“The First Hostage” by Joel C. Rosenberg – No Free World

The Middle East is a place known equally for its beauty as well as for being a hotbed of conflict for the past few decades.

There are always violent tensions and volatile situations that lead to pain and suffering for one group or another, and what's worse is that there is absolutely no end in sight.

The majority of us only know of what's happening there and what the future could bring thanks to short news snippets (often biased) and minutes-long documentaries that heavily generalize everything.

As such, it's pretty rare and fascinating to come across an author such as Joel C. Rosenberg who has plenty of first-hand experience living in the Middle East and dealing with the situation there. What's more, he puts all of his knowledge to great use as fuel for some fantastic stories, as is the case with The First Hostage, the second book in the J. B. Collins series.

To give a brief overview of what to expect, we are once again presented with Collins, a news reporter who doesn't mind getting his hands dirty and go where the real story demands it.

The plot opens up as ISIS perpetrates a terror attack on the Middle East Peace Summit, having infiltrated the ranks of U.S. Intelligence as well as those of the Jordanian Army. The leaders of Israel and Palestine face grave injuries while the Jordanian king seems to be making his final stand.

Unfortunately for the United States, while most everyone seems to get away unscathed, a tiny problem persists: the president himself is nowhere to be found, and is presumed to have been captured by ISIS... who also hold a stash of chemical weapons and are anxious to test them out.

Once again, Joel C. Rosenberg delivers a fantastic political thriller heavily grounded in realism and current events. The author's own life experience shines in his descriptions of the locales as well as the dynamics of the relationships between people of different nationalities, such as Israelis, Jordanians and Americans, for instance.

He introduces little accurate nuances that give the story and its people a feeling of authenticity that couldn't otherwise be achieved. In addition, the story isn't simply based on what the current political climate looks like, but rather, on Rosenberg's own deep thoughts on what the future might hold.

In other words, while today this book is a work of fiction, it feels like there is a chance that tomorrow it will be a work of reality, and that's a huge factor in making the book so gripping and entertaining.

J. B. Collins, the hero at the centre of it all, makes for a very believable and relatable protagonist, one whose development certainly doesn't get neglected. The author makes a point of showing just how much of an ordinary man Collins is, begrudgingly trying to escape the mantle of hero that keeps on following him.

His forays into worlds for which journalism school hasn't prepared him for are quite believable, in the sense that his inexperience shines through quite brightly despite his eventual successes.

While the other characters in the book aren't given all that much attention, they are still given more than enough development to feel as authentic as the rest of the work.

One of the more interesting aspects of the book is the way in which Rosenberg approached his portrayal of ISIS and how they impact the Middle East. He maintains a perspective that is as neutral as possible, and for those wondering, his line of thinking is geared towards seeing the individuals that make up ISIS as the enemy, rather than adherents to the religion of Islam as a whole.

He takes great care in explaining the reality behind a group like ISIS, especially when seen through the eyes of the locals who actually have to deal with them, rather than just listen to overseas broadcasts about them.

Rosenberg presents a very moderated and thoughtful point of view, one where he tries to touch on all the pertinent problems to religiously motivated terrorism in the Middle East. No matter which way you lean on this controversial topic, the author's words will definitely make you think.

To conclude, The First Hostage is more than just an excellent and entertaining political thriller, it is also an profound meditation on the explosive situation in the Middle East by someone who is better-qualified for that than most people.

If this is the kind of genre that at least sounds interesting to you, then this book should definitely be at the top of your to-read list; it excels in every imaginable aspect and will stick with you for a very long time.

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Joel C. Rosenberg Personal site Joel C. Rosenberg is an American author and communication strategist. He is an Evangelical Christian who has written numerous books on the subject of terrorism and how it relates to biblical prophecies. These books include The Ezekiel Option, for which he was awarded the Gold Medallion Book Award.