Thursday, February 19, 2015

The Babylon Contingency by Clifford Longley book review

The Babylon Contingency

The Babylon Contingency

by 

This book seems to have all the elements for an amazing mystery-adventure. Mysterious archaeological findings in an English mansion, British police force, murders, danger, adventure in the Mediterranean and international intrigue....all the factors combined to make me incredibly excited to read this new novel by Clifford Longley.
However, to my surprise I had an extremely difficult time not only getting into the book, but sticking with it! From the first chapter, the book is prolix and far too detailed to run smoothly. To fully enjoy this book, the reader would have to have a pretty good understanding of British police and detective terminology, as well as an excellent memory since the book is full of various individuals. Another aspect which made this work difficult for me was the first-person tense which is not always annoying but in the case of an overly-wordy book as this, it's torture. Detail after detail made this book devoid of excitement. And although I stuck with this novel chapter after chapter, the mystery details never made sense to me. I am an avid reader who loves adventure, mystery and such but even by the final chapter I only had a dim idea of what the point of the book was.
The historical aspect of this book was disturbing. The author played with real history too much, without providing footnotes to explain why he inserted this or that. There are some points of history one can not play around with, and that is the ancient worlds. I felt like I could not trust the author on any of his points.
That is my opinion, barring all religious thoughts.
   However, I also want to point out from a Christian viewpoint: this book, although published by a company which usually offers excellent Christian literature is quite atheistic. At least the main character is. Throughout the book, there is mild bad language, crude language and the reader comes into the context of other worldliness. I was optimistically hoping the main character would have a salvation experience or something, but no. The book doesn't culminate in anything good...for anyone.  In conclusion, don't read this book if you are religious. If you are not religious, this book is so badly written that you would be better off reading something else!
*This book was provided to me for honest reviewing by Kregel Publications*
More about the book: 
Investigating a burglary at an English country house, Detective Chief Inspector Robbie Peele comes face to face with one of the most mysterious objects in world archaeology, the Phaestos Disk--and with the Middle Eastern terrorist cell determined to steal it.
The vital clue is a long abandoned Muslim village in Crete, where a Victorian gentleman explorer witnessed horrors that were meant to be secret and recorded what he saw in coded diaries. Seeking the truth about the Phaestos Disk, Peele and his assistant, Sarah Shipton, are on the cusp of solving the mystery when they are caught in an ancient Egyptian burial chamber during an earthquake.
In the end Peele has to ask far harder questions than simply who committed the original burglary. The origins of the Phaestos Disk are inextricably bound up with the Middle East peace process in ways that frustrate and astound him.


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