What do you think?
Rate this book
Tommy Carmellini #4
The Disciple
Iran is much closer to having operational nuclear weapons than the CIA believes and its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has a plan. With twelve nuclear warheads mounted on twelve missiles, he will make Iran a martyr nation―and lead the world's Muslims in a holy war.
But the Americans have a secret weapon in a group of Iranian dissidents, including a brother and sister determined to avenge the death of a family member at the hands of the religious police. Their to funnel information to special agent Tommy Carmellini and thwart Ahmadinejad's efforts.
But will Admiral Jake Grafton and the U.S. government believe the information these two informants are providing? Can the Americans prevent the Israelis from taking matters into their own hands and striking first? Meanwhile, the race is on to stop Iran from launching an all-out nuclear nightmare―and time has already run out…
But the Americans have a secret weapon in a group of Iranian dissidents, including a brother and sister determined to avenge the death of a family member at the hands of the religious police. Their to funnel information to special agent Tommy Carmellini and thwart Ahmadinejad's efforts.
But will Admiral Jake Grafton and the U.S. government believe the information these two informants are providing? Can the Americans prevent the Israelis from taking matters into their own hands and striking first? Meanwhile, the race is on to stop Iran from launching an all-out nuclear nightmare―and time has already run out…
608 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 8, 2009
125 people are currently reading
821 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Coonts
180 books754 followersStephen Coonts (born July 19, 1946) is an American thriller and suspense novelist.
Coonts grew up in Buckhannon, West Virginia, a small coal-mining town and earned an B.A. degree in political science at West Virginia University in 1968. He entered the Navy the following year and flew an A-6 Intruder medium attack plane during the Vietnam War, where he served on two combat cruises aboard the USS Enterprise (CVN-65). He accumulated 1600 hours in the A-6 Intruder and earned a number of Navy commendations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war he served as a flight instructor on A-6 aircraft for two years, then did a tour as an assistant catapult and arresting gear officer aboard USS Nimitz (CVN-68). His navigator-bombardier was LTjg Stanley W. Bryant who later became a Rear Admiral and deputy commander-in-chief of the US naval forces in Europe.
After being honorably discharged from duty as a lieutenant in 1977, Coonts pursued a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree at the University of Colorado, graduating in 1979. He then worked as an oil and gas lawyer for several companies, entertaining his writing interests in his free time.
He published short stories in a number of publications before writing Flight of the Intruder in 1986 (made into a movie in 1991). Intruder, based in part on his experiences as a bomber pilot, spent 28 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists in hardcover and launched his career as a novelist. From there he continued writing adventure-mysteries using the character from his first book, Jake Grafton. He has written several other series and stand-alone novels since then, but is most notable for the Grafton books.
Today Coonts continues to write, having had seventeen New York Times bestsellers (out of 20 books), and lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife and son.
Taken from Wikipedia
Learn more about Stephen Coonts on the Macmillan website.
Coonts grew up in Buckhannon, West Virginia, a small coal-mining town and earned an B.A. degree in political science at West Virginia University in 1968. He entered the Navy the following year and flew an A-6 Intruder medium attack plane during the Vietnam War, where he served on two combat cruises aboard the USS Enterprise (CVN-65). He accumulated 1600 hours in the A-6 Intruder and earned a number of Navy commendations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war he served as a flight instructor on A-6 aircraft for two years, then did a tour as an assistant catapult and arresting gear officer aboard USS Nimitz (CVN-68). His navigator-bombardier was LTjg Stanley W. Bryant who later became a Rear Admiral and deputy commander-in-chief of the US naval forces in Europe.
After being honorably discharged from duty as a lieutenant in 1977, Coonts pursued a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree at the University of Colorado, graduating in 1979. He then worked as an oil and gas lawyer for several companies, entertaining his writing interests in his free time.
He published short stories in a number of publications before writing Flight of the Intruder in 1986 (made into a movie in 1991). Intruder, based in part on his experiences as a bomber pilot, spent 28 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists in hardcover and launched his career as a novelist. From there he continued writing adventure-mysteries using the character from his first book, Jake Grafton. He has written several other series and stand-alone novels since then, but is most notable for the Grafton books.
Today Coonts continues to write, having had seventeen New York Times bestsellers (out of 20 books), and lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife and son.
Taken from Wikipedia
Learn more about Stephen Coonts on the Macmillan website.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 118 reviews
January 30, 2010
The Disciple begins well, with one sentence
"God willing, with the force of God behind it, we shall soon experience a world without the united States and Zionism"
That sentence sets a tone of religous bigorty and fanatism and extreme danger. The book fails to deliver after that preamble.
The first chapters are told in 3rd person, and deal with snippets of conspiracy that are hard to grasp and even harder to care about.
The protaganist is introduced in a bluntly cliche manner, he strolls down a street of Iran, and it immdediately set upon by 2/3? thugs and leaves them pounded into the ground. Then we're filled in with a block of Iranian history which isn't too bad, if it wasn't so obviously "look I did my research" by the author and then later ruined by obsurd speculation about the sex life of radical Islam.
