Review of Monday Night Jihad: I came across this book on Goodreads and saw an author I follow had read it, rated it 5 stars, and what not so I thought I'd give it a shot even though I know nothing about football and expected it to be a somewhat enjoyable but not great book. I was wrong. So wrong. If there is one word to describe what I found in this book it is genuine faith, real, living it out faith, strong faith, broken faith, but all the same faith.
Riley, oh, Riley, one of the characters I had no idea what to expect from, I thought maybe his faith would be lukewarm like the faith of other characters but no, he truly 'lived' out his beliefs in the pages of Monday Night Jihad. This suspense has a mix of humor, danger, friendship, and so much more. While there was too much violence for my taste it was okay, I suppose. Now for Scott, he's a crazy guy, in a good way, but being him, well, that's not a place anyone would want to be sometimes, Jim Hicks was another character that I liked though with him I had a love/hate feel.
With all of the characters, the settings, and the plot this story pulls together into a thoroughly enjoyable yet edge of your seat novel perfect for all suspense lovers. I do dislike seeing the bad guys POV but that's just me.

2.5 stars (rating shown may vary depending on whether the site allows half star ratings)

This book was on a "to be read" list that I've had for so long that I no longer remember where I heard about the book. I do read many genres, including the one that this would likely be placed in.

Most of the book was set up--probably at least half. Once the action got going, the story got a bit better. But the set up portion was just too long IMO.

I suspected that Hakeem would end up being someone few would suspect. I guessed wrong on it a couple times thinking that a different character was Hakeem.

It's a little hard to envision a special operations man becoming a football star and then going back to being a special operations team member. I guess it could happen--and at least the author wrote at least part of the book from something he knows--football. I just have a hard time believing his spec ops skills didn't deteriorate in the time he was away.

Riley is a Christian and Khadi is a Muslim. Riley seems firm in his faith. Khadi doesn't show any inclination of leaving Islam for Christianity--so their attraction to each other is bothersome for me based on the "not being unequally yoked" verse from the Bible. ( )

A combination of sports and international thrills seemed like a good combination, so I bought the book (and the sequels). The one-line review statements on the back cover—by respected celebs, authors, and review sites—truly sold me.

Then I started reading.

First, I must admit that I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes information on what it's like to be a PFL (pseudonym for NFL) player before, during, and after games, written by an author who actually played in the NFL. I also enjoyed the idea that the protagonist, Riley Covington, was a former Spec Ops Air Force officer turned PFL player. Covington, overall, was a well-written character.

Second, the author, Jason Elam, is passionate about Jesus. His story isn't preachy, rather it's caring and informative as it pertains to Riley's desire for his friends and acquaintances to know the Savior. This appealed to me, as well.

However ...
While the storyline is definitely interesting, several of the characters do not match the realness that Elam gave to Covington. I found a lot of the stress-related & good-natured banter sounded contrived. The humor, most of the time, fell flat. It was either not funny or it was out of place. This led to the feeling that the side characters didn't really live in the world that Elam created. This happened throughout the book, especially as it applied to a characters named Scott & Hicks.

Scott was very one-dimensional and kept saying ridiculous things at the worst possible times. It was obvious that the author wanted this character to break up some of the tension that was taking place, but it was ill-timed (not to mention, not funny most times). The tension should have been maintained.

Hicks, the "boss" of the anti-terrorist operations, was someone that I wanted to like, but just couldn't believe. I can tell that the author wanted to show a man with a gruff exterior that actually had a sensitive, human side, but the dialogue in several instances just didn't come across as real.

OK, that said, two things:
1. This is the debut novel of Jason Elam. I know that as an author, after my first novel, I continued to mature in character development and the ability to convey human emotion and humor. Maybe book 2 for Elam is going to reflect that same thing. If so, I think this guy is going to have a great writing career.
2. The storyline was compelling enough for me to want to finish the book and the ending was very solid and intense. Would I recommend this book? Maybe not. But I didn't feel like it was a waste of my time either. If I read book 2 and enjoy it, then book 1 will become a necessary starting point for a series that I would want to recommend. Time will tell. ( )

A chilling scenario will have you gritting your teeth as you read this one. A former Army operative turned pro football player, Riley Covington, becomes involved in the hunt to take down a terrorist network after they target the very football stadium where his team was playing in the playoffs. So this book is filled with descriptions of the routines of professional athletes as well as the routines of anti-terror teams--and of the terrorists themselves. The scenes of the terror acts are very chilling and the body count is high, so don't read this one if violence bothers you. Otherwise for thriller readers it is a pretty decent read with an intriguing scenario, it gets a bit "busy" with all the characters and stuff going on but the action is not hard to follow. ( )

I obtained this book from the public library to read because I had been given the second book as an early reviewers copy. It was a fun read but I was not enthralled by the book. The plot line and the suspense was a nice bonus, but the football play by plays were boring as ever. I would recommend this book to adult sport fanatics who wish they could still read Matt Christopher novels. ( )