This is the story of my six-year breakup with Nelson DeMille, an author I used to LOVE. It all started in 2017, when I read and reviewed The Cuban Affair, and wrote “Seventeen years ago, someone whose opinions on books NEVER matched mine recommended Lion’s Game by Nelson DeMille, and I LOVED it. Since then, I’ve grabbed every new DeMille book and been puzzled by the inconsistency: for example, Night Fall was terrific. The Panther? Not so much. And don’t even get me started on Radiant Angel.”

I kept thinking, “what happened? Was it him? Was it me?” I looked back at my reviews for the last three DeMille books I had read. 2017’s Cuban Affair was four stars. 2019’s The Deserter, written with his son, screenwriter Alex DeMille, was three stars. books Then in 2022 came The Maze, which was two stars, and I didn’t even finish it. (see a pattern here?)

I thought maybe it was the protagonist I didn’t like. After all, the most recent and most disappointing was The Maze, which was #8 in the John Corey series. I just found Corey annoying with his relentless wisecracking and enormous ego. After that one, I had decided  I was DONE with DeMille. But here we are in 2023, and I am notified that Army CID Special Agents Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor (introduced in 2019 in The Deserter) are back, this time going after the murderer of one of their fellow agents. I thought, “sounds good! Maybe NDM is back in form!” <sigh>

Another DNF. Just didn’t care. Like another reviewer said, “I had great hopes for this one but can’t say it delivered for me…others will no doubt enjoy it.” But, sad to say, Nelson and I are through. Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for my honest review. Two stars.