Picked up a hardcopy of this at the B&N discount bin a while back. Premise looked interesting... Set in 2040 it's after a major nuclear strike against NYC, DC and Mecca. Blamed on Zionists looking to frame Islamic fundamentalists. The US has split into four areas... Islamic northern half, Mormom Territory, Nevada Free Zone (Vegas, baby) and the Southern Bible Belt. Southern Bible Belt was filled with Christians from the Islamic Republic after several high-profile Americans converted to Islam and the northern territories formed a new country. Civil war is ongoing.

Thought the story would be about relations between those four zones, but it really focused on specific characters and events in the Islamic Republic. Sort of a chase / thriller type in "The DaVinci Code" line of finding the secret that would topple the state before the state found it and made it disappear forever.

A decent thriller. Interesting part was the author's view on the Muslim faith, clearly separated into "traditional" and "moderate" camps. Many references to the Qu'ran and the teachings of Muhammad. Also references to the apex of Muslim culture when they were open to new influences and intellectual pursuits.

The bad guys are clearly bad, the good guys are a bit shady but do things for the right reasons, and there are plenty of gray areas.

* Couldn't finish
** I had nothing else to do
*** Passed the time, would be **** for genre / author fans
**** Everyone could enjoy this book
***** Everyone should read this book, I'll read it again