Customer Reviews

Prayers for the Assassin. Robert Ferrigno

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I won't rehash the storyline here; you can read that in the publishing reviews.

I will preface by saying that I spent five years living in the Middle East, and I have to say that based on my experience Ferrigno accurately captures the mind-set and atmosphere that pervades societies run by Muslim theocrats.

This book should serve as a wake-up call for those who value traditional Western values in today's atmosphere of radical Islamo-fascism. In that respect it's very Orwellian.

But better still, there's a really good story wrapped into this package, and I jammed through this book very quickly. The characters are fully fleshed out, engaging, and believable. You really like the good guys, and hate the bad guys. Darwin, the "Assasin", is a terrific villain; complex, many-faceted, extremely dangerous; kind of an athletic Hannibal Lechter without the medical degree. The plot is tight, complex and believable; the climax is satisfying.

I really recommend this book. Ferrigno's done a great job, and this has prompted me to see if he's written other books which I haven't yet read so I can get hold of them.

I read this book in 2 days, couldn't put it down, or shut up about it!If you enjoyed "The Handmaid's Tale" by Attwood, you'll recognize the world tipped on it's head, though with even greater horror and worse, the very real plausibity of it! Just look around and watch the Islamic world riot and terrorize and threaten beheadings for caricatures/cartoons published in Denmark, and listen for the moderate islamic voices--they're no where to be found. You'll love the strong characters who stay with you long after you've finished reading. You will also no longer view current world events in the same way. You will shudder at the looming possibity. Another fun task I had was looking for areas that seem like "clues" for a message hidden in the "mistakes" in the text. I'm reading the book again with a closer eye toward this. Such as the character Marian on one page being referred to as Miriam on the page opposite; and the scene in the roller rink described on the left hand page and the character sliding on the ice on the opposite page; then further down the page going back and referring to the singing wheels on the skates! No way is this a sloppy book. I'm having great fun with it. Haven't enjoyed a book like this in quite awhile. So I'm off to buy 4 more books to give to friends.

Robert Ferrigno does make some glaring mistakes in his presentation of Islam. In the new society it seems as if he freely mixes Sunni and Shi'ite together, naming an airport after Khomeini (a Shi'ite), yet using the term, "imam" in the Sunni sense of the word. And Ferringno clearly has little understanding of the exclusively Shi'ite practice of "muta'a" ("pleasure marriage" or temporary marriage). There is more to Shi'ite temporary marriage than Ferrigno has it with johns driving into the ruins of Disneyland, banging hookers and when finished merely pronouncing three times: "I divorce thee." Muta'a is not condoned or practiced by the world's majority Sunni Muslim community. Even most Shi'ites today are embarrassed of it. As for calling the headscarf "habib," Ferrigno never called it any such thing! The term he uses is "hajib" which is probably an honest to goodness typo for "hijab" (by the way, "hajib" was the term used for a court official in Muslim Spain and North Africa).

I believe the previous reviewer is trying to make Ferrigno out as some sort of bigot or islamophobe. I don't see it. Rather, although there is harsh prejudice against the remaining Catholic minority, he shows that the majority of Americans in the world of PRAYERS FOR THE ASSASSIN are now Muslims and they just want to live their lives in peace and happiness. That is why there is a small faction of hardliners (the Dark Robes) trying to impose a Talibani style of society and also why you have the Hasan-i-Sabah wannabe, the "Old One" conspiring to bring about the rebirth of the Caliphate. Let us also not forget that the heroes of this story, Rakkim and Sarah, are both proud Muslims.

All that being said, let me just add that this is still one fantastic novel. Ferrigno incorporates the best elements of the thriller and the alternative history and future shock genres into one supercharged and gripping tale of a broken and demoralized America.

I believe Ferrigno is making some clever and pointed statements about the spiritual state of affairs in America with this book.
We now live in a land where the mall, not the church, is now the center of town. In a time when you need to wait in line for almost anything but a seat at church. More Americans nowadays care to know every triviality about their favorite actors, athletes, singers, even pornstars, than what is going on in their government, their religion, their world. Ferrigno created a world where these negative trends and selfish pursuits of ours might take us. The celebrity and the popular culture are what really matters for far too many Americans today. Note that where in real life the values of faith and family and tradition are still strong - the South and Utah, or amongst the Latino Catholic populations in the Southwest, Ferrigno has them in his novel to be either independent of the Islamic Republic or on the verge of rebellion.

Ferrigno's seems to understand that when you no longer believe in 'something,' you are now open to believe in 'anything.'