We even get narrative from the president of Iran Ahmadinejad, who is effectively a sex offender with THE MOST RIDICULOUS PLAN FOR IRAN EVER, did you get that? MOST RIDICULOUS PLAN EVER. Now I don't want you to read this book just becuase you're curious about what could be so stupid, but I feel that in charity I should leave some reason to pick this thing up.
The philosophies are heavy handed, the attempt for depth by having a novel floating around thats banned by the Iranian government lacks the depth it tries to create. All the senseless plotting makes it difficult to understand what everyone is trying to do.
In short Coonts tries to combine, James Bond, Three Cups of Tea and Tom Clancy into one novel and fails to get anything worthwhile out of it. With dialogue like "Hi hot lips" melodramtic beatings and rape and the worst prose I've read in a long time : "The president said his voice pregnant with relief" The disciple is best left alone.
"God willing, with the force of God behind it, we shall soon experience a world without the united States and Zionism"
That sentence sets a tone of religous bigorty and fanatism and extreme danger. The book fails to deliver after that preamble.
The first chapters are told in 3rd person, and deal with snippets of conspiracy that are hard to grasp and even harder to care about.
The protaganist is introduced in a bluntly cliche manner, he strolls down a street of Iran, and it immdediately set upon by 2/3? thugs and leaves them pounded into the ground. Then we're filled in with a block of Iranian history which isn't too bad, if it wasn't so obviously "look I did my research" by the author and then later ruined by obsurd speculation about the sex life of radical Islam.
We even get narrative from the president of Iran Ahmadinejad, who is effectively a sex offender with THE MOST RIDICULOUS PLAN FOR IRAN EVER, did you get that? MOST RIDICULOUS PLAN EVER. Now I don't want you to read this book just becuase you're curious about what could be so stupid, but I feel that in charity I should leave some reason to pick this thing up.
The philosophies are heavy handed, the attempt for depth by having a novel floating around thats banned by the Iranian government lacks the depth it tries to create. All the senseless plotting makes it difficult to understand what everyone is trying to do.
In short Coonts tries to combine, James Bond, Three Cups of Tea and Tom Clancy into one novel and fails to get anything worthwhile out of it. With dialogue like "Hi hot lips" melodramtic beatings and rape and the worst prose I've read in a long time : "The president said his voice pregnant with relief" The disciple is best left alone.
May 10, 2013
Listened to only about 30 minutes but decided this was not for me.
October 13, 2018
Excellent book using real life bad guys (or governments). Even though it is a book of fiction, I can totally see something like this being planed in Iran and I can see the end not turning out as well as it did in the book with our current administration. Enuf said, read the book for yourself and enjoy the action. Jake Grafton is still one of my favorite characters in fiction after all these years!
May 28, 2014
Barely tolerable military/spy thriller with a bit of a war thrown in. Slow in places and never really got going as it jumped about between a variety of characters and all up a bit confusing. Not good.
February 14, 2018
This story never quite made it. It didn't get interesting until about 3/4 of the way through, and even then it wasn't much. I don't like to quit a book once I've started it, else I would've given up in the first 30-40 pages.
October 30, 2019
The Disciple
Another excellent Tommy Carmellini and Jake Grafton book. Very weak written and holds you in suspense from start to finish. I can't wait to start the next one in the series. I hope that Stephen Coonts has book featuring g this dynamic pair in the future.
Another excellent Tommy Carmellini and Jake Grafton book. Very weak written and holds you in suspense from start to finish. I can't wait to start the next one in the series. I hope that Stephen Coonts has book featuring g this dynamic pair in the future.
June 22, 2017
Kept me interested--different than most books in that the war actually HAPPENED. It was not prevented by the hero at the last minute. Good leisure read if you like spy/action novels.
September 17, 2019
This book was copyrighted in 2009 when Ahmadinejad was in power in Iran and had made two announcements germane to this book: that Iran was building a nuclear power program (for domestic power purposes - nod nod wink wink) and that Israel must be wiped off the face of this earth. Stephen Coonts then takes this and develops it into the extreme wherein Ahmadinejad decides to develop nuclear weapons and attack both Israel, American bases, and certain other targets hoping to start World War 3 and unite the Muslim World in a Holy Jihad against the infidel states.
The book is well written and still timely, but if you are sensitive about the subject matter, this book might not be appropriate.
The book is well written and still timely, but if you are sensitive about the subject matter, this book might not be appropriate.
May 29, 2017
Tommy Carmellini Rides Again!
Super Spy Tommy Carmellini is dispatched to Iran by Jake Grafton to search for evidence of nuclear weapons. As usual, Tommy seems to live a constant death defying adventure being blown up, tortured, escaping gunfire and managing to save the day.
I enjoy reading the adventures of Americas greatest reformed jewel thief now working for the CIA. This book has got to be his greatest adventure, until I read the next Jake Grafton-Tommy Carmelleni adventure. I'm an action adventure fan and Jake and Tommy have never disappointed me.
