The American Crusade A Political Thriller by Mark Spivak

A power-hungry vice president, a bad batch of shady intelligence, and a sinister plot to destroy Western civilization. Just another day in America.

On May 1, 2001, a group of radical Islamic terrorists crash a Boeing 737 jet airliner into the Mall of America—and Vice President Robert Hornsby knows this moment is coming.

The attack kills three thousand American citizens and throws an entire nation into a panic, but all Hornsby sees is an opportunity, a chance to imprint his fanatical values on the soul of the country he loves and become the most powerful vice president in American history.

With the aid of his affable but ineffectual president; the reluctant, conscience-stricken secretary of defense; and a preening, foppish faith leader with more than a few skeletons in his closet; Hornsby declares war on terror—and anyone who stands in his way. But as media scrutiny of the administration’s actions overseas intensifies, Hornby’s one-man campaign against evil begins to unravel—with striking parallels to the thirteenth century’s doomed Fourth Crusade—and sends the nation spiraling toward another deadly tragedy.

The American Crusade paints a grim and often cynical picture of America’s recent past, reflecting the attitudes, politics, and fears that shaped our nation in the new millennium. By sampling the contemporaneous French text on the Fourth Crusade, On the Conquest of Constantinople, author Mark Spivak reminds us of that ever-vital adage: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Fans of The Castle by Jason Pinter, The President Is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson, House of Cards by Michael Dobbs, The Whistler by John Grisham, and the Aaron Sorkin–penned TV drama The West Wing will love this book.

My Thoughts:

I love discovering new authors. I am pretty good at staying in my comfort zone with authors. Wow! Mark Spivak has created a novel that weaves an intriguing political thriller that will have you hanging on to your seat. This story is pretty fast paced and an interesting read late into the night.

At first I thought the plot was going to have a 9/11 parallel feel to it with an airplane crashing into the Mall of America as a radical Islamic terrorists. It surprised me and was different enough to make it unique. If you lost someone or lived through 9/11 this might be a hard read for you.

Having a political thriller can sometimes drag on with the characters and all the political background in a novel. The story read easily going back and forth between the American government and the radical Islamic terrorists. The characters I felt where very engaging and had a lot of depth to them. I personally like realistic characters in this type of genre. Mr. Spivak did that very well in the story and it didn’t drag with a bunch of political drama. The characters you get a feel of who they are in real life even though the names are changed. That part made me chuckle a bit a few times as you can’t help but have that persons image in your mind with a character.

I’m a huge fan of history and I enjoyed how the book mirrored the Fourth Crusade. It made an interesting twist to the book and something to ponder. 

The only thing that I really didn't like about the book was the font size. It was small and I would rather have a thicker book with a tad larger font.

A good read that left me up way past my bedtime.

 

I received a free copy of this product in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this information accordance with the FTC Regulations.