The Last Days (Political Thrillers Series #2) (Paperback)

by Joel C. Rosenberg (Author)
Key Phrases: alpha zone, security cabinet, bat cave, United States, White House, Gaza Station (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Rosenberg's sequel to the bestselling The Last Jihad (2002) is a near-clone of its predecessor: an action-packed Clancyesque political thriller with paper-thin characters. Presidential envoy Jon Bennett returns as the protagonist, along with his bodyguard and love interest, Erin McCoy, an "Uzi-toting, Arabic-speaking CIA supermodel." Their efforts to broker a Middle East peace, whose centerpiece is a fortuitously discovered deep oil reserve with the potential to make every Israeli and Palestinian wealthy, are literally blown to pieces when a suicide bomber claims the life of the U.S. secretary of state and Yasser Arafat himself. The surviving members of the American delegation, along with the Palestinian and Israeli entrepreneurs behind the oil-drilling venture, are scrambling frantically to escape from the Gaza Strip when civil war breaks out among the factions grappling to succeed Arafat as leader. Meanwhile, the sinister forces behind the attack seek to wreak further havoc by dispatching teams of terrorists to America while provoking the Israeli government to trigger a wider conflagration by invading the West Bank and Gaza. The author singularly fails to suspend readers' disbelief with his baffling decision to set the action in the year 2010 while simultaneously placing real-life events from 2003 such as the invasion of Iraq and the appointment of Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) as Palestinian prime minister seven years in the future. His efforts to make the book a relevant, "ripped-from-the-headlines" tale are already dated-the real Abu Mazen has resigned his post-and the fantasy solution to the intractable political conflict by a deus ex machina will strike many readers as silly.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
It's the near future. Osama bin Laden is dead; so are Saddam Hussein and his sons. Al-Qaeda and the Taliban have been wiped out. Iraq is in ruins, and it's up to Jon Bennett, the U.S. president's senior advisor, to find a way to rebuild it. Central to this effort is a "massive and spectacular tract of oil and natural gas" discovered in the Mediterranean, a source of wealth that could bring peace to the Middle East. But will 81-year-old Yassar Arafat let peace reign? That becomes a moot point when Arafat is assassinated by a suicide bomber, and our hero, Bennett, is suddenly all that stands between peace and global destruction. Like the first Bennett novel, The Last Jihad (2002), this one is a timely tale of political intrigue and international terrorism. That's the good thing. The bad thing is that (also like its predecessor) the novel features stilted dialogue, crudely drawn characters, and a generally clunky narrative style. The author is clearly an expert in international politics, but his skills as a storyteller have yet to be revealed. Still, Rosenberg is scheduled for interviews with Rush Limbaugh and Hannity and Colmes, which will create demand. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers (August 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1414312733
• ISBN-13: 978-1414312736
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (88 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,715 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, November 8, 2003

By	John R. Linnell (New Gloucester, ME United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Last Days (Political Thrillers Series #2) (Hardcover)

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.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Followup To The Last Jihad!, November 27, 2003

By	Melvin Hunt (Cleveland,, Texas United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Last Days (Political Thrillers Series #2) (Hardcover)

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.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Armageddon in the Middle East., November 16, 2003

By	E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Last Days (Political Thrillers Series #2) (Hardcover)

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.