Tag: Nelson DeMille

Quick book reviews

Cover of "Mayday"
Mayday

More so I have a record of having read them, a few words on the last couple of books I finished.

First up, Praying for Sleep by Jeffrey Deaver. This is a definite improvement on the other standalone Deaver novel I read recently, The Lesson of Her Death. It’s still a little ploddy and seems to spend an age telling you too much about character background, but the story’s better and the ending is a great twist.

Secondly is a book I’ve had kicking about on my shelves for years, but never read. I picked up a copy in Australia and finally got around to reading it. Mayday by Nelson DeMille and Thomas Block was re-released, slightly updated, in the 1990’s and this is the version I read. It’s a story of an air disaster but focuses more on the actions of those on the surface than those in the air.

It’s typical DeMille – fast-paced and interesting – with a good dollop of realistic tech courtesy of co-author (and old schoolmate) Block. Yeah, it’s silly when it comes down to it – but it’s a disaster movie in paper form so it’s bound to be. Entertaining enough to be worth picking up, but far from the intellectual enjoyment of The General’s Daughter or Word of Honor (sic, which was fantastic).

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The General’s Daughter by Nelson DeMille

The General’s Daughter is the second DeMille book I’ve read and it’s on a par with Word of Honour though somewhat different. Told in the first person it’s a military criminal thriller with some excellent dialogue. There is a film version which was enjoyable enough, but it couldn’t capture this writing style.

At it’s heart, this is a simple whodunnit. Facts are revealed in the twisty plot as the easily-read chapters go by. There’s even space in the background for a rather amusing romantic entanglement between the two lead investigators which generates some of the best snippets of writing.

It does get a little convoluted with the vast numbers of characters and suspects, but the pace doesn’t let up as a deadline is introduced to the case early on.

I think I enjoyed Word of Honour more, but the writing here did make me laugh at times. I’ve got another DeMille on my pile which I’m still looking forward to.

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