Review of East Wind, 2nd edition
Posted: 19 Oct 2022, 23:05
[Following is a volunteer review of "East Wind, 2nd edition" by Jack Winnick.]
December 9, 2013, was that ill-fated day at Marina del Rey, an exclusive man-made harbor in Los Angeles when a nuclear bomb exploded killing thousands and reducing the town to rubble. Jack Winnick in his book East Wind, not only captures the havoc and destruction caused by the bomb but delves behind the scenes to expose the planning of Hezbollah and desperate attempts by the FBI and Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, to foil the threatened future nuclear explosions and track and destroy Hezbollah’s network of terrorists deployed in USA universities under the guise of foreign students. Uri Levin, a member of Metsada the special operations arm of Mossad, and Lara Edmond, an FBI agent, and a computer wizard had teamed up at FBI headquarters in the USA, to decode and decipher thousands of coded messages even before the bomb exploded. Uri after one of his raids against Hezbollah’s terrorists had discovered papers and documents in Arabic, which he sent as routine to Mossad Headquarters. It was discovered after scanning the papers that a software, Opera, which allowed access to and construction of web pages was being used to communicate across the terrorist network. The bomb at Marina del Rey was smuggled in through a boat and exploded, taking the FBI and other agencies by surprise. The threat by Hezbollah of a second bombing sent federal agents scrambling to find terrorists on campuses, including Hossein, who developed the bomb. Hezbollah had chosen Walid a devout Muslim and a student at UCLA to receive and detonate the bomb and be martyred in the process. However, Walid panicked minutes before the bomb exploded and escaped. Sought by Hezbollah, which meant a horrible death and the FBI, he stood at the crossroads. As Uri and Lara desperately try to locate the bombing site of the second bomb the fate of the targeted city hangs in the balance. Together with Uri and Lara, the readers will learn the outcome of the search.
Jack Winnick excels in his vivid and eloquent portrayal of people, places, and events. In East Wind, the prologue is hair-raising as he describes in slow motion the impact of a nuclear explosion on the human body. Winnick in his book East Wind fully justifies the genre C/T/M/H. Each aspect of crime, thriller, mystery, and horror is narrated and described so eloquently that it takes an effort to consider it fiction. Jack Winnick of course has the advantage of his nuclear technology background that helped him to explain in detail the development of an indigenous nuclear bomb. Even a novice with no science background would be interested in the process, not to mention the knowledge he gains. Jack Winnick demonstrates extensive research into the operations of Mossad, the Hezbollah network, the history of Israel and Palestinian issues, and the perspective of the Arab, Iranian and Pakistani communities. Even the Quran and hadith have been quoted. Aspects of Muslim culture, such as greetings, local dresses, and food have been vividly described. Skepticism prevails and eyebrows are raised as Jack Winnick unveils the intrigues, connivance, politics, and corruption running through the FBI, Homeland Security, LAPD, and other agencies. The book East Wind is a revelation to those who are not familiar with the planned and organized manner in which terrorists work. It also provides a glimpse into the operations of the agencies tasked with countering terrorist activities.
Some factors may affect the flawless rating of the book. Foremost, despite Jack Winnick’s expertise and knowledge of nuclear technology the designing and development of a nuclear bomb in a makeshift facility by a relatively inexperienced engineer seems rather far-fetched. Secondly, although I have commended the author on his research, some major gaps in research appear in the description of the Kaaba in Walid’s dream (Page 185 location 3428). NED University was mentioned as one of the most distinguished universities of the subcontinent (Page 29 location 733) which is untrue. By treating the book as fiction, we could ignore the oversight, but some content could be of concern to the Muslim community as a whole.
East Wind is professionally edited and has no major spelling or grammatical errors. As mentioned earlier the story fits perfectly into the genre of C/T/M/H and keeps the reader fully engrossed. I would rate the book 3 out of 4 stars.
The book is recommended for non-Muslim adults who enjoy fast-paced action thrillers but should be aware of some scenes that contain extreme violence and bodily harm.
