Review by zeldasideas -- East Wind, 2nd edition
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zeldasideas
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Review by zeldasideas -- East Wind, 2nd edition
[Following is a volunteer review of "East Wind, 2nd edition" by Jack Winnick.]
On December 9, 2013, a bomb blast ripped through Santa Monica Bay, leveling everything in its path. The U.S. security must race to identify the assailant before a new attack can destroy another city.
East Wind is the story of how surveillance predominates over technology. As the story opens, the plot flashes back to the months preceding the bomb attack, when FBI special agent Lara Edmonds combines forces with Mossad detective Uri Levin to counteract a suspicious wave of threats from terrorists who have allied in the Middle East to oppose Israel. Lara's web investigation reveals a plot tied to Hezbollah operatives who are using college-aged students to transmit threats over the Internet, the very same operatives who bring harm to Israeli children.
The plot now dates back even further, to the year 1999, when a 16-year-old aspiring engineering student by the name of Walid Jahangiri is duped into becoming a follower of Jihad. An idealist who believes in the Islamic cause, the self-deluded Walid falls under the sway of the mysterious terrorist known by the name of Hossein, a criminal mastermind who had stolen Russian enriched uranium to produce a nuclear bomb. While Hossein develops the bomb, Walid designs a computer network that operates out of U.S. universities so that they can promote ties to the Hezbollah. In the balance, FBI agent Deke Trotter orders Uri to tell Lara all he knows about the Mossad and its Hezbollah opponent, and as the two of them fall in love, they reach a realization: foreign students are plotting to overthrow the Israeli government by attacking U.S. targets. After Walid fails to achieve martyrdom at the bombsite in Santa Monica, he betrays Hossein to the FBI, and Lara and Uri must race against the clock to capture Hossein before he can blow up his next target.
Jack Winnick has written a series of four novels centering on the relationship between these two beloved detectives. East Wind (2010) is the first of the series, followed by Devil Among Us (2013), Devil in False Colors (2016), and The Date Farm (2018). All of these books demonstrate how the Mossad and the FBI team up to solve terrorist threats to the state of Israel.
The plot of East Wind is broad, encompassing numerous locations and underworlds. Winnick skillfully brought together all of the various subplots in the finale, and although I cannot give out any spoilers, I think it would be helpful to note the plot develops excitement by involving characters in increasingly dangerous situations, a technique that makes this a thrilling read to the very end. I found this book to be more cerebral than Winnick's other work in that he devotes much of the storyline to the encryption and intelligence-gathering activities of his main characters. As he notes, "Our national defense budget was being wasted on high-tech toys when it needed to be spent on vastly improved intelligence networks" (p. 93). His characters take a ciphertext, such as that found on an ordinary Web Page, and transfer it back to a plaintext, in the meantime revealing its true Internet sources by exposing the use of proxy servers thst conceal the terrorists' information. This cunning, spine-tingling intelligence operation creates a new form of heroism, one that is based on brains rather than on force.
Another strength of this work is shown in the author's use of the dramatic scene for impact. Winnick writes vivid, memorable vignettes that put the audience into the flow of events by deepening the sense of turmoil they experience along with his characters. A noteworthy illustration of this technique occurs when Walid, about to detonate the bomb on Santa Monica Bay, agonizes over whether he should blow it up. As he approaches the yacht, blazingly named The Fairy Princess, he slows his steps, teeters on the verge of collapse, runs off without hiding the bomb, and fails to discern that he has been the victim of betrayal, with only 30 minutes remaining until the bomb blows up. What a cliffhanger!
As I was reading along, I wondered how Walid's psychological development as a young man had led him to take advantage of the wrong opportunities in his mature years. Walid is aware of the strange influence that political leadership can have on a young person's mind. He realizes that a dictator's hypnotic speech and measured cadences can cause the inexperienced to pursue selfish motives. Yet he is so deeply taken in by his political mentor that he ignores his father's view that a faithful son should become a worker in the family export trade. It would have been helpful if Winnick had delved into the motives of Walid's father. A powerful man in the Middle Eastern export world, Aman Jahangiri blindly sacrificed his son to the wiles of tradesmen who were acting in the double capacity of officials and terrorists. It would have been interesting to hear more about the elder Jahangiri's loss of control over his son's actions.
East Wind is an adept geopolitical thriller. Aside from a few scenes filled with graphic violence, this book will appeal to most readers. Even though published a few years ago, the book, now in its second edition, continues to offer a fresh approach to the theme of international intrigue. I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars for its excellent plot and exciting storyline.
******
East Wind, 2nd edition
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
On December 9, 2013, a bomb blast ripped through Santa Monica Bay, leveling everything in its path. The U.S. security must race to identify the assailant before a new attack can destroy another city.
