Tony Hilling reviews Joseph Max Lewis fast paced action THRILLER "Baghdad Burning"!

BAGHDAD BURNING or
I thought my heart was in my mouth until…

Have you ever tried bob-sledding? Perhaps careering down an ice tunnel at speeds of a bone-shaking 90 mph is not your idea of fun. But if you can identify with someone else in some fast paced action, and you like thrillers, try reading Joseph Max Lewis’ “Baghdad Burning”. This book was one wild ride. The opening scenes were graphic and gripping. At one particularly intense moment, I thought my heart was in my mouth until I spied it staring at me fearfully from somewhere behind my left ear! The action moved at such a breakneck pace that I had to almost physically slow it down and re-read certain sections, concerned that I had missed something.

But as usual, I get ahead of myself. The story covers the exploits of Ralph Jackson an ex Green Beret serving in post Saddam Hussein Iraq as he tries to protect a courageous yet star-crossed Christian woman, Isha Hami. Lewis has made Jackson a very believable hero: a flawed, broken man tormented by his demons and self-perceived failures of the past. So forget the indestructible Jack Reacher who never loses a fight, and John Reese of the celebrated Warner Bros TV series, “Person of Interest”, who has been shot so many times, he probably rattles as he swaggers out of another car wreck. Sometimes I wonder if the fantasy genre has invaded every other medium. But I digress!

Two other aspects of the story deserve honourable mention. There were a number of negotiating interfaces in the novel. I was amazed at how Lewis put into black and white the subtle, tortuous, almost back-on-itself reasoning of the Aramean mind. It made me wonder if we Westerners were afflicted with incurable naivete. The author’s ability to set this down in print is a testimony to the depth of his intellect and writing skills. In one encounter between two equally twisted terrorists I was reminded of the words of Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”

Lewis in his own Twitter bio tells us that he himself is an ex-Green Beret. He helpfully translates the Clancy-ese Jarhead-speak and military mumbo jumbo into the Mom and Pop English common in the Midwest and Canada, and for those like myself whose closest encounter with military service was gazing vacantly at a Salvation Army band at Christmas time. I thoroughly enjoyed this book! In the land of Wannabe Superheros, it’s nice that Joseph Max Lewis is one of those who has really seen the action…and can write about it.

Joseph Max Lewis "Baghdad Burning" is available in both ebook and paperback! Here is the Amazon link:http://www.amazon.com/Baghdad-Burning-Joseph-Max-Lewis-ebook/dp/B00UB6OPDQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1457479321&sr=8-3&keywords=joseph+max+lewis

Drop by Joseph Max Lewis website: www.josephmaxlewis.com

Tony Hilling's Amazon Author Page is :http://www.amazon.com/Tony-Hilling/e/B00Y3UFUFS/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3?qid=1457479457&sr=1-3