******
East Wind, 2nd edition
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
December 9, 2013, was that ill-fated day at Marina del Rey, an exclusive man-made harbor in Los Angeles when a nuclear bomb exploded killing thousands and reducing the town to rubble. Jack Winnick in his book East Wind, not only captures the havoc and destruction caused by the bomb but delves behind the scenes to expose the planning of Hezbollah and desperate attempts by the FBI and Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, to foil the threatened future nuclear explosions and track and destroy Hezbollah’s network of terrorists deployed in USA universities under the guise of foreign students. Uri Levin, a member of Metsada the special operations arm of Mossad, and Lara Edmond, an FBI agent, and a computer wizard had teamed up at FBI headquarters in the USA, to decode and decipher thousands of coded messages even before the bomb exploded. Uri after one of his raids against Hezbollah’s terrorists had discovered papers and documents in Arabic, which he sent as routine to Mossad Headquarters. It was discovered after scanning the papers that a software, Opera, which allowed access to and construction of web pages was being used to communicate across the terrorist network. The bomb at Marina del Rey was smuggled in through a boat and exploded, taking the FBI and other agencies by surprise. The threat by Hezbollah of a second bombing sent federal agents scrambling to find terrorists on campuses, including Hossein, who developed the bomb. Hezbollah had chosen Walid a devout Muslim and a student at UCLA to receive and detonate the bomb and be martyred in the process. However, Walid panicked minutes before the bomb exploded and escaped. Sought by Hezbollah, which meant a horrible death and the FBI, he stood at the crossroads. As Uri and Lara desperately try to locate the bombing site of the second bomb the fate of the targeted city hangs in the balance. Together with Uri and Lara, the readers will learn the outcome of the search.
Jack Winnick excels in his vivid and eloquent portrayal of people, places, and events. In East Wind, the prologue is hair-raising as he describes in slow motion the impact of a nuclear explosion on the human body. Winnick in his book East Wind fully justifies the genre C/T/M/H. Each aspect of crime, thriller, mystery, and horror is narrated and described so eloquently that it takes an effort to consider it fiction. Jack Winnick of course has the advantage of his nuclear technology background that helped him to explain in detail the development of an indigenous nuclear bomb. Even a novice with no science background would be interested in the process, not to mention the knowledge he gains. Jack Winnick demonstrates extensive research into the operations of Mossad, the Hezbollah network, the history of Israel and Palestinian issues, and the perspective of the Arab, Iranian and Pakistani communities. Even the Quran and hadith have been quoted. Aspects of Muslim culture, such as greetings, local dresses, and food have been vividly described. Skepticism prevails and eyebrows are raised as Jack Winnick unveils the intrigues, connivance, politics, and corruption running through the FBI, Homeland Security, LAPD, and other agencies. The book East Wind is a revelation to those who are not familiar with the planned and organized manner in which terrorists work. It also provides a glimpse into the operations of the agencies tasked with countering terrorist activities.
Some factors may affect the flawless rating of the book. Foremost, despite Jack Winnick’s expertise and knowledge of nuclear technology the designing and development of a nuclear bomb in a makeshift facility by a relatively inexperienced engineer seems rather far-fetched. Secondly, although I have commended the author on his research, some major gaps in research appear in the description of the Kaaba in Walid’s dream (Page 185 location 3428). NED University was mentioned as one of the most distinguished universities of the subcontinent (Page 29 location 733) which is untrue. By treating the book as fiction, we could ignore the oversight, but some content could be of concern to the Muslim community as a whole.
East Wind is professionally edited and has no major spelling or grammatical errors. As mentioned earlier the story fits perfectly into the genre of C/T/M/H and keeps the reader fully engrossed. I would rate the book 3 out of 4 stars.
The book is recommended for non-Muslim adults who enjoy fast-paced action thrillers but should be aware of some scenes that contain extreme violence and bodily harm.
******
East Wind, 2nd edition
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon