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On a Long Island beach at dusk, Bob Mitchell and Janet Whitney conduct their illicit love affair in front of a video camera, set to record each steamy moment. Suddenly a terrible explosion lights up the sky. Grabbing the camera, the couple flees as approaching police cars speed toward the scene. Five years later, the crash of Flight 800 has been attributed to a mechanical malfunction. But for John Corey and Kate Mayfield, both members of the Elite Anti-terrorist Task Force, the case is not closed. Suspecting a cover-up at the highest levels and disobeying orders, they set out to find the one piece of evidence that will prove the truth about what really happened to Flight 800--the videotape that shows a couple making love on the beach and the last moments of the doomed airliner.
Nelson DeMille is also the author of Wild Fire, Up Country, The Lion's Game, Plum Island, The Charm School, Word of Honor, The Talbot Odyssey, Cathedral, and By the Rivers of Babylon. He lives on Long Island, New York.
Between 1966 and 1969, Nelson DeMille served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam. When he came home, he finished his undergraduate studies (in history and political science), then set out to become a novelist. "I wanted to write the great American war novel at the time," DeMille said in an interview with January magazine. "I never really wrote the book, but it got me into the writing process." A friend in the publishing industry suggested he write a series of police detective novels, which he did under a pen name for several years.
Finally DeMille decided to give up his day job as an insurance fraud investigator and commit himself to writing full time -- and under his own name. The result was By the Rivers of Babylon (1978), a thriller about terrorism in the Middle East. It was chosen as a Book of the Month Club main selection and helped launch his career. "It was like being knighted," said DeMille, who now serves as a Book of the Month Club judge. "It was a huge break."
DeMille followed it with a stream of bestsellers, including the post-Vietnam courtroom drama Word of Honor (1985) and the Cold War spy-thriller The Charm School (1988) Critics praised DeMille for his sophisticated plotting, meticulous research and compulsively readable style. For many readers, what made DeMille stand out was his sardonic sense of humor, which would eventually produce the wisecracking ex-NYPD officer John Corey, hero of Plum Island (1997) and The Lion's Game (2000).
In 1990 DeMille published The Gold Coast, a Tom Wolfe-style comic satire that was his attempt to write "a book that would be taken seriously." The attempt succeeded, in terms of the critics' response: "In his way, Mr. DeMille is as keen a social satirist as Edith Wharton," wrote The New York Times book reviewer. But he returned to more familiar thrills-and-chills territory in The General's Daughter, which hit no. 1 on The New York Times' Bestseller list and was made into a movie starring John Travolta. Its hero, army investigator Paul Brenner, returned in Up Country (2002), a book inspired in part by DeMille's journey to his old battlegrounds in Vietnam.
DeMille's position in the literary hierarchy may be ambiguous, but his talent is first-rate; there's no questioning his mastery of his chosen form. As a reviewer for the Denver Post put it, "In the rarefied world of the intelligent thriller, authors just don't get any better than Nelson DeMille."
In addition to his novels, DeMille has written a play for children based on the classic fairy tale "Rumpelstiltskin."
DeMille says on his web site that he reads mostly dead authors -- "so if I like their books, I don't feel tempted or obligated to write to them." He mentions writing to a living author, Tom Wolfe, when The Bonfire of the Vanities came out; but Wolfe never responded. "I wouldn't expect Hemingway or Steinbeck to write back -- they're dead. But Tom Wolfe owes me a letter," DeMille writes.
Anonymous
Posted May 2, 2007
This is my third book by DeMille and my first about John Corey. If John were a real person, I think I'd be in love! His sense of humor and wit were terrific. The book itself was terrific, although I was a little disappointed in the ending. However, once I thought about it, I guess it was the only way DeMille could end it without adding about 400 more pages to the story. I loved this book and am looking foward to reading more about John Corey!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Very disappointing! Good story idea, but poorly written. Too much repetition of the same facts over and over and over to try and turn this into a book rather than the short story it should have been. Obvious padding. Zero character development. I'm not convinced DeMille is even the real writer. Surely he could not write something this shabby?
