is never a dull moment in this book.You will definitely find this
book hard to put down.I hope Joel C. Rosenberg writes more books.
His first two have been outstanding.

The year is 2010. Osama Bin-Laden and Saddam Hussein are dead. Al Qaeda and the Taliban have been neutralized. However, the war on terror is far from over in Joel Rosenberg's new political thriller, "The Last Days," a sequel to the author's successful debut novel, "The Last Jihad." Most of the characters who survived the carnage in the earlier book are back, including Jonathan Bennett and Erin McCoy. Bennett is a tremendously successful Wall Street strategist who gave up the good life to join the staff of his old friend, James MacPherson, the President of the United States. Erin McCoy, a gorgeous CIA operations officer, is Bennett's partner. Bennett and McCoy care romantically for one another, but they never seem to have the time or energy to act on their mutual attraction.

President MacPherson has dispatched Jon Bennett to the Middle East to convince the Israelis and Palestinians to sign a peace treaty. It seems that there are tremendous oil and natural gas reserves off the coast of Israel and Gaza. The United States is willing to help turn these reserves into a multi-billion dollar enterprise if the warring factions decide that it is in their best interests to stop the violence.

Before Bennett can get his "oil for peace" plan off the ground, a shocking act of violence throws the region into turmoil. Jonathan's mission appears to be dead on arrival. Furthermore, he and his comrades find themselves in the middle of a bloody civil war with no obvious means of escape.

Rosenberg's staccato writing style is very effective. "The Last Days" is packed with crisp dialogue, fierce battles, fanatical terrorists, and lots of high tech gizmos and weaponry. Although the characters are rather one-dimensional and the plot is only occasionally realistic, the exciting story barrels along so quickly that the reader gets caught up in the adrenaline rush. In addition, Rosenberg's insights on the geopolitical situation in the Middle East add a valuable dimension to this well-researched book. "The Last Days" will certainly satisfy fans of fast-paced action-adventure novels with a political twist.

The Last Days (2003) is the sequel to The Last Jihad. In the previous volume, an alternate timeline unfolds where Saddam Hussein has bought nuclear weapons from Russia and other sources. When his various plots against the US and Israel have been frustrated, he unveiled his nuclear tipped ICBM, which was hidden within a children's hospital building. As the Iraqis prep the missile for firing on New York City, the US President reluctantly authorized use of tactical nukes against Baghdad to prevent the missile launch. The center of the city disappeared in fire and smoke.

In this novel, Jon Bennett returns to the Holy Land with a US diplomatic team headed by Tucker Paine, the Secretary of State. As they arrive at the Palestinian Authority compound, Yasser Arafat is rolled out in a wheelchair to meet them. The man pushing the chair is the head of Arafat's security, but he detonates an explosive vest that kills Arafat and others around him, including Tucker Paine.

Immediately after the explosion, someone starts firing on the diplomatic convey from across the road. Others start firing from the PA building. Bennett keeps his head down, but it soon becomes obvious that they have to get out of the compound and back to Israeli territory. He climbs behind the wheel of the armored limo, gets everybody left alive back inside, and drives furiously out of the compound and down the road, with Palestinian vehicles chasing him.

Bennett and the other survivors are cut off from the Israelis, but find shelter is a top secret safehouse in an old gutted-out hotel in the Gaza Strip. From there, they contact other US forces in the area and plan an escape. However, severe weather has grounded all aircraft in the area, precluding any rescue until the storm abates.

This story continues the mission to unite the Palestinians and Israelis in a venture to develop trillions of dollars worth of gas and oil into a joint treasure. The death of Yasser Arafat was intended as a setback to this plan, but the self-immolation of the Palestinians militants after his death convinces Palestinian moderates to try another approach. The Palestinian Council selects Ibrahim Sa'id as prime minister. Since Ibrahim is the partner with Dmitri Galishnikov in the Palestinian Petroleum Group that is promoting the gas and oil venture, this is good news to the US. Unfortunately, Ibrahim is also hidden away in the Gaza safehouse with Bennett's party and surrounded by hostile mobs.

Meanwhile, the terrorist organization that has been trying to kill Bennett, and has successfully assassinated Arafat, is searching for the whereabouts of Bennett's party. Contacts throughout the Mediterranean have been alerted to watch for them. Airplanes and boats have been obtained and some special arrangements have been made with Libya. When Bennett and company are found, they are going to find themselves in a small war.

Highly recommended for Rosenberg fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of desperate ventures to defeat evil men in order to solve world problems.

-Bill Jordin

This is a sequel to 'The Last Jihad'. I recommend both books, but they should be read in order and this is the second one.

Rosenberg again wrote a fast paced thriller with an interesting plot and lots of twists. The story also contains a very creative plan for Middle East peace that makes the story very unique. Although the resources may not actually be present to make it happen like they are in the book, one can at least appreciate some of the ideas presented.

One area that he could use some improvement is in research to make the details more accurate. The author obviously isn't familiar with firearms as he talks about a .357 magnum having a safety and reloading it with a clip. As a revolver, this type of pistol doesn't have a safety. Additionally, revolvers don't use clips. One other mistake was in describing a fire in a building, he talked about it providing enough light to see by. When a building is on fire, it is not light inside. It is extremely dark as the smoke prevents one from seeing much of anything.

