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The Caliphate
When Trent Lambert, a New York hedge fund manager, takes a run at the Indonesian Rupiah, he needs more than just money to make the currency decline. Amidst the glory of his billionaire status, he loses the support of his long time friend and investor. Then his son is kidnapped. The The destruction of the U.S. dollar and the ruin of the fragile American economy. Trent knows he can do it. But the FBI are now investigating him, and he must flee to Indonesia to save his son. On the world's busiest shipping lane, in its pirate-infested waters, Trent, a pirate, and a grade-school teacher, must confront the planet's most dangerous religious leader whose vision of a new superpower Trent is fulfilling with American-style capitalism.
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First published May 21, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 9, 2009
The Caliphate
by Jack Steward
ISBN # 978-0981-2699-0-0
price: $9.95 (on Amazon.com)
The Caliphate, a political thriller by Jack Stewart has action, conspiracy, politics, and both economic and Islamic terrorism mixed with family values delivered in 316 pages. This thriller sends a chilling message made more frightening due to al-Qaida's goals to bring back the Caliphate that existed after Mohammed's death in 632 AD.
If the Caliphate were to return today, one man would rule all Islam's 1.2 billion believers representing about 22% of the world's population spread across more than fifty Muslim countries. Consider the consequences if someone like Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei or the leader of the Taliban ruled all Islam. Does it matter of he were a Shiite or a Sunni?
The story starts when the antihero, Trent Lambert, a greedy Wall Street currency trader and CEO of the multi-billion dollar Lambert Fund, manipulates the currency of Indonesia to increase his wealth. Unknown to Trent, his actions are being closely watched by one of his investors, a Saudi Prince with plans to lead the next Caliphate. This scenario seems even more frightening considering the fragile economic situation in the world today that started in the United States due to similar greedy goals.
Like Howard Hughes, Lambert has a phobia for germs and viruses and lives almost isolated in a sterile environment. At one time, Lambert was mentally healthier, and he had a wife and a son. When his son, Eric, is kidnapped by Islamic terrorists to be used as leverage to gain Lambert's currency trader expertise to bring down the American economy, Trent is reunited with his wife in a mutual attempt to save their son. What happens after that is like James Bond and Mission Impossible in one package.
Unlike many thrillers, The Caliphate offers a balanced view of Islam through Indonesian pirates, Harmina, her son Ando, and father Datuk. Without the help of Islamic pirates, Lambert and his wife do not stand a chance to get their son back and thwart the plans of the Saudi Prince and his allies, the Jemaah Islamiyah, one of the world's most dangerous terrorist groups, and save their son while keeping America and its allies from economic collapse.
The Caliphate is a feasible, well-plotted story that kept my attention even though the unconventional formatting with block paragraphs separated by blank lines was distracting at first.
by Jack Steward
ISBN # 978-0981-2699-0-0
price: $9.95 (on Amazon.com)
The Caliphate, a political thriller by Jack Stewart has action, conspiracy, politics, and both economic and Islamic terrorism mixed with family values delivered in 316 pages. This thriller sends a chilling message made more frightening due to al-Qaida's goals to bring back the Caliphate that existed after Mohammed's death in 632 AD.
If the Caliphate were to return today, one man would rule all Islam's 1.2 billion believers representing about 22% of the world's population spread across more than fifty Muslim countries. Consider the consequences if someone like Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei or the leader of the Taliban ruled all Islam. Does it matter of he were a Shiite or a Sunni?
The story starts when the antihero, Trent Lambert, a greedy Wall Street currency trader and CEO of the multi-billion dollar Lambert Fund, manipulates the currency of Indonesia to increase his wealth. Unknown to Trent, his actions are being closely watched by one of his investors, a Saudi Prince with plans to lead the next Caliphate. This scenario seems even more frightening considering the fragile economic situation in the world today that started in the United States due to similar greedy goals.
