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Detective John Corey
Nelson DeMille
Grand Central Publishing
October 16, 2012 / ISBN 978-1-45555-2134-0
Political Thriller
Amazon
Reviewed
by Elise Cooper
Nelson DeMille’s
latest book, The Panther, is a gripping tale about fanatical
Muslims. He places John Corey and Kate Mayfield in Yemen, a hostile
environment. However, seeing what is going on today in that part
of the world he could have substituted many other countries.
DeMille explained that The Panther parallels what is happening
in the headlines today. He used the Yemen setting because “right
now it is the center of Al Qaeda activity. I did a lot of research
on the American embassy there. I did think about it when I saw the
mob storming the American embassy compound.” He joked that
being a history major taught him to use what he researched, which
is why he included certain aspects: the historical tidbits, such
as Noah’s Ark resting place, Arsh Bilqis, and the throne of
Sheba, as well as focusing on the backward society of Yemen. In
addition he allows the reader to understand the Yemen culture made
up of tribal warlords and Bedouin tribes. In the book he summarized
that Yemen had “… mostly a history of civil wars, revolutions,
and invasions.”
The plot has John Corey, an anti-terrorist Task Force agent, and
his wife, FBI agent Kate Mayfield, being sent to Yemen to apprehend
the Panther, the mastermind of the USS Cole bombing. There is also
a sub-plot involving a conspiracy theory where Corey sees himself
and Mayfield as bait: Corey killed the Lion, a Libyan terrorist
which earned him a spot on Al Qaeda’s kill list, and Mayfield
killed a rogue CIA official who had plotted to nuke the Middle East.
To understand this sub-plot it is not necessary to read the previous
books, The Lion, The
Lion’s Game, and Wild
Fire, although they do make for a very interesting read.
As in all his books DeMille presents interesting, likeable, funny,
and powerful characters. He is able to use his dry wit to enhance
the dialogue, especially when he teams up Corey with Paul Brenner,
the embassy DSS chief and a two-tour Vietnam veteran. He commented,
“These are two alpha males that butt heads. It is a tricky
thing to do. I was able to pull it off in this book. Hopefully,
I will do it again.” Throughout the book Corey is the wise-cracking
NYPD cop, Kate is his straight person, and Brenner is the joking
military veteran hero.
Fans of DeMille will recognize Brenner from previous books including
the epic novel, Up
Country,
where the plot involved Brenner having to return to the country
that haunts him to investigate a murder that took place during the
Vietnam War. One of the best quotes in The Panther, is
when Brenner compares the Vietnam War to the War in Yemen, “It’s
like Vietnam… Incompetent and weak-willed allies fighting
an enemy who are motivated by something higher than saving their
own worthless asses.”
The Panther, a terrorist born in America, is shown to be
a religious fanatic. DeMille tries to explore how someone brought
up in America can turn to terrorism. “After speaking to those
in the terrorism task force and the FBI I cannot understand what
is the thinking behind an American turned terrorist. How could they
leave America and go to someplace like Yemen? It must be religious
fanaticism. I don’t believe the political motive would be
that strong.”
Since DeMille was a former US Army Lt. who served in Vietnam during
the Tet offensive it is no surprise that he uses the USS Cole as
a backdrop for this plot and brings back a former character who
fought in the Vietnam war. Through his characters it becomes obvious
that he is angry over the Cole incident, blaming “…
the Navy’s Rules of Engagement (that) were rewritten by some
committee of politically correct, ball-less wonders in the bowels
of the Pentagon.” He hopes this book shows his support of
the military, and is grateful “to have a lot of military fans.
I get a large amount of emails, first from Iraq, and now from Afghanistan.
I love when these guys can relate to the book and hopefully find
them accurate.”
He gave a heads up about his next projects. He will be writing the
seventh book in the John Corey series. The plot has John Corey and
Kate Mayfield, with a possibility of Paul Brenner, working with
the FBI Hostage Rescue Team. Once again they will leave New York
and be placed in a hostile environment somewhere in the Middle East,
this time to rescue hostages. There is also the possibility of making
a TV series based around the John Corey books.
The Panther is a very entertaining and informative book.
Even though it is fiction, it is very insightful about Yemen. Readers
will learn what America is up against in the Middle East and why
the Islamic extremists are at war through DeMille’s in depth
narrative on the culture, the psyche, and the motive behind those
fighting in Yemen. It is a must read for anyone who enjoys political
thrillers.
Reviews
of other titles in this series
Night
Fall
The
Lion's Game
The Lion [audio]
[book]
Wild Fire [audio]
[book]
The
Book Case
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