Bob Phillips (6)

Review by Jeremy Taylor

The third book in Tim LaHaye’s Babylon Rising series once again pits biblical archeologist Michael Murphy against the indefatigably evil Talon and the mysterious group of would-be world dominators known only as “The Seven.” In book one, Murphy went in search of the golden head of King Nebuchadnezzar’s famous statue and Moses’ bronze serpent; book two found Murphy in Turkey searching for and ultimately finding Noah’s Ark. In The Europa Conspiracy, Murphy is show more at it again, this time looking for the remains of King Belshazzar’s writing on the wall.

The book, like the previous two, opens with Michael Murphy battling the sinister intent of his mischievous benefactor, Methuselah. When he finds the clue Methuselah left for him, Murphy instantly knows that his goal is the handwriting on the wall, and he makes plans to return to Babylon. Accompanying him is the beautiful Isis, with whom Murphy falls in love during the course of the story, the fact that she is not a Christian notwithstanding.

Murphy does in fact uncover the location of the handwriting on the wall with no difficulty whatsoever, since Methuselah tells him exactly where it is. Along the way, Murphy helps in thwarting a terrorist plot to blow up the Washington Bridge in New York and learns that the Antichrist has been born and is waiting to assume control of a yet-to-be-established one-world government as soon as the United Nations is relocated to Babylon.

Like its predecessors, The Europa Conspiracy is implausible, unengaging, and largely uncompelling. The characters are as shallow as ever, dialog reads like a high-school play, and the central premise teeters precariously on the border between merely unbelievable and patently ridiculous. The idea that an Illuminati-like group of seven anonymous yet nearly omnipotent individuals is directly responsible for everything from the state of the U.S. economy to the price of Middle Eastern oil to the decline of American morality is absurd.

One thing writer Bob Phillips does fairly well is action scenes, and the highlight of the book is an extended sequence in which Michael Murphy becomes aware of and assists in the dismantling of a terrorist plot to destroy New York’s Washington Bridge. The book’s cliffhanger of a closing scene is also fairly well done, except for the unforgivable editorial blunder of having a character switch back and forth between having been killed in a catastrophic earthquake and being safe and on the way home to his family. Periodic narrative flashbacks to the prophet Daniel’s experiences in ancient Babylon are also of some interest.

Christian content is plentiful, though rather pedantic. The unexpected death of one of the key characters from a previous book adds a small amount of emotional drama (though not nearly as much as book 1, when Michael Murphy’s wife was killed in a church bombing). The title refers to the plan of “The Seven” for the European Union (according to legend, the continent of Europe was named after Zeus’s lover Europa) to take over the world.

Though it will likely be a best-seller based on name recognition alone, this book is a sophomoric followup to two mediocre prequels. It falls far short of the intrigue of the Left Behind series (LaHaye’s phenomenally successful venture with writer Jerry Jenkins) and its quasi-juvenile writing and utter lack of careful editing or proofreading should ensure a quick trip to Bantam’s backlist.

(http://www.cerebralexchange.com/books/reviews.asp?book=176&host=1) show less

Being live with Daniel in the Lion's Den is one exciting story in this continuing series of Murphy's adventures. The book, hinging on a search for the "handwriting on the wall" that Daniel explained to King Nebuchadnezzar, was not as fast paced...nor as interesing to me as the first two books were.

This is the third book in the Babylon Rising Series and the first one I have read. I hope the first two are better then this one. This book was a fast read for me, one afternoon. Not because it is a page-turner. But this was because of the choice of margins and typeset. In normal typeset the book would be half the number of pages.

This book our hero is Dr. Michael Murphy may be a renowned field archaeologist and professor. The way he is written he is part Indiana Jones and part James Bond. I show more find the character very unrealistic. Which is a shame for I feel it would have been more exciting a story if he wasn't such a great spy and martial artist.

Now the part of the book that is interesting is our hero's search to find proof positive that the Bible is literal. And we follow him on his quest into ancient Babylon. I do like that he is finding the proof he needs. And that it is part of a test he is not aware of. But the icing on the cake is that after he has seen proof positive, he loses it due to forces outside of his control. It is like OK here is the proof, and convinces the rest of the world it was real.

I found I could start with this book, the third in the series, and not be too lost. But the way this book ends on a cliffhanger. You have to read it before you should read book four. I prefer a series that does build upon the previous books, but can also stand alone in their own right. show less

I thought this was even better than Babylon Rising, again, despite the Christian-based themes. Again, it kept me wanting to finish the series.