Wild Fire by Nelson DeMille Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Wild Fire
Book Review: A great cure for insomnia...
Summary: 1 Stars
You might want to skip the first 125 pages that drone on and on and on and on and on. Things pick up a bit around page 145 as if DeMille had had a shot of adrenaline (or Scotch) while his hero plays detective. His hero by the way has few redeeming qualities, with a not so witty smug remark for everything. Then the author runs out of steam again and by 250 pages or so, brings in the formulaic.
Just skip to the end of the book to the they-lived-happily-ever-after-saving-the-universe conclusion.
If there is one thing DeMille achieves in this novel, it is not thrills, not excitement, not derring-do, but pure, supreme emphathy for the long-suffering wife/heroine. And that is no justification for reading a non-thrilling thriller. You will, however, read a lot about bears. Bears, bears, bears--which the hero never encounters but seemingly fears, a literary device which the author uses to justify his impossible ending.
Book Review: A mechanical, uneventful book
Summary: 2 Stars
This one felt like it was churned out in some machine in 20 minutes. The plot was fairly insane in the premise. Yes I know it could happen, but this felt like a cheesy 1970's Bond film where the one dimensional villain sits in his mansion with underground lairs plotting world destruction.
I like the main character, he's funny and a cynic, but overall this was a lame book. Demille has some excellent books, this is not one of them.
Book Review: A must read
Summary: 5 Stars
Wild Fire is the most powerful what-if scenario I've ever read in fiction. The intrigue and action are non-stop, and the novel is peppered with first class comic-relief. Not only was I unable to put Wild Fire down, but I also found it impossible to avoid laughing out loud every time the protagonist, John Corey, came up with another quip.
DeMille's view into the minds of fictional dangerous people at the top is frightening. He gives you the impression that this could happen. God help us all if it does, and pray that there's a Detective John Corey out there to stop it. This novel is a must-read.
Book Review: A nice tie up to Night Fall, but was it really worth the wait...
Summary: 4 Stars
Plum Island. Fantastic. The Lions Game. Better. Night Fall. Amazing. Wild Fire... I can't help thinking that maybe it wasnt worth the wait afer all. Night Fall ended on such an enveloped end, how could Nelson DeMille top his No1 bestseller? He didn't. Wild Fire, as it claims, does invoke thoughts and fear rises of such plans as the storyline includes, but I don't think it is a very intelligent storyline. Readers will know, Night Fall was laced with so much real life. 5 minutes browsing the internet and you had pictures of the reconstructed flight 800, maps of long island, and train times to westhampton to get to Cupsogue beach County Park (which I must confess to actually visiting earlier this year). However with Wild Fire, it is just too obviously 80% fiction. Don't get me wrong, it does John Corey proud, and you have to read it to find out what happened after that day in september. However, I think Night Fall was so unlike any before it, what else can you do? Not much, so get yourself a coffee and enjoy it. After all, it might be the last time we hear of Mr Corey and Ms Mayfield...Book Review: A promising start degenerates into a tedious read
Summary: 4 Stars
Nelson DeMille is quite a good writer. His style is as smooth as warm maple syrup flowing over hot pancakes. Unfortunately, with regard to "Wild Fire", it seems that DeMille and his editor fell too much in love with this talent.
"Wild Fire" is at least eighty and perhaps a hundred or so pages too long.
As a result, what starts as a promising plot - - - a plan to destroy a large chunk of the world's Muslim population along with a few million Americans - - - turns into prolonged silliness as DeMille struggles to fill one excessive page after another.
The primary hero, Detective John Corey, assigned to the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force, is another of those stereotyped wisecracking, insubordinate, arrogant cops with their roots in 1940s noir. Unfortunately, DeMille's Corey comes across as a smart-mouthed boor who combines both a massive inability to see beyond his nose with an uncanny and utterly unbelievable capability to survive certain death. In short, Corey is a poor hero and a shallow character.
His wife, Kate Mayfield, also assigned to FATTF is a lawyer, FBI agent and Corey's supervisor. She is by turns, submissive and domineering; brilliant and incredibly dumb. She too is ulimately shallow.
DeMille's writing could have saved both: the plot, for the first couple of hundred pages, isn't bad at all. Eccentric billionaire has big plans for the future of the world. An FBI agent sent to the billionaire's estate is murdered - - - it was supposed to be Corey. Corey and Mayfield are sent by their boss, who may or may not be a bad guy, to investigate.
That's where DeMille gets into trouble. Corey is a wisecracking, insubordinate buffon who rapidly becomes unbelievable. Forget about good police procedures - Corey is practically clairvoyant. He directly braces the billionaire, leading to more unbelievability.
The novel should have ended at about page 438. It didn't. Instead DeMille prolongs the agony for another 80 or so pages. What could have been a slam-bang ending, becomes instead a series of entirely predictable cliches.
"Wild Fire" isn't awful. But it could have been vastly improved by simply lopping off 80 to 100 pages. I wouldn't suggest avoiding it entirely, but there are better reads available.
Jerry