A simple question: Who's to blame for the last 60 years of violence in the Middle East?

The next time you hear someone say: "It's all Israel's fault!" or "Blame the Palestinians!," give them a copy of Richard North Patterson's novel, "Exile." Unlike many partisan writers, Patterson clearly sees both sides of this terrible conflict, using his fictional characters to expose the deep roots of the ongoing violence that affects us all.

Here's a quick PLOT SUMMARY: David Wolfe is a successful Jewish attorney in San Francisco with political aspirations and a bright future. Although he's engaged to a nice Jewish woman, we also learn that he had a secret affair with a Palestinian beauty named Hana Arif while at Harvard Law School 13 years ago.

Out of the blue, the prime minister of Israel -- a peace loving man modeled after Yitzhak Rabin -- is assassinated by a suicide bomber while visiting San Francisco. Guess whom the government accuses of masterminding the crime? You got it! David Wolfe's old girlfriend, Hana. Now guess who gets to defend her in court?

The next 500 pages of the novel chronicle David's painful search for truth as he travels to Israel, the occupied West Bank and southern Lebanon. In graphic detail, we experience the horrific suffering on both sides of the conflict. It's a good example of how fiction can teach us things we can't necessarily learn from history books, such as the immense emotional toll of violence on children and families. Best of all, the author doesn't force us to take sides -- we are compelled to think for ourselves. (What a great concept in this age of pre-packaged ideological "solutions.")

"Exile" includes several interesting subplots about Hamas, Fatah and the fundamentalist Israeli settlers, all of whom have contributed to the current mess -- not to mention international players like Iran, America and Syria. In the end, we see the terrible price of vengeance -- across nations, across generations and across cultures. As Gandhi said: "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

While I truly enjoyed this novel, my main criticisms are as follows:

-- It's about 30% too long. A strong editor could have cut at least 200 pages from the book's length without losing much of the storyline.

-- The romantic sections are not particularly believable, particularly when he's describing Hana's passion.

-- The opposing attorney, a female prosecutor named Sharpe, is a bit of a cartoon cut-out instead of a real person.

On the plus side, the end pages of this novel include maps of the Middle East, the West Bank and the old city of Jerusalem. Very helpful stuff.

Overall, I give Patterson four stars. If you can get past the first 150 pages or so, you'll be well rewarded. Shalom and Assalamu alaikum.

POP QUIZ: Who's REALLY to blame for the last 80 years of violence in the Holy Land?

The next time someone says: "It's all Israel's fault!" or "Blame the Palestinians!," you might want give them a copy of Richard North Patterson's novel, "Exile." Unlike many partisan commentators, Patterson clearly sees both sides of this terrible conflict, while using his fictional characters to expose the deep roots of the ongoing violence. It's a sad situation without an easy answer.

PLOT SUMMARY: David Wolfe is a successful Jewish attorney in San Francisco with political aspirations and a bright future. Although he's engaged to a nice Jewish woman, we also learn that he had a secret affair with a Palestinian beauty named Hana Arif while at Harvard Law School 13 years ago.

Out of the blue, the prime minister of Israel -- a peace loving man modeled after Yitzhak Rabin -- is assassinated by a suicide bomber while visiting San Francisco. Guess whom the government accuses of masterminding the crime? You got it! David Wolfe's old girlfriend, Hana. Now guess who gets to defend her in court?

The next 500 pages of the novel chronicle David's painful search for truth as he travels to Israel, the occupied West Bank and southern Lebanon. In graphic detail, we experience the horrific suffering on both sides of the conflict. It's a good example of how fiction can teach us things we can't necessarily learn from history books, such as the immense emotional toll of violence on children and families. Best of all, the author doesn't force us to take sides -- we are compelled to think for ourselves. (What a great concept in this age of pre-packaged ideological "solutions.")

"Exile" includes several interesting subplots about Hamas, Fatah and the fundamentalist Israeli settlers, all of whom have contributed to the current mess -- not to mention international players like Iran, America and Syria. In the end, we see the terrible price of vengeance -- across nations, across generations and across cultures. As Gandhi said: "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

While I truly enjoyed this novel, my main criticisms are as follows:

-- It's about 30% too long. A strong editor could have cut at least 200 pages from the book's length without losing much of the storyline.

-- The romantic sections are not particularly believable, particularly when he's describing Hana's passion.

-- The opposing attorney, a female prosecutor named Sharpe, is a bit of a cartoon cut-out instead of a real person.

On the plus side, the end pages of this novel include maps of the Middle East, the West Bank and the old city of Jerusalem. Very helpful stuff.

