Review by NetMassimo -- East Wind, 2nd edition
16 posts
[Following is a volunteer review of "East Wind, 2nd edition" by Jack Winnick.]
East Wind, 2nd edition by Jack Winnick is a thriller with deep roots in the current international situation. Lara Edmond is an FBI agent who's running an Internet surveillance program that aims to discover online terrorist activities. Uri Levin is a Mossad agent who generally conducts difficult field operations against terrorists. When a terrorist infiltration in the USA leads to a nuclear threat, the USA and Israel's interests align. Lara and Uri must work together to prevent a heavy loss of life in attacks that could devastate the USA and break the alliance with Israel.
This novel introduced Lara and Uri, the protagonists of what has become a series of thrillers. They complement each other's skills because Lara is specialized in using computers in her intelligence work while Uri is accomplished in field work. Some background is included for both of them to allow the readers to understand how they do their jobs. This is not 007-style espionage: there's a lot of action, but it's a task based especially on intelligence. Lara and Uri have to work with other American law enforcement agencies, and the problems coming from inter-agency rivalries and miscommunications are developed throughout the novel.
The threat faced by Lara and Uri in this novel comes from Hezbollah using terrorists who infiltrated the USA. Jack Winnick offers some background for some of them to help the readers understand how they got recruited by the organization, why they're ready to devote their lives to the destruction of the USA, and how they were able to operate in the USA.
Propaganda in a crucial element present throughout the novel. Hezbollah's members at the center of the story are not crazy people, but fell for anti-USA and anti-Israeli propaganda pushed by Islamist groups using religion as a weapon. Even in the USA you can hear some kinds of propaganda, though Jack Winnick focused on the type connected to the American presence in the Middle East and to Israel.
I appreciated Jack Winnick's descriptions of the many aspects of today's international situation that led to a realistic plot. He avoided using too much jargon and, in some cases, long technical descriptions offering only relevant information. In my opinion it was a good compromise to offer a good overall picture avoiding an excess of details, though in some occasions that led to simplifications in the descriptions.
Overall, I found the various elements well blended for a story full of tension. Sometimes there are profanities, but in general the language is mild for this kind of novel. There are mild sexual innuendos connected to Lara and Uri's mutual attraction. The novel is well edited though occasional errors such as a few with quotation marks make me think that the 2nd edition needed a bit more proofreading. Those are just little flaws that in my opinion don't really detract from this novel's value, so my rating is 4 out of 4 stars. It's the first novel of a series, but it has its own conclusion. I recommend it to people interested in an espionage thriller that offers food for thought together with action.
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East Wind, 2nd edition
View: on Bookshelves |
East Wind, 2nd edition by Jack Winnick is a thriller with deep roots in the current international situation. Lara Edmond is an FBI agent who's running an Internet surveillance program that aims to discover online terrorist activities. Uri Levin is a Mossad agent who generally conducts difficult field operations against terrorists. When a terrorist infiltration in the USA leads to a nuclear threat, the USA and Israel's interests align. Lara and Uri must work together to prevent a heavy loss of life in attacks that could devastate the USA and break the alliance with Israel.
This novel introduced Lara and Uri, the protagonists of what has become a series of thrillers. They complement each other's skills because Lara is specialized in using computers in her intelligence work while Uri is accomplished in field work. Some background is included for both of them to allow the readers to understand how they do their jobs. This is not 007-style espionage: there's a lot of action, but it's a task based especially on intelligence. Lara and Uri have to work with other American law enforcement agencies, and the problems coming from inter-agency rivalries and miscommunications are developed throughout the novel.
The threat faced by Lara and Uri in this novel comes from Hezbollah using terrorists who infiltrated the USA. Jack Winnick offers some background for some of them to help the readers understand how they got recruited by the organization, why they're ready to devote their lives to the destruction of the USA, and how they were able to operate in the USA.
Propaganda in a crucial element present throughout the novel. Hezbollah's members at the center of the story are not crazy people, but fell for anti-USA and anti-Israeli propaganda pushed by Islamist groups using religion as a weapon. Even in the USA you can hear some kinds of propaganda, though Jack Winnick focused on the type connected to the American presence in the Middle East and to Israel.
I appreciated Jack Winnick's descriptions of the many aspects of today's international situation that led to a realistic plot. He avoided using too much jargon and, in some cases, long technical descriptions offering only relevant information. In my opinion it was a good compromise to offer a good overall picture avoiding an excess of details, though in some occasions that led to simplifications in the descriptions.
Overall, I found the various elements well blended for a story full of tension. Sometimes there are profanities, but in general the language is mild for this kind of novel. There are mild sexual innuendos connected to Lara and Uri's mutual attraction. The novel is well edited though occasional errors such as a few with quotation marks make me think that the 2nd edition needed a bit more proofreading. Those are just little flaws that in my opinion don't really detract from this novel's value, so my rating is 4 out of 4 stars. It's the first novel of a series, but it has its own conclusion. I recommend it to people interested in an espionage thriller that offers food for thought together with action.
******
East Wind, 2nd edition
View: on Bookshelves |
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