Customer Reviews

The Walls of Jericho (Ben Kamal and Danielle Barnea Novels)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

You can't spend too much time at Book Sales & Bookstores without stumbling upon the many books of Jon Land. But I'd managed to avoid reading one because of their generic Ludlumesque titles--Omega Deception, Doomsday Spiral, Gamma Option, etc. But this book grabbed my attention. With the end of the Cold War, the Middle East seems to offer the most fertile ground for thriller writers. Land has savvily set his 19th novel in the newly independent Palestinian West Bank. The story follows Ben Kamal, an American Arab policeman who has returned to his homeland to help train the Palestinian Police Forces, and Danielle Barnea, a female Shin Bet agent, as they join forces to track down a serial killer, Al-Dib "The Wolf".

This book is a marvel. It contains all that is best and worst in current writing. Land's story is exciting and the plot rockets forward. The characters are extremely likable. The opposition that Kamal and Barnea face from their own bosses & from a hostile populace add a terrific layer of tension. However, the book also has about three endings & just keeps going on & on; it would be much better less 75 pages. And it contains one of the most annoying creatures in modern detective fiction, the rogue hero, in this case ex-Colonel Frank Brickland, who will do the dirty work that our central heroes can not do--think of Hawk in the Spenser series.

With all that, I think if you're about to get on an airplane & you're looking for a good, quick, big-print read, you won't do much better than this one.

GRADE: C+

"The Walls of Jericho" marks a departure from the typical Jon Land thriller. While many of his earlier works were non-stop action, this one is lighter on the action and more on the development of the overall story and character development. One reason for the added character development was due to the introduction of two major new characters -- Ben Kamal and Danielle Barnea. These two are the central figures in all but one of Land's last seven novels.

This one centers around Ben and Danielle's search for a serial killer who has committed a number of murders in the city of Jericho. Their job is to discover the identity of the killer who calls himself the Wolf and capture him before the killings continue. The tracking of the serial killer is reminiscent of Ben's tracking of another serial killer named the Sandman, who in the past had killed his family. Danielle's motivation is to better herself and prove herself to her ailing father.

While tracking the Wolf, Ben and Danielle learn that there's more to the situation than the serial killer. Both Ben's and Danielle's superiors want the Wolf captured to avoid worsening the already tense political situation between their two peoples -- the Israelis and the Palenstinians. As they get deeper into the investigation, they discover a third party is involved which only complicates matters.

"The Walls of Jericho", while still a good read, is not up the standards set by the better of the Blaine McCracken novels ("The Omicron Legion", "The Fires of Midnight", etc.). The storyline moves slowly at times and some characters are introduced only to be quickly removed from the storyline. The third party involved, while integral to the overall plot, felt a bit out of place at times. Overall, it's still a worthy read if you're a fan of Jon Land's works and political thrillers.

I bought this book to try out a new author. I was not dissapointed. A Palestenian detective is paired with a female Shin-Bet investigator to solve a series of serial killings. The Palestenian detective was formerly a detective in Detroit.After the murder of his family he returned home. He and the Shin-Bet agent form a good working relationship that eventually leads to a romantic laison. This book does a good job of describing the worlds of both Palestine and Israel. The team have to deal with some dangerous and seedy characters with their investigation. When they finally reach the guilty parties the killers are very shocking to say the least. A plot to destabilize the peace process is under way. This is definitely a well written book. It also impressed me with Jon Land. Read this. You will not be dissapointed.

I recommend Jon Land to all my friends who read Clive Cussler, Jack Higgins, Randy Wayne White, James Hall and of course Clancy. I consider Dirk, Sean, Thorne, Doc Ford, and Clark and Ryan proper company for Blaine and Johnny and now Ben and Danielle. I thought "Walls" was terrific. Lighten up Jeff. Have some fun.....

First off, by looking at the date of my review, it should come as no surprize that I don't consider myself a Jon Land fan (I bought the book on a whim, over a year after its release). The romantic part of the story was rather predictable...Pakad is a '90s career woman, wants a man, meets Ben, <yawn>. The only disappointment in their relationship was that there were no real friction between the two. Land could have brought the reader on more of a roller coaster ride if these two culturally diverse agents had actually experienced some bad blood before falling in love. The three stars were earned because of the page-turning qualities of the murder(s) and the desire to see what clues would turn up next. Certainly a good read for the murder mystery fan. My only other complaint about the work was that Land did not make use of some of the secondary characters (esp. Brickman) as much as he could have. The good political message coming out of "Walls" however! ! is that Middle East peace is not a black and white issue wherein there are two sides and each of the two sides is at peace with itself.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is the first in a series and I am now working on the third book. It is a well written murder mystery and he really works in the problems going on in the middle east without overwhelming the rest of the story. Great sewries!

I really enjoyed the book and the portrayel of the multi-dimensional arab-israeli conflict. I agree that the relationship between Ben and Danielle was very contrived and just happened out of nowhere, as well as being somewhat hard to believe if Ben was really an arab, but hey.
The book was wonderful.
I can't wait to run out and buy PILLARS OF SOLOMON to see what happens next.

Check out the Unofficial Blaine McCracken/Jon Land Home Page at www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/7015

Jon Land has done it again ! Step aside Mr. Clancy, Mr. Cussler and Mr. Hunter, Jon Land is numero uno when it comes to the action/adventure genre ! The Walls of Jericho is a political thriller that's a "I can't put it down" book (like all of Land's novels). He's created rich, new characters that will hopefully return in a sequel. When is the NY Times going to wake up and review this guy ? They'd be pleasantly surprised ! (Check out web site : www.geocties.com/Athens/Acropolis/7015

A new fan of Jon Land I bought this book on the strength of the reviews. Little more than a cheap detective novel the characters are as shallow as the plot. It was an effort to turn the pages.