Shadow over Babylon

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Shadow over Babylon
First US edition
AuthorDavid Mason
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenreThriller
PublisherDutton Adult (US)
Bloomsbury (UK)
Publication date
January 1993
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages496
ISBN0525937099
OCLC978-0525937098

Shadow over Babylon is a novel by David Mason published in 1993 by Bloomsbury in the UK and by Dutton Adult in the US.[1]

Plot[edit]

The book's plot opens after the Gulf War when a government minister approached a British businessman to execute a plan to assassinate Saddam Hussein.[2] The businessman recruits Sir Peter Dartington, the owner of the international construction company. The latter tasked the mission of preparing and executing the job to Security contractor Ed Howard, an ex-Royal Marines and SBS officer.[3] Howard recruits his men at X.F Security firm, all of them are special forces veterans, including his best friend Mike Ziegler, former officer at the Navy SEALS. In addition, Howard is recruiting a Scottish hunting guide to serve as a sniper of the force. The assassination operation requires the team to deal with Iraqi military on the one hand and successfully evade the US and UK intelligence organizations on the other.

Reception[edit]

The New York Times called it "absorbing" and "an unusually deft first novel"[4] Kirkus Reviews stated that readers would "love the details of exactly what happens."[5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Shadow over Babylon by David Mason". Goodreads.
  2. ^ Gal Perl Finkel, Wisdom is in the timing, The Jerusalem Post, 12 December 2019.
  3. ^ David Mason, Shadow over Babylon, Dutton Adult, 1993, page 24: "From 1966 to 1979 he had been a commissioned officer in the Royal Marines and the Special Boat Service".
  4. ^ [1], reviewed at The New York Times; 21 November 1993
  5. ^ [2], reviewed at Kirkus Reviews; published 16 November 1993