Rating: 
Summary: Still the nagging feeling of truth....
Review: First of all, as I stated in my review of the original book, it would be fairly easy to fool me. I am not a cryptographer, nor a statistician, nor a reader of Hebrew, nor a scholar of the Torah. Yet, after reading this book all the way through, it still has the nagging feeling of truth to it.This would seem to be the "sealed book" mentioned in Isaiah. The author hammers home his warning of atomic terrorism in 2006, as well as, the fact that we are in "the end of days." He also includes the code table that covers all the details of the September 11th attacks. Plus, the other code matrixes dealing with bin Laden are included. He even includes incredibly relevent and accurate matrixes dealing with recent U.S. politics. However, the truly mind boggling revelations deal with what he has found concerning the "code key" and its origins. It may sound too fantastic to be believed, until you reflect that it is in agreement with the published views of Sir Francis Crick, co-discoverer of the DNA helix.....
While I have an absolute certainty in my own mind that God exists, I have no use for organized religion, so I have no fundamentalist ax to grind. I have a couple technical degrees and have worked in engineering, so I do not think that I am a totally credulous dupe. I've even obtained the software to test it myself. There is something here. I can't see how anyone with even a half-way open mind can simply dismiss it (unless you are a "fundamentalist" materialist.) Indeed, from what I've read of some of the critical reviews, it is obvious from their statements that the authors have not actually read either book, or if they did, they were incapable of following the technical side of the arguement. As I stated before, if it does turn out that this is an elaborate hoax it will not shake my beliefs. However, if you do concede that it exists, then some detailed soul searching would seem to follow of necessity....
Rating: 
Summary: Ugh...
Review: Drosnin's agenda is as clear as crystal: liberals have tried to save the world based on his predictions and those evil conservatives have stepped in at every turn to thwart his noble efforts to continue mankind. Enough already. The logic of "the code" is at best vacuous and based on the stretches and winks that allow anyone to find exactly what they're looking for in "research." If you're a liberal, you'll find yourself pumping your fist in the air as affirmation that all conservatives want to end civilization on this planet. As hilarious as this may sound, it's what most of you believe. If you're a conservative, you won't get very far into this book before you decide to prop up a wobbly table with it, understanding it's just another agendized tome wrapped around a semi-interesting topic. Read it in the store and have a good laugh and then move on. Don't drop any hard-earned pennies on this book. They should sell it on a six-inch roll... at least then it would be useful.
Rating:
Summary: Bound to be Controversial -- Again
Review: Michael Drosnin's sequel is bound to kick the debate over codes in the Bible back to life . . . a regular cat fight among scientists that started with the publication of his best-selling first book, The Bible Code (Simon & Schuster, 1997). Bible Code II The Countdown (Viking) offers new mini-clusters that "prove" Al Gore won the 2000 presidential election. They "show" that life on earth began when aliens delivered DNA during a visit to planet Earth. His findings predict the 9/11 terrorist attacks, world war in 2006, an atomic holocaust in Israel and several other attention-grabbing themes. There is plenty to fault in this new book by both sides of the argument. Code proponents will say that the world and Bible code research have both moved on dramatically since his first book, but that Drosnin hasn't noticed. They will no doubt despise the paltry code examples Drosnin cites as proof of his theories, his best shots being a couple of six-code clusters, and his longest non-literal code being nine letters long. Serious code researchers have found equidistant letter sequences 61 letters long, in clusters with hundreds of related codes beneath surface text that relates to the theme of the cluster. Finally, most researchers will condemn Drosnin's attempt to use codes to foretell future events. As code pioneer Doron Witztum said, "It is scientifically impossible to make any predictions with codes." Skeptics, on the other hand, will say the same things they said of the first best-seller -- that similar codes can be found in any book. These critics issued sharp criticisms of The Bible Code in particular and of all codes in general. Cal Tech math guru Barry Simon posted his critique at ... and even circulated an e-petition excoriating Bible codes. It was eventually "signed" by several dozen science educators. Another leading critic, Australian computer professor Brendan McKay, posted his objections at .... Bible code adherents concur with the validity of some of the key assertions made by Simon and McKay, while taking strong exception to their blanket dismissal of all Bible codes. Specifically, Simon and McKay rightly claim that sketchy code clusters, such as those presented in Drosnin's books, are such