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Wild Fire
(John Corey #4)
by
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Nelson DeMille comes a suspenseful new novel featuring Detective John Corey and an all-too-plausible conspiracy to detonate a nuclear bomb in two major American cities.Welcome to the Custer Hill Club--an informal men's club set in a luxurious Adirondack hunting lodge whose members include some of America's most powerful busines ...more
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Hardcover, 519 pages
Published
November 6th 2006
by Warner Books (NY)
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Start your review of Wild Fire (John Corey, #4)

It's not difficult to say what makes the John Corey series fun to read. There's plenty of action and the story moves forward at a brisk pace even though the plots are generally more far-fetched than an Arnold Schwarzenegger action film. But Corey's sarcastic humor is good for a laugh every few pages, making the journey an enjoyable one as long as your expectations are moderate.
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John Corey is still irreverent and sassy. Like every Nelson DeMille book the pages the suspense is laced with humor. Any DeMille book can be read in any order but if John Corey is involved I recommend starting with his first appearence. It helps to know his background.
Wild Fire is actually a frightening story of what could be an actual occurance. We live in a scary world and DeMille lets us in on just how scary it is.
I highly recommed this book. The only down side for me was the over use of th ...more
Wild Fire is actually a frightening story of what could be an actual occurance. We live in a scary world and DeMille lets us in on just how scary it is.
I highly recommed this book. The only down side for me was the over use of th ...more

Mar 11, 2008
Jeanette (Again)
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
suspense-thriller,
all-fiction
Nelson DeMille reminds me a bit of Robert Ludlum in that he takes a really long time to tell the story. It's not that he's boring, he just does a lot of research and includes a lot of information for the sake of authenticity.
The John Corey character is kind of like Hawkeye Pierce from M*A*S*H. He's hilarious as a fictional character, but you'd probably hate him if you had to deal with him in person. He's a smarta$$ extraordinaire. He gets almost all the good lines in this book, which has a lot ...more
The John Corey character is kind of like Hawkeye Pierce from M*A*S*H. He's hilarious as a fictional character, but you'd probably hate him if you had to deal with him in person. He's a smarta$$ extraordinaire. He gets almost all the good lines in this book, which has a lot ...more

Brilliant page turner, plus you can't not like John Corey. Loved it!
...more

DeMille's clever take on 9-11 and Islamic terrorism: a rich racist will set off atomic bombs in the U.S. that will be blamed on terrorists, causing a planned, automatic retaliatory strike against all Islamic countries. (This isn't even a little bit of a plot spoiler. The bad guy, Bane, is one of those James-Bond villains who feel compelled to explain themselves at great length to captured enemy combatants. Thus readers endure several chapters of Bane explaining every detail of his horrific plan
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One conclusion I've come to reading Wild Fire, is that John Corey, the hero of these adventures, plays his game like a chess grandmaster. That is, he doesn't eliminate all bad options, but instead chooses what he believes to be right by using every atom of his guile and experience. As for the obligatory villain in this story, the more insane he seemed to Corey, the more impressed I was with him. I started reading this book waiting pointedly and consciously for the first sentence in this book th
...more

A good build-up with nifty and humorous dialogue confrontations. I felt the ending a let-down – simplistic and a cop-out.
Simplistic because the entire pretext of (view spoiler) . A cop-out because the resolution was all too (view spoiler) . Also the book is too long – the shenanigans of Cory and Kate reminded me of Laurel and Hardy and were becoming like a broken record. DeMilles’ “save the ...more
Simplistic because the entire pretext of (view spoiler) . A cop-out because the resolution was all too (view spoiler) . Also the book is too long – the shenanigans of Cory and Kate reminded me of Laurel and Hardy and were becoming like a broken record. DeMilles’ “save the ...more

Wild Fire by Nelson DeMille John Corey apparently a typical New York detective as a citizen with no prior's yet, in New York, I'll take DeMille's word for it. Story has it's moments some smart mouthed comebacks the giggle factor is definitely there. The premise of a nuclear bomb detonation in several US cities and the resulting counter attack to wipe out the entire Muslim world is frankly a stretch but hey it is fiction and it is rather interesting if your a nube to these types of scenarios. The
...more

de Mille introduced John Corey in Plum Island. The Lion’s Game and Night Fall, followed. Corey drives his superiors wild with his off beat sense of humour and inability to follow orders.
The first anniversary of 9/11 passes. The national security level remains heightened, on Orange.
No-one knows that the biggest threat to the USA, and the planet, are a group of highly placed, powerful men who meet at a hunting and fishing lodge. They call themselves the Custer Hill Club. They would like to see the ...more
The first anniversary of 9/11 passes. The national security level remains heightened, on Orange.
No-one knows that the biggest threat to the USA, and the planet, are a group of highly placed, powerful men who meet at a hunting and fishing lodge. They call themselves the Custer Hill Club. They would like to see the ...more

