The Last Jihad

Joel Rosenberg penned this novel before the events of September 11, 2001.  Somehow the terrorist attacks he imagined are uncomfortably close to reality.    In the Author’s Note at the beginning of the book, Mr. Rosenberg gives us the theme of his book:

To misunderstand the nature and threat of evil is to risk being blindsided by it.

Indeed, this scenario is evident throughout the book.  The story unfolds as an alternative to the actual events of the post-9/11 world.  But reality or fiction, the author’s ideas have merit.  He posits that Americans underestimate the nature of evil in the world and the evil intentions of truly wicked people.  We haven’t always believed that people can and will follow through with horrific plots and plans.  If we know anything at all about history or current events, we should know about the presence of evil in the world, yet somehow many of us still seem to be surprised by the next onslaught in one part of the world or another.  I guess Rosenberg’s point addresses that very mindset:  we should never be surprised by each next Evil Empire’s plots and actions.

The Last Jihad is about a possible scenario that could have evolved had Saddam Hussein survived and carried out more diabolical plans involving weapons of mass destruction.  The story does not lose its relevance for 2016, though, because as stated above, there is always a new dire threat to the peoples and nations of the world.  The story’s action begins some years after the 9/11 attack with a spellbinding description of new terrorist attacks on the sitting U.S. president and other NATO heads of state around the world.

I found the book to be exciting and interesting, if not always believable.  The president of the United States wielded incredible and largely unchecked power in this novel.  There is an abundance of people to try to remember and keep track of, but they fall into place eventually.  For me, it took a while to become engaged with the characters, but eventually those personalities were developed enough to make me care about or dislike them– but it was rather a case of “too little, too late.”  This is a first book in a series of four, so I assume that a lot of time needed to be devoted to setting the scene in this one.

There’s plenty of action though.  Terrorists.  Financial wizards. Intrigue.  Possible moles.  CIA.  FBI.  Missiles.  Israel.  Russia.  Iraq.  Nuclear weapons.  Fighter jets.  Air Force One.  Secret bunkers.  War rooms.  You get the idea.  There’s even romantic potential.  Keep your eye on Erin McCoy and Jon Bennett.

I’m afraid that I’m not quite willing to recommend– or discourage the reading of  this book yet.  Maybe after I read book two, I’ll decide.  If you try this one, let me know what you think.  I’ll leave you with a paragraph I particularly found to be thought-provoking.  The head of Israeli intelligence (Dr. Eliezer Mordechai) believes that the U.S. underestimates Hussein’s willingness to follow through on his threats.  A character with “inside” knowledge says:

…the only difference between Dr. Eliezer Mordechai and the top leadership of the U.S. government was that Mordechai took Saddam Hussein at his word, and we didn’t.  Or, to put it in his words; ‘I believe Saddam Hussein is both capable of and prone to acts of unspeakable evil, and you don’t.  I’m right, and you’re wrong…. I believe that evil forces make evil men do evil things.  That’s how I anticipate what can and will happen next in life.  That’s how I got to be the head of the Mossad, young man.  And why I’m good at it.  It’s going to be a horrible August, and my country is going to suffer very badly because your counry doesn’t believe in evil, and mine was born out of the ashes of the Holocaust.’

 

This little guy greeted me when I turned a page in my used book.  Is he the child who will turn into the next good or evil mastermind of the world??  I think I’ll leave him there for the next reader.

The Sky Beneath My Feet

Beth is struggling.  Her pastor husband, Rick, is struggling.  Their sons are struggling.  Suddenly a job offer comes in for Rick and he moves into the shed in the backyard to think and pray about it.  Unfortunately, he doesn’t ask Beth what she thinks of this idea and it feels like abandonment, sending her world upside down.  Hence the title.

I always like Lisa Samson’s books.  Her Christian characters are not too-good-to-be-true.  They get mad, can be unforgiving, are confused and conflicted; they sometimes can’t even pray.  Some Christian novels have heros and heroines that never waver in their faith and convictions and always respond to difficulties with praise and worship through their tears.  I can’t relate very well to that kind of believer.  Having distinct flaws of my own, it’s refreshing to read books featuring flawed Christians who manage to find their way back to God without having everything quite so neat and tidy in their lives.

I’m a Christian, but not that kind of Christian.  Not the in-your-face culture warrior.  Not the sort to plaster bumper stickers all over my car.  I don’t drive like a Christian, after all, and when I’m speeding or cutting somebody off, the last image I want to leave them with is that shiny faux-metal fish.

Samson’s humor and the quirkiness of her characters and dialogue also delights me.  Beth puts a Christian fish on her bumper just to soothe the feelings of one of the ladies at church.  She always tries to keep everybody happy, but after Rick moves to the shed, she’s done with all that.  Her friend asks if she’s in a funk.  Of course, she can’t tell her friend the truth which is:

A funk?  That hardly describes it.  I’m bitter as cursed well water.  You take a drink and you can’t get the taste out of your mouth ever again.

The book is about inward-facing, navel-gazing Christians and one woman who decides to turn around and look at the rest of the world outside her cozy churchy environment.  Beth talks about how we examine our relationship with God so closely, trying so hard to get it exactly right, that we forget that there’s a whole world out there which needs us.