that comparable examples could be extracted from any book. Credible code researchers tend to agree with that specific assertion. All that said, however, Drosnin's book makes for very interesting reading and is sure to stir up the interest of many more people in Bible codes. He has become a bona fide icon among Bible code aficionados for his first book, which introduced the world to the Bible code phenomenon. Any new offering by him is almost certain to be considered a major event. We are saddened, though, that its substance pales in comparison with that of the findings of many code researchers. It does not even provide readers with the details of the codes presented. If only it could be said that Drosnin's work even began to weigh reasonably against that of numerous Jewish code researchers, such as those that gather annually for the International Torah Code Society (ITCS) meetings in Jerusalem. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Instead, many of Drosnin's examples appear more extensive that they really are because he presents phrases from the literal text of the Bible as if they were codes. How are these codes researched, you may be asking. Bible-code-breakers use the same basic probability formulae that National Security Agency and CIA cryptanalysts use on enemy codes. There are several commercial software programs that allow them to search the Hebrew Old Testament for words or phrases with equal numbers of letters (called skips) between those of the term being searched. Intimate knowledge of Hebrew is necessary to work with longer codes. The longer the code in number of letters and the shorter the skip between letters, the greater the odds against its appearing by chance -- the test of a code's authenticity. When several codes are found together in a cluster, they can then be analyzed for their collective authenticity. The most extensive clusters in Drosnin's first book do not begin to compare with those discovered in the past few years. The clusters in his new book fare no better on this basis. From his two books it is evident that Drosnin is content to present as final results code clusters that serious researchers would only regard as embryonic or highly speculative in nature. He is also comfortable interpreting and asserting his sketchy findings with a sense of conviction that has no solid justification on the basis of the evidence he presents. Drosnin makes frequent mention of his contacts with Dr. Eliyahu Rips, an Israeli mathematician who co-authored a key paper on code research in the professional journal, Statistical Science. He also references his use of a program created by Rips and co-author Yoav Rotenberg as the basis for his estimation of the improbability of various clusters he has found. One key question in this regard is whether or not Dr. Rips needs to retract his of Drosnin's work. Or, alternatively, we are left to wonder how accurate Drosnin's characterizations of his reliance on Rips are. We were also disappointed to find that the documentation of his findings is not as thorough as in his first book. In the latter, Drosnin disclosed the specific location (i.e., book, chapter and verse) and skip size of each of the codes he presented. Here he often only mentions the book where the code appears. This makes the task of attempting to reproduce his findings much more difficult and cumbersome, and that in turn makes the task of mathematically evaluating the improbability of his various examples much more time consuming. In a nutshell, the codes that Drosnin presents are much too short to be truly improbable and his clusters present too few codes to amount to a finding more extensive than what could be extracted readily from any book. Nevertheless, it's a great read, especially for anyone new to Bible codes.
Rating: 
Summary: An Interesting Read...
Review: But best taken with a grain of salt. The most dire predictions always sell the most books after all. But he does present a compelling argument that this is real.
Rating:
Summary: Ugh...
Review: This book is written about a seemingly mysterious code in the Bible that predicts the future. I stopped taking the author serious, when on the first page, he plainly admitted "I don't believe in God." Now you may be asking, how can an atheist write a book defending a code in the Christian, god-focused Bible? The answer is: he can't. This book is filled with outrageous claims and ridiculous statements, such as "I couldn't draw myself to say to Clinton that we were on the verge of death" or something like that. If you want to research the Bible code, try a different book on the subject.
Rating:
Summary: Long awiated sequel, better than the first
Review: Drosnin does a wonderful job again of being objective on a truely astounding subject. The Code is real and the math behind it proves it. Drosnin writes with a fevered pitch, you can tell he isn't happy that his life is now dedicated to the Bible Code but he will play his part in trying to change the prediction of what is written in the Code. This sequel has many unique chapters ranging from his search for the 'Steel Ark' to the seeding of DNA on our planet with some help along the way from Francics Crick(DNA doulbe helix Nobel Prize). Overall the gift to give or the gift to give yourself.