I absolutely love John Corey! He's a funny smartass ex-NYPD police officer now working with the FBI (and not really enjoying it very much... well, actually what he doesn't enjoy is their rigid rules and the fact that they don't seem to find his jokes funny) who'll make you laugh and at the same time will exasperate you (as well as his wife and FBI partner, Kate). The plot is good, there's action, twists and turns to keep you hooked, but what really makes it five stars is John Corey. Definitely r
...more

This was some of the best dialog I have read, or listened too, in a while. The off the wall comments the main character had kept me rolling on the floor laughing. Scott Brick reading this for audio has to be the other reason. With his voice and accent he threw in, that was good New York twang, made it even better.
I would say listen to the book on audio. You will not regret it.
I would say listen to the book on audio. You will not regret it.

"What two cities need to be sacrificed to rid the world of Islamic terrorism?" That's the chilling question some domestic terrorists (they would never described themselves thusly) as they to to decide where to place several suitcase atomic bombs that have been stolen from the Russians. These high-level military and civilian officers, spurred on by wealthy oil men, have determined that no one else sees the light the way they do and it's time to take matters in their own hands by attacking the US
...more

What a great premise for a book!
But it turns out to be one long, extended, overwrought, overwritten annoyance.
The whole idea of Wild Fire is that since 9/11, the USA has put the word out to the Muslim extremists that if any WMD is ever used on a U.S. city, that will set off a barrage of nuclear warheads sent at 100 or so cities in the Middle East ... kind of an extension of the balance of power (Mutually Assured Destruction) of the Cold War.
What makes this book fascinating (and gets it the secon ...more
But it turns out to be one long, extended, overwrought, overwritten annoyance.
The whole idea of Wild Fire is that since 9/11, the USA has put the word out to the Muslim extremists that if any WMD is ever used on a U.S. city, that will set off a barrage of nuclear warheads sent at 100 or so cities in the Middle East ... kind of an extension of the balance of power (Mutually Assured Destruction) of the Cold War.
What makes this book fascinating (and gets it the secon ...more

This is the third book I have read by this author and was disappointed again. This is another "save the world" type would be thriller and I have given the book 2 stars since I did actually finish the book. I would really give it 1 1/2 stars if I could. The story line goes beyond very highly implausible into the impossible realm. The author doesn't think his readers know that radio waves travel at the speed of light, or perhaps the author himself doesn't know it.
In addition the crude wise guy dia ...more
In addition the crude wise guy dia ...more

Nelson Demille is a constantly good writer, one who researches his topics well and writes about them in an engaging manner. He moves his plots forward at a steady pace, keeping the action going and the suspense present from the first chapter.
This is a story about espionage, a thriller and action-packed book featuring John Corey, a former NYPD detective currently under contract for the federal government. This story takes place 11 months after the 9/11 disaster.
This is a story about espionage, a thriller and action-packed book featuring John Corey, a former NYPD detective currently under contract for the federal government. This story takes place 11 months after the 9/11 disaster.

While all Nelson DeMille's John Corey books are good, this one, I feel, is the weakest in the series. Perhaps I'm too much of a realist or not imaginitive enough to buy into the overall premise behind it: a group of powerful American men about to unleash nuclear devastation on their own country. I think DeMille could have done better. But it's still a good book.
...more

John Corey's character still hasn't lost his touch. Wild Fire takes place about a year after the conclusion of Night Fall, after 9/11. This is another classic DeMille tale where Detective Corey is pulled into a murder investigation that also turns out to be something more. A real page turner, with an intense climax, but don't worry, I won't spoil it for anyone.
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2.5 stars
This is another departure in format as half the book is told from Harry's POV. And the villainous plan is revealed early on.
I like Corey & welcomed his humor once again. To be honest, i'm a bit lukewarm on Kate but yeah...she puts up w/a lot in her husband so i gotta give her credit. And they have good chemistry in so they balance each other out as characters.
As someone who was in NYC on 9/11, i liked that they were still dealing w/the aftermath of that trauma. (the previous book ended ...more
This is another departure in format as half the book is told from Harry's POV. And the villainous plan is revealed early on.
I like Corey & welcomed his humor once again. To be honest, i'm a bit lukewarm on Kate but yeah...she puts up w/a lot in her husband so i gotta give her credit. And they have good chemistry in so they balance each other out as characters.
As someone who was in NYC on 9/11, i liked that they were still dealing w/the aftermath of that trauma. (the previous book ended ...more

Although I liked Night Fall better than this installment it is still a really great book. John Corey continues to make me laugh and make me think. He is a diligent detective who is smart and funny and sarcastic. I just read a few other reviewers and one of them compared him to the character Hawkeye Pierce from the television show M*A*S*H, and I could not agree more. Another reviewer compared Nelson DeMille to Robert Ludlom, which, if accurate, means I need to go buy a Ludlom book.