East Wind is the story of how surveillance predominates over technology. As the story opens, the plot flashes back to the months preceding the bomb attack, when FBI special agent Lara Edmonds combines forces with Mossad detective Uri Levin to counteract a suspicious wave of threats from terrorists who have allied in the Middle East to oppose Israel. Lara's web investigation reveals a plot tied to Hezbollah operatives who are using college-aged students to transmit threats over the Internet, the very same operatives who bring harm to Israeli children.
The plot now dates back even further, to the year 1999, when a 16-year-old aspiring engineering student by the name of Walid Jahangiri is duped into becoming a follower of Jihad. An idealist who believes in the Islamic cause, the self-deluded Walid falls under the sway of the mysterious terrorist known by the name of Hossein, a criminal mastermind who had stolen Russian enriched uranium to produce a nuclear bomb. While Hossein develops the bomb, Walid designs a computer network that operates out of U.S. universities so that they can promote ties to the Hezbollah. In the balance, FBI agent Deke Trotter orders Uri to tell Lara all he knows about the Mossad and its Hezbollah opponent, and as the two of them fall in love, they reach a realization: foreign students are plotting to overthrow the Israeli government by attacking U.S. targets. After Walid fails to achieve martyrdom at the bombsite in Santa Monica, he betrays Hossein to the FBI, and Lara and Uri must race against the clock to capture Hossein before he can blow up his next target.
Jack Winnick has written a series of four novels centering on the relationship between these two beloved detectives. East Wind (2010) is the first of the series, followed by Devil Among Us (2013), Devil in False Colors (2016), and The Date Farm (2018). All of these books demonstrate how the Mossad and the FBI team up to solve terrorist threats to the state of Israel.
The plot of East Wind is broad, encompassing numerous locations and underworlds. Winnick skillfully brought together all of the various subplots in the finale, and although I cannot give out any spoilers, I think it would be helpful to note the plot develops excitement by involving characters in increasingly dangerous situations, a technique that makes this a thrilling read to the very end. I found this book to be more cerebral than Winnick's other work in that he devotes much of the storyline to the encryption and intelligence-gathering activities of his main characters. As he notes, "Our national defense budget was being wasted on high-tech toys when it needed to be spent on vastly improved intelligence networks" (p. 93). His characters take a ciphertext, such as that found on an ordinary Web Page, and transfer it back to a plaintext, in the meantime revealing its true Internet sources by exposing the use of proxy servers thst conceal the terrorists' information. This cunning, spine-tingling intelligence operation creates a new form of heroism, one that is based on brains rather than on force.
Another strength of this work is shown in the author's use of the dramatic scene for impact. Winnick writes vivid, memorable vignettes that put the audience into the flow of events by deepening the sense of turmoil they experience along with his characters. A noteworthy illustration of this technique occurs when Walid, about to detonate the bomb on Santa Monica Bay, agonizes over whether he should blow it up. As he approaches the yacht, blazingly named The Fairy Princess, he slows his steps, teeters on the verge of collapse, runs off without hiding the bomb, and fails to discern that he has been the victim of betrayal, with only 30 minutes remaining until the bomb blows up. What a cliffhanger!
As I was reading along, I wondered how Walid's psychological development as a young man had led him to take advantage of the wrong opportunities in his mature years. Walid is aware of the strange influence that political leadership can have on a young person's mind. He realizes that a dictator's hypnotic speech and measured cadences can cause the inexperienced to pursue selfish motives. Yet he is so deeply taken in by his political mentor that he ignores his father's view that a faithful son should become a worker in the family export trade. It would have been helpful if Winnick had delved into the motives of Walid's father. A powerful man in the Middle Eastern export world, Aman Jahangiri blindly sacrificed his son to the wiles of tradesmen who were acting in the double capacity of officials and terrorists. It would have been interesting to hear more about the elder Jahangiri's loss of control over his son's actions.
East Wind is an adept geopolitical thriller. Aside from a few scenes filled with graphic violence, this book will appeal to most readers. Even though published a few years ago, the book, now in its second edition, continues to offer a fresh approach to the theme of international intrigue. I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars for its excellent plot and exciting storyline.
******
East Wind, 2nd edition
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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[Danielle]
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I'm not usually a huge fan of thrillers, but this sounds like an interesting read. I may have to give it a chance.
"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light." - Albus Dumbledore
Latest Review: The Global Reconstruction Project by S. Cotton
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Margi zuu202
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book (1) of book series lara and uri terrorist threaten to blow american cities lara and uri team up to bring the thugs to justice..