As this was written two years ago, it also contains some items that have occurred differently than are in the story. That is no fault of the author. The reader just needs to realize when the book was written that Rosenberg was portraying future events. For example, both Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden are dead at the beginning of this book. As we all know, Saddam is in prison and Bin Laden is hiding like the coward that he is.

In addition to a great story line, Rosenberg makes some great points that readers would do well to ponder. In one place, he has the former head of Mossad telling the 'hero' of the story, Jon Bennett, that 'the problem with you Americans is that you don't believe in evil'. He goes on to explain that he believes that 'evil forces make evil men do evil things'. He explains that this awareness of evil missing from the American perspective causes problems for us. He said that because of this, the people at the FBI and CIA, 'and definitely the guys at State - don't properly anticipate horrible, catastrophic events because you don't really believe in the presence of evil ...' He goes on to cite some specific events to support this contention.

After his lesson from the Israeli, Bennett realizes that he is right. He realized that in regard to suicide bombers and other terrorists 'weren't misguided or misunderstood. They were controlled by evil. Pure evil. And evil couldn't be negotiated with. It could only be hunted down, captured, or destroyed.' There are some lessons in this novel that would be helpful for many in our nation to learn.

Bennett is certainly an unlikely and really unrealistic hero. The investment banker turned into an action hero with no training could use some work. Regardless of that and other minor imperfections, Rosenberg has again written a terrific novel. I look forward to his next one.

Joel Rosenberg's new political thriller, "The Last Days," is absolutely riveting, and better than his first (though I liked "The Last Jihad," too). Last Days begins with the assassination of Yasser Arafat and the U.S. Secretary of State, the eruption of a Palestinian civil war, and an attack against a U.S. diplomatic convoy in Gaza, eerily similar to what recently happened. Jon Bennett and Erin McCoy find themselves under seige and trying to escape and the next 92 pages are non-stop action. If that's not enough, the CIA discovers Palestinian suicide bombers are headed to the United States, and a Jewish terrorist group is plotting to blow up the Dome of the Rock and rebuild the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. Woven all the way through is an understated by provocative premise that we are currently living in "the last days," an apocalyptic time before the return of Christ. It all makes for a compelling package, and somehow refreshingly unique and different from Clancy's latest book and other thrillers in this genre.

What makes "Days" work even better than "Jihad", I think, is that it's longer, giving Rosenberg more time to develop the multiple story lines, and the characters. It's not the literature of John Steinbeck, but then again, it's not supposed to be. The oteher thing that works really well is that Rosenberg writes witha real visual flair. As I was reading "The Last Days" (and I raced through it just two days), I could vividly picture everything that was happening, like I was watching it as movie.

Also, the research is really fascinating -- especially the whole subplot about the attack against the Temple Mount. It was engrossing and fast-moving, but I was also learning things I'd never known before, never thought about before.

What's intriguing about both "Days" and "Jihad" is that they feel almost prophetic. How he basically predicted a kamikaze attack on the U.S. and a war with Iraq all before it happened is a story that I'd like to know more about. And I have a feeling "The Last Days" is going to be coming true in some way, shape or form pretty soon as well. I hope not -- it's a scary scenario. But you never know. I'm looking forward to more.

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

I ordered and read the first book in the series, the Last Jihad, and had to wait an agonizing week to get this book, The Last Days. I was smart and actually ordered all the other along with it so I could quickly go from cliffhanger ending to cliffhanger ending!

I could not put the book down! I finished it in less than 2 days (and thats quick for a busy stay at home mom)! The way Joel Rosenberg writes this book, you get entangled into the events and the lives of the characters. It's a very smartly written book and i highly recommend it to anyone...ESPECIALLY if you are a Christian or a student of Biblical prophecy. EVEN IF YOU AREN"T this book will be highly entertaining and it's well worth the time to read it!

On the recommendation of a friend, I picked up Rosenberg's first novel, "The Last Jihad." Fast-paced and timely, the book kept me hooked till the last page.

Once again, Rosenberg starts off with a bang. This time, Jon Bennett and Erin McCoy are under intense fire in Palestine. The casualties mount as they try to escape a brewing civil war. Even as violence escalates, the opportunity for a widesweeping peace agreeement arrives from an unexpected source. As the title suggests, "The Last Days" provides a story that many Christians could enjoy, while also showing some understanding toward the Palestinian situation. With a plot that could fit nicely into an apocalyptic thriller, Rosenberg takes us on a rollercoaster through the Middle East and its conflicts.

He also cheats us at a few points. He leads us through an extended dream sequence, convincing us that it's reality until another chapter. Then, he adds a minor plot thread that is useless to the story and nothing more than an improbable wild goose chase. He does not need this to keep the tension ratcheted. I should've suspected such tactics when I noted that every single chapter starts with a one-line paragraph; this smacks of a writer who doesn't trust his own pacing.

These issues aside, I enjoyed the book. Unfortunately, they left me feeling ambivalent by the end. Perhaps in a third novel, Rosenberg will trust his own storytelling and leave the tricks aside.

Rosenberg quickly moves along this novel about attempting to find peace between Israel and the Palestinians. There are lot's of moments where the good guys are fighting the terrorists that seem just startling real. Almost as though the reader was accompanying Oliver North on secret missions. The chief character is Jon Bennett,a Wall street strategist recruited to be a senior advisor to the President. Bennett just seems to me not to be a believable hero. At least not to the degree he is in this book. The plot,while in general, quite exciting seems to bog down with the details of the peace plan. Still, plenty of excitement!!