Fire With Fire by Allan Kahane
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Fire With Fire Book Synopsis
 After Jake Burke's wife and daughter die in a terrorist attack on U.S. soil, his life has but one purpose: revenge. Accompanied by his assistant, Miranda, Jake uses his vast wealth and resources to track the lone surviving bomber to Egypt-to hunt him down and kill him. But Jake's involvement is just beginning.
Jake and Miranda are abducted by rogue intelligence agents running a bold operation that combats terrorism with tactics government agencies cold never use: take the fight to the countries that nurture terrorists. Jake has just killed the man they'd planned to use to penetrate the Popular Islamic Jihad. They extend an invitation to Jake, but it's a one-way street: Join them, fund them, and don't look back. These men fight fire with fire.
Here's What The Critics Say About Fire With Fire
"Allan Kahane has created a thought-provoking look inside the world of antiterrorism work that also happens to be a pulse-pounding thriller. The plotting is tight and takes place on the world stage, careening from the U.S. to Egypt, from
the Middle East to Europe. Anti-terrorism agency STOP uses methods that are not sanctioned by any government. These agents are committed to stopping the spread of terrorism, taking an ends-justifies-the-means approach. Kahane sketches each agent's background in an economical fashion that offers depth without pulling the reader out of the flow of the story.
"At the center of the tale is Jake Burke, a stand-in for the reader. Haunted by his own encounter with terrorism, Jake's impotent rage is shaped and honed by the group that allows him to strike back. STOP's current campaign is focused on forcing Iran to expel terrorist cells. When STOP's targeted strikes begin causing escalation, Jake's brilliant and unconventional thinking provides a solution.
"Kahane deftly weaves reality into his story, including a realistic look at the current political world map. The terrorist events depicted in Fire With Fire are disturbingly possible, from a suicide bomber in a toy store to a dirty bomb released at a U.S. university. According to the publisher, international businessman Allan Kahane wrote Fire With Fire to provoke conversation about western democracies' responses to terrorism. He makes here a compelling case for the methods used by the counter-terrorism agency, including blackmail, threats, and targeted strikes. While you may not agree with STOP's methods, the book is an intriguing starting point for discussion and a hell of a good read."
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"The flames of political controversy reach inferno level in this sharply written, if overzealous, military thriller. The band of "anti-terrorists" roam across the globe from Iran to London to Amsterdam in a cat-and-mouse game with terrorist Abdel Aziz Rifaat—a game that has deadly consequences for both sides of the ideological conflict. Heroic Jake emerges as a likeable everyman, albeit one with a conveniently exhaustive knowledge of Middle Eastern politics.
"The novel, reminiscent of Robert Littell's 1981 espionage thriller The Amateur, maintains a particularly single-minded point of view, but Kahane's exhaustive, ripped-from-the-headlines research makes it work. A terrifying scenario—not quite beyond belief—with world-shattering implications.
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"In Fire With Fire, first-time novelist Allan Kahane deftly crafts a suspenseful page-turner,
taking his readers on a geographical tour of the global jihad, from the dusty streets of a Cairo slum
which gave birth to the modern radical Islamist movement, to the current epicenter of fanatical anti-
Western sentiment, Tehran.
"What follows is a spine-tingling battle between the forces of good and evil. In the process, Kahane brilliantly describes the stark terms of the radical Islamist mindset, which cannot be satiated until the entire world converts to their strict and rigid form of fundamentalist Islam by the sword.
"Woven into Kahane's compelling narrative and greatly adding to the novel's relevance is his research into the global Islamist movement and its roots in the Muslim Brotherhood, its founder Hasan al-Banna, and the concepts that gave rise to such actions as the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and the Brotherhood’s role as the chief organ from which all Sunni Muslim terrorists organizations, from Al Qaeda to Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, were born.
"Fire With Fire pulls no punches in its take down of the politically correct mindset, prevalent in
the government and the media, which greatly hinders the West's ability to counter the threat of Islamic
radicalism. Kahane, through his protagonist Jack Burke, tells the terrorist supporting regimes in the
Middle East what they need to be told: "We're not going to take it anymore." For all of our sakes, hopefully our own governments are equally up to the task."
Journal of Counter Terrorism and Homeland Security International
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About the Author Allan Kahane
 Allan Kahane, an American born in Brazil, has international business interests which take him regularly to four continents and have made him a witness to the deep impact of commerce on international relations.
His observation of the biased and largely negative perception of the U.S. in many of the countries he visits has caused him to worry about our country's national security.
He became convinced that localized minor players, by exploiting a sense of inferiority and victimization present in many developing countries and using it as justification for targeted terrorist acts and the acquisition of nuclear weapons, have found an effective way to harness the global imbalance of power to further their own lawless aims.
With grave doubts about the ability of western democracies to counteract this growing threat, he wrote Fire With Fire to provoke readers to share his concerns—before it's too late.
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A Note From The Author, Allan Kahane, About the Book Fire With Fire
This story is born of true events. While avoiding legal problems, I stayed as close as possible to real people and real situations. For those attentive to developments in the Middle East, a good part of this book will feel familiar: from the Entebbe Operation, the Osirak bombing, and Operation Spring of Youth, to past and present realities in Egypt,
Israel and especially Iran.
Nasrullah Sadr Yazdi is a blend of three powerbrokers in Iran. As his name suggests, Abdel Aziz Rifaat is a combination of easily recognizable players in the macabre business of Middle East terrorism. Hamza and Mohand El Biali are based on two brothers, Khaled and Mohammed Shawqi al-Islambuli; Khaled was the assassin of Egypt's president Anwar Sadat and his brother Mohammed became a close associate of Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. The Popular Islamic Jihad is based on the characteristics and modes of operation of several terrorist groups, mainly the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Al Qaeda and Hezbollah.
The suitcase nuclear bombs are real. Of 132, only forty-eight have been located, leaving a shocking eighty-four bombs still unaccounted for. In the late 1990s, Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev confirmed that the USSR built the bombs. Additionally, Dr. Alexei Yablokov, a past member of the Supreme Soviet and former Science Advisor to President Yeltsin, verified both the existence of the small-sized bombs and Russia's inability to find them. The U.S. Customs undercover investigation was initiated in 1995 and lasted two years. It did indeed end with the arrest of the two Lithuanians who were peddling suitcase nuclear bombs. In its indictment, the U.S. District Court also named the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences for "conspiring to locate and negotiate the source of weapons of mass
destruction."
I am indebted to Georges Fleury and Pierre Miquel, whose writings greatly influenced my understanding of the consequences of the Algerian War for today's Middle East. I extend my gratitude as well to Steven Emerson, whose Investigative Project, a vast intelligence and data-gathering center on militant Islam, has been an invaluable source
of information.
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