I picked up this book last week at the bookstore, never heard of the author before but it looked interesting. Let me say it was a good decision! This is one of the most stimulating thrillers I have ever read, and I have since been surprised to learn he has written 8 other novels (I'll be going back to check them out). The story is set in 2040, the U.S. is awash in civil strife after a Washington DC and New York are leveled by a Nuclear attack. The nation has been split into two sections: The Islamic States of America to the north and the Bible Belt to the south. Sarah Dougan is a moderate Muslim who uncovers that the nuclear attacks on the US were planned by a Muslim billionaire and not the Israelis who had taken the fall. To make matters worse this fanatical Muslim billionaire now plans to take over the southern United States! Sarah and her lover Fakkim Epps (a Former Muslim warrior) must make there way across an almost unrecognizable U.S. as they avoid and then clash with a demoniac assassin sent to kill them. The setting of a futuristic America are brilliantly described with plenty of cool details, and the violent action is non stop! Top this off with a controversial plot and you have something beyond the ordinary thriller! If you are looking for something different you have it here.

Here's the essential problem --- the foundation of the story isn't believable. Ferrigno bases his plot on the idea that the world believes that a nuclear attack on New York City, Washington, DC and Mecca in 2015 is the work of Israeli agents. As a result, most of the USA converts to Islam, with a group of the southern states breaking away to form a Christian nation.

It doesn't ring true. A novelist, particularly someone writing speculative fiction, asks his readers to suspend disbelief, but he has to present a realistic premise. Why would anyone believe that Israel, which depends on America for its survival, would attack US cities and then throw in Mecca for good measure? And even if you believed Israelis were responsible for the attack, why would you lose your faith and convert to Islam?

Nevertheless, I ignored this ridiculous concept and kept reading. The action is set in 2040. Sarah Dougan, a respected historian, isn't convinced it was an Israeli attack, so she begins to dig into the story. When the Old One, the mysterious Muslin actually responsible for the attack, learns of Sarah's investigation, he hires Darwin, a deadly [...], to take care of Sarah. With the assistance of Rakkim Epps, her secret lover, Sarah races to uncover the true terrorist while Darwin murders just about everyone she contacts.

Once I pushed aside the premise, I found a gripping thriller that kept my interest. Ferrigno should be commended for a balanced portrayal of Islam; even depicting Sarah and Rakkim as moderate Muslims.

Overall, Prayers for the [...] is a pretty good near-future thriller.

Dan Ronco is the author of Unholy Domain and PeaceMaker.

I ordered "Prayers" fully expecting to be sitting up reading it straight through the night. Instead, I could read only a few pages at a time. It took me several weeks to finish the book.

Why? It wasn't because the story was not gripping, or well-plotted, or suspenseful. It certainly was all of that. My laggard pace was due to the frightening realism with which Ferrigno presents a terrifying, depressing picture of our U.S.A, broken and demolished by Islamic radicals.

I read in tiny increments because the tragedy and horror of the story is too possible--perhaps even too probable--to bear in large portions. For that reason alone, every concerned American should read this book.

Kathy Carroll
www.oneclearcall.blogspot.com

This is probably the first (that I've seen, anyway) post-9/11 futuristic novel. The premise at first seems preposterous: Israeli operatives use suitcase nukes to destroy New York City and Washington DC, and damage Mecca so that it's radioactive (people who go there often develop cancer afterwards). The world blames Israel for this, it's destroyed (with the refugees fleeing to Russia, of all places), and the United States collapses into a Civil War. After years of bloody fighting, an uneasy truce emerges, with four entities within the boundaries of the USA. Most of the country is now Muslim, the Islamic States of America, which encompasses most of the country. The Old South is now a country known for some reason as Bible Belt (you'd think they'd have something more formal for a name), and Utah (full of Mormons) and Nevada (a sort of no rules or laws free state) are at least nominally independant. The ISA and the Bible Belt still engage in a sort of very bloody cold war.

The original Zionist Betrayal, as it's termed in the book, took place in 2015, and the book itself is set in 2040. Seattle is the new capitol of the ISA (I think Ferrigno lives there, so he's setting something in his hometown) and most of the book takes place there. The main character is Rakkim Epps, a fedayeen shadow warrior. These are essentially superspies who fight only with knives, and who are experts at blending into the scenery, moving quietly, etc. Rakkim's retired now, and he runs a bar in the Lawless Zone, which resembles the backdrop of Blade Runner. His adoptive father, Redbeard, is the head of State Security, and when Redbeard's neice, Sarah, disappears, Redbeard asks Rakkim to find her.

