The Last Caliph by T. L. Williams is an espionage story of our times. Logan Alexander has recently lost his baby as a consequence of his CIA job and his wife blames him for it. When he finds out ISIS is recruiting in the United States in a bid to hit the American people on their home turf, Logan Alexander takes on the alias of Tim Hudson. As Tim, Logan travels into the Middle East to cut off the head of the snake. At his side is a woman from a past he'd rather forget and if she learns his true identity she might just kill him before ISIS gets their hands on him. The Caliph has been losing ground steadily but it’s up to Logan and his team to put a stop to the last Caliph’s reign of terror.

T.L. Williams authors a fast-paced action adventure that will leave the reader's head spinning with its authenticity. It is plain from the onset that The Last Caliph is not a hate novel against Muslims but a frank look at the jihadists and the effects of their war on the world and on their own people. The author applies current world events and integrates them seamlessly into his story to paint a vivid tapestry of the so-called holy war. Anyone who wants to have a deeper understanding of how Muslims feel about ISIS and what motivates jihadists will definitely enjoy this book. Logan Alexander’s story also highlights the complex relationships of intelligence agents when it comes to their personal lives. An enlightening read!

The Last Caliph by T.L. Williams is the fourth book in the Logan Alexander series featuring the enigmatic CIA Operations Officer Logan Alexander; this time poised to unravel one of the deadly threats posed by ISIS to the US government. Although the president has declared the fall of ISIS and recalled troops from the Middle East, ISIS isn’t really dead. It has taken the war home to the US, honing new technology that recruits domestic jihadists to infiltrate and destroy the country from within. This time around, Logan Alexander is about to face his nemesis, a formidable enemy. Can he walk out alive this time and stop a threat that could destroy the very fabric of US democracy.

There are interesting characters like Aaron Cousins and Zahir and readers will love to see how these characters help to enrich the story and allow the personality of the protagonist to come out. The prose is fluid and very readable because of the natural way it flows, skillfully introducing dialogues and keeping them engaging. The author explores the life of a CIA operative and deftly handles the themes of espionage, terrorism, friendship, and family. The Last Caliph features powerful international settings and readers can actually form mental images of places and follow characters as they relate to places and situations. The narrative is engaging, filled with action. The pacing is fast and T.L. Williams’ gift for suspense makes it even more delightful, sustaining the reader’s interest from page to page. The tight writing and the author’s storytelling skills are the elements that caught my interest the most.

T.L. Williams’ The Last Caliph is a fascinating thriller with compelling characters, an interesting protagonist and well-developed themes of espionage and terrorism. The White House believes that ISIS is already defeated and vanquished and the US troops are already recalled from the Middle East. The CIA Operations Officer, Logan Alexander, knows that the war against terrorism is far from nearing its end. In fact, foreign extremists have recruited domestic jihadists and are determined to bring the war home to the US, and they have developed high tech technology to see the operation through. In the fourth book in the Logan Alexander series, the author puts the protagonist into the heart of a very complex and delicate mission. Can he penetrate the terrorist group and stop one of the greatest threats to the United States?

Pulsating and masterfully paced, The Last Caliph recreates the psychological implications of a terrorist threat and showcases the mindset of jihadists in a manner characterized by clarity and realism. Logan Alexander is a sophisticated character with a solid background in counter-terrorism operatives and he evolves through the powerful conflict that drives the story. T.L. Williams writes in a voice that is irresistible and the pacing makes for an engrossing and exciting read. This is an up-and-coming literary voice that will ring in symphony with icons like David Baldacci and Lee Child. T.L. Williams awakens powerful emotions in readers and keeps them turning the pages, gripped by the suspense, the action, and the excitement of a story well told.

The Last Caliph by T.L. Williams is the fourth book in the Logan Alexander series, preceded by Cooper's Revenge, Unit 400: The Assassins, and Zero Day: China's Cyber Wars. In this installment, which reads with perfect facility as a standalone, the series and novel's titular character, Logan Alexander, a CIA Operations Officer, dives deep undercover to gain first-hand access to one of the most preeminent global terrorist groups, ISIS. “What they didn’t know, or at least he hoped they didn’t know, was who he really was—a highly trained CIA operations officer who was about to infiltrate ISIS.”

T.L. Williams has written a wonderfully fast-paced and action-packed spy thriller in The Last Caliph. The plot itself is timely as most readers will at least have a basic understanding of what ISIS is, even if they don't understand much more than that; something even Williams addresses in the narrative [“ But if he felt lacking in these areas, his fellow volunteers... were woefully ignorant about the most fundamental aspects of the religion and what ISIS was attempting to accomplish.”] Williams delivers a genuine, believable plot and a diverse cast of characters who are layered, without falling into the trap of stereotypes that often plague books about extremism. The balance between realism and fiction is razor sharp and, frankly, this is one of the most authentic espionage storylines I've read. There are also excellent, strong female leads, particularly a photojournalist named Azar, and additional point of view characters—the most compelling to me being an ISIS insider named Rifat. This is my first foray with Logan Alexander but, hand on heart, I can state that T.L. Williams has gained a new fan.