Rating: 
Summary: For it's Artfulness
Review: The writer comes off as being quite crazy. He suggests maybe aliens put the code in the book a few times, and that's cool, that's his unique spin, but I had to do a double-take. I thought this was just a rushed out Sept11th book, but there's more to it than that, this man has been obsessed with this code for a long time and the content bears this out. There may be something of a Bible Code (there is some 'code' to every big book), but it is stretched to every little recent event. He also claims Sept. 11th as the start of the Apocalypse. The little stories inbetween are very amusing, quite fun, I appreciate the artfulness whether the claims are true, or not. I wish they would print in english the words the codewords are printed by. Often, he has one pic of 2 words he found, then on the next page, he has the same pic repeated, this time with one word added, it's wasteful and manipulative, but I can't help but appreciate how it really adds to the drama of it all, this bizarre, exciting, real-life fantasy of one man supposedly playing a role in the apocalypse from computer screen to the Dead Sea and gaining the attention of Presidents for it, we even have a clever old man to function as sensei. The one reason why I do not completely discount the claim is because these 'codewords' are found so close together (as you can plainly see on the cover) I assume that with War And Peace codewords you wouldn't find words like that so near and placed by text that suits the codewords so well. The writer never forgets to remind us how he's 'secular' and all that...well, this same guy is taking vacations of Lesin alone in his spare time, claiming we're in the Endtimes. Now, 'In the end', it won't change your personal view like reading the Bible might. It will however entertain, but it will not prove the existence of God...or Aliens, as the case may be.
Rating:
Summary: Claims that have been discredited long ago
Review: Anybody who spends anytime investigating the claims made by Mr.Drosnin will quickly come to the conclusion that they are garbage. A quick search on the web under "bible code" will reveal a multitude of articles by serious mathematicians which discredit Mr.Drosnin's conclusions.
In 1997, after having written his first book, Mr.Drosnin challenged his critics by stating; "When my critics find a messsage about the assassination of a prime minister encrypted in Moby Dick, I'll believe them" Unfortunately for Mr.Drosnin the critics were quick to respond.. they found in Moby Dick "death" messages for Indira Gandhi, Leon Trotsky, Martin Luther King, President Kennedy, Yitshak Rabin and others.
In addition, 55 mathematicians from different countries have signed a paper declaring all claims of incredible probabilities by Mr.Drosnin to be bogus.
In the appendix of his latest book, Mr.Drosnin makes a feeble and unconvincing attempt to respond to his critics, never addressing the issues point by point. Futhermore, his book is written in an immature and childish way, blatantly attempting to buttress his credibility by mentioning world leaders that he has tried to contact. Thanks God that most of them have refused him.
Mr. Drosnin repeatedly states that he is a journalist simply interested in the facts, but in reality, by refusing to look at the ample research that discredits his first book, he looks more as an author who is interested in perpetuating the franchise established by his first book and who will surely find an audience among those who cannot wait for the apocalypse to come.
Rating:
Summary: Bible Code II: Riveting, Scary, Important
Review: Anyone who is concerned with the current crisis in the Middle East -- and its global implications -- should read Bible Code II: The Countdown. If you are not concerned, read this book and you will be. Combining political analysis and the compelling evidence of an ancient code hidden in the Old Testament, Drosnin allows us to understand the danger the world is facing. Yet despite the horrifying "End of Days" scenario Drosnin paints here, he does more than predict doomsday: he provides an imperative for finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Readers of Bible Code II may find that fear can lead to action and, ultimately, hope.
Rating:
Summary: Not my type of book
Review: I'll be the first to admitt that I know precious little about encrypting and decrypting codes, but I know that I definately don't believe this book. This is pure pop-psychology, science fiction to me. To be fair, I think the author really believes what he is writting and believes that through skip code sequence, one can uncover hidden messages in the origenal hebrew Torah. Mabey he's right and I'm wrong about this, but I don't believe any of the things he's claiming to uncover through this code, (things like aliens planting life on earth thousands of years ago, ect.) Furthermore, I've been told by two different people who are also experienced in this field that random code words can be found in any source of literatue using the skip-code method that's being used. I think that one would do better to read the Bible for its external message and learn from it. If however you don't share this view, then you may get more out of this book then I did, so I don't want to totally debunk it. It reminded me of the movie "Stargate."
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