The first in a new series by Joel C. Rosenberg The Twelfth Imam is mainly the story of David Shirazi, an Iranian-American CIA agent.

The book starts off with his parents' escape from Iran during the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979, then moves on to show his first love during a fishing trip in September 2001 with how the events of that month affected him.

Then the book settles down into what the main plot of the story and series will be: the Iranian leadership believes Muhammad al-Mahdi is set to return. Muhammad al-Mahdi is the Twelfth Imam, or the Twelver Shi’a Savior. Al-Mahdi lived in the 9th Century and they believe he is still alive but in hiding and that he will return one day, with Jesus, to transform the world into a perfect Islamic society.

In the book, the Iranian leaders believe that in order for The Mahdi to return they have to have either wiped Israel and the United States off of the map or be ready so they are working with all speed toward making nuclear weapons. That is where David comes in. His mission is to try and infiltrate the Iranian government to first attempt to discover if they are building weapons and if so stop them at any cost.

This is a very exciting book that was extremely hard for me to put down, even when I really needed to. The story is filled with action and escapes, political and religious intrigue, but it also has a heart and we see the emotional side of its protagonist as well. David is a secret agent but he is not a Bond, the things around him do affect him. He wonders whatever happened to his first love, struggles with his lack of devotion to Islam while putting on a pious face for the mission, and wonders if his bosses really understand what is going on in Iran.

Will he be able to stop Iran from getting ‘the bomb’? How can he keep lying to those he loves about his job; even through life threatening illness? Can he ever reunite with his first love? Who is the strange wonder-worker in the Iranian wilderness? Is he really The Mahdi? And if so, is he here to set up the final Islamic Empire?