LAST JIHAD

Amid the geopolitical shift to the Middle East since the end of the Cold War, Rosenberg has created a chilling fictional future for America and the world with assassination attempts against the President of the United States, the Prime Minister of Canada, the Queen of England, and the Royal House of Saudi Arabia by agents of Saddam Hussein. The attacks are unleashed as a joint Israeli-Palestinian oil deal is signed, triggering a series of covert actions by the U.S., Iraq, and Israel that involve nuclear weapons and continuous action. Dick Hill performs this thriller with practiced ease, speeding up when the tension should rise and relaxing through the backstory. The performance is marred by inaccurate pronunciations of Hebrew and poor Arab accents. But doomsday predictions and a spectacular ending bring Rosenberg's speculations to a dramatic conclusion. M.B.K. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 03]