Author's Research

A couple years ago for Christmas, I got "The Twelfth Imam" by Joel Rosenberg. It is a fictional book set in historical events. You could argue that since it is a book, that alternate version of history or an alternate universe, as it were, would not be the same history as our own. Given how much research the author must have done for the period setting, it would be acceptable to assume that it is relatively the same universe as ours.

The point of this is that the book centers around Iran and the events centered around 9/11 and afterwards. One of the characters is approached by the CIA to become a secret agent once he graduates from school. Because of his hatred for those supposedly responsible, he spends all his waking hours researching Osama Bin Laden. The book even goes over much of his personal history, but a huge chunk is left out. I would not say that Mr. Rosenberg simply went to Wikipedia and copied down what it said, but any person who does even a small amount of research into Osama would know that what is portrayed in the book is not complete by a long shot.

It is ironic that this character is approached by the CIA to track down Osama who actually worked for the CIA. Look up "Tim Osbourne" and you will find that that was Osama's CIA operative name. Or you can look up "Sibel Edmonds" to find out that she was an FBI translator, found out Osama was working for the US government up to the day of 9/11, and had a gag order placed on her when she tried to blow the whistle. You can also look up the huge ties between the Bin Laden family and the Bush family, and the Bin Ladens are the ones who build the military bases on Saudi Arabia.

So the author either knows about this and chose to not include in the information because it would not jive with his storyline, or his researching abilities are severely flawed. In any event, I will not be finishing the book, and I surely will not recommend the book to anyone else.