Eve of Destruction

by Barry Broad

Professor Jake Elliot knows the truth. The United States of America is tired, politically divided, and over-extended by a seemingly endless war on terror. Its adversary, the Islamic Republic of Iran, burns with the flames of apocalyptic religious fervor. The Ayatollahs, repressive, unpopular, yet true believers in the inevitability of their victory, seek to destroy the Great Satan and establish Iran as the first Islamic superpower. Their means to do nuclear weapons. Jake is assigned by the Administration to formulate a plan to confront the Iranian nuclear threat, but no one seems to be listening. Or are they? Joined by a tough, smart, former Army Captain turned CIA operative named Ivana Svilanovic and OJ Hamsid, an Iranian-born languages specialist, a US Special Forces team is sent into Iran with orders to create an incident at a heavily guarded secret facility deep in Iran. They know that their odds of success are slim but are committed to carrying out their orders whatever the risk. In Tehran, the commander of the espionage unit of the elite Al Qods Force, the brilliant and ruthless General Yazdi, is planning to send a team of specially trained agents to the west coast of the United States with orders to initiate a terrorist attack of shocking audacity. All that stands between them and success is a burnt out Israeli Mossad agent, Hannah Parras, and Jake Elliot, who has been terminated from his assignment yet presses forward to improve America s defenses against nuclear terrorism. The United States and Iran are on a apocalyptic collision course. At the end of the day there can be only one victor and one vanquished.

508 pages, Hardcover

First published April 30, 2008

About the author

Barry Broad was born in Los Angeles in 1957. He is a lawyer by training and has spent his professional career as a lobbyist, representing a variety of union clients from the Screen Actors Guild and the Teamsters to the Longshoremen and Jockeys’ Guild. His work has brought him in contact with people from all walks of life and he has used those people and their stories to dive deep into the lives of the characters that animate his fiction. He earned his law degree from the University of California, Davis and attended King’s College, Cambridge University, in England and U.C. Davis as an undergraduate. He is the author of two espionage thrillers, Eve of Destruction and its sequel, Requiem for the Damned. He and his partner, Dr. My Tieu Huynh, live in Sacramento, California.

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fairly good read, but feels a lot like an updated "Sum of All Fears." Looks at port security and terrorist/intelligence organizations in the Bush years. Avoids directly referencing Bush by name, which was kinda nice, but the US political parts of the books read the weakest. Could have used some trimming in places. The first chapter is a good hook, but has nearly nothing to do with the rest of the story.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would probably give this 2.5 stars if I could. It was good enough to read and finish while on vacation, but there were a number of things about the book that bothered me enough to not give it a higher rating.

Other than the stereotypes, typos, name mistakes, plot holes, etc, it was a good spy thriller.