The landscape of the political thriller has seen a shift in 2018. Authors and the public in general are starting to view Russia as the main threat to the West rather than the Middle East. I’ve read several thrillers in 2018 that focus on the Russian menace and suspect that I will read a few more in 2019. Rosenberg seemed to be on the leading edge of the Russian trend with his March 2018 release of The Kremlin Conspiracy and in-deed always seems to be a bit prognosticative with his fiction. In The Persian Gamble, Rosenberg brings back former U.S. Secret Service agent Marcus Ryker (The Kremlin Conspiracy) and AGAIN he has to stop a potential nuclear war.

The Persian Gamble feels a bit repetitive, not only within the current landscape of the political thriller, but within Rosenberg’s own universe as well. The names have been changed, but the plot remains the same. Russia, North Korea, and Iran make up the baddies, while Ryker, Israel and the U.S. are on the side of good.

This is a Tyndale House publication, so it may appeal to the reader who wishes to avoid the serious violence, language and mayhem of some of Mr. Rosenberg's contemporaries in the genre but, at least with regards to story, I felt like Spymaster, Red War and Bloody Sunday (all 2018 publications) were better with somewhat similar plots.

Mr. Rosenberg has too many skins on the wall for me to seriously knock anything he’s written, but if anything, I felt like I’d read this story before. Not bad, but not a story that kept me reading into the early hours of morning.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC, all the best.

While THE PERSIAN GAMBLE by JOEL C. ROSENBERG is the sequel to The Kremlin Conspiracy, it can easily be read as a stand alone. Having read and enjoyed The Kremln Conspiracy, I was really pleased to have the story carry on, and am hoping there will be another novel in this series.
Joel Rosenberg is a master of the political thriller and is so knowledgeable about the Middle East and Last Days prophecy that his novels are always exciting and give us so much food for thought. Add to that a really solid Christian message and he has provided us with a worthwhile read.
Former secret service agent Marcus Ryker is helping Oleg Kraskin, code name Raven, defect from Russia after killing his father in law, President Lukanov, in order to prevent world war three. Oleg has risked his life to give information to the Americans. The two of them are on the run, with the wounded Jenny Morris, in sub zero temperatures and blizzard conditions, with both the Russians and Americans after them.
When Oleg, through his contact in North Korea, General Yong-Jin Yoon, hears that the Iranians are about to buy Russian warheads from the North Koreans, things heat up even more!
The novel is fast paced and very exciting, and full of political intrigue. It is hard to put down - in fact I have just read it straight through again, to see if I missed anything! Needless to say, I highly recommend The Persian Gamble.
I was given a free copy of the book by Tyndale House Publishers from NetGalley. The opinions in this review are completely my own.