Super Spy Tommy Carmellini is dispatched to Iran by Jake Grafton to search for evidence of nuclear weapons. As usual, Tommy seems to live a constant death defying adventure being blown up, tortured, escaping gunfire and managing to save the day.
I enjoy reading the adventures of Americas greatest reformed jewel thief now working for the CIA. This book has got to be his greatest adventure, until I read the next Jake Grafton-Tommy Carmelleni adventure. I'm an action adventure fan and Jake and Tommy have never disappointed me.
November 4, 2022
The strongest part of the novel is the protagonist. Here's one MC who deserves his perspective, IMO, and the first person narration helped. The other parts were meh to good, side characters were all right, plot was fine, weird to see actual politicians in this fictional setting but it's a style thing. The way they handled the female protagonist and antagonist was questionable, even with the facade of "oh she's crazy." But at least this passes the standard thriller test.
January 15, 2021
After reading a good number of Jake Grafton/Tommy Carmellini books by Stephen Coonts, I had decided to try out some new authors of spy/terrorist type novels. I did find some other terrific authors who wrote great stories. I then came back to Stephen Coonts with The Disciple. It was like old home week and I settled in to the familiar writing style of Coonts. I happen to prefer stories of intrigue in areas like Paris, Russia, the United States, etc. In this case, the story centers in Iran and spends much time with oppressed characters in that country. As such, I knocked off a half-star (but can't do half so I took off a full star) because oppression isn't as fun as glitz and glammor of Paris hotels. But the story itself is great. I particularly liked the last 20% of the story (I read on Kindle) as Jake Grafton and all our top political and military leaders become prominent in the story which leads to an exciting ending.
Side note: While I did say that I prefer glitz and glammor, I am currently reading Pirate Alley by Stephen Coonts. Here's another story that is the total opposite of glitz and glammor. But the story is so great that I'll be giving it five stars.
Side note: While I did say that I prefer glitz and glammor, I am currently reading Pirate Alley by Stephen Coonts. Here's another story that is the total opposite of glitz and glammor. But the story is so great that I'll be giving it five stars.
October 2, 2022
Until the last chapters, I did not enjoy Coonts' tale of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad nuclear warheads mounted on 12 missiles heading towards major world targets. He even targeted Iran to make it a martyr nation leading a holy war. Tommy Carmellini, Davar, Darma, and Admiral Jake Grafton are working together to try to stop it.
February 10, 2023
One of the best Carmellini/Grafton books I have read. So real I could sense the pain & suffering of the innocent. A eye opener for the world about 3rd world countries trying to gain nuclear weapons. It’s never a good thing!
November 15, 2023
An interesting view and thriller within Iran and the politics of the clerics and politicians trying to turn the world to their type of world and Jake Grafton and Tommie Carmelini working to prevent WW III.
April 7, 2018
A great story of intrigue in the war torn middle east. Tommy Carmellini strikes again.
October 22, 2018
fantastic
August 10, 2019
Yet another page turning, hair raising, gut wrenching, Grafton/Carmelini installment. I always enjoy books in the Grafton Universe.
September 29, 2019
Boring. And so unbelievable after you've read some proper military thrillers.
November 9, 2019
Like all his best, it starts slow and builds to a heart pounding, and if I may say so, bat sh*t crazy ending.
February 24, 2020
A good tale, but the author has written in some very implausible actions by many of the characters.
This took the air and realism out of the story periodically.
This took the air and realism out of the story periodically.
June 1, 2021
This was a good one! I love that Tommy Carmellini’s voice is first person. I love the sarcasm throughout the book. Nuclear bombs should not be a thing! Can’t wait to read the next one.
November 8, 2021
Tommy Carmelini is sent to Iran to stop Iran from launching Nuclear bombs at Israel and American Bases in the Middle East.
December 19, 2021
A great book with great characters and a really interesting look at Iran it’s beautiful people, and it’s awful leadership and what it’s done to the country
February 13, 2022
I’d forgotten how good these books by Steven Coonts can be. Made me go back and generate a list and see what I’ve missed.
May 4, 2022
Just ok, not outstanding as some of the books in this series have been. Would like to see more where Jake Grafton was more of a main character.
November 22, 2022
The 4th book in the Tommy Carmellini series, the 14th book in the Jake Grafton & Tommy Carmellini Universe. Action and adventure.
May 27, 2025
Again, a pretty good series, but it tends to drag on a little too much at times.
July 8, 2025
Good story , rang a few bells.
October 18, 2025
Fourth in the series and a really good plan to save the world. And, a little bit of sex thrown in for good measure.
October 29, 2025
The story in a nutshell...
American bombs good. Iranian bombs bad.
American government, intelligent and just.
Iranian government, stupid and evil.
Not much more than that.
American bombs good. Iranian bombs bad.
American government, intelligent and just.
Iranian government, stupid and evil.
Not much more than that.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 118 reviews