Overall, I give Patterson four stars. If you can get past the first 150 pages or so, you'll be well rewarded. Shalom and Assalamu alaikum.

Exile
I found it hard to wait until bedtime which is the only point in the day when I relax with a good novel (and I am good at picking good ones). I particularly like courtroom dramas and, at 79, I've read a lot of them. EXILE is about the best of them that I remember. It combined the complications (often fascinating)of the legal points offered and rebutted--- with believable perspectives on both sides as well as with interesting and informative insights into the Israeli/Palestinian issues.
I actually felt sad to finish it and no longer have it available.
Monty Berman Ithaca, NY

I cannot do it justice. I was totally engrossed in the story. The characters were multi-dimensional and I loved the intricate but subtle plot. I slowed down during the account of the trip to Israel. I was getting bogged down in the political diatribe but it is an important part of the story; I have a much better understanding of the conflict & can now appreciate the Middle East news stories better.

My favorite part of the book was the trial. The strategy and arguments were so clever. I hope RNP has similarly wonderful books out there.

The middle part of this book should have been left out as it does not tell you anything new about what is going on in the Middle East and doesn't really help the plot. I hate it when I find logical errors in a story and here is a gross one. Munira gets her visa extended for one year however she's American by birth - which is stated a couple of pages latter! I found the last 50 pages very thrilling the first 600 less so.

A good depiction of the Palestinian point of view in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. David (a Jew) and Hana (a Palestinian) are able to love each other despite their differing backgrounds. David gives up a rising career to defend Hana on a murder charge. Though we may never see the end of conflict in the middle east we do see in this book that it has to start with one person at a time - someone like David and Hana. This book was a real page turner with a lot of action.

Yes this book may be a deviation from the usual novels Patterson writes. And yes, it is a long book. In spite of this, it is very well written and one that I stayed up through the night to read. The author's detail is painstaking, but how else could one present the plight of both Israelis and Palestinians. Patterson does this objectively and in a most entertaining manner. I would highly recommend this book!

I bought this book wishing to understand the complicated middle-east conflicts. To that end, the book satisfies me. I am able to gain an insight into underlying issues on both (or several) sides of the equation.

My reservation about the book: (1) at 699 pages, it is a bit long. The part about David's visiting the middle-east is rather tedious. I could skip a few chapters without loosing the main theme. (2) the plot itself is mundane. One can easily guess the ending even before finishing the first half.

So if you are looking for a pure entertaining read, this book may not be for you.

Exile was a fine book. It seems that many fiction authors want to spread their wings and occasionally write more serious works. Follett's Pillars of the Earth, which I'm reading now, is just such a book. Richard North Patterson throws his hat into the ring with an in-depth look into the Middle Eastern hell that is known as the Israeli-Palestinian conundrum. I listened to the unabridged version on CD, and there's a nice little interview with the author at the end of the book. Apparently Patterson travelled around Israel and the West Bank in search of information to back up his story. Regardless of the accuracy of the problems involved in bringing peace to the Israelis and Palestinians, no work of fiction holds up if the story isn't compelling, and in that Patterson succeeds. The more specific story of a Palestinian woman standing trial in the US for the assassination of the Israeli prime minister, who was visiting the US, was interesting. The background is that she is defended b y a Jewish American she had an affair with over a decade before the trial. Of course, as with many works of fiction, and most visibly obvious in the Kite Runner, the intersection of such a small number of characters throughout a large span of time comes with a large dose of ridiculousness, but again, the story is interesting enough. Without offering a spoiler, I can say that one or two of the cliffhanger aspects can be seen from miles away, but overall that isn't the problem. The worst part of the book, for me, was the main character's trip to Israel and the West Bank. There the Israelis and Palestinians offered their same tired statements of the other side's wrongdoing. Hearing the same speeches over and over about occupiers and terrorists gets old. Far worse, we all know there are no cures to those problems. Or, perhaps more accurately stated, we know that the people in those lands cannot muster whatever is necessary to bring forth the answers. Sad. Thankfully Patterson does not offer any fanciful conclusions. The Middle East, Israel, and the West Bank are what those places are. And the book is great.

Exile 728pgs.
by Richard North Patterson
Review by SpeekNDaTruuf

* Since the late 19th century, Palestinians and Israelis, two nations of people, have been at war over a homeland. In 1947, the United Nations partitioned Palestine into two states: Jewish and Arab. In 1948, Israel declared its independence. The Arab League (which, at that time, consisted of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria - although Saudi Arabia did not participate in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War) invaded Israel, but was defeated. Jerusalem (Israel's capital), however, was divided; but in 1967, Israel captured the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Ever since, this conflict has been ongoing. In the last three years alone, there have been 86 Israeli and 1,290 Palestinian deaths (OCHAoPt, "The Humanitarian Monitor" December 2007).

