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Kirk McGarvey #8
Joshua's Hammer
When a one-kiloton Russian nuclear demolition bomb the size of a suitcase ends up in the hands of multimillionaire Osama bin Laden, the entire world sits up and takes notice. And when the United States launches an attack on the terrorist's base of operation in Afghanistan, killing his daughter, retaliation against America is inevitable.
Now, Kirk McGarvey is in for the race of his life, and a race against time. McGarvey has to find out how the bomb will get to the United States, where it will be detonated, and when this, the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, will take place. But not only must McGarvey stop the bomb, he must protect his own daughter and the daughter of the president of the United States for a savage act of retaliation by a man gone mad.
Now, Kirk McGarvey is in for the race of his life, and a race against time. McGarvey has to find out how the bomb will get to the United States, where it will be detonated, and when this, the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, will take place. But not only must McGarvey stop the bomb, he must protect his own daughter and the daughter of the president of the United States for a savage act of retaliation by a man gone mad.
544 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 23, 2000
About the author
David Hagberg
80 books137 followersaka David Bannerman, Sean Flannery, David James, Robert Pell, Eric Ramsey
David Hagberg is a former Air Force cryptographer who has traveled extensively in Europe, the Arctic, and the Caribbean and has spoken at CIA functions. He has published more than twenty novels of suspense, including the bestselling High Flight, Assassin, and Joshua's Hammer.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidh...
David Hagberg is a former Air Force cryptographer who has traveled extensively in Europe, the Arctic, and the Caribbean and has spoken at CIA functions. He has published more than twenty novels of suspense, including the bestselling High Flight, Assassin, and Joshua's Hammer.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidh...
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 10, 2020
Hagberg does a great job in his McGarvey series...a lot of implausable stuff, but fun to read...McGarvey must stop a suitcase nuke attack against his own and the President's daughter...ironically, in light of this week's events, Osama Bin Laden is the driving force for this attack...Great Fun!!!
August 26, 2016
YOU WON'T NEED A BIGGER BOAT.
Pop quiz. What is the most popular deployment method for a nuclear device owned by terrorists in spy fiction? Is is a plane? A truck? No. The most popular method is via boat. Several reasons, ranging from the number of boats out at sea, to the complete elimination of the element of surprise for law enforcement to get the drop on whatever extremist is trying to sail to their doom make it a popular plausible choice. I know of three books which use the same boat deployment strategy. They are Independence Day by Ben Coes, Memorial Day by Vince Flynn and Joshua's Hammer, which I shall be reviewing here. Written by David Hagberg, the poor man's Tom Clancy who specializes in "espionage pulp fiction", it has the earliest use of the boat strategy and is set in the days when counter-terrorism was still in its infancy, not to mention one of the first appearances by Osama Bin Laden in fiction. Now to the review, how far will good guys and bad guys go in the name of their families?
The novel begins at the CIA office in Langley Virginia. The Station Chief of Saudi Arabia arrives for a meeting with Kirk McGarvey, his superior. Informing him of what occurred during a meeting with Osama Bin Laden, upon learning that Bin Laden has a nuclear device and that his subordinate was threatened, McGarvey immediately reassigns him to desk work. The measure fails to protect the station chief as Al Quaeda sends two gunmen to track down and butcher him and his family in an ambush at Disney World Florida. With the murders catching their attention, McGarvey and the administration decide to shatter the first commandment of counter-terrorism, no negotiation. They send Kirk to Afghanistan to parlay with Osama and find a way to haggle the nuclear device out of his possession. The negotiations are inconclusive, and unpleasant national security advisor manages to convince the President to do what should have been done in the first place. Authorize a bombing run of Al Quaeda's camp. This however fails to kill Bin Laden. It does however kill one of his daughters. Regrouping, Bin Laden hatches a plan to get even with America and kicks off preparations to have "Joshua's Hammer" shipped to the states for an assassination to end all assassinations.
Plot:
In terms of plot, Joshua's Hammer is pretty average despite being one of the earliest books to make the boat deployment method for nuclear weapons popular. The scenes in Afghanistan however are pretty fun, with McGarvey doing his best impression of Steve McQueen in "The Great Escape" and trying to shoot, evade and just plain drive for his life across one of the most wretched nations of earth in order to get to the last plane out. The dialogue is corny as usual.