Like Howard Hughes, Lambert has a phobia for germs and viruses and lives almost isolated in a sterile environment. At one time, Lambert was mentally healthier, and he had a wife and a son. When his son, Eric, is kidnapped by Islamic terrorists to be used as leverage to gain Lambert's currency trader expertise to bring down the American economy, Trent is reunited with his wife in a mutual attempt to save their son. What happens after that is like James Bond and Mission Impossible in one package.
Unlike many thrillers, The Caliphate offers a balanced view of Islam through Indonesian pirates, Harmina, her son Ando, and father Datuk. Without the help of Islamic pirates, Lambert and his wife do not stand a chance to get their son back and thwart the plans of the Saudi Prince and his allies, the Jemaah Islamiyah, one of the world's most dangerous terrorist groups, and save their son while keeping America and its allies from economic collapse.
The Caliphate is a feasible, well-plotted story that kept my attention even though the unconventional formatting with block paragraphs separated by blank lines was distracting at first.
September 5, 2009
The Caliphate, by Jack Stewart, is almost as fantastic as Jack’s bio at the back of the book. Let’s quote here:
“Jack Stewart is a treasure hunter, a mountaineer, and a gun for hire. When not writing his next adventure, this father of twelve spends his days on the beaches of Thailand trading an eight figure fortune and helping orphaned children. Jack is the only South African national ever to win both summer and winter Olympic medals. Jack holds the world record for the time to disassemble and reassemble a Kalashnikov. His MBA is from Harvard University and his Doctorate from Oxford. At night he sings Karaoke while sipping very dirty martinis.”
Now, that could turn into a full-length biography I’d LOVE to read!
Back to the book at hand… Trent Lambert is a currency trader and wheeler dealer. His last coup made his Fund hundreds of millions. He’s good at what he does.
He’s not so good at relationships. So when his son is kidnapped to manipulate him into triggering some more fund revaluations, he not only has to figure out how to deal with the bad guys, he’s got to rebuild relationships that he is just now realizing are important.
And the plot keeps growing larger and larger and far more complicated than it first appears. There is so much going on that I’m having trouble keeping track of it all. Reading the book is kind of like drinking a Monster; I feel wired and have difficulty focusing on what I’m reading at that second. But everything comes together in the end…
I love the international flavor of the book. Little anecdotes, like the description of a painting in Prince al-Yazid’s office: “two women, one wore the traditional Muslim dress of niqab and abaya, only her eyes showed, deep thoughtful brown eyes that were interested while demure. The second woman was unveiled, Western, but wearing the large, dark-tinted sunglasses, which were currently in vogue.” Or the antics of Untung the orangutan. Lots of good stuff hidden in all the drama. And great character development…
“Jack Stewart is a treasure hunter, a mountaineer, and a gun for hire. When not writing his next adventure, this father of twelve spends his days on the beaches of Thailand trading an eight figure fortune and helping orphaned children. Jack is the only South African national ever to win both summer and winter Olympic medals. Jack holds the world record for the time to disassemble and reassemble a Kalashnikov. His MBA is from Harvard University and his Doctorate from Oxford. At night he sings Karaoke while sipping very dirty martinis.”
Now, that could turn into a full-length biography I’d LOVE to read!
Back to the book at hand… Trent Lambert is a currency trader and wheeler dealer. His last coup made his Fund hundreds of millions. He’s good at what he does.
He’s not so good at relationships. So when his son is kidnapped to manipulate him into triggering some more fund revaluations, he not only has to figure out how to deal with the bad guys, he’s got to rebuild relationships that he is just now realizing are important.
And the plot keeps growing larger and larger and far more complicated than it first appears. There is so much going on that I’m having trouble keeping track of it all. Reading the book is kind of like drinking a Monster; I feel wired and have difficulty focusing on what I’m reading at that second. But everything comes together in the end…
I love the international flavor of the book. Little anecdotes, like the description of a painting in Prince al-Yazid’s office: “two women, one wore the traditional Muslim dress of niqab and abaya, only her eyes showed, deep thoughtful brown eyes that were interested while demure. The second woman was unveiled, Western, but wearing the large, dark-tinted sunglasses, which were currently in vogue.” Or the antics of Untung the orangutan. Lots of good stuff hidden in all the drama. And great character development…
September 8, 2009
VERY up-to-date book, with scary-real scenarios about the war on terror in the APAC area. Interesting ideas and a well-written book.
