The anti-George Soros: Billionaire fights Islamism

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf" – George Orwell (via Lela Gilbert)

Orwell's quote sets an expectant stage for the gripping first pages of "The Levine Affair: Angels' Wings." Prolific author Lela Gilbert worked with W. Jack Buckner (retired, Special Forces) to pen a novel that evokes the stark reality of terrorism, but is still a great read and far from dreary.

Gilbert manages to credibly dramatize the horrific abuse by African Islamist group Boko Haram, while using elements of suspense, history and spy novels. There is even a hint of brewing romance, something to hook almost any type of reader, should they find notes on improving the hovering ceiling of a Russian MI-8TV too arcane (I admit complete befuddlement over military equipment).

Tumultuous war scenes in Nigeria are supported with quieter action in the United States, London and Turkey, where major characters are introduced and strands of the story weave together.

In the novel, David Levine is a mysterious Israeli billionaire who finances private rescue missions where governments fear to officially tread. He describes his personal paramilitary as units that "can perform surgical military strikes, rescue hostages, and deal with tyrants." Levine equips and sends minor invasions into terrorist strongholds with remarkably good results – so far.

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Protagonist Karen Burke is a young American acquisitions editor. Saddled with a manuscript of a dramatic hostage recovery by and about Nate Gregory, she is sent to Nigeria to discover its veracity. Her pilgrimage leads to personal revelations and adventures. Karen witnesses barbaric Islamic terror and the deft courage and skill of the soldiers who are forced to help her. She also encounters budding romance and a deeper understanding of God along the way.

Joe Brac, head of the eight-man commando unit, is a former Green Beret who trains other highly skilled fighters. Gilbert wisely has "Joe" narrate passages of warfare and strategy, leaving the warrior scenes quite believable.

David Levine's elite unit is made of mercenaries with a streak of compassion for the oppressed. They struggle with their own demons, but Gilbert keeps the novel on track and the squad on task. Some are former soldiers who experienced terrorism and want another chance to finish it off. This time there are no rules of engagement, no political constraints or fear of "offense" – just like their enemies.

The wealth of Jack Buckner's real-life experience in Special Ops makes the battle scenes come to life. Military buffs and veterans will enjoy his descriptions of ammo, communications, strategies and acronyms for things like like counter-terrorist pursuit teams, or CTPTs, and flexible ceramic armor, or FCA. Did you know that PL2000 was the "lightest armoring material capable of defeating AK-47PS ammunition"? You do now.

Happily for the martially-challenged among us, only short passages of "Angel's Flight" are so technical.

The shadowy Levine, who sporadically appears for short encounters, doesn't limit his highly armored philanthropy to fellow Jews, or even to white Westerners. His team's original goal was to rescue a young Nigerian mother condemned to death – until Karen and Nate muddy the plot with their presence at the compound.

Gilbert evokes a believable atmosphere in all locales the story lands: the Nigerian savannah, Claridge's Hotel in London, Santa Monica or Instanbul.

There is also a little extra-curricular bumping off, via a Mata Hari type who has an unconventional liaison with an extremely corrupt Nigerian politician. Gilbert manages to describe the intimate encounter between spy and lewd governor with few sordid details – possibly keeping her (mainly Christian) audience in mind.

Action is fast paced in most places, rather like a film. I found the book hard to put down once I dipped in, reading most of it in one sitting. Gilbert adds twists and subplots, so the obvious theme of Christian abuse and terrorism isn't only preaching to the choir and remains entertaining.

Considering that the plot of "Angel's Wings" began to coalesce in Gilbert's mind a decade ago, it is remarkably prescient. Boko Haram was well into a campaign of annihilation then, but the masses were ignorant – not yet "discovered" by CNN or the U.S. State Department, who refused to even label them "terrorists." The 276 school girls had not yet been abducted, nor had Michelle Obama gone to the great lengths of holding a sign for Twitter.

Author Lela Gilbert in Jerusalem

Gilbert first envisioned a novel about Nigerian terrorists while working with Baroness Caroline Cox. From her she heard tragic stories of the killing of Christians and began to think about putting human faces on some of the atrocities.

"What would that feel like? What thoughts and fears would be going through [a condemned woman's] mind as her execution drew near?" Gilbert pondered.

This quote from the fictional Levine is interesting, especially in light of recent events. "I think the time has come for private individuals to get involved. We have to fight for the sake of the oppressed … because no one else will fight for them."

Since then a constant stream of men and women of all ages have trickled into Syria or Iraq to fight ISIS. If others have traveled to Nigeria, it hasn't been publicized.

An Amazon reviewer who claimed to have suffered two years imprisonment by Hezbollah, waxed enthusiastic over "Angel's Flight." He claimed it is a "profoundly emotional novel on Islamic terrorism ... that is truly accurate" in dealing with death and loss of freedom.

"Angels' Flight" wraps up a lot more easily than war in reality, and Gilbert is no doubt aware of that. Books and most art forms are limited to a discrete beginning and end or some kind of boundary, while evil on the other hand, seems endless. Still popular fiction fires imagination and helps motivate a culture to either deal with existential threats or to give into despair and apathy.

Few seemed concerned or aware of the Nigerian situation 10 years ago, and Gilbert notes "no government was remotely interested in getting involved." Unfortunately that hasn't changed much.

Gilbert and Buckner's tale ends with the feeling that we may see yet more action from this formidable team of fighting humanitarians. Personally I'd love to see that. They say life imitates art, and who knows what action a novel may inspire?

Last thought: We desperately need an anti-George Soros, the billionaire who foots the bill for turmoil, economic disaster and all the wrong people, all the time.

David Levine, where are you?

Get "The Levine Affair: Angels' Wings" now!

Lela Gilbert is an award-winning writer, authoring or co-writing over 60 books. Her critically acclaimed "Saturday People, Sunday People: Israel through the Eyes of a Christian Sojourner" (2012) was listed as one of the 20 best non-fiction Jewish books of 2012 in Jewish Ideas Daily. Gilbert is a Fellow at Hudson Institute, contributes to Philos Project and newspapers, is a public speaker and frequently interviewed on television and radio. She has resided in Israel since 2006.

Jack Buckner was deputy commander, Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force – Afghanistan, deputy commander of all Special Operations in the theater. He served as the principal adviser to the commander in all matters – and was deployed to many remote fire bases, under often hostile conditions, accessing needs of soldiers on the ground.