Most of the main characters in the book are Muslim. One difficulty I had with the book is that Muslims tend to be pretty culturally imperialistic in favor of Arabs: most converts are encouraged to change their names into Arabic. Instead, here everyone seems to have ignored that and kept their names Western, while otherwise becoming Muslims. I suspect Ferrigno may have felt that the Arabic names would make the plot more impermeable, and the characters more foreign-sounding.

The plot in something like this tends to be pretty secondary to the characters and the background. In this case it's rather like the background is from the movie Blade Runner (as noted above) and the characters and plot (such as it is) is lifted from the Robert Harris novel Fatherland. This isn't bad (I actually liked the concept here better than Fatherland, and I think Ferrigno's a better novelist than Harris) and while I wasn't surprised by much that was presented in the book, I found much of it believable, if not intriguing. The plot is rather predictable, though, and somewhat pedestrian.

Do I think it could happen? No, not really. The problem with that pronouncement is that no one (no one intelligent, anyway) predicted the sudden collapse of the USSR, and they're a distant memory from 15 years ago. Frankly I'm not so sure how much of the denunciation of this premise is realism, and how much is wishful thinking. We'd all *like* to think it couldn't happen, but does that mean it's impossible?

The nuclear explosions in Washington, New York, and Mecca provide the historical backdrop for Ferrigno's exceptional detective story: a world turned on its head. Evidence that these devastating attacks were orchestrated by "Zionist agents" changes the course of history.

In America, the combination of post-attack sympathy for Islam and several Hollywood celebrity conversions causes massive upheavals. The federal government in shambles, the blue states form an Islamic Republic (capitol: Seattle) while the red states form their own Christian Republic (capitol: Atlanta). After decades of violence between the two, by 2040 an uneasy truce has been established.

In the Islamic Republic, three political elements battle for control: the State Security forces under the control of moderate politico Redbeard; the fundamentalist Black Robes, led by firebrand cleric Ibn Azziz; and a shadow organization led by "the Old One". When Redbeard's neice Sarah -- an accomplished author -- begins to investigate the terrorist attacks, her book's proposed title ("The Zionist Betrayal?") sets off alarms throughout the Islamic Republic. And the Old One is especially determined to find and terminate this troublesome female.

Unnerved at his fraying plans, the Old One unleashes his ultimate weapon against her: a psycophathic Fedayeen assassin named Darwin. Sarah, though, is a dogged detective and she has an especially experienced and capable bodyguard. Rakkim Epps, an orphan also raised in Redbeard's household and who later served as a "Shadow Warrior" (special ops commando) in the elite Fedayeen, is reunited with Sarah at Redbeard's request. Together, Rakkim and Sarah circumnavigate the Western states trying to stay a step ahead of Darwin while tracking down the real instigator of the 2015 nuclear attacks.

The detective story on its own is excellent, but it is Ferrigno's rich level of detail that must be read to be appreciated. In the background, he describes an America transformed into an Islamic Republic, with new social mores, "Ask the Imam" radio talk-show dialogue, and even midday prayers at the Superbowl. This tapestry, combined with an excellent action-adventure plot, makes for a fascinating (and somewhat terrifying) story.

This book could not be more topical and so easily read. I expect its Islamic hero is at least one reason it hasn't gotten much comment and that's a shame because this is such a fine thriller/mystery/book. A terrific read. I sent it to my brother, my father-in-law and several friends.

Imagine a near-future world in which the U.S. has been upset by an Islamic revolution in the aftermath of hideous nuclear attacks. Fascinating book so well written; and on top of that, a really good thriller. This book fulfills on so many levels one almost must groan in delight.

I really enjoyed this book although when I first saw it on the library shelves I was a little dubious.

Playing off events similar (but far worse) than 9/11 this book weaves a typical thriller tale with an Islamic twist.

The premise: Terrorists (but not who you'd expect) attack the US and in the wake of the attacks America converts to an Islamic state. The book deals with an academic uncovering previously unknown information and the attempts to find her and protect her (for the protagonist) and silence her (for the antagonist).

While the book is very fun you will need to suspend some disbelief. I had a hard time with the idea that the US would convert to Islam (under any circumstances). Additionally, a few of the main characters, while fun to follow, seem to have martial skills that defy belief.

The writing is solid and doesn't get in the way of the story - which I'd submit is an important skill for a thriller writer. The need to maintain narrative thrust should trump the desire for "fancy" writing for these types of books.

All that said - this was a very fun, fast read that I'd suggest to anyone who likes thrillers.

For myself - i'll be checking out some of Robert Ferrigno's other books.