Night Fall by Nelson DeMille Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Night Fall
Book Review: "You talkin' to me"
Summary: 5 Stars
Travis Bickell's line in "Taxi" reminds me (or vice versa) of the character of John Corey. He's a wounded Irish cop with an attitude. He's 40 years old, with an attitude. He's a loving, humorous husband, with an attitude. And here, his Godfather Nelson DeMille gives him an already laid table upon which to have an attitude.
He actually is moved and bored by the 2001 memorial service to the deaths of 230 people aboard TWA Flight 800 into the ocean just south of Cupsogue Beach on Long Island. He's not moved by patriotism (well a little; we know that from the Corey mystique) and if there's a dry eye in the crowd it ain't Corey's. He's there to accompany his wife, FBI Agent Kate Mayfield, who worked the case five years earlier. He really doesn't care. What are the Yanks doing? Will Mrs. Corey favor him with marital bliss before they go home? These are the important issues in his life. Maybe some Scotch as well.
That is until Liam Griffith, mean spirited FBI agent, gets in John's face after the service and says to get the heck out of Dodge, that it's none of his business and if he and his wife continue to 'poke around,' there in deep trouble. And John, from the neck down, face flushed, muscles tightening, says, "You talkin' to me."
I like John Corey. He's a great character. He's relentless, irreverant, courageous, focused and faithful. He's a lot like Spenser and Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, but John has a level of dysfunction that's refreshing, because it reminds us of . . . . us.
He's still angry at his wife for dalliances she "might" have had BEFORE she met him. As my younger friends say, "I'm down with that."
So I think Kate is masterful at bringing John to the service. She just lets it flow, because she figures out what will happen. She's Ms. Procedure, "the company (FBI) line" but she knows that her old man is truly a loose cannon. And she has her own misgivings about the investigation of TWA 800's demise.
So that's about it. I didn't tell you much of the facts but you already know them. I think the sex between the couple on the beach, Bud Mitchell and Jill Winslow, is just a little too graphic but frankly, I thought the development of the two of them, having started to be one dimensional, to eventually be quite deep.
This is too long but let me add one other point for the DeMille-o-philes (like myself). What's the best? Charm School? The Daughter? Word of Honor? Take your pick. This is right up there. Larry Scantlebury. 5 stars.
Book Review: 3 1/2 stars
Summary: 3 Stars
The best way for me to characterize Night Fall is as an intriguing book. I can't necessarily say it was an enjoyable read, but it definitely kept me turning the pages. The novel again follows John Connor, a former New York City police detective who is now assigned to the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force. As the story unfolds, Connor is drawn into an unofficial investigation of TWA Flight 800, which crashed off Long Island in 1996. Told in the first person from Connor's perspective, DeMille provides a humorous (in a sarcastic, deadpan sort of way) character that has depth and likeability. Connor brings intellect, inquisitiveness, and decisiveness to the story as he seeks to retrace and uncover 5-year-old clues and outwit the forces arrayed against him. As with many of the other reviewers, I was a bit disappointed by the ending. I suppose that from a certain perspective it was the only ending possible. On the other had, having been generally engrossed on the journey through the story, the ending left me shaking my head and wishing for something different.Book Review: 98% AWESOME...2% makes it 2 stars!
Summary: 2 Stars
I have read every Nelson DeMille book as soon as it has come out ever since picking up Charm School (<-- UNBELIEVABLE book! 7 stars!) Night Fall really grabbed me early, as do most of DeMille's books. However, the end of the book is a complete cop-out. A MAJOR LET DOWN. I am surprised that he went for this ending. Too bad. Maybe next time he won't take the easy way out.Book Review: A 5-star trip with a 4-star ending
Summary: 4 Stars
All the other reviews tell the story and tell it well. As I read this, I couldn't help but wonder when John Corey and Paul Brenner will get together...it's unavoidable. Mr. DeMille is a great story teller.Book Review: A Compelling And Intriguing Alternate History
Summary: 4 Stars
I am generally not a fan of fiction, even historically based fiction, but I must admit that I found "Night Fall" to be an entertaining and thought provoking book. This book was a gift from someone who knows me extremely well, and understands the nuances of my reading selections as well as my interest in aviation and aviation accidents (I am an airline pilot by profession). It turned out to be an excellent selection for me.
The main characters are a husband and wife detective team investigating the TWA 800 accident that happened off Long Island in 1996. The official NTSB accident report explains the probable cause as an electrical fault igniting fuel vapors in a nearly empty fuel tank, a fault similar to those which have been factually proven to have occurred in other Boeing aircraft with catastrophic results. The main issue rests with a large number of witnesses who claim to have seen a missile rising toward the aircraft prior to the explosion.
The book is built around the investigation into a potential large-scale conspiracy to cover up a missile attack on TWA 800. The plot is generally credible and is told in a suspenseful manner. The author has a generally good grip on aviation matters, and clearly did a lot of research into the accident and potential explanations for witness divergence from the NTSB report.
In the book there is a couple on the beach filming themselves and who, quite accidentally, capture the destruction of TWA 800 on videotape. The plot thickens for the duration of the book, although I had no difficulty foreseeing where the plot was going in the last fifty or so pages when the protagonist started setting up a breakfast meeting at "Windows on the World," the former posh restaurant on top of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, especially when the book was set in the summer and early fall of 2001.
The book works well for a historical thriller, but the last few pages of the book are contrived and not especially believable: that's the only reason I am giving the book four versus five stars. The book is a well done thriller, but in the end fails to answer any of the serious questions that it raises about the credibility of the NTSB report or the official government position. My personal position is that it is impossible to know definitively what caused the explosion, and I believe that a number of witnesses believe that they saw a missile track TWA 800 and destroy it. As an experienced airline pilot and someone quite familiar with the work of the NTSB, I have a great deal of confidence that their findings are correct, and that no forensic evidence of a missile exists. Having said that, many disagree with me, including some pilots and accident investigators I know. This uncertainty is why the NTSB reports reveal a "probable cause," inasmuch as often the actual cause is impossible to discern given the evidence available to investigators. I am not here to make up your mind on what caused the explosion of TWA 800 (the NTSB report is available free online) but to simply say that this book is an intriguing, generally well written book of an alternate hypothesis of the fate of the aircraft. It raises many questions, some of which are more valid than others, but in the end fails to resolve some of the key dilemmas posed throughout the book. Nonetheless, I recommend this book as a work of fiction based on actual, horrific, events. As popular thrillers go, it is quite good.