* On September 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden, leader of al-Qaeda, declared a "holy war" upon the United States, ordering terrorists to strike at the heart of our nation. 2,973 individuals were killed, and over 6,000 were injured. As a direct result of those horrible atrocities, Americans became hostile towards those of East Indian descent and began to label them as "terrorists" on sight.

Imagine the aftermath when a Palestinian is accused of murdering an Israeli prime minister in San Francisco. This is the world into which Richard North Patterson delves in Exile.

David Wolfe. Jewish, successful lawyer, engaged to Carole Shorr. His goal is to become a husband and a Congressman, but that is jeopardized when his past steps into his present.

Saeb Khalid. Hana Arif. Munira. Saeb, Palestinian husband to Hana Arif. Both are outspoken about the problems that plague the Arab population in Israel, and both have their own stories, their own hopes and dreams, many of which involve their daughter, Munira. But a secret from the past threatens to tear their family apart.

Ibrahim Jeffar. Iyad Hassan. Arab terrorists who are bent on bringing their own kind of justice to overlooked injustices. But what happens when their plan goes horribly awry?

I struck gold once again! I have found an amazing author, Patterson, who has created realistic characters and placed them in highly caustic, but very probable, relationships and situations. I think that's what drew me to this novel. From the very beginning, I was wanting more... and more... and more, and I hated that the novel ended on page 728. To make this review as brief as I can, I will only mention one of the things that I found interesting about this novel.

The dynamics of a relationship can often become overwhelming, and the outcome is not always what one would expect or hope. Hollywood has turned most of its romances into fairy tales with a happily-ever-after ending, but Patterson takes a different stand. For that, I have awarded Patterson FOUR STARS.

Don't think it deserves four stars? Let's see what others had to say about it:
* The New York Times Book Review: "Torn-From-The-Headlines... Exile delivers."
* USA Today: "Artful... Compelling."
* Former President Bill Clinton: "Astonishing, hugely entertaining."

Although the novel ends on page 728, Patterson has included an "Author's Note and Acknowledgements" section that goes from page 729 to 736 and an excerpt from his next book, The Race, that goes from page 737 to 753.

Have you ever wanted to be able to sit down and discuss the issues in the Middle East without being intimidated or self conscious of your lack of knowledge of the issues? Richard Patterson has written another well researched and smart novel. You can read Thomas Friedman's excellent FROM BEIRUT TO JERUSALEM; Bernard Lewis' WHAT WENT WRONG; Kathleen Christison's PERCEPTIONS OF PALESTINE; and Alan Dershowitz' THE CASE FOR ISRAEL and possibly come away with some understanding of the Middle East involving the various countries of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, the United States etc. or you can read this excellent novel and understand clearly the complex issues that prevent peace in the Middle East.
Ostensibly this is a story of two people that fall in love while attending Harvard law school: a Jewish man and a Palestinian woman. What would ordinarily result in the marriage of a boy and girl ends in a breakup that for political reasons can never bear fruit. Each go their separate ways only to find each other again when years later the woman is a central suspect in the assassination of the Prime Minister of Israel.
As the novel unfolds, the reader is drawn into the political foray that exists in the Middle East today. Without choosing sides the author deftly handles some prickly issues. The reader ends up the winner. You will come away from this novel informed enough to discuss intelligently the Middle East predicament as it exists today. This is not definitive but it is definitely educational. Once you finish this fictional account perhaps the other books I mentioned above will make more sense to ordinary readers like me and you.

This book was selected by my book club. We enjoyed the book and gave it an overall 8. I rated it somewhat higher because the book was so interesting and brought up international issues of interest to me.

This book, in an interesting fashion succinctly explains the suffering of the Jews and the Palestinians. It describes the pressure cooker in which they live. It is a good book for anyone who has ever wondered what is going on "over there".

Patterson keeps us in suspense whether or not the Palestinian mother was part of the assassination of the Israeli prime minister. But that would get a rating of 3.5 stars only. I give it 5 stars because Patterson does his research into the mindset of the extremist and moderate Israeli and Palestinian within the present day context of Iranian influence in the Mideast. Now I have a much better understanding of the Palestinian perception of history, not just what I read in the newspaper about the Israeli side of the story. How Patterson digs into those different mindsets without taking a side is masterful.

