The Disciple: A Tommy Carmellini Thriller

Stephen Coonts seems to have a crystal ball on his desk that provides him with the material for whatever subject he chooses to visit in his most recent novel. Of course, Coonts is not a fortune teller; he is simply possessed of the ability to believe that which he sees in front of him, analyze it and extrapolate. Indeed, it is in much the same manner that his long-running Jake Grafton character functions. Call it an informed guess, but the result is edge-of-the-seat, page-turning reality presented as fiction.

THE DISCIPLE, Coonts's latest novel, brings together Grafton and his protégé, Tommy Carmellini, once again for an excursion into the heart of the darkness of the Middle East. Carmellini, a retired jewel thief turned reluctant CIA operative, has a skill set that serves him well in whatever situation Grafton throws him into, which has never been truer than in THE DISCIPLE. Beginning just after the bombing of a Syrian nuclear reactor (which was never acknowledged as having existed to begin with), Grafton, a former Navy admiral now with the CIA, finds himself facing the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran. Despite the denials of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, it is obvious that the Iranian nuclear weapons program exists; the question is what will be done with it.

Grafton inserts Carmellini into Tehran for some clandestine boots-on-ground intelligence, and watching the two men work from opposite ends of a very long, sharp and dangerous stick is worth the price of admission to THE DISCIPLE all by itself. Carmellini, masquerading as a passport approval clerk at a foreign embassy, slowly but surely insinuates himself into the Iranian political resistance movement, a nerve-wracking proposition in and of itself given the violently repressive attitude of the government. It is through his association with the resistance movement that Carmellini is able to gain information about Iran's ultimate plan for its nuclear weapons and to transfer the intelligence to Grafton.

What they ultimately discover is that Ahmadinejad plans to martyr Iran and then lead the fundamentalist Muslim world into the ultimate holy war against Israel and the United States. The President, notwithstanding the evidence in front of him, refuses proactive action against Iran, leaving it to Grafton and Carmellini to work within the parameters that are outlined for them. The result is heart-stopping: Iran begins a countdown to Armageddon, while the United States is forced to play catch-up from a reactive position as the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

THE DISCIPLE is stuffed to bursting with Coonts's trademark technology updates, consisting of a cornucopia of items that provide Exhibits A through Z to the proposition that peace is ultimately won through superior firepower. Coonts does not get bogged down in a technical description of the nuts and bolts of which does what and to whom, instead focusing very closely and graphically on cause and effect. He also takes pains, through character development, to examine the social and religious complexities that exist within Iran, which is slowly tearing itself apart from within. An exciting work on a number of levels, THE DISCIPLE will be a winner for fans of military and espionage novels alike.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

The foundation for the story is right out of today's newspapers, the Iranian nuclear program, an anxious and ready to strike Israel plus and Iranian leader bound for martyrdom. It's Coonts fiction so add in he heroic field agent who is totally undeterred by danger or impossible tasks, but carries a testosterone laden affection for beautiful women.

The primary characters have survived a number of his works and will have further life in future novels.

As a former attack pilot Coonts understands warriors and air combat. I did feel that there was perhaps a little excess of political correctness in his aircrews but that's the author's choice and it is not offensive.

It's a light, fast read. Enjoyable to read but does not leave any great revelation or resolved moral conflict. He writes in a comfortable style. Perhaps not as tightly edited as Flight of the Intruder but nonetheless a good read. I'm glad I read the book and also pleased that I got it from the library and will not need to find space on my bookshelf.

Highly recommended for pleasure reading. The only reason it got 4* rather than 5 was to differentiate it from works such as Flight of The Intruder.

CIA Middle Eastern Operations chief Jake Grafton assigns his top operative Tommy Carmellini to work inside Iran as there is fear that maniacal fundamentalist President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is close to having his finger on a nuclear trigger. The Iranian leader wants a holy war to the death with the west and he believes his side will win.

As Tommy watches and gathers information, he has Iranians supporting him; many fear Ahmadinejad's legacy will be a stone age Iran. While Israel considers bombing Iran's nuclear sites as it did Syria, Tommy's efforts and that of his associates and his boss fail to prevent the madman from firing missiles throughout the Middle East under the guise of martyrdom. Tommy and Jake to try to deflect his assault of missiles, including some nuclear, that Iran has fired in order to stop WW III from occurring.

This is a tense thriller that places the stars of in what feels like a potentially realistic extrapolation of headline news with recent revelations re Iranian hidden nuclear developments. The story line is fast-paced starting with the opening sequence of the Israeli destruction of the Syrian nuclear plant as told to readers by a Russian adviser killed at the site and never slows down. Though obviously biased as the American heroes are hawk patriots (not the chicken hawk couch potato variety of send someone else); the action enables the reader to know who are allies and enemies as Stephen Coonts provides a super tale of vaporization while exposing Ahmadinejad's fanatical background that goes back to even before the fall of the Shah.

Harriet Klausner

While reading this book, I listened to a news report about Iran's nuclear program, and had to remind myself that that was real while "The Disciple" was fiction. Otherwise, it would have been hard to tell the difference. Coonts does a fine job with his dead-on assessment of just how dangerous and difficult Ahmadinejad's nuclear ambitions are for the world to deal with. If he builds the bomb, won't this lifelong jihadist be tempted to use them? Against whom? We all know whom. Can Israel afford not to act? Can the US afford to let her act?

What a mess.

Jake Grafton,now with the CIA, sends ace operative and former cat burglar Tommy Carmellini to Iran to find out what's what with the Iranian nuke program. An Iranian dissident in the US is broadcasting detailed information about just what Iran has accomplished - but Grafton smells a rat. Why hasn't this guy been assassinated yet?

At the heart of the program is one particular family: the defense minister charged with executing it; his brother-in-law the defense contractor who built many of the underground installations; the contractor's father, a dissident religious scholar. Three grandchildren are close to the government and its plans but two of them secretly have doubts, and begin to act against the regime.

To make contact with them, Carmellini work in a totally hostile environment, a theocratic police state where he is constantly followed. Meanwhile, the clock ticks down towards the start of nuclear war.

This book is scary good. And just plain old scary, because it reads like it was ripped from today's headlines. Coonts, a former naval aviator himself, works in some great up-to-the-minute air combat detail.

This is a very scary book. It calls into question the Iranian President's intentions for the use of his developing nuclear weapons. The United States government is beginning to wonder what President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
is going to do with his emerging nuclear program. Tommy Carmellini is inserted into Iran to gather information.
Through the use of a brother and sister who are dissidents in Iran Carmellini makes a stunning discovery. The
Iran is planning on shooting nuclear missiles at several targets. The Iranian leadership will be hidden in an
underground bunker safe from all harm. When the nuclear activity is over they will emerge to lead a holy war against all non muslims. The targets that have been selected are Israel, Qatar,, Kuwait, Oman, Baghdad and Tehran.
When the President learns of the targets he decides not to do a first strike. Through Carmellini's intelligence network they are able to gain knowledge of the launch sites. Jake Grafton is placed in charge of handling this battle. This book will leave you thinking "What If". This is definitely a good book. Be sure to read it.

Steve Coonts is one gutsy writer. When he portrays the current (actual) leader of a hardline Islamic nation engaging in illicit sex AND planning to incinerate millions of people--including his own--well, an Alfa strike into Route Pack VI could pale by comparison. Can anyone spell S-a-l-m-a-n R-u-s-h-d-i-e?

Contrary to some opinions, the Jake Grafton series is about people rather than hardware. Coonts has long since passed beyond the "technothriller" genre to deal innovatively with military/intelligence professionals who live (or not) by their smarts and their good luck charms. I happen to like the shift from third to first person when Carmellini's voice is employed, and the scrapes he endures are late-night attention getters. Of necessity, Tony's become a more significant character than Grafton, which is entirely credible given the admiral's age and position.

How characters age is an important consideration in a prolonged fiction series, and Grafton is unlike some protagonists who are ever young, virile, and on top of their game. Consider Bond, James Bond--shaken not stirred. (However, another character who ages in place is Stephen Hunter's Bob Lee Swagger.)

Some contemporary thrillers are fated at the outset to be overtaken by events. It remains to be seen how "The Disciple" fares in that regard--but we can all hope that the genuine Iranian scenario fares as well as it does in Steve Coonts' world.

The US just discovered Iran has an arsenal of nukes and Ahmadinejad intends to start WWIII by destroying Israel and other key targets in the Middle East. Grafton, Cam and others are deployed to stop the destruction. The plot is more involved and devious than implied in my review but I don't want to ruin it for new readers.

This was one of Coont's best books and congratulate him for writing a current hot button topic. The military and political savvy Coonts writes a realistic thriller that could eventually happen. Although some have criticized, the author does take pot shots at our broken government as the story evolves but the criticism is legitimate and if the event really happens one day, it has a good chance of unwinding in the manner of the book.
As usual, Cam is at the pointed end of the spear while Grafton directs his actions from Washington. Mr Coonts balances the espionage, fighting on the seas and in the air with great aplomb that should interest and intrigue most readers. The action scenes in the last chapter were great.

