Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #173059 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 768 pages

Review
In his latest ripped-from-the-headlines thriller, Patterson puts the screws to a San Francisco lawyer called to defend his Palestinian ex-lover on murder charges after she's accused of conspiring to kill the Israeli Prime Minister.A thoroughly unconvincing series of flashbacks shows how, 13 years ago, David Wolfe, a comfortably secularized Jew, and his fellow Harvard Law student, Hana Arif, carried on a torrid romance under the nose of her fiance, Palestinian activist Saeb Khalid. Now David is compromising his future in politics by answering Hana's plea for help. The testimony of Ibrahim Jefar, a suicide bomber who took part in the bombing of peacenik Israeli Prime Minister Amos Ben-Aron but didn't succeed in killing himself, implicates her in the plot. Although David assures his fiancee Carole Shorr that he won't take Hana's case, it's so hot that no other qualified lawyer will touch it. As David settles uneasily into Hana's defense, he senses his old life-his political dreams, his engagement to Carol, the friendship of her wealthy father, a Holocaust survivor-slipping away. Nor is there any certainty that he'll win Hana's acquittal. The only sure bet is that Patterson (Conviction, 2005, etc.) will seize the opportunity to present characters giving voice to every possible perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. An endless roll call of people and perspectives bloats David's fact-finding trip to Israel. The result, very typical of Patterson, is perceptive and even-handed analysis but sagging drama. Hana's trial promises more in the way of fireworks, but despite some sharp courtroom scenes, the big climax will surprise no one but David.A riveting premise, a sympathetic ear for every party to an intractable problem, the geopolitics of the earth's most volatile region all balanced on the backs of a handful of tormented souls-not by a long shot Patterson's best book, but in many ways his most characteristic. (Kirkus Reviews)

the Times
'demands to be read...Patterson has done stupendous research, is
admirably level-headed, eschews sermonising and patronising.'

Daily Mail
'Wolfe is compelling protagonist, honourable, inquisitive,
eloquent'

Customer Reviews

Absolutely excellent....
This is how political thrillers are supposed to be written. In addition to the great entertainment value, 'Exile' is an impressive learning experience that offers the reader an objective view of the tragic situation in the Middle East. Patterson tells a believable story with an interesting historical context, and at no time did I find the comprehensive description of life in Israel and the Palestinian areas boring or superfluous.

Patterson joins the Premier Thriller League
At 700 pages (OK 699) this is a blockbuster in every sense of the word. Using the Israeli/Palestinian conflict as the backdrop, Patterson weaves a very human narrative of Jewish lawyer David Wolfe and his Arab ex-lover, Hana Arif, caught up in the assassination of the Israeli Prime Minister. Without taking sides, he intricately (un)tangles the webs of violence, hatreds, ideologies and histories cast over this tiny corner of the Middle East while rolling out the legal events of the arrest and trial of Hana. All of the secondary and tertiary supporting cast are realistically human and three dimensional.I have found Patterson to be an average thriller writer in the past but here he has really stepped up his pacing, characterisation and backdrop. While some key elements to the plot are readily guessable early on in the novel, the denouement is both satisfying and unfinished in the sense that the future intentions of the surviving main protagonists remain uncertain. Read it, it is truly hard to put down.

A great book
I've been a fan of Patterson's for well over a decade now and on his day he is capable of brilliant books. However, of late he's moved from the basic legal thriller to more politically based novels. This can be somewhat of a niche market and some of the books have been hit and miss. Exile, however, is a return to form.

In Exile, Patterson defends an ex lover from law school who is charged with masterminding the assissination of the Israeli PM. The woman is now married, has a 12 year old daughter and is Palestinian, while david, the lawyer is an American Jew. As always Patterson weaves an intricate tale and develops characters that you genuinly care about. He also managed to delve into the complexities of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Patterson presents an accurate, balanced portrayal of events in the middle east from the perspectives of both jews and arabs. However, one section of the book details David's return to Israel to build a defence for his client. I felt large chunks of this chapter were superfluous and were placed there entirely to dissect the middle eastern problems, as opposed to it being entirely relevant to the book. That however is my only criticism.

The book, because of the subject area, is heavy going at times but is a fascinating thriller, based largely on an apparent conspiracy theory. Theres plenty of twists and turns along the way with a believable ending. An excellent book - thoroughly recommended