That’s the problem isn’t it?  That’s what keeps us cloistered in our little groups, insulated, always going deeper and deeper inside ourselves and finding less and less there…. But what if God’s waiting…not in here… but out there?

Beth does not stay cloistered for long.  She gets involved with a weirdo protest group, her unpredictable artist neighbor, and a downtown Baltimore mission run by “Mother Zacchaeus.”  Her sons challenge her parenting abilities while her husband still refuses to rejoin the family.

I won’t spill the ending, but suffice it to say that Beth and Rick had both been lost for a long time.  This story is about them learning a new way of doing life and a different way of hearing God’s voice.

The Kalahari Typing School for Men

Alexander McCall Smith has written another delightful book in the series, “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.”  Though I had seen the TV series based on these books, I had never read any of them.  The rather formal, contraction-less writing appeals to me and evokes a certain accent which seems familiar to me (I have visited Namibia, which is a next-door neighbor to Botswana, where the story is set).

I find the characters to be captivating.  Precious Ramotswe owns a detective agency in Botswana.   Mma (used instead of Ms., Miss or Mrs.) Makutsi is Mma Ramotswe’s assistant and a wonderful, quirky sidekick.  In this book, Mma Makutsi decides to open a side business to bring in some more money.  She thinks,

When I was at the Botswana Secretarial College, it was only women, and yet men have to type if they want to use computers, which they do if they are engineers or businessmen or work in banks.  I have seen them sitting in banks trying to type with one finger and wasting a lot of time.  Whey do they not learn to type properly?  The answer to that is that they are ashamed to say they cannot type and they do not want to go and have to learn with a class full of girls.  They are worried that the girls would be better at typing than they are!  And they would be!… So why not have a special class for men– a typing school for men?

The story follows Mma Makutsi’s successful typing class, Mma Ramotswe’s current cases she is working on solving, and various relationships including Mma Ramotswe’s with her fiance Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni.

I highly recommend this book– it’s witty yet quiet, charming and engaging.  It’s the kind of book that makes you seek out more in the series, because you want to know the characters better.  I’d also like to read more by this author.  I like his style!

 

Faking Grace

I’m still looking for a good, humorous book.  This Tamara Leigh offering definitely was charmingly amusing, yet somehow I couldn’t bring myself to like the main character.  As a Christian chick lit work of fiction, it was hard to truly enjoy it without that connection to the main character.

Maizy Grace Stewart (uh, yeah) desperately needed a job, so she applied for an opening at a Christian publishing company.  Since she had been “saved” as a child but had never really pursued God since then, Maizy picked up a book called The Dumb Blonde’s Guide to Christianity to polish up her Christian-eze in order to fit in and make the proper Christian-girl impression.  Her trouble started right away when good-looking Brit and soon-to-be-co-worker, Jake, sees that her “Jesus is my Co-Pilot” bumper sticker is obviously attached only temporarily with scotch tape.

The characters aren’t bad– some of them are rather engaging– and the Christian message is there.  I liked the point the author was making that all the outward cues don’t count for much in the Christian life.  Maizy’s friend Tessie was surprised that Maizy called herself a Christian:

‘I’m still shocked to learn you’re a Christian.’… Feigning offense, I click my tongue. ‘Shocked that I’m a Christian?  Hey!’  I tug a cross earring and tap the matching necklace.  ‘What do you call these?’

Maizy has a lot to learn, and she learns it all the hard way.  I have to admit that I skipped a full 150 pages in the middle of the book because I just got bogged down.  But, I was interested enough that I wanted to see how things turned out in the end.  Admittedly, the ending was predictable and a bit too facile for me.

My personal book-rating system ranges from “couldn’t even finish it” to “eh” to “pretty good” to “incredible.”  This one was definitely “eh” on my scale.  I’ll keep looking for an “incredible” humorous work of fiction.  Let me know if you have one to recommend!

These Boots Weren’t Made for Walking

Finally, a book that is both amusing and entertaining: Melody Carlson’s These Boots Weren’t Made for Walking was a breath of fresh air.

The plot seems all too familiar at first.  Cammie is drifting mindlessly through life, spending too much money and taking everything for granted– until she loses her job and boyfriend in quick succession.

When I got hired at the marketing firm right after graduation, I felt pretty proud of myself, and I thought I had life all figured out.

Cammie moves home with her mother whom she assumes is wallowing in middle-aged despair over her divorce the year before.  It is weird to me that Cammie hasn’t visited her mother in such a long time when she only seems to live about an hour away, but anyway… she is thinking that this move back home will allow her to console her frumpy, dumpy, gray-haired mom.

I study the tall, thin woman in the stylish denim jacket and belted, low-rise jeans.  She smiles at me, then removes her sunglasses.  For a split second, I almost think it’s my sister Callie, only this woman seems a bit older…. Reality hits me like a baseball bat to the side of the head.  That woman is my mother!

It turns out that her mom has gotten in shape, reformed her wardrobe, resurrected her career and has a younger (much younger) man chasing her.  Cammie is the one who is frumpy and dumpy and she is desperately jealous of her mom.

So this ends up being a fun story as Cammie and her old neighbor, Will, help each other get their lives and faith back on track.  Lots of funny escapades ensue.  If you’re looking for a fun, easy read, I recommend this one!