Review by Ada Ling -- The Date Farm by Jack Winnick

[Ada Ling]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Date Farm" by Jack Winnick.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Jack Winnick’s The Date Farm is a fascinating thriller. This book follows two FBI agents as they travel to the Middle East and protect the US against terrorists. The author does a fantastic job of developing some charming characters and exciting stories. The book is full of military operations and tactics. It is the fourth in the Lara and Uri series. But you can read as a stand-alone book and fully enjoy the narrative.

I appreciate the intense and twisted plots. The book starts with a terrorist attack at a mall in Beverly Hills. Who did this? What was the motivation? Uri and Lara, the married FBI agents, were brought into the picture. The readers got to know who was behind the attack. But the story is not done yet. The terrorists are targeting something more significant: the large banks in the US! You would think the money is the one that the robbers are after, but it is not! When the stories develop, more and more US security officials came into the play. Can we trust all of them? The story transfers Uri and Lara to the Middle East to straighten things out. Unfortunately, the FBI agent couple got trapped on the farm. Can they escape?

When I read the book, I feel I’d be careful of flipping the pages. If I blink, I might miss a pivotal moment. That’s how intense this book is.

The author is great at putting the terrorist attacks and the in-person battles together. I can imagine the scenes just as I am watching a movie. The author backs his story with rich knowledge on Middle East culture, policy, and US homeland security operations. One example is how Uri and Lara disguise themselves and pass the test to get a date farm job. They stay there and find out the secret. Homeland security officials want to pull them back, but what is the strategy? Another example is how the terrorists get into the underground of the Federal Reserve. The detailed description of how intelligent people think and how they plan the steps is an open eye. The author has genuinely taken the terrorist topic to a higher level.

I would rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. It is a well-edited book, and I only found one minor error. There is nothing I do not like about this book. The author also urges us to think that a safe environment is not coming for granted. The readers get a sense of how dangerous situations the agents can face. Yet they put the country’s security first and fight. We owe a thank you to the people like Uri and Lara. On the other side, the story is based on some attacks in the past several years, for example, 911. This book cautions us that we could be in a dangerous situation in real life. We need to be sensitive to this type of accident.

All in all, this is a fast-paced book with extraordinary plots. It would be an excellent read for those who crave for terrorism novel. However, I would not recommend this book to children and teens as it has some brief adult content.

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The Date Farm
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[Harty Muli]

I like action oriented stories a lot and I look forward to reading this one. Thanks for the insightful review.

[Saint Bruno]

Jack Winnick has been churning out intriguing books. Thanks your wonderful review and recommendations.

[Prisallen]

I read another one of Jack Winnick's books, and he does, indeed, have a gift for writing exciting books. This one seems to be just as fascinating as the one I read. Thanks for an interesting and informative review!

[rahilshajahan]

Seems like quite the action packed thriller. I will give this one a read soon. Thanks for your insightful review!

[Diana Lowery]

I too like Winnick's writing style, but the setting and the terrorism plot do not interest me. Great review though.

[Olabode Joshua]

Yes, we owe the security agents a big "thank you." Kudos to Jack Winnick for letting us know this too. Thanks for your analysis, Ada Ling. I will try this one out sometime.

[Tonika632]

This is a heavy book to read since it discusses the theme of terrorism. Great review!