Rating: 
Summary: An expected success from DeMille
Review: I am currently on page 245 out of 422 in this book and I already think that it is wonderful. Just recently have I discovered Nelson DeMille and this is the fourth one of his novels I'm reading. He writes wonderful thrillers and this is no exception. It begins with talks of a peace conference for the Israeli government in New York. But a terrorist has different ideas and hijacks the two Concordes on their way to New York and forces them to some ruins near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what was Babylon, once again placing Jews in Babylonian captivity. Now, this small band of politicians, delegates and a few security officers with mostly small handguns have to defend a hill(resembling Masada) against a highly trained group of heavily armed Arab terrorists. Since I'm not totally done with this book, I can't really say anything else about it. In fact, I don't even know why I'm writing this right now. I am at(what I think is) the beginning of the climatic scene and big battle.
I suggest this book strongly and hope that you find it as thrilling as I am.
UPDATE: I finished the book long ago and have since read it four times. I suggest this book more strongly now than I ever have.
Rating:
Summary: Number 1 On A Scale of 1 to 10!
Review: One of my favorite all time books. An excellent plot with oustanding characters. After being forced to land by Arab terrorists an Israeli peace delegation is forced to survive unsurmountable odds. One jet full of the peace conference attendees is exploded in midair. The second jet then lands in Iraq. From there on out the arts of survival begins. The Israeli delegation fights for their very lives. It is a tremendous battle against tremendous odds. Some of the tactics employed by the Israelis are very good. The Isrealis show that the strong will indeed survive. An outstanding book by DeMille.Buy this book and keep it under lock and key.
Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful first effort
Review: It is interesting and can be quite illustrative to go back and read the first novel of a highly successful novelist. What is it that they learned over the subsequent years and multiple forays on the bestseller list? In Nelson DeMille's case, he started immediately with a suspense thriller that would be considered impressive even if written by a veteran novelist. Written in 1978, BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON resounds with today's headlines. A peace mission is flying to New York in which a treaty is to be negotiated between the Palestinians and the Israelis. High-ranking dignitaries are flying on two Concorde jets from Tel Aviv. What they do not know is that in the tail of the planes are explosives placed over a year ago as the planes were being built. Rish, a terrorist approaches the planes with his jet and threatens to blow them up unless they follow him to an unknown destination. What ensues is a standoff in the Babylonian desert between the Arab terrorists and the Israeli diplomatic team, which includes members of the military and Israeli security force. Nelson DeMille's first effort is a fast paced and extremely clever tale that is in some respects surprisingly claustrophobic. Almost the entire book occurs in this Babylonian desert region. The book can be divided into prebattle, battle and post battle. It is obvious that Nelson DeMille was stretching the simplistic plot in an effort to bulk up the book. However, the pacing is relentless and the book can almost be consumed in one lengthy sitting. The author revealed almost twenty-five years ago that he could write a competent thriller and has perfected that task over the ensuing decades. A wonderful first effort.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic book
Review: I read this the year it came out, and I absolutely loved it. Some reviewers say you have to suspend reality, but maybe that's because of the passage of time and the political realities which have changed since then. But I really loved it. It was the only Demille book I read for a decade until Plum Island a couple of years ago. I don't much care about the development of 'writing style', I care about an entertaining read, and I think By The Rivers of Babylon is a much better read than Plum Island.
Rating:
Summary: So Much Time Has Passed and Yet . . .
Review: I ran across this book while getting my house ready to sell. I saw that it had a 1975 copyright date and wondered if, while all that has gone on in the region since then, whether I would find it an interesting read. I believe it's timeless. If we don't delve more into the background of this conflict we'll never have an inkling of what it's about (even when we do so we may not!). At any rate it's a good book and I was riven by it
Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: After reading The General's Daughter I wanted to give Demille another read since I enjoyed it so much. I was not disappointed. At first I was thinking....man this is not my cup of tea. Peace talks, middle east, history, military talk. But before I got anywhere even near 1/2 way through I was caught. I grew to love and hate the main characters. Demille throws in enough history that the reader gets all the irony of where they are being held captive at. Sure some parts dragged and were a bit on the technical side, but overall this is a great read.
Rating:
Summary: A terrorist's nightmare. Thank God.
Review: Nelson Demille's story of a highjacking of two Concordes in the Middle
East combines action with detailed planning and execution that fortells
the Sept 11 hijackings. The story is compelling and believable.
Another 'can't put it down book'. Demille can combine exacting detail
with fast-moving action and believble characterizations. The tension
is impressive throughout the book.
I wish Nelson Demille could write as fast as I can read.
He is among the FEW authors whose books I keep to read
again later.
My second read will be right before the movie comes out.
Enjoy this book!
Rating:
Summary: Babylon meets Roark's Drift meets the 300 Spartans yada yada
Review: DeMille is great and several of my favorite books, "Word of Honor" for example and "The Lion's Game," are DeMille classics. He is most successful at taking an international issue, the IRA from Belfast, national, domestic letter agencies warring with eachother, and telling a tale about them, around them and through them. Often there is a love story about which to hang other issues, and Babylon is no exception. The peace mission . . . by that I mean THE PEACE MISSION, is about to take off and two Concords are flying from Lod Airport in Israel to New York. And as in every disaster movie, the planes are filled with people who aren't who they seem to be or who they are telling other people they are. What's new? Security has been lax in the fetal stages of the aircrafts' building, and bombs have been placed in the tail of both aircraft. The tool by which DeMille gets us there, in this case Babylon, is nearly irrelevant. What he does is put dozens of different people together, hawks, doves, traitors, heroes, cowards, zealots, and then throws in an untested Palestinian force (the Ashbals) with their great numbers attacking the defending Israelis. Hmmmmm. I wonder if Nelson fell asleep while watching John Wayne's "The Alamo" on cable before he began this prodigious effort? And of course the story is brought together by DeMille's capacity to describe everything from the aluminum mesh in the baggage compartment of the Concord to mascara. And to do so very well. The other DeMille characteristic is dialogue. He has a gift of making his characters speak in a manner in which we can nod our heads and say, 'yeah, a guy in that fix would probably have said something like that.' If there's a drawback to Babylon I believe it is that it doesn't go anywhere. Physically I mean. Other books literally move from point A to point B. Here we are stuck in the desert in a sand storm, kind of motionless, going nowhere. The other point is that DeMille usually has one wisecracking hero-noir who brings us together. Here, there really is no one for the reader to grab on to. Hausner, Teddy, the Rabbi, Burg, Miriam, Rish, Ben Dobkin, Hamedi. They all seem to interrelate but not necessarily with us. I didn't feel "grabbed." Good read. Not his best. 4 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Concord - what an irony
Review: Israel's first two Concord airliners await at Lod airport to take governmment delegates to New York. Little do they know that both aircraft contain a deadly secret in their tails that would reveal themselves with tragic consequenses. We of course know as it is part of this novel's introduction. What happens to the survivors of one Concord is well played out in this book and even though it is dated (Concord is about to be laid up) still makes for exiciting reading. A play on Israel's determintion to survive know matter what the odds are and how it is stacked against them.
Rating:
Summary: Fun, exciting, written a while ago, but still timely....
Review: I loved this book and it would make a great movie....Demille hits another home run....This is one of his earlier books, but doesn't miss a beat....The story could happen today.....
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