The Tehran Initiative by Joel C. Rosenberg

I haven't read a book like The Tehran Initiative for a long time,but it was an interesting book to read. Here's an exerpt from the cover of the book:

The world is on the brink of disaster and the clock is ticking. Iran has just conducted its first atomic weapons test. Millions of Muslims around the world are convinced their messiah—known as “the Twelfth Imam”—has just arrived on earth. Israeli leaders fear Tehran, under the Twelfth Imam’s spell, will soon launch a nuclear attack that could bring about a second holocaust and the annihilation of Israel. The White House fears Jerusalem will strike first, launching a preemptive attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities that could cause the entire Middle East to go up in flames, oil prices to skyrocket, and the global economy to collapse. With the stakes high and few viable options left, the president of the United States orders CIA operative David Shirazi and his team to track down and sabotage Iran’s nuclear warheads before Iran or Israel can launch a devastating first strike.

That summary/intro gives you a feel for the tone of the book. It was an interesting read. . .kind of reminiscent of a Tom Clancy book. I enjoyed reading it. The reason I said at the start that it was not the sort of book I usually read is that as a mom I don't often read books so long and involved as this one. I used to read a lot of books of this type, and in reading it I found that I miss the type of challenging read such as this which really engages your mind. You have to read it with care, following the details, for the story to make sense to you.

I enjoyed the way the book was written, little segments in which different characters of the story are in the first person mode, in different geographical locations. Careful reading allowed the reader to follow the story line as it unfolded and brought all those segments together. It was high suspense, political intrigue, life and death situations. The story was very realistic sounding to me. The author did a great job of writing little vignettes and then drawing them all together to show the big picture of what was happening.

By the way, this book is a second in a series, and I had not read the first book. It did not hinder my enjoyment or understanding of this book.

I would certainly recommend this book. It's not a fluffy book, or a romance, but a thought-provoking read. It does take some time to read, but is very interesting! It does have a Biblical message within it, not especially strong, but a nice touch. I'll definitely pass this book on and suggest it to others!

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for the purposes of this review and the Tyndale House blog tour for this book. I was not required to write a positive review.

If you'd like to see more info about this book from Tyndale or watch a video of the author speaking about this book, click
here