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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780446358590
ISBN number: 0446358592
Label: Grand Central Publishing
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 432
Printing Date: June 01, 1990
Publishing house: Grand Central Publishing
Sale Popularity Level: 12293
Studio: Grand Central Publishing
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Product Description:
Lod Airport, Israel: Two Concorde jets take off for a U.N. conference that finally will bring peace to the Middle East. The planes carry warriors, pacifists, lovers, enemies, dignitaries--and a terrorist bomb. Forced to crash land at an ancient desert site, the men and women of the peace mission make a desperate stand against an army of crack Palestinian commandos. (Spy Thriller)
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Rated by buyers 
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Built around the interminable Arab/Israeli conflict in the Middle East, the plot is simply enough told. Two Concorde jets, packed with a small army of politicians, diplomats, security agents and a typical administrative entourage take off from Lod Airport in Israel. Their destination is a UN peace conference that many believe will lead to a final and lasting peace in the Middle East. But there are also some so filled with hatred that they will do almost anything to sabotage the conference and ensure that the wish for peace becomes a house of cards collapsing in a hail of bullets and blood. In a cunning plan that stretches out years in the planning, a team of terrorists blow up one of the jets and skyjack the other forcing it to land in the desert along the Euphrates River.
"By the Rivers of Babylon" tells a thrilling tale of survival and the guerilla-like commando tactics of the heroic passengers of the Concorde as they struggle desperately against their attackers and endeavor against all odds to reach the outside world with news of their plight in the Babylonian desert. In his very first novel, DeMille makes grand statements about the nature of courage and heroism under fire, sacrifice, loyalty, altruism and love. He has crafted interesting characters such as Jacob Hausner, the security officer who cannot forgive himself for his careless oversight many years earlier that allowed the terrorists acess to the Concorde's inner workings. We witness Miriam Bernstein, Golda Meir's young and beautiful hand-picked political protégé evolve away from her roots as a far left wing advocate of peace at almost any cost.
"By the Rivers of Babylon" is undoubtedly a page-turner but equally clearly it is an early work that simply doesn't measure up to his later thrillers and his ability to craft much, much deeper and more complex, multi-faceted characters such as John Corey and Kate Mayfield. Nor does the plot move along with the same speed and, by my measure, suffered from a certain repetitive sameness that would have been eliminated with some judicious editing to shorten the novel.
But that said, the techno-thriller world would be a poorer place without the benefit of "By the Rivers of Babylon". Recommended.
Paul Weiss
Rated by buyers 
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If you are a fan of military fiction this is the book for you. I could not tell that Demille was an early author in this book at all. I learned a great deal about Israel that I didn't know in this novel. This was not my favorite Demille book, but it is solid as usual.
Rated by buyers -
This book could easily be a blockbuster movie. I used to think there was no book by Demille that was as good as The Charm School but this book is as exciting and good. Thank you Nelson Demille....keep 'em coming.
Rated by buyers -
This is the best I've read of Nelson Demille! I was hooked by page 1. Written 30 years ago, in 1978, the signifigance of the Middle East setting and conflict so aptly correlates to our current affairs. A must read!
Rated by buyers -
Although I had read many of DeMille's more recent books, it has just been the last year when I went back to very first read his early novels. Before reading "By the Rivers of Babylon" I read "Cathedral" and found the structure very similar. Both books had snipets of the historical backstory surrounding the present conflict, each had a cast of thousands (OK, maybe dozens) and each character had their backstory presented along with a psych profile. Each had the elements of a political body trying to make sure they covered their collective butts before taking action. Each had an enormous amount of carnage, death (many characters whom you grow to admire and like don't survive)and heroic action. All in all, I'd rate this a very first class thriller.
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