Exile Literate, informed, and a really good read. I couldn't put this one down. Highly recommended.

A thoughtful tale by talented author Richard North Patterson that offers a look into both sides of the present day terror issue as seen by the people who live it and those who, like most Americans, are removed from it by distance and politics.

Attorney David Wolfe is confronted with a problem that has the power to destroy the life he has built and the future he hopes for when Hana Arif, a love from the past, steps back into his life. She is Palestinian and he is Jewish, she committed to the cause of a homeland and he only to a personal future and success.

They manage to overcome their differences and fall in love, but it is a relationship they both know is going nowhere. She is engaged to a Palestinian and in the end marries him and disappears from David's life. Until the day he gets the call because she is in trouble.

An important Israeli leader has been killed by a suicide bomber and she is suspected of being involved. And David must decide whether to help her or not, a decision that could turn his entire life upside down.

Should he help her? David is tormented by this question over and over because he was also a witness to the explosion that killed the Israeli leader who had been working to bring peace to the Middle East. If David helps Hana, he risks being isolated from all he knows even though she has the right under the law to his help as a lawyer.

I"m pleased to recommend this well told tale to any reader who is open minded enough to look at both sides of an argument and its adherents whose hate keep it alive. This is a book whose characters you won't soon forget. Enjoy. I sure did.

I've long been a Patterson fan but the suspension of belief required to read this is too much, even for me. I won't relate the premise of the book again, but Patterson's main character is a lawyer trying the first suicide bomber in Amercia-- Big, world-changing case.

He does this herculean task almost alone (he does has two asst who appear in one scene)but manages to take off in the middle of the case for an overseas sight seeing trip disguised as a fact-finding trip. In addition to this, he and the defendant are one-time lovers (and one wonders why they love each other as well). Any self-respecting judge would have stopped the case right there but how could she, because the book would have ended.

What really bothers me is the use of a trite and well-known plot device that is so obvious, any reader can spot it from the very beginning. This device has its place in certain genres but not here.

His reseach is astonishing and he never misses a chance to trot it out but he does so at the expense of character development and believable plot twists. Save your money and buy one of his earlier books.

I enjoyed learning more about the history and difficulties in the Middle East. However, the characters seemed to be very flat.

Great book for understanding the mindset of boths sides Arabs and Jews in the Middle East.

Not a Richard North Patterson reader, but when a CA friend said her Literary Book Group left the 'literary path' to read this one and it was
a "must read," I bought it and could not put it down. Usually a bus reader, I took this one to bed and didn't turn the lights off until
it was finished.

Patterson has skillfully interviewed, researched and created a novel that brings the reader an understanding of the complicated Israeli-Palestine conflict without ever taking sides. The characters have life and depth and are completely believable.

Alas, Exile, finished last night, was one of the most thrilling books I've read this year.

I have enjoyed all of RNP's books. This one, a bit implausible, and heavy on the lecturing is still a good read. I am almost done with it, but wanted to write that the subject matter of the conflict is vast and not easy to understand, so his treatment of this painful and futile subject is to be applauded. Sure we like to read books that are escapist, the characters well-rounded and fleshed out, in this case he has made the conflict his theme and the characters a by-product. For all the travelling, you do feel claustrophobic because the limits of the situation as it is today is confining - as the actions of both sides dictate the brutal outcome.

I have read most-if not all- of Richard North Patterson's books. I was very excited to get this book and begin reading. This has to be the most difficult read I've had in a very long time. I've been reading it for a few weeks and am only 1/3 of the way through.
The book is too long, has too much detail on the Israel / Palestinian conflict and is slow moving...at least to the point I am at.
I'm not dissappointed to the point of giving up. I know at some point this book will pick up & be readable...but WHEN???

EXILE is pretty much an excuse for Richard North Patterson to explore issues related to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. I found this book quite educational, and it's clear Patterson did a huge amount of research in how Jews and Palestinians currently live and think. If you're curious about life in modern day Israel, Patterson does a great job of re-creating it for the reader. I almost felt like I was there myself.

Unfortunately, as another reviewer noted, EXILE reads more like a lecture than an actual story. For the most part, I found the plot to be quite slow moving, and the characters quite cardboard. None of the characters talk in a realistic manner -- instead, they endlessly debate each other and speechify about their political point of view. The lack of believable, in-depth characterization made this book a rather dry experience in the end.

In particular, I found the "romance" in EXILE between the Jewish lawyer David Wolfe and Palestinian Hana Arif to be completely unconvincing. I didn't believe for a minute that Wolfe would throw his entire career away to defend this woman. This is an unfortunate shortcoming, since the romance is supposed to be the emotional centerpiece of the novel.

In short, EXILE is enjoyable at an intellectual level, and I would recommend it to readers who are looking for such an experience. But if you're interested in exciting storytelling that affects your emotions, this novel will probably not satisfy you.

I have enjoyed, and re-read, all of Richard North Patterson's books--but this is in my opinion his best to date. Anyone interested in, bewildered by, scared of, what goes on in the middle east -- as well as enjoying a good read -- should read this. You may not like all the opinions and viewpoints, you may not like some of the characters, but you will certainly do a lot of thinking.

Along the same lines, I recomment John Le Carre's "Little Drummer Girl".

There was once a time when Richard North Patterson wrote straight thrillers and was one of the better at them. In recent times, however, his books have turned much more political, focusing on hot button topics like abortion, gun control and the death penalty. Exile continues with this trend, with a story about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Patterson's books may be getting more controversial, but they're not necessarily getting better.

The protagonist in Exile is David Wolfe, a secular Jewish lawyer in San Francisco who seems to have it all: he's successful, he is about to marry a beautiful woman who he loves (and who is more devoutly Jewish) and he's about to embark on the political career that he's aspired to. Into this ideal life pops an old lover from his college days: Hana Arif, a Palestinian. Their star-crossed romance ended because of her arranged marriage to Saeb, a Muslim with rather extreme views. Hana is in the United States along with her husband and daughter, speaking out against Israeli policy.

A terrorist attack in San Francisco kills the visiting Israeli Prime Minister and Hana is implicated through hearsay and circumstantial evidence. Despite his better judgment, David becomes her lawyer, destroying his political career and threatening his engagement. The case involves a possibly large conspiracy, and David will eventually need to travel to Israel to seek important evidence.

Compared with his other recent books in which Patterson definitely supports a particular viewpoint, his treatment of this conflict is much more evenhanded, which is sure to anger people on both sides. I can live with politically slanted stories - even if I don't agree with the politics - but the stories need to actually be good. While I agree with a lot of what Patterson says, this novel is just average.

It seems Patterson is more interested in lecturing than in entertaining. From a storytelling standpoint, this book has issues, with the foremost being the relationship between David and Hana. I never really understood why the two of them were so deeply in love; their conversations seem to only focus on Israeli-Palestinian issues (which they do not fully agree on) and I could never see where they emotionally linked. Lust, I could see, but not love. In addition, Patterson gives us a plot twist towards the end of the book; sadly, most readers will have figured it out long before David, and it's implausible that David would not have even guessed the possibility of this twist long before he actually did.

The biggest problem, however, is that this book feels more like an educational piece that is told in story form to make it easier to take. That is, I felt that the plot was almost incidental. For a book that tops 700 pages (in paperback), that's asking a lot of the reader, and my patience was tried more than once. Patterson has enough skill to make Exile passable, but this is not a good book. If you're a Patterson fan, this one is a disappointment.

Exile is the most balanced view I have ever read on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict in either fiction or non-fiction literature. The characters are well developed and sympathetic. The story albeit somewhat predictable is an easy and enjoyable read. What better way to learn about the history of two peoples.

This is a well- researched and informative novel. The central characters are a Palestine woman and a Jewish man who met while studying law at Harvard. They became more than friends and a decade or so later appeared in the same court trial in San Francisco. The trial concerned the assassination of a Mideast head of state and consumed a large portion of the latter part of the book. There is quite a bit of mystery and a few surprises.

The author presents a rather comprehensive picture of the Israeli - Palestine conflict and perhaps shows more of the Palestine concerns than we normally see in our daily news. I found the book a little longer than necessary and requiring more reading time than I desired.

As usual, Richard North Patterson holds your interest and leaves you thinking even after you finish the book.

Richard North Patterson has written yet another novel I can't put down. The narrative is both educational and entertaining in the sense of emotions, opinions and knowledge portrayed by the characters.

However, I must make this comment--anyone who chooses to write a review on Amazon (or any other site), should be literate and educated enough to use correct spelling, punctuation and grammar.
I enjoy reading perspectives and opinions, but when a person posts something that has enough errors to annoy, they should, at least, employ "spell-check" in their comments and/or brush-up on basic writing and grammar skills.

I enjoyed this book. On the positive side, it is gripping and entertaining to read, it is well researched and informative as to Israeli-Palestinian issues (without being preachy), and it is satisfying without being predictable.

