GameChanger

by Mike Evans

Working from a secret facility in northwestern Iran, scientists have developed a nuclear bomb. At the same time, Iranian engineers have designed modifications to the Shahab missile which, if successful, will permit that missile to deliver a nuclear device. A final test will make certain the warhead functions properly. The United States, though almost completely reliant on electronic intelligence capabilities, nevertheless has become suspicious of Iran s activities. To follow up on that suspicion, a two-man Army Ranger team is sent into northwestern Iran. When the team stumbles upon Iranian testing equipment, the team members are killed by an Iranian sniper. Iran detonates its nuclear device in a test quickly detected by U.S. instruments. Israel, long certain that Iran intends to strike them, also has become suspicious. Relying more on human intelligence sources, Mossad agents have infiltrated many areas of Iranian society in an effort to keep abreast of Iran s true intentions. Israel also has become skeptical of U.S. intentions in the region and, as the story unfolds, refuses to share information with the U.S. for fear it will fall into Iranian hands. Iran s ultimate goal is an attack on Israel that will wipe Israel from the map, plunge the world into global turmoil, and usher in the coming of the Mahdi Islam s greatest and final prophet. That effort has been coordinated by Nasser Hamid, a well-connected Iranian logistics expert. Hamid s plans call for a strike against the U.S. with nuclear warheads delivered by missiles fired from container ships loitering off the U.S. East Coast. That first strike will limit U.S. retaliation capabilities...

412 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Michael D. Evans

Reviews

[Wanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intense thriller. The story is about a terrorist group that orchestrates several attacks on the U.S. as a distraction for a bigger attack. The smaller attacks are carried out by running tankers into buildings, truck bombs, and small planes used as bombs. The story tells about what the planners of these acts go thru before the events and about those who carry out the actual attacks.
Two CIA agents are also involved trying to figure out how everything is connected and trying to decipher other events that are happening. They are tracing some other clues and come across a plot to send a nuclear bomb via a cargo ship.
Lots going on in the book. The personal lives of the attackers and the CIA agents. Meetings between foreign representatives looking to cash in on problems in the U.S. The German chancellor has delusions of becoming the new super power while the Iranians want to destroy everyone.
The events talked about have a very real feel to them and it is scary to think something like this could happen. The end of the book sets up the sequel.

[John Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very intriguing read. Looking forward to next in series.

[Karla · Rating 1 out of 5]

Am I the only one who didn't like this at all? I skimmed it a lot, too many characters, too many details, weak character development 🤷‍♀️

[Janell Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was interesting, really good subject material and a couple of priceless moments. It took me about a quarter of the way into the book to really begin to get interested, then about three-quarters into it I didn't want to put the book down.

From a writing perspective, character development was sorely lacking. It took until chapter five before the main "bad guys" were introduced and chapter seven before the main "good guys" were introduced. In the meantime, there were so many characters named that it was hard to keep track of who was important. And many of those named characters were literally in only one chapter, many dying! Seasoned writers know better than to name characters who aren't important to the story.

There were also too many times that the dialogue was frivolous. For example:

"We could sit over here. The view is marvelous, especially this time of day."
Mueller shook his head. "I prefer the sofa."
"Oh," Vostole had a polite smile. "Very well. The sofa, then."

There was positively no point to the choice of where they sat. These kinds of dialogue tended to bog the story down. Similarly were the unnecessary details in some of the descriptions.

I loved the scene where a middle-aged woman (note that she wasn't named!) got on the elevator when our two good-guys were pressed into the corners expecting bad guys at any moment. Her startled reaction and the dialogue that took place between them was priceless. I could see it like I was there.

Evans seemed to get better at his writing process as he got deeper into the book. If the subject of terrorist attacks (and/or EMP attacks) on the U.S. is of any interest to you, I'd say go for the read. Just be aware it's a little slow to start. Perhaps it would be helpful to know ahead of time that the main bad guys are Hamid and Osmani; the main good guys are Kinlaw and Hoag.

[Marina Fontaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I took a while with this one, mostly because I wasn't in the mood for this particular type of read right now. Still, I felt compelled to finish because it could not possibly be more topical considering what's going on in the world. This book reminded me quite a bit of Oliver North's Mission Compromised- by current-events/military attention to detail from a writer who obviously knows his stuff and by its strong Christian overtones. The characters don't have the vibrancy of Tom Clancy's or Vince Flynn's better works, but they are well enough developed to make you care what happens to them, which in a book of this type I suppose is good enough. The reason I'm only giving it 3 stars is because the ending is, well, missing. Maybe it was done that way for a reason or maybe there's a sequel on the way, but I prefer to have some measure of closure in my stories. Other than that, a worthy entry from this author, and I'm hoping for more and better stuff in the future.