Review by nangel04 -- East Wind, 2nd edition

[nangel04]

[Following is a volunteer review of "East Wind, 2nd edition" by Jack Winnick.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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There is only one hope for America and Israel in Jack Winnick’s East Wind, 2nd Edition, and that is the unlikely pairing of Lara and Uri. Lara Edmond, an FBI agent in charge of detecting “electronic terrorism traffic,” works closely with Uri Levin, an agent of the Metsada from Israel, to intercept and thwart the plans of a terrorist group known as Hezbollah. After setting off a bomb in the Marina del Rey harbor in Los Angeles, the terrorists issue a warning that unless America cuts ties with their only Middle Eastern ally, Israel, there will be more bombings and, consequently, many more deaths. With a terrified nation crying out for the government to meet the demands of these terrorists in hopes of avoiding further acts of terrorism, Lara and Uri are in a race against time to locate the next target and take out the operatives. Should they fail, a major U.S. city could be blown off the map and America may adopt a “save your own skin first” mentality which would leave Israel vulnerable to its enemies.

I have found myself involved in a kind-of love/hate relationship with this book. There are things I loved and there are things I hated, but I cannot decide which emotion is stronger, so I am going to classify my opinion as simply ambivalent. The two things that attract me most to a book are the characters and the rhythm of the writing. The characters, I loved. The rhythm, I hated. So, let me begin with these.

If a book has a strong female character, that is a big check in the hooray column for me, and Lara certainly fits this description. She works in a field that is primarily seen as masculine and is not intimidated, nor is she coy about ensuring her opinion is heard. She is smart, tough, and bold. Her partner, Uri, is also a delightful character. He is a tough-as-nails killer (justified killing only), yet has a sweet side about him that made me smile. The other characters were also well written, for the most part, including the terrorists. I like that Winnick allows us to see inside the minds of the men capable of committing such atrocities, as it provides a unique perspective.

Then there is the writing. For a second edition, there were too many errors, especially considering Lara’s last name was misspelled three times. Winnick also wrote in such a way that there seemed to be as many commas on the page as words, which implies far too many run-on sentences in need of a rewrite. I tried to ignore it, but it drove me a little mad after the first few chapters. Still, I understand that people have different writing styles, so I will not allow this personal annoyance to weigh too heavily in my rating.

I did like the story itself. It was well-thought-out, with a good balance of action, mystery, and even a little romance. What I did not like was the technical aspect. While I can understand and appreciate the need for technical detail, there was just too much of it in this book. Sometimes, I felt like I was reading newspaper archives rather than a fictional novel. The background provided could have been more concise and still been sufficient enough to suit its purpose.

Based on my ambivalent perspective, I feel it is only right to give this book two out of four stars. I would recommend it to readers who enjoy a good action thriller, but only if they do not mind taking in a history lesson in the process. I will say, I am confident the series gets better because it was a sample of book four that sparked my interest in the series to begin with. So, I will be continuing on in this series with the hope that book two will pull me over to one side or the other.

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East Wind, 2nd edition
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