September 19, 2009
Trent Lambert was determined to return his fund to profitability after suffering losses as a result of the recession. In a bold move to ensure that the Rupiah is depreciated, he arranges for an attack on an oil tanker near the Malacca Strait. The Rupiah plummets making Mr. Lambert the world's newest billionaire.
The Jemaah Islamiyah, the group responsible for the Bali bombings, had their assets denominated in the Rupiah. As a result, Trent's son is kidnapped. They demand that he appreciate the South East Asian currencies within one week or they will kill his son. In order to pull this off, Trent plans to destroy the U.S. dollar and also make a fortune in the process.
The Caliphate is part high finance thriller and part super spy novel. There is plenty of action to satisfy the fast paced thriller reader. But there is also quite a bit of interesting information about the world's economies. I learned quite a bit from reading this novel, even though, I have to admit that I do not quite understand everything that was presented still. The plot is complex and keeps you on your toes following along.
The supporting characters are rich and very enjoyable. However, I found myself not liking the main character. That is not to say that I did not enjoy the character, just that I found myself not able to cheer for him all the time. He is pompous and very self serving. I thought it refreshing to have a main character with flaws and not the typical all time hero. Trent does redeem himself in the end, and that does provide closure.
I enjoyed this book. It does have a fair amount of action but is not the type of book you fly through in one setting. There is quite a bit of substance to chew through. This is another book that had me going off to Wikipedia in order to look up topics I read about. That is always a good thing in my mind.
About the Author:
The author information at the back of the book was so interesting I thought I would share it with you:
Jack Stewart is a treasure hunter, a mountaineer, and a gun for hire. When not writing his next adventure, this father of twelve spends his days on the beaches of Thailand trading an eight figure fortune and helping orphaned children. Jack is the only South African national ever to win both summer and winter Olympic medals. Jack holds the world record for the time disassemble and reassemble a Kalishnakov. His MBA is from Harvard University and his Doctorate from Oxford. At night he sings Karaoke while sipping very dirty martinis.
The Jemaah Islamiyah, the group responsible for the Bali bombings, had their assets denominated in the Rupiah. As a result, Trent's son is kidnapped. They demand that he appreciate the South East Asian currencies within one week or they will kill his son. In order to pull this off, Trent plans to destroy the U.S. dollar and also make a fortune in the process.
The Caliphate is part high finance thriller and part super spy novel. There is plenty of action to satisfy the fast paced thriller reader. But there is also quite a bit of interesting information about the world's economies. I learned quite a bit from reading this novel, even though, I have to admit that I do not quite understand everything that was presented still. The plot is complex and keeps you on your toes following along.
The supporting characters are rich and very enjoyable. However, I found myself not liking the main character. That is not to say that I did not enjoy the character, just that I found myself not able to cheer for him all the time. He is pompous and very self serving. I thought it refreshing to have a main character with flaws and not the typical all time hero. Trent does redeem himself in the end, and that does provide closure.
I enjoyed this book. It does have a fair amount of action but is not the type of book you fly through in one setting. There is quite a bit of substance to chew through. This is another book that had me going off to Wikipedia in order to look up topics I read about. That is always a good thing in my mind.
About the Author:
The author information at the back of the book was so interesting I thought I would share it with you:
Jack Stewart is a treasure hunter, a mountaineer, and a gun for hire. When not writing his next adventure, this father of twelve spends his days on the beaches of Thailand trading an eight figure fortune and helping orphaned children. Jack is the only South African national ever to win both summer and winter Olympic medals. Jack holds the world record for the time disassemble and reassemble a Kalishnakov. His MBA is from Harvard University and his Doctorate from Oxford. At night he sings Karaoke while sipping very dirty martinis.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews