Book Review - Exile by Richard North Patterson

I have been reading Richard North Patterson’s books for a few years now and have yet to be disappointed by any of them. Unlike many of the standard crime/legal thrillers out there the plots are not formulaic or predictable, but intelligent and engaging. The author has obviously researched his topic thoroughly and he seamlessly intertwines real events and situations with the fictional characters and plot development. Each book focuses on a particular theme, usually a hotly debated legal, moral or political topic. The story in Exile takes place in the context of the ongoing struggle between Israeli Jews and Palestinians.

Exile departs from RNP’s usual trend by not following a character we have previously met in an earlier book. Rather than take a central hero or heroine and follow them through various escapades, each of the protagonists in his books have some connection (sometimes small) to previous ones. In Exile we are introduced to a new character, David Wolfe, a Jewish defense lawyer (former prosecutor) who is on the verge of launching his political campaign, with the support of his fiance and her father, a Holocaust survivor with political connections. When the Israeli Prime Minister is killed by suicide bombers in Wolfe’s hometown of San Francisco, he is contacted by a Palestinian woman who he had a secret affair with in college. She is soon charged with masterminding the assassination and Wolfe decides to defend her, potentially at the cost of his fiance and his political ambitions.

That reads a little like the jacket cover of the book, so let me tell what I really thought of it. The story and the characters are for the most part very real and believable. The author does a good job of eliciting sympathy for the two sides of the conflict, both on a personal level with the two central characters and on a larger scale for the Jewish and Palestinian people in Israel. The real-life events and historical background that is woven into the story are fascinating, particularly during Wolfe’s visit to Israel, and made me want to learn more about what is really happening over there.

During the time we lived in Saudi Arabia, for the first time I had exposure to news reporting that didn’t originate from the Western World. As well as Internet news services and watching CNN and BBC news, we also read Arab News, an English language Saudi newspaper. I very quickly realized how biased the Western news coverage is. Before that I don’t think I had ever read a report that sympathised at all with the Palestinian plight. The focus in the Western news always seemed to be on what the Israelis were forced to do in retaliation for another suicide bombing. The Saudi newspaper on the other hand reported on atrocities carried out against the Palestinians, their living conditions in refugee camps, and on Israel’s nuclear capabilities. The “truth”, I’m sure, is somewhere in the middle of these two points of view, and RNP makes a good attempt at presenting both sides of the suffering. The book is compelling because you don’t feel that is is preaching or advocating support for either group.

I would definitely recommend this book, but brace yourself for a serious read. It is fairly long at 823 pages, but not difficult to get through. I like to mix up my reading with light and heavy subject matter, so it was a nice change from a few chick-lit books I have read lately.