HUSSEIN PREDICTIONS AHEAD OF TIME

So much has been said about the war with Iraq over the past many months. Some say that it was only about weapons of mass destruction. Others claim that it was an attempt to remove a man from power before he could do his own people more damage. Some have gone so far as to claim that it was George W. Bush’s attempt to finish the war begun by his father. Some claim that it is an attempt to root out terrorist, just as Bush said he planned on doing after September 11th. All could be correct or all could be wrong. The fact is we are at war. And had we not gone to war, the premise of this book might seem more real than it already does.

The story begins 10 years down the road, after George W. Bush has left office and after efforts in the war on terrorism have proven successful. Osama Bin Laden is dead. The al queda is a thing of the past. Terrorist cells have been shut down and put out of business around the world and America has never suffered an attack since. Until today.

Just before Thanksgiving in Colorado as the President heads to his home retreat, an assassination attempt is made. Not with a tiny missile or rifle, but by a private plane heading straight for his entire motorcade!

As swift as the attack was, the rest of the government moves just as quickly, phones ringing and members of the cabinet and the vice president are rounded up and taken to safety. As the group waits for confirmation on the condition of the President, they begin the search to find out who was behind the attack and then to make decisive plans on what to do in retaliation.

At the same time, a young Wall Street hot shot who works for the company the President owned before taking office, Jon Bennett, is about to make the deal of a lifetime. A merger between and Palestinian and an Israeli could yield the richest oil/natural gas strike to have ever been found, making him a billionaire. The deal is made, signed and Bennett is on his way home. But not before word of the attempt reaches him.

Not only does it turn out the President was attacked, but so was Buckingham Palace, a Canadian embassy and the Saudi Arabian rulers as well. This was no random act of violence. This is an all out act of aggression and subtle declaration of war.

As the story progresses, Bennett and several other key characters are drawn into the behind closed doors of the Presidency and view first hand how things are run from the power strewn corridors of this country. They become privy to decisions and the decision making process, even being included in getting or offering the information needed for the President to make his decisions.

An attempted nuclear attack on Israel brings the world to the brink of madness when the Prime Minister there advises the President that the Americans must begin a nuclear attack on the source of these problems, Iraq, and its leader, a dying Saddam Hussein. He has an hour to do so. If he does not comply, then Israel will begin themselves with an atomic bomb destined for Baghdad.

Subtle maneuverings behind the scenes, a knowledge of the deal Bennett was brokering and a finger held above the button but hovering just in case, make this suspense filled tale one that you can’t find a way to put down. The give and take of major power players in high office, FBI, CIA, Secret Service and Mossad agents jockeying to make sure their interest remain safe and the leaders of the world doing what they can to avoid the bomb but not hesitating to use it make this a gripping tale.

One more plot point makes this book even more intense than the basic story given. Not only was there an attempt made on the life of the President…but one of those members closest to him appears to have been involved.

Written before the most recent Gulf War, so much of what is read here reads like headlines in today’s newspaper. But it was written before! Rosenberg has a hold of what is going on in the Middle East and with America’s need for vengeance after 9/11. The story is filled with patriotic furor that feels right.

I began reading this book on a Tuesday night, reading in my spare time, and found that I simply could not stop reading. Here it is, nearly the end of Thursday night and I only have 20 more pages to go. Yes, I’m writing before I finish. But I know that no matter what the final outcome of the story, I have been held in its grip like few other books I’ve read lately have done.

The book holds your interest and reads easy, making it an enjoyable treat to savor from first to last page. Is it classic reading that will be held in high esteem for centuries to come. Nahhh. But it will make an enjoyable, entertaining read for anyone who dares pick it up.