Book Review - "The Third Target"

BOOK REVIEW - “The Third Target” – Joel C. Rosenberg - 433 pages – Tyndale House - Reviewed by Jeb Ladouceur

To the delight of his growing legions of readers, Joel C. Rosenberg has produced his tenth novel in a series dealing with intrigue in the Middle East. He is also the author of four non-fiction books that this reviewer has not read, but that might be the subjects of a future critique. 

In his new thriller, Rosenberg turns his insightful lens primarily on the nation of Jordan, which he describes as a relatively insignificant monarchy with few if any tourist attractions, no oil, and indeed no Gross National Product to speak of. Nor does Syria fare much better in the author’s estimation. There seems little to recommend that country’s third largest city, Homs, for example, as he states in the book:

Just why anyone was fighting over this wasteland was beyond me. What was the point? What was left to fight over? The banks had been looted. There was barely anything to eat. No running water. No working sewage system. Even if you had a functioning car or truck, you couldn’t use it. The gas stations had no petrol.

Specifically, in “The Third Target” we learn of fictional, well-traveled New York Times reporter, J.B. Collins, whose resumé includes stints with AP, UPI, and a string of notable newspapers in addition to the esteemed Gray Lady. Collins has been invited to interview the new commander of rebel forces in Syria, variously known as ISIS, ISIL, and The Islamic State. His name is Jamal Ramzy … and for the rest of the story, you will have to read this compelling book for yourself (that, or wait for what surely would be a timely motion picture based on it).

Rosenberg’s protagonist, the daring newsman Collins, is not as multi-dimensional as Daniel Silva’s art restorer and sometimes spy, Gabriel Allon, but then again few fictitious characters in modern literature are. However, what the author of this fast-paced novel lacks in knowledge of things artistic, he more than makes up for in a relentless accounting of the perils that await his heroic journalist at every bend in the Middle Eastern road.

Though many will inevitably insist on comparing Rosenberg to Silva, the assessment is essentially an unfair one. The two authors are, after all, basically opposite numbers. Granted, each of them brings to his profession an acute knowledge of the mysterious world in which his stories unfold, but their underlying religious and cultural philosophies vis-à-vis the Judeo-Christian ethic are quite different in real life. And the diverse convictions of both men are apparent in a wide array of episodes that dot all (or most) of their novels.

Consider that Silva is a former Roman Catholic now converted to Judaism, and Rosenberg, a Jew until age seventeen, is now a staunch born-again Christian. Also, while Silva is a more private practitioner of his adopted faith, Rosenberg has made frequent appearances on radio and television in support of the religious views he embraced as a young adult. In particular he has been criticized for comparing apocalyptic scripture in the Bible to modern events, though he certainly has every right to do so.

The fact is that Joel C. Rosenberg has come a long way since penning “The Last Jihad” in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Since the publication of that breakout thriller (eleven weeks on the Times bestseller chart), his books have sold three million copies, prompting the likes of ultra-Conservative Rush Limbaugh to gush that, “Regardless of your political views, you’ve got to read his stuff!”

That, obviously, is typical Limbaugh overstatement … we don’t have to do any such thing. The simple fact is that Rosenberg’s style is exhilarating, his stories timely, and his settings meticulously researched. That should make fans of international suspense eager to go along for the ride … without anyone telling them what they must (or must not) do.

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Award-winning writer, Jeb Ladouceur is the author of nine novels, and his theater and book reviews appear in several major L.I. publications. In his newest thriller, HARVEST, an American military doctor is seized by a gang of vital organ traffickers in The Balkans, and ordered to perform illegal surgeries. His upcoming THE QUANTUM SYNDROME is patterned on the Atlanta child murders of the 80s and is due in mid-May.