Inoculation for the Crits

Great review of Israel Strikes on Amazon: 

This book reads like an Israeli " Red Storm Rising" and its opening is very much like the Soviet surprise capture of Iceland that starts Tom Clancy's famous book about WWIII in the 1980s. My only complaint is that while the book does look at some likely geopolitical repercussions of such a conflict, it does not take the time to look more deeply into each area of the military technology involved - the book could have been much longer.

For me there is no higher comparison than to 'Red Storm Rising.' Its among the first real novels I ever read and easily the most influential.

The last two points are interesting.

First, though Israel Strikes is what used to be known in the business as a 'techno-thriller', I didn't want to talk about technology. Tom Clancy did that, talking about military technology in great detail, so much so that he got visited by the U.S. Navy which demanded to know where he got his info. Clancy's was interesting at the time. When I want to know about the Israeli Popeye Turbo missile, I just have to Google it. Tom Clancy didn't have that option. While he had stacks of Jane's Fighting Ships and lord knows what else at his desk, Clancy also had people in the know feeding him information.

As for Israel Strike's being longer, well, I guess it is. There is a sequel after all. As discussed in a previous post, I try to keep my books around 60,000-70,000 words. That way its manageable to me. I never want a book to take more than a year from writing the first page to actual publication.