Author Ed Mitchell (https://booksbyedmitchell.com) published the novel “Black Camel” in 2020. This is Mr. Mitchell's fifth novel and the fifth book in his "The Gold Lust" series.

I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of violence and mature situations. The story is set in the contemporary US. The novel has several major characters. Al-Qaeda hires the "Black Camel", the assassin-for-hire whose real name is Dominique. She and her partner Wolfgang "Wolf" direct a reign of terror across the US. Sleeper cell agents deploy a string of bombs across the country killing hundreds.

FBI agent Cholo Cantera again partners with Israeli Mossad agent Oasis Jazir. They are part of the US task force looking for the terrorists. US Senator Nolan Martin is a particular target. Cantera, Jazir, and Martin all find themselves in precarious situations. Their families are also a target for the terrorists.

The culmination of the terrorist attack is a target in Washington D.C. As the final attack nears completion all that stands in the way of success are Cantera and Jazir.

I thoroughly enjoyed the 8.5 hours I spent reading this 308-page thriller. I enjoyed having a variety of primary characters in this story. The plot was good and believable. While this book is the fifth in a series, it is very readable as a stand-alone novel. I like the selected cover art. I give this novel a 5 out of 5.

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I found Black Camel to be a gripping, current-day terrorism thriller with an ultra-realistic plot and characters. I really enjoyed the technical knowledge of security protocols and terrorism organisations which Ed weaved into the story. As a big fan of Higgins, Ludlum, Clancy, Greeney and Silva, I found it an engaging read with a fresh style.

I received this book through NetGalley's Read Now program.
This story is an eye opener. It shows how easy it would be for someone to create major terrorism events if they have the right kind of background and the necessary sleeper agents already here. It also shows how individuals want to bury their head in the sand rather than listen to individuals that have ideas that don't agree with them. In this case, Cholo, an FBI agent who had been overseas working with Mossad has presented a suggestion to SAC in his location. He mentioned that because of potential incidences of terrorism it might be a good idea to get somebody familiar with how terrorist operate. His idea was shot down, but shortly after a major terrorist incident occurred which killed several people and wounded a U.S. Senator. The result of the activity was the creation of a task force and as part of the group, Oasis, was asked to assist. She was the Mossad agent that Cholo worked with while overseas.

The individuals leading the terrorists were Wolf, a German and Dominique who was the leader. They were asked by Taliban leadership to bring the War occurring in the Middle East to the American soil. With the help of sleeper cells and funding from the Taliban, they created a great deal of disruption in the country putting Americans to worry about their safety. The primary mission for this organization was the killing of a specific Senator and the destruction of the White House and its' occupants.

To find out what events the terrorist group created and what and how they were eventually stopped, then you must read this book.

Thank You to Net Galley, The publishers and the author for an ARC copy for an honest review.

The 5th book in national award-winning author Ed Mitchell's series of counter-terrorism thrillers, the Gold Lust Series

Synopsis: After numerous terrorist cells in America are captured, Al-Qaeda’s leadership resorts to hiring an always-successful political assassin, the Black Camel. The mission: force America to pull out of the Middle East and Africa. As wide-scale attacks spread chaos across the USA, the FBI is compelled to employ an unconventional counter-terrorism team. Can a street-smart FBI Special Agent and a jaded Israeli Mossad Field Officer stop the Black Camel? Or will the terrorist send them to their deaths and coerce America to surrender to Al-Qaeda’s demands?


A new author for me, but sadly arrived at this party a little late, Book 5 in the Gold Lust series, but the first book I have read, an advantage to gain a copy for ARC, but a great dis-advantage on arriving late at Book 5. So it did take me a while to get into the book and the characters.

Some great characters, two great leads and two great villains, enjoyable, good pace, although a three star book as a little slow at times, maybe party my fault, as first book I have read in the series, and sometimes a little heavy on the technical side.

But built up to an action packed last couple of chapters, so entertaining. I am sure Ed Mitchell draws from a wealth of experience in conceiving a plot that is realistic as he served in the military in roles from Airborne Ranger to guarding the DMZ in Korea.

Really a 3.5 book for me

A struggling three stars for this book I’m afraid. The author created a strong story line akin to many ‘Islamic fundamentalist v America’ books, and used his first hand experience to add credibility to the events. However each chapter felt hurried and lacked detail, failing to draw me in. The author also created likeable characters but the dialogue between them rang false and unrealistic. In particular conversations between female characters can only be described as cringe-worthy. Thanks to netgalley for the advance copy of this book, I can only hope that all typos, grammatical disasters and character errors are ironed out before it goes to print.

I would have said that this book was the worst title I have ever read, but I couldn't make it past the 3rd chapter. I tried for two weeks, but I just couldn't. It was like trying to read a comic book without the sequential art. I truthfully cannot understand how there were previous entries in this series, much less how it was "award winning" according to the promo hype on Amazon. It was utter, cartoonish nonsense. If the publishers have access to my prior reviews, they will see that my standards for readability are not that high and that I find a way to justify 5 stars for most everything.

In the spirit of Netgalley's mission to promote sales of titles, I did not leave a public review of this book because I did not pay for my copy.

This is OK. It starts slowly and has a pretty good plot overall. It suffers from some uneven pacing and proofing errors, but the author has written a several books and his experience shows in the creation of the plot. I haven't read his other books, which may be better based on the reviews. Best for military thriller fans.

I appreciate the review copy!!

If you like reading a fast paced action packed novel that has elements of terrorism and hard charging good guys to chase them down and snatch victory from defeat then you will enjoy this book.

Free ARC from NET GALLEY

I have not read the previous books and probably will not.

For me this is junior fiction, here are some names as an example; Oasis, and Wolf?

I was told this was "Tom Clancy-like" but for me I found it "Tom Clancy-lite"

Black Camel reminded me of a Tom Clancy novel. It was a fast paced concisely written book. I enjoyed the characters and look forward to Mitchell's next novel.

The Black Camel dove right into the fight on terrorism. It was a fast paced, action packed read about an FBI agent and Israeli Mossad operative trying to track professional killers hired to spearhead attacks against the US. The details of the chase and attacks are well thought out. However there is not very much character development for the main individuals.

Non-stop action in a contemporary background. So deftly written that I was right there with the characters! I enjoyed the characters, locale and plot a lot. But, I felt the ending scene with Cholo was corny.

Here's a story being told, but with very little suspense, making it boring. In addition, the dialogue is rather unnatural and repetitive, but the plot and the characters are OK.