The book involves a lengthy trial, and unlike many authors, Patterson portrarys the judicial process quite realistically. Experienced litigators would probably cringe at the way some hearsay evidence is unflinchingly used against the defendant, but I was able to push past it for the sake of advancing the book's plot. (I practice law myself.)

To tone down my review, however -- Tolstoi this is not. I was reading the book Cold Mountain at the same time as this one, and the difference in the writing skills of the two authors was plain. Charles Frazier's prose was simple but elegant, masterfully capturing the richness of our lanugage in unexpected and delightful ways. Patterson's, by contrast, was unsophisticated but dressed up. His dialogues were . . . unrealistic for lack of a better term; nobody would ever talk the way his characters do. His best writing rivaled that of a popular political blog on a good day.

So the book is a great "beach read." But don't introduce it to your freshman English Composition class.

Finally, as to politics, I've read a number of reviews that say that Patterson unfairly promotes the Palestinian cause. I think reasonable people would see these reviews as simply wrong. I've no dog in the Middle East fight, and I found that his descriptions of the situation there were painstakingly even-handed. He would not tell of an Israeli atrocity without almost too obviously counter-balancing it with some tale of Palestinian misdeeds. If I were "pro-Israel" as many Americans are, I'd like to say I'd feel the same way. But some people are, of course, extremely pro-Isreal. I submit that reviews characterizing Patterson as biased are written by such individuals.

All in all, though, this book is well worth buying and raises the bar for in-flight page turners.

Richard North Patterson takes on the middle east conflict which is the toughest problem facing the world now. From the tidbits you hear and read, it looks like both sides don't want to negotiate and so far, it is a "Loose, loose proposition" and the supposedly super-powers don't seem to get it or don't care as long as their interests are safe.

Patterson has mixed this complex controversy with human drama and super characters. I found it so interesting that I couldn't put it away until I finished it. I found myself rooting for David and Hana and felt sorry for the girl trapped in this drama. I also learnt a thing ot two on the middle east crisis.

My book group is reading this now. It is relevant to today's world - getting a different prospective was helpful. The news today blows so much out of proportion. Patterson has certainly set me up to read a sequel.

I never received this book, a promised, from dadalon . But the service from Amazon helping me clear up the problem was great.

Patterson got it 100% "right". Politics are complex...not black and white. It takes real genius to be able to create a novel that is fiction and at the same time inform the reader of the realities of various cultures, religions and history.

This novel was pro-Palestinean all the way. It is the LAST patterson novel I will ever read. The ending left you hanging in the air. There was no conclusion!!! What a disappointment. I still don't know whodunnit. I'm sorry I wasted my time trying to get through this one-sided melodrama.

This author has been at the top of my favorite list. "Protect and Defend" holds a special place in my thought and beliefs. I have found his liberal views in syce with mine until reading this book. I looked foreward to a book that would be intriging and informative, that would give readers a fair look at the problems in the Middle East. Unfortunately, this book proves to be solely pro-palestinian, even blaming the Israelis for the flies. Israel has never started the wars and now defends herself against Hamas. An organination with no regard for the lives of men women or children. They plant arms under schools and if children die, it's the way of the cause. I have been to Israel three times. I have seen what the Israelis have done for Bedouin arab women, giving them self-esteem, builing homes, helping them start businesses. Arabs who agreed to citizenship offered to all have homes and businesses. Mr Patterson has overlooked what Israel has offered and has focused his pages on what suffering has been caused because Hamas and other groups refuse peace.

Very sterotypical- easy to read, but very predictable. No literary merit- a big diappointment.

While the premise and plot of this novel are moderately interesting, the characters are so stereotypical and flat as to be an embarassment. The writing is full of amateurish cliches eg:" the cool white sheets of the bed" at the begining of a dull description of sex. Patterson never fails to use three words when one well chosen one should do. The book's publicity protests a little too much about its evenhandedness. The Palestinian position is presented in a much more sympathetic manner than the Israeli, but this would be acceptable, if the book were well written. There are much better ways to learn about the Mid East conflict than this overlong, poorly written melodrama.

Very well written. A very informative and realistic novel dealing with both sides of the Israel- Palestine issues. A great legal novel. A great read!

Patterson does the world a favor by introducing an all-American hero who is forced to struggle with the impact of cultural identity, historic memory and global reality on the values and life choices of peoples under siege. The genious of the novel is that the even-handed treatment of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, told passionately in the first person from the perspective of those living it, viscerally deepens rather than overwhelm the primary plot. The reader is left caring about and wanting to know more. This is both Patterson's and Boutsikaris' best work.

