Mohamed's Moon: Two brothers reunite... Two cultures collide [Paperback]

Keith Clemons (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 24, 2009

Twin brothers separated at birth grow up worlds apart. Mohamed, raised in Assyut, Egypt, as a devotee of fundamentalist Islam, comes to Paulo Alto, California, to find he has a twin brother, Matthew, he didn't even know existed. Worse, his brother is a Christian and is about to marry the girl he once loved. Within three weeks, Mohamed's militant group plans to bring the United States to its knees, but the operation will destroy both his brother and the woman he believes should rightfully be his.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Mohamed's Moon
By Keith Clemons

Are we enemies...
or brothers?

Two brothers separated at birth grow up worlds apart. Outwardly, they're exactly alike, but inwardly, nothing's the same--one is a devotee of fundamentalist Islam; the other, a Christian. In this modern-day Cain and Abel story, the lines are drawn not just over whose God is right, but also over the fact that they're both in love with the same girl.

It's a conflict with grave repercussions, little hope of resolution--and time is running out. In the background, a plan has been set in motion that will bring the United States government to its knees. Will an unexpected visitation reconcile the brothers in time to save the woman they love--and ultimately, themselves--from the coming devastation?

In his award-winning style, author Keith Clemons delivers a profound comparison between Christianity and Islam, a dichotomy of life versus death, love versus hate, and grace versus legalism. Mohamed's Moon will plunge you into a world where hatred and heinous acts are justified. But if hatred is potent, it pales in comparison to the power of God's love.

About the Author

Keith Clemons is a noted author and lecturer. A native of Southern California, he is a graduate of English literature at California State University-Fullerton. In his former capacity as vice president of marketing for Mytec Technologies Inc., he was a frequent conference speaker. He lives with his wife and daughter in Caledon, Ontario, Canada. Mohamed's Moon is his fifth novel.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Realms (April 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1599795256
• ISBN-13: 978-1599795256
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,723,101 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Belief systems collide in atmospheric romance, August 9, 2009

By 

Violet E. Nesdoly (Vancouver, BC Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mohamed's Moon: Two brothers reunite... Two cultures collide (Paperback)

Medical student Layla thinks she loves Matthew Mulberry enough to accept his ring. Yet she senses there is something he is not telling her. One day she comes face to face with Mohamed El Taher. He's Matthew's double but also a ghost from her past. After that, hers and Matthew's relationship gets even more tangled. However, in Mohamed's Moon Keith Clemons doesn't create only a love triangle but brings the world of two Egyptian expatriates into collision with a cell of calculating killers that has infiltrated America's highest office.

Clemons' skillful storytelling captivates as he whisks us between the present and the past, Egypt and California, and the viewpoints of Matthew, Mohamed and Layla. Through Mohamed we come to understand how a belief system even intent on murder can make sense and have a steely grip on mind and heart. Somehow using his writer's sleight of hand Clemons makes us sympathetic toward all three of the main characters, even though two are bitter rivals.

Clemons weighs in on some significant themes -- inequality between rich and poor (including the amusing irony of the Lexus-driving Mohamed pontificating against America's wealth to his rival, who drives a beat-up VW), forgiveness, and the clash between Christianity and Islam. Mohamed is thoroughly versed in the Qur'an and he and the cavernous-eyed professor Omar quote it often. When Mohamed obtains a Bible, its message of love and forgiveness shocks him. Could this be true?

The portrayal of life in Egypt makes this book especially rich and earns Clemons the label "atmospheric storyteller." The story is full of surprises and suspense -- a book with a taut beginning, middle, and end that's hard to put down.

This is the first of Clemons' books that I've read, but I'd definitely read more. It's not every day you find a writer who tackles a timely and controversial issue in a story so riveting and with such literary finesse.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pleasantly Surprised, September 11, 2009

By 

C. Janes "southernsassygirl" (TN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mohamed's Moon: Two brothers reunite... Two cultures collide (Paperback)

I have to admit....I was really not expecting to like this book. The style is so different from anything else I normally read, and I just prepared myself to get through it and somehow, find something to like about it. Well, I learned something along the way, and that is simply to not set expectations until I've given something a chance. Boy, am I glad I gave Mohamed's Moon a chance! This book was just impossible to put this book down! It had such a fast pace that literally left me on the edge of my seat. Just when I thought I had everything figured out, wham! I'm thrown for a loop, and have to set myself right...over and over again.

Also, it's pretty unusual to have the topic of Islam in a Christian fiction book. I don't think I've ever come across it until now, and I managed to get a little bit of an education in the process. I was not expecting to see passages from the Quran scattered throughout the book, but it really made a difference in the overall tone of the book. If the author had written, "Mohamed remembered a verse from the Quran," but didn't list said verse, it wouldn't have added anything to the book. Instead, he did interject passages from the Quran, and it put a whole different spin on things. I could now see reasons why Mohamed felt about Islam the way he did.

It also made the internal conflict that Mohamed was experiencing so much more believable. Once Mohamed meets his brother, they challenge each other to read the other person's holy book. I didn't doubt that Matthew, Mohamed's brother, would hold true to his Christian upbringing. Mohamed, on the other hand, felt that he had a little more to prove. Not only is he trying to prove to Matthew that Allah is the supreme god, but he's also got to find a way to convince Layla, Matthew's girlfriend and a Christian, that she has strayed. So, he keeps his promise, buys a Bible, and sets out on his course to convert these two "infidels" (all non-Muslims). However, I think he got a little more than he bargained for. :o)

I can say without a doubt that I'm very impressed with Keith Clemons as an author. Choosing such an explosive theme of the coexistance of Christians and Muslims couldn't have been easy, but it's definitely relevant to present times. I certainly hope he's got a sequel in the works, or if not that, something else that follows this same topic. I'll definitely be reading more about it in the future.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An Auto-biography is a Better Choice, January 7, 2011

By 

Jennifer Bogart "@ Quiverfullfamily.com" (Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mohamed's Moon: Two brothers reunite... Two cultures collide (Paperback)

Mohamed and Matthew are twin brothers, separated at birth. Growing up with no knowledge of the other, one was raised as a Christian in America, the other as a militant Muslim in Egypt. Both are now pursuing college degrees, both love soccer, and when they come together suddenly, both realize that they love the same girl.

This fictional exploration of the differences between Islam and Christianity devotes more page time to life as a radical-Muslim. With the target audience consisting primarily of Christians this is understandable, it is the Muslim lifestyle and beliefs that are less familiar to most readers than that of followers of Jesus.

In addition to the suspense created by Mohamed's involvement with jihadists, there is also a certain element of mystery surrounding the past of the twins and how they are linked together. There is also a very low-key romantic triangle, but there isn't a lot of chemistry or emotional draw-in for the reader to be found here.

The character development was somewhat mediocre with Mohamed being the best fleshed out of the characters. Matthew was actually surprisingly shallow, he seemed a perpetual adolescent and the intelligence necessary to pursuing a medical career seemed to be lacking (at least it wasn't expressed in any way in this novel.)

I really wanted to enjoy Mohamed's Moon, but it proved to be only a so-so read. It was interesting enough to keep me reading but the pace was slower than expected. The exploration of Islam draws from actual quotes from the Quran that helps to lend accuracy to Clemons' work, but reading a good auto-biography from an ex-terrorist is a much meatier way to explore life from a jihadist's point of view.