Review: a bomb of a book of a bomb
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 19, 2013
"fire of the prophet" is a first class thriller.  in a world cluttered with terrorism-fiction, this one stays a novel first and a plausible political-military read second. the people are real, the strains on relationships believable.the writing is succinct and merkel seldom succumbs to the rapture of his own words, even when describing the incineration and poisoning of the east coast.  nevil shute carried this off in "on the beach," leaving to the reader the task of filling in the mass horror between individual reactions to the bomb.his protagonist seems gently to be making way for a son-in-law partner in the next book.  both of them are credible types.this  book is a consuming read, with descriptions that have the hallmark of many edits that have honed them into precision instruments to carry the story.the tech aspects are either true or so detailed as to connote truth.  this is a pitfall for most writers of this genre.  readers are mini-critics of the wrong weapon or the glossing over of scientific sections.any clancy reader or anybody who eschews typos and bad grammar will love this book.robert isham auler