Review by Leecedar -- East Wind, 2nd edition
-
Leecedar
- Posts: 84
- Joined: 30 Jun 2020, 07:09
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 33
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-leecedar.html
- Latest Review: The Godfathers of Sex Abuse, Book I: Jeffrey Epstein by Deana Pollard Sacks
Review by Leecedar -- East Wind, 2nd edition
[Following is a volunteer review of "East Wind, 2nd edition" by Jack Winnick.]
Within about two minutes of starting East Wind, author Jack Winnick had me shouting out loud in an excited disbelief at the story I was reading. From that early moment, I was hooked into the rest of the story.
Uri Levin is a Mossad agent extraordinaire. The State of Israel denies his existence as well as the existence of his entire branch of Mossad. That branch is designed to eliminate terrorists with, as the phrase goes, extreme prejudice. We are taken along one of his most gut-wrenching missions, and we see the effect it has on him.
Lara Edmonds is an FBI agent. She is physically able to mete out punishment on any attacker, and trained to use those skills in the field. She happens to be gorgeous, but she is by no means just a pretty face. Lara is a computer genius, relying as much on her intuition as her knowledge. This combination makes her a force with which to be reckoned in the FBI's anti-terrorist unit. Uri picked up some interesting, yet confusing, documents on his mission. Lara interpreted the wording in those documents and discovered something very useful, according to her FBI bosses.
Anti-terrorism is one of those areas where multiple federal agencies like to claim authority, so Lara is constantly being thrust into the middle of political storms. In the midst of her doing her job, terrorist communication is picked up via electronic monitoring that shows big plans in the works that could seriously harm the United States and Israel. Lara and Uri work together as partners to try to stop the terrorist plot to blow up several American cities, and possibly destroy Israel altogether. Their working relationship leads to a romantic relationship as well, and the author does a wonderful job in describing that relationship, from its initial flirtations and leading up to their passionate embraces.
The author has a dynamic style that I find fascinating. Rather than tell the tale through an overarching omniscience, nor tell it through the point of view of a single person, Winnick goes from character to character, telling the story through each of their eyes individually, changing the viewpoint from section to section or chapter to chapter, as the need fits.
As an added bonus, the Author also lets us learn about the individual terrorists and their parts in the story. We see how some of them grew up, how they became radicalized and how they became “sleepers.” We see their roles as the bombing plot comes together. We see them rejoicing in their victories, and we see their frustration at their failures.
The political figures involved are also explored as they try to manage the viewpoints of the general populace, avoiding mass panic while getting terrified themselves at the thought of massive destruction in their two nations. As might be expected, inter-agency bickering rears its ugly head as each group (NSA, Homeland Security, FBI, etc.) tries to claim the leadership for the anti-terrorism operation. In short, we see this story through many eyes, and because of Winnick's writing style, the story never gets confusing.
There is no profanity at all in this story. I mistakenly expected a book featuring an on-the-ground soldier, a trained field operative, and their ilk would include lots of words inappropriate for little eyes. I was pleasantly surprised that this was not the case, as I personally do not care one bit for profanity. There are, however, some sexual scenes in the book, so it would not be a good read for early teens or younger. I rate this book four out of four stars, and heartily recommend it to all who enjoy good action books filled with character development and drama.
******
East Wind, 2nd edition
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Within about two minutes of starting East Wind, author Jack Winnick had me shouting out loud in an excited disbelief at the story I was reading. From that early moment, I was hooked into the rest of the story.
Uri Levin is a Mossad agent extraordinaire. The State of Israel denies his existence as well as the existence of his entire branch of Mossad. That branch is designed to eliminate terrorists with, as the phrase goes, extreme prejudice. We are taken along one of his most gut-wrenching missions, and we see the effect it has on him.
Lara Edmonds is an FBI agent. She is physically able to mete out punishment on any attacker, and trained to use those skills in the field. She happens to be gorgeous, but she is by no means just a pretty face. Lara is a computer genius, relying as much on her intuition as her knowledge. This combination makes her a force with which to be reckoned in the FBI's anti-terrorist unit. Uri picked up some interesting, yet confusing, documents on his mission. Lara interpreted the wording in those documents and discovered something very useful, according to her FBI bosses.
Anti-terrorism is one of those areas where multiple federal agencies like to claim authority, so Lara is constantly being thrust into the middle of political storms. In the midst of her doing her job, terrorist communication is picked up via electronic monitoring that shows big plans in the works that could seriously harm the United States and Israel. Lara and Uri work together as partners to try to stop the terrorist plot to blow up several American cities, and possibly destroy Israel altogether. Their working relationship leads to a romantic relationship as well, and the author does a wonderful job in describing that relationship, from its initial flirtations and leading up to their passionate embraces.
The author has a dynamic style that I find fascinating. Rather than tell the tale through an overarching omniscience, nor tell it through the point of view of a single person, Winnick goes from character to character, telling the story through each of their eyes individually, changing the viewpoint from section to section or chapter to chapter, as the need fits.
As an added bonus, the Author also lets us learn about the individual terrorists and their parts in the story. We see how some of them grew up, how they became radicalized and how they became “sleepers.” We see their roles as the bombing plot comes together. We see them rejoicing in their victories, and we see their frustration at their failures.
The political figures involved are also explored as they try to manage the viewpoints of the general populace, avoiding mass panic while getting terrified themselves at the thought of massive destruction in their two nations. As might be expected, inter-agency bickering rears its ugly head as each group (NSA, Homeland Security, FBI, etc.) tries to claim the leadership for the anti-terrorism operation. In short, we see this story through many eyes, and because of Winnick's writing style, the story never gets confusing.
There is no profanity at all in this story. I mistakenly expected a book featuring an on-the-ground soldier, a trained field operative, and their ilk would include lots of words inappropriate for little eyes. I was pleasantly surprised that this was not the case, as I personally do not care one bit for profanity. There are, however, some sexual scenes in the book, so it would not be a good read for early teens or younger. I rate this book four out of four stars, and heartily recommend it to all who enjoy good action books filled with character development and drama.
******
East Wind, 2nd edition
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