Now the research in the book is fascinating. Written in the days when the world wasn't as familiar with the threat of Islamic terrorism as it is now, it's sometimes hilarious to see the extent of the knowledge gap. Hagberg does get some things right, such as the internal splits between the Taliban and Al Quaeda, but other details, not so much. For example, the main plot point takes artistic license with the characterization of Osama Bin Laden. In real life, we know him as the sociopathic narcissistic zealot who cursed the world and his own religion with a plague of extremism. Here, Hagberg presents him as a well-intentioned misunderstood figure.
Characters:
First McGarvey, he's at the top of his game in this book. His experience and newfound political clout allow him to manage the situation a whole lot more smoothly than in the previous books. He also continues to retain his badass status, which is on full display in his run to Kabul's airport, with him leaving a trail of dead Islamic extremists in his wake. Next, we have the secondary antagonist whose name I've unfortunately forgotten. A former SIS officer turned Islamic terrorist, he's the tip of Al Quaeda's spear in its operation to ship their nuclear device to a major American city. Smoothly doing his work, unlike previous Hagberg antagonists, he comes seconds away from winning.
However, it's not all good. Hagberg was never good with making appealing characterization. Kirk's daughter is back to drag down the parts of the story with her in it, and apart from Bin Laden, there's another character important to the story whom had potential, but was squandered unnecessarily.
So, verdict on Joshua's Hammer.
While it popularized a particular tactic of nuclear weapons deployment in spy fiction, it isn't all that special. From the reliably terrible characterization to the sometimes hilarious/sobering knowledge gap evident of the time it was written in, I can only say, read if you're interested.
Pop quiz. What is the most popular deployment method for a nuclear device owned by terrorists in spy fiction? Is is a plane? A truck? No. The most popular method is via boat. Several reasons, ranging from the number of boats out at sea, to the complete elimination of the element of surprise for law enforcement to get the drop on whatever extremist is trying to sail to their doom make it a popular plausible choice. I know of three books which use the same boat deployment strategy. They are Independence Day by Ben Coes, Memorial Day by Vince Flynn and Joshua's Hammer, which I shall be reviewing here. Written by David Hagberg, the poor man's Tom Clancy who specializes in "espionage pulp fiction", it has the earliest use of the boat strategy and is set in the days when counter-terrorism was still in its infancy, not to mention one of the first appearances by Osama Bin Laden in fiction. Now to the review, how far will good guys and bad guys go in the name of their families?
The novel begins at the CIA office in Langley Virginia. The Station Chief of Saudi Arabia arrives for a meeting with Kirk McGarvey, his superior. Informing him of what occurred during a meeting with Osama Bin Laden, upon learning that Bin Laden has a nuclear device and that his subordinate was threatened, McGarvey immediately reassigns him to desk work. The measure fails to protect the station chief as Al Quaeda sends two gunmen to track down and butcher him and his family in an ambush at Disney World Florida. With the murders catching their attention, McGarvey and the administration decide to shatter the first commandment of counter-terrorism, no negotiation. They send Kirk to Afghanistan to parlay with Osama and find a way to haggle the nuclear device out of his possession. The negotiations are inconclusive, and unpleasant national security advisor manages to convince the President to do what should have been done in the first place. Authorize a bombing run of Al Quaeda's camp. This however fails to kill Bin Laden. It does however kill one of his daughters. Regrouping, Bin Laden hatches a plan to get even with America and kicks off preparations to have "Joshua's Hammer" shipped to the states for an assassination to end all assassinations.
Plot:
In terms of plot, Joshua's Hammer is pretty average despite being one of the earliest books to make the boat deployment method for nuclear weapons popular. The scenes in Afghanistan however are pretty fun, with McGarvey doing his best impression of Steve McQueen in "The Great Escape" and trying to shoot, evade and just plain drive for his life across one of the most wretched nations of earth in order to get to the last plane out. The dialogue is corny as usual.
Now the research in the book is fascinating. Written in the days when the world wasn't as familiar with the threat of Islamic terrorism as it is now, it's sometimes hilarious to see the extent of the knowledge gap. Hagberg does get some things right, such as the internal splits between the Taliban and Al Quaeda, but other details, not so much. For example, the main plot point takes artistic license with the characterization of Osama Bin Laden. In real life, we know him as the sociopathic narcissistic zealot who cursed the world and his own religion with a plague of extremism. Here, Hagberg presents him as a well-intentioned misunderstood figure.