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 11, 2012
Surprise ending
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 1, 2011
Like all the Corey stories, you'll be pulled in right from the beginning. Although fictional, the novel contains contemporary historical elements that make the story personal. It's a great ride -- enjoy.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 10, 2013
DeMille is a gifted author with the ability to weave a complex plot while developing the characters with artful precision. John Corey, a man of Cynicism and Humor, faces the challenges of his job, an investigator with a government anti-terrorism squad, with the "damn the torpedoes" attitude.
I have read 4 books in the series and am looking forward to reading the rest.
Scott Brick is the best narrator to be found, in my opinion. He gives life and spirit to the written word. His voice and intonations keep you so riveted that you find it hard to doze off.
These are my opinions and reactions. Read any book in this series and I believe you will agree.
Anonymous
Posted February 16, 2013
What a great read
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Posted January 25, 2013
All DeMille books are great reading especially John Corey seriee
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.mcphnb
Posted January 18, 2013
The John Corey series is fantastic. My introduction to John Corey was Plum Island. I fell in love with his witt and satire. I wasn't disappointed in Night Fall. I did not think I'd enjoy a book about Terrorism, but Nelson DeMille's writing made it so I could not put the book down. You will not be disappointed. I highly recommend the entire series.
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Posted January 18, 2013
Can i be medcat? I know i cant have a mate!
0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 17, 2013
A SAFE COMFY DEN FOR THE MED CAT AND PATIENTS
0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 27, 2012
EVERY BIT AS GOOD AS SERIES 1 AND 2 GREAT CANT WAIT TO READ # 4 I LOVE THE CAST, KEEP THEM COMING
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Posted June 5, 2012
Love John Corey! I can't wait for the next book in the John Corey series.
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Posted June 1, 2012
Fantastic as always!
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Posted April 26, 2012
It has an 'interesting' ending. 'Interesting' is the key word.
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Posted October 9, 2011
Terrific book as usual from DeMille
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Posted September 22, 2010
This was an excellent follow to the Lion Game, in the John Corey series. I found myself doing my own investigative research on Flight 800.
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Posted August 30, 2010
The J. Corey series is tops!!!!!!!!!!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This is the second DeMille I've read -- "The Gate House" was the other -- and I have enjoyed them both.
This proves the value of scouting the remainder table. The fun part of some of those conspiracy wackos is when, in fact, there is a good conspiracy going on. That is the premise of this "based on true events" novel. TWA Flight 800 explodes just a few minutes after take-off and after years of investigation there is the official explanation of accidental explosion due to faulty electrical wiring behind the main fuel tanks.
But when John Corey, re-energized by the 5th year anniversary of the deaths of the 230 aboard the doomed airliner, tries to seek some better answers, he is threatened by his supervisors in the FBI and CIA to drop it or else. As DeMille's story unfolds we are reminded how this disaster occurred nearly at the half-way point between the two World Trade Center bombings in 1993 and 2001. There are eye-witness accounts of a missile streaking toward the plane seconds before the explosion. Yet, no terrorist organization claimed responsibility. Was there an elusive piece of evidence?
The final showdown blends fiction and real-life in a most jarring way. Good read.
Anonymous
Posted February 1, 2010
Nice work, but still the story is little wooden to read it.
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Posted June 22, 2009
For those of you who have read this book, you know how it ends, and I have to say, it is one of the best endings to a book I know if. Throughout the whole book you think you know it's coming, but then you second-guess yourself, and right when you think it won't happen, it does. Great read<BR/>It's my third DeMille book. My friend reccomened Plum Island for me and I finished it in 2 days. I could't put it down. When I heard there were other Corey books, I had to read them. I read The Lion's Game which was awesome and I had to get Night Fall. I am very happy with my purchase. The only reason I do give this book a four and not a five is because the story can become slow at times. It does not have as much adventure as the other two I read, but it had more than enough.
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Overview
On a Long Island beach at dusk, Bob Mitchell and Janet Whitney conduct their illicit love affair in front of a video camera, set to record each steamy moment. Suddenly a terrible explosion lights up the sky. Grabbing the camera, the couple flees as approaching police cars speed toward the scene. Five years later, the crash of Flight 800 has ...