Hard to put down. Delves into the complex and highly charged history of the Middle East.

Just finished this fabulous read. It's one of the hardest to put down I've read in years. While it is not written with political bias or purpose, you won't find anything better desribing the dynamics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the personal level. The characters are beautifully developed on both sides, and the plot is non-stop exciting from beginning to end. Further, it is contemporary in content, having been completed following the Israel-Hizbollah war. A must read

I read a Richard Patterson North novel a number of years ago called Private Screening. I didn't much care for it and haven't read one of his novels since - until Exile. I'm glad I did. This is a great novel.

The plot: David Wolfe is a successful lawyer about to launch a promising career in politics when he gets an unexpected phone call from the woman he fell in love with while attending Harvard 13 years earlier. David is Jewish and his old lover, Hana Arif, is Palestinian. Soon David's world is turned upside down when Hana is accused of being involved in the assassination of the Prime Minister of Israel and David is asked to defend her.

Patterson clearly went to great pains to research this novel and `get it right'. He presents both sides of this complicated issue effectively without getting preachy or heavy handed about it. Patterson not only explores the intricacies of the Palestinian conflict, he tells an intimate story, filled with regret, about the lives of two people and how the decisions they make impact them and those close to them. On top of all this, Patterson delivers a gripping courtroom drama.

I'm sure Patterson traveled to the Middle East and interviewed dozens of people before writing this novel and I have no doubt that a lot of material just couldn't be included in the novel (as much as he probably would have liked). He probably should have left a little more out of the novel, as the narrative flow does get a little bogged down in the middle as Patterson fills pages with the stories David hears from the various Palestinians and Israelis he meets in the Middle East (although they are very compelling stories).

I appreciate that the ending to this novel left some mysteries unsolved and that it wasn't an entirely happy ending. I highly recommend this excellent novel.

I read a Richard Patterson North novel a number of years ago called Private Screening. I didn't much care for it and haven't read one of his novels since - until Exile. I'm glad I did. This is a great novel.

The plot: David Wolfe is a successful lawyer about to launch a promising career in politics when he gets an unexpected phone call from the woman he fell in love with while attending Harvard 13 years earlier. David is Jewish and his old lover, Hana Arif, is Palestinian. Soon David's world is turned upside down when Hana is accused of being involved in the assassination of the Prime Minister of Israel and David is asked to defend her.

North clearly went to great pains to research this novel and `get it right'. He presents both sides of this complicated issue effectively without getting preachy or heavy handed about it. North not only explores the intricacies of the Palestinian conflict, he tells an intimate story, filled with regret, about the lives of two people and how the decisions they make impact them and those close to them. On top of all this, North delivers a gripping courtroom drama.

I'm sure North traveled to the Middle East and interviewed dozens of people before writing this novel and I have no doubt that a lot of material just couldn't be included in the novel (as much as he probably would have liked). He probably should have left a little more out of the novel, as the narrative flow does get a little bogged down in the middle as North fills pages with the stories David hears from the various Palestinians and Israelis he meets in the Middle East (although they are very compelling stories).

I appreciate that the ending to this novel left some mysteries unsolved and that it wasn't an entirely happy ending. I highly recommend this excellent novel.

Just loved this book. Compassionate, understanding, unbiased and full of information I never knew. Exciting reading. Thanks Mr. Patterson, I look forward to your next epic. Very worthwhile and was mesmerized from start to finish.

Given the highly contrived nature of the opening chapters, the book went on its predictable course. There is no real suspense and the attempt to present a balanced view of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians comes at the expense of the plot. The characters lack depth, and the story such as it is gets bogged down in endless moralizing prose. I have read all Richard North Patterson books, but this is one I had trouble finishing.

Richard North Patterson has never been shy about taking on tough, often polarizing issues and representing one side or the other unapologetically. He has approached issues such as abortion, gun control, and the death penalty with an unsurprising liberal bent while treating problems like child abuse with a more universal negativity. Regardless of his subject matter, Patterson's vivid characters and rich, deep plots provide a reading experience that is entertaining, educational, and often moving.

In Exile, Patterson has once again tackled a tough, polarizing issue, but this time he has mostly managed to avoid taking sides. The issue is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians in the Holy Land, and rather than coming across as either pro or anti one side or the other, Patterson's novel provides a social commentary that is at its heart pro-humanity and anti-senseless generational violence.

