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.

From AudioFile
In this sequel to THE LAST JIHAD, Rosenberg returns readers to a Middle East poised on the brink of peace between Palestinians and Israelis. In one act of terrorism, this fragile hope is shattered, and the world is once more plunged into chaos. The story is rich with detail, topical references, interesting characters, and logical conclusions. Reader Patrick G. Lawlor does an admirable job in keeping the action flowing. J.L.C. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

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

Review
"The break out novel of the year!"-Sean Hannity on The Last Jihad


Book Description
Osama bin Laden is dead.
Saddam Hussein is buried.
Baghdad lies in ruins.

Now the eyes of the world are on Jerusalem as Jon Bennett - a Wall Street strategist turned senior White House advisor - his beautiful CIA partner Erin McCoy, and the U.S. Secretary of State arrive in the Middle East to meet with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

On the table: a dramatic and potentially historic Arab-Israeli peace plan, of which Bennett is the chief architect. At the heart of the proposed treaty is the discovery of black gold deep underneath the Mediterranean - a vast and spectacular tract of oil and natural gas that could offer unprecedented riches for every Muslim, Christian, and Jew in Israel and Palestine.

But in the shadows lie men whose hearts are filled with evil - men who do not relish a post-Saddam era, men for whom the prospect of a Palestinian peace accord with Israel goes against everything for which their fathers have fought and died. Such men - and the countries that finance them - are ready to do anything necessary to slaughter those who stand in their way. The clock is ticking. Can Bennett, McCoy, and the American president make peace before the Middle East once again erupts in war?

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Osama bin Laden is dead. Saddam Hussein is buried. Baghdad lies in ruins. Now the eyes of the world are on Jerusalem as Jon Bennett - a Wall Street strategist turned senior White House adviser - his beautiful CIA partner Erin McCoy, and the U.S. secretary of state arrive in the Middle East to meet with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

On the table: a dramatic and potentially historic Arab-Israeli peace plan, of which Bennett is the chief architect. At the heart of the proposed treaty is the discovery of black gold deep underneath the Mediterranean - a vast and spectacular tract of oil and natural gas that could offer unprecedented riches for every Muslim, Christian, and Jew in Israel and Palestine.

With the international media closely tracking the story, the American message is as daring as it is direct: Both sides must put behind them centuries of bitter, violent hostilities to sign a peace treaty. Both sides must truly cooperate on drilling, pumping, refining, and shipping the newly found petroleum. Both sides must work together to develop a dynamic, new, integrated economy to take advantage of the stunning opportunity. Then - and only then - the United States will help underwrite the billions of dollars of venture capital needed to turn the dream into reality.

But in the shadows lie men whose hearts are filled with evil - men who do not relish a post-Saddam era, men for whom the prospects of a Palestinian peace accord with Israel goes against everything for which their fathers have fought and died. Such men - and the countries that finance them - are ready to do anything necessary to slaughter those who stand in their way. The clock is ticking. Can Bennett, McCoy, and theAmerican president make peace before the Middle East once again erupts in war?

FROM THE CRITICS

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. $350,000 ad/promo. (Oct. 21) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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