The Cordoba Connection

The Cordoba Connection turned out to be much better than I thought it was going to be. To me it started out with a Muslim who wrote books about hate crimes but seemed to hate Muslims himself. But the story got better and better by the end. I think after finishing the story the author could have used one more time to go over the first part of the book. It did help give me an understanding of why and how so many people seem to hate and fear Muslims as a group, though I don't think the author intended for me to get to my conclusions the way he intended.

I received an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

An individual, Gabriel Cohen, who has lost the love of his life in the Twin Towers, determines that he must warn the United States of the dangers of Islam and the Muslim population living in the country. He sets out to do this by killing Imams, but each death is treated as a local story and it does not seem the the powers that be are willing to admit that there is a serial killer out there and no one is heeding his clarion call. His objective is to warn his countrymen of the danger that he sees in Islam.

Ben Mansur, a retired police officer and noted author, is living a quiet life with his wife and two children. He is a Muslim but he does not practice his faith as much as his show more wife does and she is trying to instill the faith into the two children. All is going well until he is visited by two Muslims who want him to help publicize the killings of the Imams so that the killer can be stopped. Ben's police instincts kick in and he not sure if he can be of any help or not and understands that too much publicity might create a backlash of Muslims attacking non-Muslims. Unknown to Ben, Gabriel has decided that he is his next target in the hopes of getting the news coverage that he desires.

With Ben in Washington DC talking to the FBI, Gabriel, using the Mansur's housekeeper attacks the home to find only Ben's wife and children there. On the spur of the moment he kidnaps the family and heads into the wilds of northern Georgia. Gabriel's demands are that his warning must be aired nationally to the country. As the FBI sit on the demands, Ben does his own work in trying to find where his family is being held. He has some characters he has dealt with as a police officer that he calls on to see if they know of any place that might be hiding the kidnapper. Will the FBI and media allow the demands to be put out on the airways?

This is an interesting look at the different sides of the tension that were created by the attacks on 9/11. There are those people that lost a loved one in the attacks who have placed the blame and hatred on all Muslims without thinking that not all Muslims living among us are the cause of the hatred against the United States. People get caught up in their own pain and suffering and want to place the blame on a group that are associated with the ones that created the problem. Scapegoating has become a favorite pastime in our society and we do not stop to think of the innocents that might be hurt by such thinking. Mr. Cline has given us a glimpse into what such hatred and uncontrolled passion may lead to.

An excellent book and one that should make every reader think about what is going on in the world today. Once started it is hard to put down and it truly makes one think about out differences. show less

This is a highly relevant book, especially since I am writing this on a day when an imam and his assistant in New York were shot, and also because the clash between Islamic culture and Western culture is a hot topic in our country and the world right now.

Gabriel Cohen lost his wife in the World Trade Center attacks and so wants revenge by warning America about the danger Islam imposes on it. He begins killing imams. He then wants to kill a visiting Chinese imam, but doesn't realize that her visit to America is delayed. He goes to the house where she will be staying, a Muslim American family's house, and kidnaps the wife and her children. The husband, who is absent at the time and is a retired policeman, tries to track Gabriel down.

The show more story itself moves quickly along, with lots of dialogue and brief descriptions rather than long descriptions. We get conversation between Gabriel, the kidnapper, and the kidnapped Muslim woman that bring out ideas about the issues that Muslims have in American society. However, the issues aren't really developed and the ending is too predictable and show clearly what side the author is on.

However, I thought the story was timely and at least helps start the conversation about what to do in this clash of Islam and Western culture.

Some of the language and descriptions were gratuitous and weren't really necessary for the story.

All in all, however, I thought it was a good story and a good beginning exploration of the issue of Muslims in America, but other works will be needed to carry this exploration forward. show less

This is an engaging and page-turning thriller about a serial killer motivated by hate. This difficult topic is sensitively handled by putting the targeted family at the heart of the story. They are well-drawn, unique and believable characters; the reader is able to care about them, and that is the main reason the book is suspenseful. Interesting cultural details, especially about Muslims in the southern USA.

I received a free copy of this book from LibraryThing Early Reviewers in exchange for an honest review.

Tense thriller. Gabriel Cohen sees himself as on a mission to warn America of the dangers posed by Islam. Court martialled, for acts of torture, out of the U.S. Navy and subsequently left a widower by the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001, Cohen has brutally murdered a number of imams and begun communicating with the media.
Hearing that a high-profile Chinese imam, visiting Atlanta, is due to stay with a local Muslim family - Ben Mansur, his wife Yasmin and their children Selena & Omar - Cohen befriends the family's housekeeper. Forcing his way into the Mansur home Cohen's plans start to go wrong and he's forces to take the wife and children hostage; hiding out in a cabin deep in the North Georgia wilderness.
Fortunately Terry show more Cline and his wife Judith Richards have obviously made great effects to research and fact check their potentially sensational subject matter. The first section of the story being concerned with the tensions Muslims face post 9/11 in America - each member of the Mansur family having a different outlook. There are also a lot of back stories for the various characters which slow the pace significantly. But once the kidnapping occurs the pace increases and the book becoming a fairly gripping thriller.
Judith Richards is credited as editor and she writes a moving foreword to her late husband C. Terry Cline, Jr, who had a long career as a writer.

My thanks to River's Edge Media and Publicist Mallory Lundy for an Advance Review Copy of The Cordoba Connection. show less

This novel is a timely page turner, definitely worthy of reading. A psychopath (which is fortunately much more rare than the common antisocial) has decided to start spreading hatred towards Islam and thinks beheading Imams is a good way to send his message. He uses the death of his wife on 9/11 as a rationale for his behavior, but we learn about some of his atrocious past behavior. Some parts of the book were hard to read (beating a pregnant woman, leaving a child to die in the cold, beheadings, etc.) , but not unexpected considering the level of deviance the author (may he rest in peace) is going for. The end was unexpected and a little unrealistic, but did not ruin the book in any way. I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to show more discover this author and plan on reading more of his work. show less

The Cordoba Connection is a very interesting and timely thriller. The ending is a tad over the top, but the rest of it is fascinating reading. A pregnant wife and her son are kidnapped and taken to a very remote location and the husband/father is given an impossible task to perform in order to get them back. The kidnapper is a man who has been tipped into insanity by the death of his family back in 2001, in the World Trade Center attack and has been committing atrocities upon Muslim imams since then, in retaliation. It was brutal and cruel at times, but I had trouble putting it down.