As always, Patterson has turned in a triumph of characterization, with protagonists so thoroughly fleshed out that it seems they must exist somewhere. The dialog is likewise superb--almost too much so at times. If the novel has an overriding flaw, it is that the characters' speech is so polished and perfect that it risks seeming contrived instead of realistic. If real-life combatants in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were as well spoken as Patterson's characters, perhaps a peaceful solution would have been found by now!

Not everything else about the book is positive. The story's central relationship is based on a premarital sexual affair that later develops into an extramarital romance, and too much detail is provided in the book's few sex scenes. Conservative Evangelical Christians are portrayed in a particularly dim light, as Patterson apparently believes (as some Christians do) that American dispensational theology has contributed to the tension in the Middle East.

The book's pacing leaves a bit to be desired. The story slows down quite a bit in the middle but comes roaring back at the end with a dramatic series of courtroom scenes interspersed with last-minute fact finding as the main character desperately tries to get his client acquitted of murdering the Israeli prime minister.

Particularly impressive is Patterson's balanced approach to the issue. He paints nationalistic Jews in a rather negative light and has somewhat disparaging things to say about American Jewish lobbying groups and pro-Israel political leanings. But he also slams Yasser Arafat as a "pariah" who "left his people nothing but occupation, violence, an economy in ruins." The bottom line seems to be that "the only common denominator of occupation was that it degraded everyone." Patterson displays thoughtfulness and thoroughness in describing the pros and cons of the so-called two-state solution, the horrors of the Palestinian concentration camps, Jewish nationalism in the wake of the Holocaust, and many other aspects of this extremely touchy debate.

In the author's note at the end, Patterson points out that the book, with its many mentions of the rise of Hamas, Iran's nuclear ambitions, Hezbollah's activities in Lebanon, etc., was already finished in mid 2006 when these and other Mideast dramas were played out in real life. Christian authors who write seemingly prophetic novels tend to credit Old Testament prophecy. Patterson's take is purely secular but no less accurate, at least in the short term. He says of his ability to write about events before they happen: "I make no claim to prophecy; these sad events were utterly predictable. As so often in the past, extremists dictated the course of events, and while I hope publication of this book occurs in a materially better climate, I fear that it will not."

Most readers will echo this hope, and many will add prayers. One day, peace will surely reign on earth; until then, we at least can rest in the knowledge that God is ultimately in control.

David Wolfe is sitting on top of the world.He is a prominent Jewish
trial attorney in San Francisco. Wolfe is a former prosecutor who has gone into private practice with a bang.Wolfe is now being groomed as a candidate for Congress on the Democratic ticket. He has the blessing and
backing of the Mayor of San Francisco and the Unites States Senator.He is
fixing to marry Carol Shorr the daughter of a prominent wealthy Holocaust
survivor.His life is a bed of roses.
All of that changes. He recieves a phone call from Hanna Arif.He had an affair with her when both of them were attending Harvard Law School.She is
visiting San Francisco.In the meantime the Israeli Prime-Minister Amos ben-Aron is also visiting San Francisco.He is assassinated by suicide bombers.Hana Arif is indicted and arrested for being the mastermind behind the assassination.Lacking alternatives she turns to David to defend her.He finally agrees to defend his former love.
When that happend his political career is over.The United States Senator
and the Mayor of San Francisco disown him.His fiance Carol Shorr breaks up with him.He still decides to stick beside Hana.He makes an investigative trip to the Middle East where he is exposed to both sides of the Middle East crisis.Several shocking discoveries are revealed to David.He finds out some previously unknown secrets.This is a book of the first level.The ending will amaze you.

David Wolfe is a Jewish San Francisco attorney who has it all. A successful practice, engaged to a high profile San Franciscan, a political future ahead. When the Israeli Prime Minister is assassinated while in San Fransisco, David's life takes a turn he could have never predicted. He receives a call from Hana Arif, a Palestinian woman with whom he had a relationship with while at Harvard Law school years prior. She has been accused of plotting the assassination and asks David to defend her. What follows is a game of life topsy turvy. David's fiance and friends are appalled that he would defend a Palestinian. While the turmoils mounts, David begins to dig deeper into the details behind the killing and, in turn, finds out much about the ages of conflict between Jews and Arabs. A solid story, with a good bit more detail than I would've liked. With that said, Patterson does a good job of presenting both sides of the conflict, something he has not done in his past few books.

The plot of the novel is very interesting, describing how a husband hated his wife so bad because of her affair with an American Jew, framed his wife to be the planner of the assassination of the Israel prime minister. However, 2/3 of the book is describing the conflicts between Israel and Palestine. The trial only happen last 50-60 pages of the book.