Customer Reviews

The Europa Conspiracy (Babylon Rising, Book 3)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I have been a fan of Tim LaHaye's for a long time now, and eagerly started reading this new Babylon Rising series. I loved the first book, the second was not nearly as meaty, and this one is even less so. It seemed it was quickly written, and very much on a surface level. And the worst part was when they did not even catch a huge error in the storyline...there was a character that almost died. They were all so happy he did not die, then all of a sudden, Micheal was talking about what a shame his death was...what is up with that?? For the price I paid, that was just unacceptable, and totally sloppy. I do not like to think money is behind the quick writing, but...hmmm... The only good parts were the stories from the Bible itself...those were great!

I wanted to like this book... I enjoyed the first two in the series. But this one left me a bit dry... Babylon Rising: The Europa Conspiracy by Tim Lahaye and Bob Phillips.

This continues the story of Michael Murphy, a college professor teaching biblical archaeology. He is now heading off to Iraq to follow a tip on the location of "The Handwriting on the Wall" from the days of Daniel. He's falling in love with a colleague who is in the same area, and he fears for her safety as things start to get dicey in his life. Talon and the mysterious Seven are trying to eliminate him, and there are a few attempts on his life. Mixed into this story is a terrorist attack on New York designed to throw America into an economic and national panic, as well as to prompt the UN to move their headquarters to the ancient city of Babylon. Murphy, for someone who's pretty much a small fish in the large ocean, finds himself in the middle of all this...

As I said, I really wanted to like this book. The Murphy character is likeable, and I enjoyed the action. But the plotline was spotty and over the top. Murphy was using martial arts to take out everyone who attacked him (highly unlikely). Everything the terrorists tried to do was thwarted just in the nick of time (over the top). The story attempted to be both a Christian End Times novel and a terrorist suspense novel, and they didn't do either one especially well. Murphy's growing infatuation with Isis was rather repetitive with the "she's so beautiful" and "could she be interested in me" interludes. And finally, none of the plotlines wrapped up. You got to the end and thought "so?" Fine if you're ready to read the next installment, but not good if you started here or you have to wait some months for the next one...

Part of me wants to be nice, give the book the benefit of the doubt, and rate it a "3". But the authors are better than this, and I've come to expect more from someone who's been doing this for a long time... If you're committed to the series, you'll want/have/need to read it, but just don't come in with your expectations very high...

I will say that there are a few high notes in book 3 of the Babylon Rising Series. I like where the plot is going. The End Times is a very exciting topic on which to base a fictional series. Left Behind did this and we all know how successful that was.

However, there are a few main points that I just feel are too influential to give this book anything better than a 3 star. The main point was that the dialogue was terrible. Conversations between Isis McDonald and Michael Murphy were like listening to a recorded conversation between a robot and and automated textbook. I finished book three still not knowing much about Isis' character. What these characters say is the only way we can truely "go into the story". The dialogue seemed unnatural and there was no real flow and this sort of prevents me from jumping into the book. This is what Left Behind did so well and why if you are looking for a book/series as good as LB, you will not find it here.

It can get better though. The writers need to spend more time developing the small details. If a character is in a particular position, say, at the bottom of a cliff, for example, this book will instantly have that character at the top of the cliff in the next paragraph. This can be dangerous at times and can often leave out critical information. There is a part in this book where you dont learn how someone dies. One page, the character is fine. A few pages and no details later, someone is mourning his loss. Details, details, details.

A fine continuation of the series, in theory...

...but...

Too much time spent lecturing, and too many PC / general grammar mistakes. "...every man for themself..." -- uh, excuse me? Well, it's late in the book, might slide, but too many times the table is set for the author (in the guise of whoever is speaking at that moment) to explain things at length. Really, does any member of the Mossad (or any ancillary group) truly not know the difference between a "dirty bomb" and a nuke?

Murphy is still a fine Christian hero, and the flashbacks to ancient Babylon are superb, giving a sense of another time / another place. Daniel's experiences in the lions' den are (as written) fictional, to be sure, but arresting and intriguing nonetheless. One can feel God's presence.

Christians will love this book, but the better-educated will wince at the grammatical and stylistic... er, peculiarities.

