Rating: 
Summary: Hijacked Concorde crashes in ancient Babylon...
Review: Nelson Demille's "By the Rivers of Babylon" is a military thriller from the late 1970's. The basic premise involves an Israeli peace delegation flying to New York on two Concordes, only to be hijacked by Palestinian terrorists. When they crash land on the ancient site of Babylon, the small group of men and women, with only a handful of weapons, but a strategic defensive advantage, makes a stand against a superior force.
Aside from some of the obvious dating due to historical changes during the past twenty-five years, this book works surprisingly well. Of course, a plane load of Israelis crashing in Iraq during the past few years would have met a different fate.
Several things make this story work: The first is the pacing and orchestration of the action scenes. Demille proves adept and building action, juggling multiple sequences and moving us forward on this roller coaster ride. For example, when they first crash, they have only a small contingent of security men, but one happens to have an M-14 with a starlight scope, and he is able to become an effective sniper to hold off the initial advance. But the stakes are always high, and with each attack the defenders are pushed closer to the brink.
Another thing that works is that the characters are strong enough to hold our interest. Most are not fully developed, but the two key players, Jacob Hausner and Miriam Bernstein, are dynamic and create an emotional core. Hausner is the head of El Al airline security who must deal with his own sense of failure, internal power struggles, and desire to eradicate his nemesis, Ahmed Rish. Rish, the leader of the terrorists, is the brilliant but insane leader of the Palestinians.
Miriam Bernstein is one of the leaders of the Peace Delegation, who undergoes significant changes in her relationships and viewpoints on the peace process.
Along the way, there are various heroes who rise to the occasion, such as the pilot, David Becker, the intelligence man, Isaac Burg, the American operative, McClure, General Dobkin, F-14 pilot Teddy Laskov and a host of others.
It's definitely a pot boiler that you won't want to put down.
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: His best
Review: Of all of the books I've read in recent years only "The Triumph and the Glory" can compare to Demille's classic, "By The Rivers of Babylon," I thoroughly enjoyed every page of it.
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: Disappointing
Review: Started promising, but quickly declined into to utterly unbelievable action sequences with no basis in reality. I tried my best to suspend disbelief for sake of the story, but it was just not worth the outcome. The heroine was so strange and conflicted that she actually became an annoying distraction. The `hero' was anything but. By the time the book was in the last pages I felt I was reading an anti Arab propaganda pamphlet. All that could have been forgiven had the novel not gone off on such unrealistic tactical and dramatic flights of fancy. It became a cartoon by the end. The author had written much better novels since this effort.
Rating: 
Summary: Hard to believe it was a first novel.
Review: Superbly crafted with many fully developed characters (good and bad) filled with tense drama and unending suspense...and an ending with a satisfying resolution as not every good guy remains standing.Some suspension of disbelief may be necessary, but not a ton. In times of extreme duress against impossible odds (especially in battle) many times men have risen to incredible heights. It is this aspect of the human spirit that is central to "By The Rivers Of Babylon" and makes it so credible. It is the story peopled with unlikely heroes who surprise even themselves as they rise to the occasion. I was drawn to the protagonists and their indomital vitality under pressure. It was refreshing that all were flawed, but none beyond redemption. The villians were exceedingly well drawn and particularly abhorrent. A most exciting and fulfilling reading experience. EOM
Rating:
Summary: Emotional roller coaster ride on the Concorde.
Review: Take an emotional roller coaster ride on El Al's Concorde. A peace mission is sabotaged into a bloody battle and terrifying hostage situations. De Mille delves deeply into sticky political situations. I can't wait to see the movie version. Stephen Spielberg, are you listening?
Rating:
Summary: DeMille is the master of the game
Review: THE PLOT Peace in the Middle East is almost assured and two concordes are flying to New York with delegates for the negotiations. Terrorists against the peace conference plant bombs on board and try to take them hostage. After destroying one plane and killing all on board, the plane is forced to land near Babylong but at the last minute manages to get the hostages to the top of a small hill which they attempt to defend against the hostages through several days of sorties, knowing that the military probably doesn't know where they are and therefore can't swoop in and rescue them. WHAT I LIKED Long before there was Clancy, there was De Mille. This book takes the international realm and stands it on its ear -- the relations between the characters on both sides of the peace conference who are forced to work together to fight the hostages are brought to the surface in excruciating detail. The battle tactics are first-rate, the writing is almost perfect, and the story is superb as the "hostages" fight in small groups with every weapon they have -- gas bombs from the plane's fuel tanks, sounds from a war movie blasted over speakers to simulate larger weaponry, etc. WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE The ending is a little over-the-top, resembling a scene from a Die Hard movie more than keeping with the slightly more realistic tone of the rest of the book. As well, there is a meeting between the hostage-leaders and the terrorist-leader that is absolutely surreal. The likelihood of both parties treating it like a military battle with truces, etc., is virtually nil but it was at least interesting. At the end, there was a lot less fewer characters left and that helped the plotting speed-up. Up until then, there were too many small sub-plots -- not all of which were necessary. Some were good, and necessary to flesh out the experience, but not all of them. OVERALL RATING A good solid book for the international mystery field, and if it wasn't for the fact that De Mille published long before Clancy, it would be appropriate to say "Move over, Tom!". But, since Clancy's marketing machine is bigger, suffice it to say that it is better than anything Clancy has ever produced in the same field. Give it a 4.5 out of 5.0.
Rating:
Summary: 'Die Hard' for grown-ups
Review: The premise is nothing original: when a super-terrorist attempts to seize a Concorde, Israeli diplomats, soldiers, and spies resist heroically. What makes 'Babylon' so complelling is the quality of the writing, the empathy the reader feels for DeMille's eclectic and fallable cast, and the novel's assertive political overtones.
Rating:
Summary: A Gripping and quick read
Review: This book grabs your attention within the first 3 pages. A movie could be made of this book without having to change any of the story. Right up to the last page, one is constantly at "the edge of one's seat," waiting to find out what will happen next.
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