Wild Fire by Nelson DeMille Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $0.01 You Save: $26.98 (100%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Wild Fire
Book Review: "I hate wiseasses unless they are me"
Summary: 4 Stars
This is another very good novel by one of those writers that above everything else has the ability to hold the reader's attention without letting go. Although there are a few points in this lengthy novel at which the technical details may get a little overwhelming, the final result is still extremely positive; this is one griping and thought-provoking story. The fact that this is a work of fiction that has many aspects that resemble reality, and many others that seem plausible, helps increase its interest level. Then, there is the main character, who is the person in charge to narrate the vast majority of the events and that provides us with a full demonstration of how good is the humor that DeMille delivers.
Faithful readers of this author have probably come across the character of John Corey and his wife Kate Mayfield in the past. He is an ex-NYPD detective that is now working in the FBI and can appreciate the nuances that come with having your wife as a superior officer at work. In this case, when John's friend and coworker, Harry Muller, goes missing while on assignment, John and Kate quickly get involved in the case, which has to do with a ruthless and explosive plan to change the world dynamics.
This novel will be appreciated mostly by people that have enjoyed the John Corey past novels, because if you like his personality, you are almost half-way there. John is an abrasive guy, who speaks his mind, has a never-ending stream of sarcastic comments and hammers his point home relentlessly. In this novel, I could not help but laugh out loud at his obsession about bears. I have to warn readers though, since this novel presents a scenario in which there is a bunch of right-wing extremists that will go to great lengths to achieve their goals, and the author tries to present this story as plausible. If you are someone that will be bothered by this concept, it may be wise to pass on this novel. For the rest of us, this is another one of those works by DeMille that are worth exploring.
Book Review: "You ruined everything, ..."
Summary: 1 Stars
If DeMille had had any kind of creative daring he would have let IT happen and wrote a follow up book. A mini series. But nope. So this is just your typical thriller only very poorly executed.
Wild Fire = "After it is reported and confirmed that an American city or cities have been attacked with a weapon of mass destruction the secretary of defense sends a coded message to Colorado Springs that says simply, 'Wild Fire is go', followed by the response level: the A-list, or the A- and B-lists. If Washington itself has been destroyed, and/or there is no message from the secretary of defense or the president, then Wild Fire goes into effect anyway."
Wild Fire targets the land of Islam. Included on the A-list are Cairo, Damascus, Amman, Bagdad, Tehran, Islamabad, Riyadh...almost all the capital cities of the Mideast. Also Medina, Fallujah, Qum, the Aswan High Dam
The character of John Corey was ridiculous. And his wife, boss, lawyer, Kate was not far behind. Their conversations were heavily padded.
Most couples in real life, that I know anyway, don't talk to each other using the F word or other foul language.
Why? Because cussing and swearing denotes anger, bad mood etc.. They're fighting words. These guys throw them around all the time. It's not natural.
The character of Harry Muller was flat out embarrassing . His foul mouth particularly.
Where were John&Kate's laptops? Neither of them had one. Extremely unlikely. By keeping John&Kate in the dark without a computer DeMille was able to keep the story going a lot longer.
If they had had a computer, see, they would have found out what ELF (extremely low frequency), MAD (mutual assured destruction), and many other things/people were within minutes (and in just a few pages), not days (and many pages).
Demille goes on in his "Author's Notes" about the authenticity of most of the content in this book. Too bad he wasn't up to the task of complementing those serious facts with a decent story with believable characters.
Hey, I love funny. I love wit. But John&Kate bombed.
"You ruined everything. You could have let it happen. Why are you so stupid?" That was Bain Madox (the bad guy) speaking to John Corey at the very end of the story. I couldn't agree more, for various reasons.
Book Review: 3 Stars - at Best due to my prior devotion to his books
Summary: 3 Stars
1. John Corey wisecracks too much - too many silly one-liners at in appropriate times.
2. The plot is inane
3. Again his ending does not work - after all of this activity in saving the world from Nuclear war - they just sit arround and nothing haapens to conclude that the effort was worth it.
4. This is his worst book.
Book Review: 3 Stars -- A Fast Read But Very Predictable!
Summary: 3 Stars
I've read all of Demille's books and liked them all; of course, to varying degrees. I was very much looking forward to reading his latest, Wild Fire, prior to its release. Overall, Wild Fire held my interest from beginning to end -- but it is definitely not up to par for Demille. I found the premise of the plot to be interesting and and was expecting Demille to deliver the plot with his usual amount of suspense and surprises. Ultimately, however, the level of suspense was very limited, as was the surprise level. Further, the surprises Demille attempts to deliver are highly predictable. My main problem with Wild Fire was not the story, which, as I said, was entertaining enough. My problem pertains to my rapidly growing dislike for Demille's main character, John Corey, who has now been the featured character in three books. Corey's constant wise cracks and know-it-all attitude is much more annoying to me than humorous, and Demille has allowed Corey to become "the real story" in Wild Fire. I'm about to the point that I might skip future Demille books that focus on Corey. In addition, while character development is usually a major strength of Demille, almost all of the other characters in Wild Fire are one-dimensional at best, and the villain lacks credibilty. I don't think you'll dislike Wild Fire, and if its your first Demille book, you'll probably be very satisfied by it. However, if you're a long-time Demille fan, I think you'll find it, as I did, to not be up to this author's usual high standard.Book Review: 3.8 Stars
Summary: 4 Stars
Nelson Demille brings back the husband/wife team of Corey and Mayfield in his latest novel. Set in 2002, a year after 9/11, anti-terrorist task force members Corey and Mayfield investigate the death of one of their own while he was investigating a "club" made up of high powered government officials who seem intent on vigilante justice in the arena of terrorism. As John Corey and Kate Mayfield investigate, it seems as if the powers-that-be are intent on keeping them on a short leash. The independent Corey veers off into his own investigation as a world changing plot looms.
While I love Demille, this plotline seems well-worn over the last few years. I found the ending somewhat predictable.