I was expecting much better. The cliff hanger at the end is very annoying and the story has a blatant error that should have been caught during editing. For once I was actually happy that the "new guy" on the team didn't die and then 3 chapters later Murphy talks about the loss he feels at the death of this character. How did he die? Last I read he was going home to his wife and kids! Very sloppy editing. The story had been OK up to this point but not up to par with the previous 2 books in the series.

I was extremely disappointed with the quality of writing. After reading all of the Left Behind books as well as Jerry Jenkins new series and the two previous Bablylon Rising books, I have come to the conclusion that Tim LaHaye, while a "renowned prophesy scholar", is not a writer. Neither is his co-author, Bob Phillips. The story line is a jumble of loosely tied-together incidents that take advantage of current events (terrorist attack in NYC, war in Iraq, etc.) but do not add to the general mystery/theme or plot line. Word errors in the text are annoying but happen. Story errors are unacceptable yet the editors missed a significant one. Near the end of the book is an obvious error where the authors must have changed their minds about killing off a character. In Chapter 59, Will Bingham (spelt Bingman elsewhere) escapes a cave-in while going back to retrieve a camera. In Chapter 62 Murphy refers to the "miraculous escape from the tunnel" that Bingham made. Yet, in that same chapter (P. 326), Murphy says: "I still haven't gotten over the loss of Bingman--he was a really nice man. His death brought to mind Laura's death..." Didn't anyone read this book before printing it???? This is the last Tim LaHaye book I will buy or read. He is coasting on his Left Behind fame and should be ashamed of himself for being associated with such poor quality Christian fiction. Sorry to sound harsh but there are much better ways that I could have spent my holiday reading time.

Most who are reading reviews at this point have read the book, or at least know the plotline. Like Books 1 & 2, the hero is Mike Murphy--a Raider's of the Lost Ark type archeologist, with strong conservative evangelical Christian convictions. He's thrust into a near-end times world, and encounters numerous adventures--so so many. The whole idea might be too James Bondish, and a bit to Left Behindish for many, but I found this one of the better spin offs--at least the first two books were.

Europa made all the mistakes the other two did not:

1. Far too many dialogues that were really little sermons, or conservative political commentary.

2. The message got more important than the plotline--all subtlety was abandoned. Hey, I'm a preacher myself--but this is false advertising.

3. Unlike the first two...this book ended mid-action, mid-scene. I rather appreciated that the other stories were both self-contained, and loosely affiliated. This one forces you to get book 4, if you have the patience to seek closure.

4. Too many cliches this time around. The manly men had bristling muscles, were smart--but not in a bookish, non-athletic sort of way.

5. Poor Isis--the woman who promised to destroy the complaint lodged against Left Behind--that women were kept behind scenes, or 1950s tradition. This scholar, beauty, and courageous soul becomes needy, contemplative, and fearful. They turned her into Beaver's mom!

On the upside, the tempo remained pretty crisp, and devoted Left Behind/Tim Lahaye fans will probably keep buying. I will (though definitely used, like I did this one!)

Like many others, I am very disappointed in this book. The storyline seems rushed, and the dialogue is ponderous. I found myself skipping pages of text obviously fabricated to inform the reader of some interesting facts presented in very boring ways. The conversations between Murphy and Bingham are the worst; suddenly Bingham seems unclear about his profession and his own faith. I missed the usual depth of biblical prophecy and scholarship that I enjoy the most in LaHaye's work. The best parts of the book are the Daniel flashbacks, but even they seem to be jumbled at times. And it seemed pretty clear to me that Isis became a Christian in the last book, but in this one she's still undecided. The last straw for me was the sketchy fate of Bingham--did he miraculously survive with the evidence of their find (for the first time in the series) and fly home to his family, or was he killed? What's going on here, Tim?

This book was kind of a let down for me. To me, Tim came off VERY preachy in this book. When you mix that together with the typos and screw ups (one chapter his associate escapes death, the next he is talking about his associates death being hard to get over), it just kind of makes me wish I didn't waste the time reading it. I was kind of surprised because the other two books were so good....oh well, guess I'll read the DaVinci code.....

Dr. Tim LaHaye has done it again! This book continues his exciting story without disappointment! A++