A Great Summer Read

I rarely take the time to read much fiction, these days, but I just finished reading The Ezekiel Option by Joel C. Rosenberg. It was riveting! This is his third book and now I look forward to reading his previous books (The Last Jihad and The Last Days).

The Ezekiel Option was a captivating page turner that was difficult to put down. I suggest heading over to Rosenberg's website to get a firsthand lowdown on the book. Here are some interesting factoids:

The following are a few examples from The Ezekiel Option of story lines that already seem to be coming true:

The Ezekiel Option begins with a plane scare over the White House, scrambled F-16s and a President and V.P. moved to secure locations …..but it was finished 7 months before the actual plane scare over Washington on May 11th.

The Ezekiel Option centers on the nuclear alliance between Russia and Iran….but it was finished 7 months before President Putin rejected President Bush’s request that Moscow stop selling Iran nuclear equipment and warned the world not to “deprive” Iran of nuclear technology.

The Ezekiel Option involves an international effort to pressure Israel to give up her defensive nuclear arsenal and to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)….but it was finished 6 months before the Israeli newspaper Haaretz ran this headline: “U.S. SAYS ISRAEL MUST GIVE UP NUKES”; and 8 months before the Jerusalem Post ran this headline: “SAUDIS DEMAND ISRAEL SIGN NPT.”
In September 2004, Rosenberg was in Russia doing research for a portion of The Ezekiel Option involving Islamic terrorists hijacking a Russian jetliner and blowing up Moscow. While he was there, Islamic terrorists actually blew up two Russian jetliners, blew up a Moscow subway station, and seized a school in the southern Russian town of Beslan.

The Ezekiel Option involves a coup in one of the former Soviet republics….but it was finished 2 months before the Orange Revolution in Ukraine and 5 months before the March coup in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan.

The Ezekiel Option then takes a supernatural twist, raising the possibility that events we see unfolding today – such as the nuclear alliance emerging between Russia and Iran – was predicted by the ancient Hebrew Prophet Ezekiel more than 2,500 years ago…..a view held, among others, by one of the greatest American President’s of our time, Ronald Reagan.

Rosenberg's insight on the middle east can also be found at his blog which I've also included in my blogroll. Check out his websites.