Characters:
First McGarvey, he's at the top of his game in this book. His experience and newfound political clout allow him to manage the situation a whole lot more smoothly than in the previous books. He also continues to retain his badass status, which is on full display in his run to Kabul's airport, with him leaving a trail of dead Islamic extremists in his wake. Next, we have the secondary antagonist whose name I've unfortunately forgotten. A former SIS officer turned Islamic terrorist, he's the tip of Al Quaeda's spear in its operation to ship their nuclear device to a major American city. Smoothly doing his work, unlike previous Hagberg antagonists, he comes seconds away from winning.
However, it's not all good. Hagberg was never good with making appealing characterization. Kirk's daughter is back to drag down the parts of the story with her in it, and apart from Bin Laden, there's another character important to the story whom had potential, but was squandered unnecessarily.
So, verdict on Joshua's Hammer.
While it popularized a particular tactic of nuclear weapons deployment in spy fiction, it isn't all that special. From the reliably terrible characterization to the sometimes hilarious/sobering knowledge gap evident of the time it was written in, I can only say, read if you're interested.
March 8, 2011
A story packed with excitement and intrigue from the very first page, building to the extreme tension of a nuclear device set to explode in San Francisco. Intelligent, full of surprises, credible and frightening. Hagberg knows how to pull the reader in, populating a clever plot with equally smart and fascinating characters. I'll read more of this author.
June 21, 2008
This was just an all around great book. A must read if you're into thrillers. The most amazing aspect is that it was written in the year 2000 and involves a massive terrorist plot ordered by none other than Osama bin Laden. I will definitely be reading more of Hagberg's novels.
September 24, 2021
Though completely fictional, I can only imagine how chilling this book was at the time of its release. It's based around Osama bin Laden launching the worst terrorist attack in history against the U.S. - one year before the actual 9/11 attacks.
Negotiations are opened with bin Laden after he purchases a nuclear bomb small enough to fit in a suitcase. All hopes for a peaceful solution fall through when his nineteen-year-old daughter is killed in an airstrike. He goes mad with grief and orders the weapon to be sent to the one place that will hurt the President the most. The CIA always seems to be one step behind right up to the action-packed conclusion.
I had two problems with this book. One was the slow start. I had to get 50 pages in to even read the scene that sets the main action. The first few chapters surround a character who is quickly killed off and basically becomes irrelevant after the first third of the novel. I didn't realize this novel was part of a series until I was halfway in. It's possible someone more familiar with the series would have gotten more out of the early chapters.
Descriptions of the characters got in the way of story flow. At one point, a character is described down to what he looked like in high school. Suspense improved in the second half but if you're the kind of person who needs to be grabbed from page one, you may find this one hard to get into.
The climax was well written but the last chapter felt rushed.
It's worth reading once if you're a fan of suspense and you lived through 9/11. I can't say it's one I would read again.
Negotiations are opened with bin Laden after he purchases a nuclear bomb small enough to fit in a suitcase. All hopes for a peaceful solution fall through when his nineteen-year-old daughter is killed in an airstrike. He goes mad with grief and orders the weapon to be sent to the one place that will hurt the President the most. The CIA always seems to be one step behind right up to the action-packed conclusion.
I had two problems with this book. One was the slow start. I had to get 50 pages in to even read the scene that sets the main action. The first few chapters surround a character who is quickly killed off and basically becomes irrelevant after the first third of the novel. I didn't realize this novel was part of a series until I was halfway in. It's possible someone more familiar with the series would have gotten more out of the early chapters.
Descriptions of the characters got in the way of story flow. At one point, a character is described down to what he looked like in high school. Suspense improved in the second half but if you're the kind of person who needs to be grabbed from page one, you may find this one hard to get into.
The climax was well written but the last chapter felt rushed.
It's worth reading once if you're a fan of suspense and you lived through 9/11. I can't say it's one I would read again.
January 25, 2022
When a one-kiloton Russian nuclear demolition bomb the size of a suitcase ends up in the hands of multimillionaire Osama bin Laden, the entire world sits up and takes notice. And when the United States launches an attack on the terrorist's base of operation in Afghanistan, killing his daughter, retaliation against America is inevitable.
Now, Kirk McGarvey is in for the race of his life, and a race against time. McGarvey has to find out how the bomb will get to the United States, where it will be detonated, and when this, the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, will take place. But not only must McGarvey stop the bomb, he must protect his own daughter and the daughter of the president of the United States for a savage act of retaliation by a man gone mad.
