Review by shavinka12 -- East Wind, 2nd edition
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shavinka12
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Review by shavinka12 -- East Wind, 2nd edition
[Following is a volunteer review of "East Wind, 2nd edition" by Jack Winnick.]
East Wind, 2nd Edition by Jack Winnick is a thriller and espionage story regarding Islamic terrorists who release a nuclear bomb in the U.S and, threaten to release more if their demands regarding Israel are not met. The story is very pro-American and Israeli, and, the author’s take on most current international events and opinions veers more towards this inclination. The story revolves around an FBI agent Lara Edmonds; who is head of the online surveillance program for the FBI in the Counterterrorism department and, is a computer whiz who has discovered a method of tracking online communication between terrorists in the U.S and outside the U.S, and Uri Levin; a special forces operative of the Metsada, a highly classified arm of the Israeli Mossad, also known as the Kidon.
The story starts off with the nuclear explosion at the Marina in Los Angeles, California in which the writer portrays the ordinary life of a citizen before the explosion, and shows the reader how the innocents have no idea in these sorts of world politics. We are then introduced to the main characters Uri and Lara, in that fashion, as the author builds up their background stories. We find out that the Hezbollah brainwash young Arab boys in a bid to carry out Jihadism against the U.S because of the continuous support towards Israel, as a young character named Walid is shown to be set up as an Engineering student in the U.S, all as an end goal for the Hezbollah plan. Basically, after the first explosion in California, the two agents and all special Counterterrorism departments of the U.S are sent scrambling around the country in an attempt to prevent further detonations if the Hezbollah demands regarding Israel are not met. On the other hand, we are shown that the Israeli government itself has its own plans in the form of “Ekdikeo” that will be put into effect of the U.S breaks ties with Israel.
I liked how the author gave the reader various details regarding the Israel-Middle East conflict, and several historical references to back up his information. I myself am very interested in knowing these incidents that make this conflict what it is, and, as said, a prolonged clash that would only end when,“ We will have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate ours,” as quoted directly from Golda Meir. The author creates a great plot that is definitely thrilling and has decent action packed into it, with twists and turns the reader possibly cannot see coming. We are left in suspense when at one point, the reader is not sure if Walid still holds his convictions as strongly as he did before the explosion, or if his indecision is part of Hezbollah’s plan. The author’s attention to detail is fantastic, as the nuclear devices and detonations are explained, history of this conflict is explained, and, even the indoctrination of young boys into radicalism is explained to a point where the reader can actually learn new material from this story.
The story being pro American, and Israeli obviously is great, but also may not sit well with audiences that do not often see it that way. I would recommend it to readers who are neutral or who genuinely are interested in a thriller story and not easily offended by the portrayal of the Arab world and how they are depicted. Another thing that threw me off was the splurge of details the author offered into the internal mechanics of the nuclear bomb that, as an engineering student myself, was a tad bit difficult to process and maybe a bit much. Other than those faults, I would say there was one typo I spotted, which in my opinion still makes for a greatly edited book.
I would rate this book 4 out of 4 stars, as mentioned previously, this was a great espionage thriller that I enjoyed immensely with regards to the plot and attention to detail of the author. Disregarding the reader's personal views and if you manage to read through and understand the importance of the ‘critical mass’ in a nuclear explosion, I believe this is a great start to Lara and Uri’s journey as special operatives. The book had a few instances of mild sexual scenes and one strong erotic scene that summed up around a 3 out of 5 in my view. Overall a great book that I would recommend to readers of the age of 17 and older, and if they have a politically neutral view on International matters.
******
East Wind, 2nd edition
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
East Wind, 2nd Edition by Jack Winnick is a thriller and espionage story regarding Islamic terrorists who release a nuclear bomb in the U.S and, threaten to release more if their demands regarding Israel are not met. The story is very pro-American and Israeli, and, the author’s take on most current international events and opinions veers more towards this inclination. The story revolves around an FBI agent Lara Edmonds; who is head of the online surveillance program for the FBI in the Counterterrorism department and, is a computer whiz who has discovered a method of tracking online communication between terrorists in the U.S and outside the U.S, and Uri Levin; a special forces operative of the Metsada, a highly classified arm of the Israeli Mossad, also known as the Kidon.
The story starts off with the nuclear explosion at the Marina in Los Angeles, California in which the writer portrays the ordinary life of a citizen before the explosion, and shows the reader how the innocents have no idea in these sorts of world politics. We are then introduced to the main characters Uri and Lara, in that fashion, as the author builds up their background stories. We find out that the Hezbollah brainwash young Arab boys in a bid to carry out Jihadism against the U.S because of the continuous support towards Israel, as a young character named Walid is shown to be set up as an Engineering student in the U.S, all as an end goal for the Hezbollah plan. Basically, after the first explosion in California, the two agents and all special Counterterrorism departments of the U.S are sent scrambling around the country in an attempt to prevent further detonations if the Hezbollah demands regarding Israel are not met. On the other hand, we are shown that the Israeli government itself has its own plans in the form of “Ekdikeo” that will be put into effect of the U.S breaks ties with Israel.
I liked how the author gave the reader various details regarding the Israel-Middle East conflict, and several historical references to back up his information. I myself am very interested in knowing these incidents that make this conflict what it is, and, as said, a prolonged clash that would only end when,“ We will have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate ours,” as quoted directly from Golda Meir. The author creates a great plot that is definitely thrilling and has decent action packed into it, with twists and turns the reader possibly cannot see coming. We are left in suspense when at one point, the reader is not sure if Walid still holds his convictions as strongly as he did before the explosion, or if his indecision is part of Hezbollah’s plan. The author’s attention to detail is fantastic, as the nuclear devices and detonations are explained, history of this conflict is explained, and, even the indoctrination of young boys into radicalism is explained to a point where the reader can actually learn new material from this story.
The story being pro American, and Israeli obviously is great, but also may not sit well with audiences that do not often see it that way. I would recommend it to readers who are neutral or who genuinely are interested in a thriller story and not easily offended by the portrayal of the Arab world and how they are depicted. Another thing that threw me off was the splurge of details the author offered into the internal mechanics of the nuclear bomb that, as an engineering student myself, was a tad bit difficult to process and maybe a bit much. Other than those faults, I would say there was one typo I spotted, which in my opinion still makes for a greatly edited book.
I would rate this book 4 out of 4 stars, as mentioned previously, this was a great espionage thriller that I enjoyed immensely with regards to the plot and attention to detail of the author. Disregarding the reader's personal views and if you manage to read through and understand the importance of the ‘critical mass’ in a nuclear explosion, I believe this is a great start to Lara and Uri’s journey as special operatives. The book had a few instances of mild sexual scenes and one strong erotic scene that summed up around a 3 out of 5 in my view. Overall a great book that I would recommend to readers of the age of 17 and older, and if they have a politically neutral view on International matters.
******
East Wind, 2nd edition
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Devil in False Colors by Jack Winnick
