d0rkorg

So I just finished reading The Last Jihad by Joel C. Rosenberg, and I’ve got to say I was pleasantly surprised. I had almost written it off as one of the many books that were written hoping to cash in on the 2004 election frenzy. Turns out, it is a worth-while read. The action picks up quickly with an attack on the future POTUS and the chain of events that follow. It slows down a little in the middle of the book, but then picks up again with the climax on the last page. I really enjoyed the author’s style, though he’s not quite a Tom Clancy yet. Some of the technology described in the book isn’t accurate, but I don’t believe that it detracts from the book too much. Also, this is being touted as a good politically conservative book by people such as Rush Limbaugh. While I did get that sense from the book, it almost feels as if the conservative spin was an afterthought because of how the main points of political discussion in the book didn’t quite seem to fit into place. For example, there is one point where the Vice President is ordering a cabinet member to get on the phone with a foreign leader; while dictating what to say, the VP mentions Jimmy Carter’s and Bill Clinton’s failures. It just seemed out of place at the time, given the crisis they were dealing with. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the jabs at the failures, however ;)

I’d suggest this book to anybody looking for a good, fast-paced thriller. I wouldn’t bother mentioning the political aspects of the book, as it isn’t designed to change anybody’s politics.

At the end of the book, things were really left hanging, so now I’ve picked up the sequel, The Last Days. I’ll probably write something up about it next week.