Book Review: The Twelfth Iman by Joel C. Rosenberg

A Compelling Story with Iran in the Center of a Global Crisis

What might make this story as compelling as it is, is partially due to the premise that could entirely be plausible, with Iran building nuclear capabilities not just to power their country but to begin a weapons campaign. Given the recent speech by Benjamin Netanyahu to Congress, this seems rather significant. There are also several historical figures and backdrops that lead credence to this plot.

The story has many moving parts and characters including a central figure, undercover CIA agent David Shiraz, whose own family left Tehran during an escape in the late 1970's. He returns to infiltrate the government and find out how close Iran is to being able to arm themselves with weapons of mass destruction. What he finds is that they are not only very close but that many in the government are planning on striking first, to fulfill a prophesy with the twelfth imam.

I made some assumptions when I began reading this story based on the author's name, basically assuming that this book would be pro-Israel automatically. . . I am admitting to my own preconceived notions. However, it turns out that Mr. Rosenberg is actually Christian and this definitely is apparent as I continued to read. This brings me to my next point which is about the parts of the book that are a little less plausible. Many of the characters in the book come in contact with either the Twelfth Imam, who is preaching an aggressive assault on Israel and the United States and promoting a radical Islamic nation. There is also a figure that is preaching Christianity who may be Jesus Christ? I'm not yet sure as this is the first book in the series.

This book was so very interesting and I was able to suspend my feelings about present day prophets from both Christianity and Islam appearing to many of the characters to focus on the rest of the story. I don't think that this book vilifies those who follow Islam as there is room to understand that not everyone wants to destroy the rest of the world of "non believers". I would say that that author is however really preaching Christianity but that didn't bother me either.

I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this trilogy. I have grown to care about these characters and want to see what happens.