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Exile | 
 enlarge | Author: Richard North Patterson
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $9.99
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Rating:  83 reviews
Sales Rank: 64499
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Edition: 1st
Pages: 768
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 4.2 x 1.6
ISBN: 0312938543
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780312938543
ASIN: 0312938543
Publication Date: August 28, 2007
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Product Description
David Wolfe is a successful American lawyer being primed for a run for Congress. But when the phone rings and he hears the voice of Hana Arif—the Palestinian woman with whom he had a secret affair in law school—he begins a completely unexpected journey.
The next day, the prime minister of Israel is assassinated by a suicide bomber while visiting San Francisco. Soon, Hana is accused of being the mastermind behind the murder. Now David faces an agonizing choice: Will he, a Jew, represent her?
The most challenging case of David’s career requires that he delve deep into the lives of Hana and her militant Palestinian husband, all the way back to Israel and the West Bank. There he uncovers the couple’s dangerous connections…culminating in an explosive trial where the stakes are Hana’s life—and the future of two peoples.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 78 more reviews...
 An Excellent Book! January 31, 2007
Nancy R. Katz (NJ)
42 out of 45 found this review helpful
At one time I was an avid reader of Richard North Patterson's books which I always enjoyed. But it had been some time sinceI picked up one of his books and with thsi in mind I couldn't wait to begin Exile: A Novel. And what an excellent read this turned out to be.
David Wolfe seems to have everything. A good job as a lawyer in San Francisco, engaged to a wonderful woman, he also is being slated to run for Congress. But with one phone call that about to all change. Thirteen years before, Hana Arif a Palestinian woman studying in the United States, met David at Harvard where he was a law student. They had a love affair for several months but she returned to the Middle East against David's protests and married a fellow Palestinian. Now her phone call to David is to say she is visiting the states with her husband and their 12 year old daughter. When she asks David to meet them for lunch, he is hesitant realizing his former feelings for Hana. A few days after David hears from her, the Prime Minister of Israel is assassinated while he is visiting San Francisco. And all fingers point to Hana as the woman who masterminded this assassination. When Hana is arrested for the murder, she asks David to defend her. But David a Jew while thinking about Hana must decide if he will risk everything to defend her or if he is willing to let somebody else do this and possibly fail.
This was an excellent novel which doesn't take sides, but tries to explain the plight of both the Jews and the Palestinians. Two people who feel that Israel belongs to them and with little hope of settling this in the near future. The author offers novel while filled with suspense also offer readers a view of both sides and the difficulties of this living in Israel and those who are exiles from this country. I highly recommend this book.
Entertaining and Incredibly Informative January 10, 2007
Robert Kall (Newtown, PA)
37 out of 40 found this review helpful
The middle east conflict is, in my opinion, the hardest problem facing humanity in the whole world. Understanding all the nuances, from both sides could be a major academic undertaking. Getting perspectives from key, leading figures could require incredible access for interviews and a huge amount of research and reading.
Richard North Patterson takes all the boring, grunt work out of this and turns the process into a gripping read with great characters. He's done way more than basic homework, more like a dissertation, but being a great novelist, he's weaved in an education on the middle east conflict that not only provides a satisfying stimulating, stay up until you drop in the middle of the night read, but also a serious education.
My Kudos to Patterson for doing more than just writing a brilliant novel. This book could contribute to progress towards peace.
a revelation and an education February 6, 2007
Jack Rosenblum (Deerfield, MA USA)
18 out of 19 found this review helpful
Some years ago, my wife and I were dining with an Israeli couple in Haifa. We were discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Finally the Israeli man said: "You Americans think all problems have a solution. This one doesn't." Richard North Patterson has written a splendid book that uses the story of a Palestinian woman accused of complicity in the assassination of the Israeli Prime Minister and defended by her Jewish former lover to create an even-handed compassion for both sides of the bitter tribal conflict. Once hooked on the legal thriller aspect of the story. we avidly follow the lawyer's dangerous exploration of the conspiracy wherever it might lead. It takes us to Israel, to the West Bank, and to Lebanon where we meet a variety of people who have been touched and wounded by the conflict in a variety of ways. The legal theatics are gripping, as they always are in a Patterson novel, but this time the deeper impact of making this journey is a more profound empathy for the people caught up in this tragic situation in which everyone, according to their own lights, is right . For this book, 5 stars is not enough. I recommend it to you with all my heart.
 Not-so-classic Patterson October 6, 2007
mrliteral
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
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.
Great Read January 13, 2007
Avid Reader (Wappingers Falls, NY USA)
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
I needed this book. It's a relief to read about smart, good characters who are products of their environment and no sociopaths, serial killers, incest or domestic violence. There's no cardboard evil person to blame it all on. True, people die as a result of their ethnic and political beliefs. Its a war zone. Pain resulting from political beliefs is deeply felt. Love is thwarted by commitments that make that love impossible, or perceived to be so. There's no Disney ending.
Its a political, legal and romantic thriller. The big plot twist was a bit obvious and heavily foreshadowed, particularly to those who have read his other books. Still, it is a great read.
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