Customer Reviews

The Project

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

 

 

I bought this book on the basis of the Amazon.com blurb. It looked appealing to mystery/thriller fans-first Jewish President and his interactions with the Israelis, with a secret project cooked up by the Israeli Prime Minister. The characters were as shallow as a wading pool. Stereotypical cardboard cutouts populate this little book, which has as much suspense as Tiger Woods' last round at the Masters. The only thing worse than the characterization was the plot. Totally unrealistic and contrived. Without giving any secrets away, the manner in which the journalist friend of the President learns the hidden secret of the Israeli prime minister was so far fetched, and indeed so EASY, that it was as if the author decided he just needed to get on with the climax and get this thing over with. That was certainly my feeling as well

This enjoyable thriller wrily comments on the "Who is a Jew?" question, as well as other issues in Israeli-U.S. politics, while weaving a complex tale of intrigue, based on personal, ethnic, religious, and political loyalties.

I love historical books about Israel, it's conflicts, and politics. I become immersed in details regarding the Mossad, and relations between America and Israel. I also become captivated by exciting fiction thrillers. However, "The Project" just doesn't cut it! The premise teases the reader with hope for an intriquing twist in U.S.-Israeli political relations. An Israeli Prime Minister hoping that America's first Jewish President will be defeated in his bid for election! However, it's rare that the reader has trouble putting the book down. The writing is non-exciting. The dialogue doesn't make you feel you're getting to know these characters. The "twist" near the end of the book, and the premise of the "Project", when the details are revealed, do not make the reader gasp with excitement. I wasn't bored, but definitely wasn't sitting on the edge of my seat while I read the book. Sorry, but this book was a big disappointment. My next "project" will to go back to non-fiction accounts of Israeli intrigue. The real stories have often been much more excitin

Almost a year has passed since a boating accident propelled the Speaker of the House, Dewey Goldberg, into the White House as the first Jewish President of the United States. The election to determine who will lead America into the next century is almost upon the people and Dewey stands a very good chance of being elected on his own right. All that suddenly changes when rumors spread that the Israeli Prime Minister, Elithu Barzel, is going to publicly support Dewey's opponent, Earl Childes, a Christian southern republican. Having a Jewish legend throw his support to the non-Jewish candidate would destroy Dewey's chances of being elected. Dewey asks his friend Charlie Walker, an award winning reporter, to learn why Barzel is supporting the other guy. ........ Charlie flies to Israel to look into Barzel's past. He quickly learns about a horrifying para-military scenario, THE PROJECT that ties next year date to a fundamentalist belief that Armageddon is coming. The force behind this project is Barzel, who plans a radical change in the global power structure. As Charlie learns more about Barzel, he places himself and even the President in jeopardy from an individual who will not allow anything to stop his mad scheme for a nuclear disaster unlike anything the world could ever have imagined ....... THE PROJECT is a great thriller that adeptly deals with the Middle East crisis and foreign nations interfering in our elections (sound familiar?). However, what makes this tale several notches above the typical thriller is the realistic personalities of the secondary characters. They add a special warmth and friendliness to the tale without corrupting the major themes. Zev Chafets is one of the best writers of the nineties, deserving best seller status for this notable work. ......Harriet Klausner

Chafets has taken his spare and perceptive writing style and applied it to a doomsday scenario to assure the future security of Israel. Along the way he throws in enough improbable twists to drive the plot forward to its dramatic conclusion, the closure of a deal. One of the more memorable lines "He creates a problem so that he can come in and solve it, and while doing so extract what he wanted all along." The Project is a quick and breezy "entertainment" that mixes good humor and informed insights about diplomacy and the intertwining of U.S.-Israeli relations. A must read for anyone fascinated by the Middle East and the U.S. involvement there