Good Read But .... - Rated 
Sam Bourne is the pseudonym of journalist Jonathan Freedland and this is a half decent thriller novel that sadly falls down in a number of areas.
It has received mixed reviews and it is easy to see why. You could be forgiven for sighing and saying "Not another thriller novel about the unravelling of codes." This is a genre which in effect began with Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. Numerous authors jumped on the bandwagon and the market was flooded with such books.
Here we enter the world of Israeli/Palestinian conflicts. An historic deal is about to be signed but a man rushes towards the Israeli Prime Minister at a rally. He is known to be an opponent of the prime ministers and is shot dead. In his hand is not a gun but a piece of paper.
American/Irish peace negotiator Maggie Costello gives up her quiet life to return to international intrigue in an attempt to keep both sides on track. Unfortunately Maggie spends little time acting as a diplomat, but plenty searching for an elusive tablet that hides a remarkable truth.
Bourne's can't quite make up his mind whether this should be an adventure novel or a more series attempt to shed some light on the Israeli/Palestine conflict.
It therefore drops somewhere between the two. The politics of the area are difficult to comprehend and Bourne seems to get bogged down in this fact with large passages that are difficult to understand within the context of the story as a whole. That said it is a page turner and a reasonable attempt to bring to life the feel of the area, but there is still something missing. It is certainly well researched but towards the end the dialogue and action borders on the silly and the final development is very predictable.
Predictable - Rated 
After reading many positive reviews about this book all I can say is I was left utterly disappointed. It didn't help that it took a fair amount of time to get the ball rolling and for the plot to develop. The Characters were all dull and predictable and I could even see where and when the twists and turns were coming. I have avoided giving this book 1 star for the simple fact that it had potential but like so many of this genre it failed to deliver
Very disappointing - Rated
Having seen good reviews for this book I decided to buy it for a holiday read but within a couple of chapters I was still waiting for the plot to start! Despite a strong desire to give up (I just didn't care about any of the characters and pretty much new what was going to happen) I finished the book. Very disappointing. It was like watching a very average action film.
terrible - Rated 
After the rave review's Bourne's new book has received I was severely disappointed with the outcome. The writing is terrible, slow and contains a predictable plot.
The characters are poorly constructed, one-dimensional and at no time do you feel sympathy with any of them for the plight they find themselves in. The only thing which sustains the book is the content rather than any decent rhetoric
Oh Dear - Rated
I found this book hard to get in too. After reading the first few chapters, I soon lost interest and it sat on a shelf collecting dust. Yet I recently picked it up again to give it another try. I found it tedious to say the least. The story was drab and even though it is a story line that is so familiar to us at the moment, what with Dan brown's books and co, this was a poor replica. I read Bourne's previous book, 'The Righteous men' and, despite finding the story utterly ridiculous, enjoyed it. It drew the reader in and you wanted to discover the truth. However with this book, I constantly fought with the urge to just put it down and try something that is actually well written and intellectually stimulating.
The main character, Maggie Costello, is about as interesting as stale bread. She is constantly giving hints as to 'what her shameful secret is' which is done in such a way, the reader just ends up thinking that this secret is just dull. The actual theme of this book is a good idea. I like that it is a search for the last will of Abraham and ties in the politics of Iraq. I only wish this book had been written by an at least satisfactory author so that it could have been done some justice.
Finally the part of the book that really annoyed me was the 'Strip search', which I found graphic yet tedious. You can tell the book was written by a man with no idea about abuse like that on a woman. The only thing he latched on to was that it would be humiliating, quite write, but to have done that section successfully he would have to be either talented or a woman.
In all like many other people have said, read this book if you have time to waste. I am not an eco warrior whatsoever, I normally don't give the environment a second thought, yet after reading this book I feel saddened that good trees were torn down to make it.
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