Now, Kirk McGarvey is in for the race of his life, and a race against time. McGarvey has to find out how the bomb will get to the United States, where it will be detonated, and when this, the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, will take place. But not only must McGarvey stop the bomb, he must protect his own daughter and the daughter of the president of the United States for a savage act of retaliation by a man gone mad.
March 16, 2022
Another fun, exciting and scary adventure!
I felt the dialog had matured and was a bit more realistic from previous books, I hope that continues.
Looking forward to the next one.
I felt the dialog had matured and was a bit more realistic from previous books, I hope that continues.
Looking forward to the next one.
August 9, 2022
I heard the podcast with Art Bell and I had to read. Must read.
February 19, 2016
Joshua's Hammer is my 8th Hagberg novel. I found it the most interesting one yet; although it seems the author follows a similar formula for each of his McGarvey novels. This novel continues Kirk McGarvey's renewed love affair with his former wife AND his daughter's new career in the CIA. Kirk is still the Deputy Director of the CIA (for a 2nd novel).
Due to the murder of the Saudi Arabia CIA Chief of Station and his family while on a visit to Disneyworld in Florida which was orchestrated by Osama bin Laden, the CIA figures bin Laden wants to talk. Thus begins the journey of Kirk McGarvey to bin Laden's hideout in the Afghanistan mountains to find out just what bin Laden wants. This turns out to be a disaster making for a daring, exciting escape and the following hunt for a bin Laden henchman who, it is believed, has brought the nuclear weapon (Joshua's Hammer) to the US with the purpose of killing at least the President's daughter and McGarvey's daughter, and perhaps millions of others.
This becomes a race against the clock.
I did enjoy this read, although have begun to question McGarvey's ability to figure so many things out that noone else is able to do. Despite this, Joshua's Hammer is an exciting read full of suspense and well-defined characters.
Due to the murder of the Saudi Arabia CIA Chief of Station and his family while on a visit to Disneyworld in Florida which was orchestrated by Osama bin Laden, the CIA figures bin Laden wants to talk. Thus begins the journey of Kirk McGarvey to bin Laden's hideout in the Afghanistan mountains to find out just what bin Laden wants. This turns out to be a disaster making for a daring, exciting escape and the following hunt for a bin Laden henchman who, it is believed, has brought the nuclear weapon (Joshua's Hammer) to the US with the purpose of killing at least the President's daughter and McGarvey's daughter, and perhaps millions of others.
This becomes a race against the clock.
I did enjoy this read, although have begun to question McGarvey's ability to figure so many things out that noone else is able to do. Despite this, Joshua's Hammer is an exciting read full of suspense and well-defined characters.
August 29, 2016
Kirk McGarvey takes on a mission to meet with Osama Bin Laden at his request to work out a deal whereupon Bin Laden would give up a suitcase nuclear bomb he has acquired in return for concessions and help in returning to his family in Saudi Arabia. Things go horribly wrong and the bomb is suspected to be headed for the US and Kirk is in the forefront in the scramble to find and stop its use. Of course there is a lot more going on around the basic plot, but for that you must read the book.
May 27, 2015
It's a good book from the Terror-CIA genre . Good pacing. A bit imaginative in regard to what really can take place in the real life, but who care.It's another one staring the terrorist "Bin Laden" Would defiantly read more of David Hagberg books.
May 4, 2016
David Hagberg has become one of my favorite authors. "Joshua's Hammer" is a nail-biting, fast-paced, page-turning thriller that engages the reader in ways that can be both frightening yet reassuring at the same time. A great read!
November 17, 2009
I love David Hagberg. I love the Kirk McGarvey series. What more is there to say?
May 11, 2010
Osima-Bin Laden is the bad guy. Too close to 9-11, but this came first???
July 30, 2010
edge of the seat thriller. Amazing that it was put out before 9/11. Hagberg has a great understanding of the situation we are facing. I enjoyed the Afghanistan portion...
January 17, 2012
Almost creepy the way he predicted Osama's attack on the U.S.
Read
November 8, 2013Very interesting book...quite a thriller!
January 22, 2016
Good tale. Well written and proofed.
A gripping story of international intrigue, terrorism, spies, and families who put up with all of it. A few implausibles, but otherwise realistic.
A gripping story of international intrigue, terrorism, spies, and families who put up with all of it. A few implausibles, but otherwise realistic.
February 4, 2016
Great book
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews