Rob Turney

Kirkus Independent Book Review of Home Grown - Terror Strikes From Within

BOOK REVIEW
Terrorists planning a New Year’s Eve attack against the U.S. are working with people on American soil in Turney’s debut thriller.

In the post-9/11 world, federal agents pay meticulous attention to seemingly harmless behavior. But what appears to be a routine check on a monitored website in Arizona leads from an Arkansas redneck looking to mix a poisonous concoction for personal reasons to an Islamic extremist in Vegas who has already piqued the FBI’s curiosity. Mixed martial artist Taseen “Taz” Hamshan, with ties to the extremist, is recruited by agent Kyle Morel to go undercover and make nice with a suspected terrorist. But how are the terrorists staying ahead of the FBI? At first glance, readers might suspect that Turney’s 600-plus-page novel would hit lulls. Nope. He allows no off-the-cuff introduction to any character or subplot, providing rich back stories and, surprisingly, never dropping any of the minor plots. Even agents sent to handle mundane surveillance are established in detail—which makes it startling when anyone dies. It’s epic, almost excessively so, but the author does keep the numerous characters from overwhelming the book with subtle reintroductions, such as a soft reminder that Russian intelligence operative Kondrashov is watching the Iranian and Venezuelan presidents. Despite the multiple storylines, there’s cohesion. However, the novel might have benefited from giving stories and characters some breathing room. And the U.S. isn’t the squeaky-clean hero among indignant foreign countries—American citizens must contend with an unpopular president, while Russian agents, despite their country’s neutrality, debate warning the U.S. of a possible jihadist attack. The author laces the story together with striking transitions—evidence being blown up shifts to people watching pyrotechnics at the Treasure Island casino. As the New Year’s celebration approaches, Turney maintains intensity with a natural countdown and an abundance of people in peril. And don’t forget: One of the characters is a jihadist mole.

Like a 12-episode TV series condensed into a single book—categorically engaging

Home Grown - Terror Strikes From Within back cover summary

Home Grown is an intriguing, edge of your seat thriller that takes readers on an exciting journey through Russia, Iran, Venezuela and America as the charismatic Grand Ayatollah Zanjani awakens a cell of U.S. Jihadists, and orchestrates an attack to rival 9-11.  A secret alliance exchanges long range Iranian missiles for refined Venezuelan petroleum and access to the El Pacifico drug cartel that will ferry explosives and enriched uranium through South America into the U.S. across the Arizona/Mexico border.

Zanjani’s deepest covert operative, code named Archer, has been living in the U.S. for years and has quietly infiltrated the FBI.  Being thwarted in their original plot to detonate “dirty bombs” in Times Square on New Year’s Eve, fate steps in and offers a secondary target.  President Grant Richfield will be in Las Vegas to appear on a live television broadcast to “ring in” the New Year and kick off his re-election campaign.  Using his position to facilitate Zanjani’s nefarious agenda, Archer surreptitiously coordinates the sleeper elements with home grown Jihadists to orchestrate a New Year’s attack that will not only kill thousands of revelers packing the Las Vegas Strip but will also assassinate the President of the United States.            

Home Grown lays bare the deadly consequences of Jihad being waged within our own borders and illuminates the struggle between moderate voices in the Muslim community and those that demand that Sharia law be implemented across the globe.  This masterfully written novel weaves threads of factual history into a canvas of fictional storytelling that allows readers to lose themselves in a tale that could easily be unfolding this very minute, right outside their front door.