If you're already a Grafton fan, you'll love this book. If you haven't read Coonts before but like Vince Flynn, David Poyer or Patrick Robinson you'll probably like this book and the author's other books. Its highly recommended.

Coonts was a fighter pilot so always writes copiously and knowledgeably about military procedure, strategy and weaponry. Of course he does research too so those aspects are credible. Sadly, neither he nor his editor knew high school chemistry: no amount of refining can turn uranium into plutonium, They are two different elements. There were other errors too, but they don't interfere with the fast paced and dispassionate implementation of an interesting and ruthless plan to counter Iran's nuclear attack.

It must have become a golden rule for thriller fiction as well as TV thrillers to sustain at least 2 intertwined storylines and to use both the first person as well as the third person. Those two devices are predictable and at times jarring, but it seems everything is formulaic now.

I always relish the chance to devour one of Stephen Coonts books, and this is one of his best yet. Coonts had me from the first page. I was up until 3:00 AM finishing it.

The premise is so frighteningly real that I understand the publisher moved the publication date up by six months. The situation with Iran's nuclear program is so volatile that real events could overtake fiction any day now.

Coonts' masterfully written novel provides the most intelligent and thoughtful analysis of just how this nuclear nightmare could actually play out. It also provides insight into the often under-reported youthful dissident movement in Iran, and the brutality the Mullah's are prepared to employ to keep them in check.

I have no doubt they are reading THE DISCIPLE in Israel, as well as at the State Department and the Pentagon. I just hope we have a real Tommy Carmellini out there somewhere.

I really enjoyed the storyline. And this book definitely held my interest which isn't easy to do. My only problem was trying to keep up with all the different characters. Couple of times I had to go back a few pages to remember a character's place in the story. Otherwise I was pleased. Will probably read more of his books.

The characters of Jake Grafton and Tommy Carmellini never fail to entertain and this story did not disappoint. Even the ancillary characters had substance. The story line is entirely plausible and scary !

THIS IS AN OUTSTANDING BOOK. THE PLOT IS EXCELLENT. IT IS SO BELIEVEABLE AND ONE WOULD HOPE THAT IN REALITY IT WOULD END THE WAY THE BOOK DOES. THE CHARACTERS ARE VERY LIKEABLE OTHER THAN THE VILLAINS.

I was a dedicated reader of this author. Last few books turned me off. This is back to the author I enjoyed. Believable, a bit scary (because it was believable) and engrossing. Keep them coming like this and I am back.

Started really great good character development. Then about half way through, more and more people showed up . I couldn't keep track of them. Not to worry. Most of them got killed. Resolution was way too long.

The Disciple begins well, with one sentence

"God willing, with the force of God behind it, we shall soon experience a world without the united States and Zionism"

That sentence sets a tone of religous bigorty and fanatism and extreme danger. The book fails to deliver after that preamble.

The first chapters are told in 3rd person, and deal with snippets of conspiracy that are hard to grasp and even harder to care about.

The protaganist is introduced in a bluntly cliche manner, he strolls down a street of Iran, and it immdediately set upon by 2/3? thugs and leaves them pounded into the ground. Then we're filled in with a block of Iranian history which isn't too bad, if it wasn't so obviously "look I did my research" by the author and then later ruined by obsurd speculation about the sex life of radical Islam.

We even get narrative from the president of Iran Ahmadinejad, who is effectively a sex offender with THE MOST RIDICULOUS PLAN FOR IRAN EVER, did you get that? MOST RIDICULOUS PLAN EVER. Now I don't want you to read this book just becuase you're curious about what could be so stupid, but I feel that in charity I should leave some reason to pick this thing up.

The philosophies are heavy handed, the attempt for depth by having a novel floating around thats banned by the Iranian government lacks the depth it tries to create. All the senseless plotting makes it difficult to understand what everyone is trying to do.

In short Coonts tries to combine, James Bond, Three Cups of Tea and Tom Clancy into one novel and fails to get anything worthwhile out of it. With dialogue like "Hi hot lips" melodramtic beatings and rape and the worst prose I've read in a long time : "The president said his voice pregnant with relief" The disciple is best left alone.

Not sure how entirely plausible the book is and things went a little too perfect when the "war" began, but I liked it. Mr. Testosterone, Jake Grafton, once again comes through. Carmenelli is a great character. Real page-turner at the end.