The Last Jihad by Joel C. Rosenberg

TITLE: THE LAST JIHAD
AUTHOR: JOEL C. ROSENBERG
GENRE: ACTION/SUSPENSE
RATING: 3 1/2 STARS

I really debated over what to rate this book, and ended up deciding on 3 1/2 stars. I'll admit that I had extremely high hopes for this book, and it just didn't quite deliver. But maybe my expectations were a bit too high! After reading the back, I was expecting Vince Flynn level writing and action, and this fell short for me.

First off, when reading this book, you have to keep reminding yourself that it's just fiction. It's written as if Sadam Hussein was still alive and incharge or Iraq, the US hasn't invaded Iraq yet, and Bin Laden has been killed. But that's a pretty minor issue with the book. I mean, it was written a number of years ago, and I can just understand that it's fiction!

I love a book that grabs my attention from the start and just doesn't let go. Yes, this book grabbed my attention, but it didn't keep it. There were a number of parts where I was enthralled with the action, but it just always seemed afterwards to lose my attention. I also had a really hard time believing that in the midst of a MAJOR act of war, the President wants to focus part of his attention on a business deal. Yes, I understand that supposedly this business deal is supposed to completely change the world, but for the moment maybe we should be more focused on all of the bombs, and attacks and such!

There were also way too many characters, and very few of them developed well enough for me to care about them. The focus kept shifting around, from one person to another, and it was happening a bit too often for my liking. At one point, the US was tracking a group of 4 terrorists, called the 4 horsemen. Even though they mentioned that they were some of the most feared terrorists, no other details were really given. I would have loved to have heard a bit more about their past so that I had a real reason to push for them being caught.

Overall though, it was a pretty good story. There were some great moments of action and suspense. I was debating over if I would continue on to the next book in the series. But when I reached the end of this one, I realized that I don't have much choice! It ends on such a major cliff hanger, that I have to know what's going to happen!