Intense, fast-paced, heart thumping, and scary!

Nelson DeMille’s WILDFIRE continues the raucous adventures and career of former New York Police Department homicide detective John Corey. DeMille’s latest scenario takes place a year after 9/11 with newspaper and cable news blaring headlines that President Bush is about to launch an invasion of Iraq. Corey, who retired on disability after being wounded three times is a special contract agent who is attached to the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force (ATTF). The ATTF is an amalgam of FBI agents, NY
...more

John Corey, the character in DeMille’s main series, caught my eye in the 2017 collection of short mysteries entitled Matchup. His basic humanity, in part veiled by and in part revealed by his wisecracking attitude, anti-PC attitude, and lightning quick mind struck chords with me. Reading the first book of the series, Plum Island, sold me and I then read straight through all of the Corey books.
Wild Fire (Corey Book 4). This is not quite as good as the first three books in the series because it re ...more
Wild Fire (Corey Book 4). This is not quite as good as the first three books in the series because it re ...more

John Corey book 4
The story begins when Detective Harry Miller of the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force is sent to conduct surveillance at Custer Hill Club, a hunting club owned by a rich oil baron and reserved exclusively for powerful business leaders.
When he is found dead of an apparent hunting accident, a close colleague and friend John Corey together with his wife FBI Agent Kate Mayfield become interested in this surveillance gone wrong. Corey with his renegade style and disregard for normal ...more
The story begins when Detective Harry Miller of the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force is sent to conduct surveillance at Custer Hill Club, a hunting club owned by a rich oil baron and reserved exclusively for powerful business leaders.
When he is found dead of an apparent hunting accident, a close colleague and friend John Corey together with his wife FBI Agent Kate Mayfield become interested in this surveillance gone wrong. Corey with his renegade style and disregard for normal ...more

Nov 18, 2008
Pete Grondin
rated it
really liked it
Recommends it for:
Anyone who likes DeMille, Ludlum, other global conspiracy thrillers
Recommended to Pete by:
Self
Nelson DeMille is one of my top five authors. With Wild Fire, he didn't disappoint me again.
Detective John Corey and his FBI Agent-wife, Kate, were thrust into an investigation that started out as a not so simple murder investigation. It turned into a conspiracy investigation involving powerful men in government and business with potentially devastating impact on the planet.
While Corey's smart mouth and quick one liners keep the story interesting, the story line tended to be a bit linear, expos ...more
Detective John Corey and his FBI Agent-wife, Kate, were thrust into an investigation that started out as a not so simple murder investigation. It turned into a conspiracy investigation involving powerful men in government and business with potentially devastating impact on the planet.
While Corey's smart mouth and quick one liners keep the story interesting, the story line tended to be a bit linear, expos ...more

What would you do if you stumbled onto a secret group calling themselves “Custard Hill Club”?
Then to find out that their goal is to trigger a war against Al Qaeda, but in order to do so, 2 American cities must be sacrificed in order to prompt the President into Obliterating the Middle East countries.
Can these veterans be stopped before the code “Wild Fire”, beyond anyone’s comprehension, will be initiated?
This was a fabulous book set just months after 911 when America was on their highest ale ...more
Then to find out that their goal is to trigger a war against Al Qaeda, but in order to do so, 2 American cities must be sacrificed in order to prompt the President into Obliterating the Middle East countries.
Can these veterans be stopped before the code “Wild Fire”, beyond anyone’s comprehension, will be initiated?
This was a fabulous book set just months after 911 when America was on their highest ale ...more

Imagine a crazy person making plans to detonate a nuke in the USA.
This is what detective John Corey and his FBI agent wife discover when investigating the murder of a friend and colleague.
But how can they stop it in time when the whole world seems to be against them?
It kept me on the edge of my seat and I enjoyed it.
This is what detective John Corey and his FBI agent wife discover when investigating the murder of a friend and colleague.
But how can they stop it in time when the whole world seems to be against them?
It kept me on the edge of my seat and I enjoyed it.

Yowza!! This is one great thriller. The events seem plausible and that scares me!!
This is one of Mr. DeMilles best work. In the end, the good guy wins...that's all i'm gonna say!
If you like thrillers, you'll love this read... ...more
This is one of Mr. DeMilles best work. In the end, the good guy wins...that's all i'm gonna say!
If you like thrillers, you'll love this read... ...more

I’ll first say that I do enjoy the action and the premises of the John Corey series. I loved Plum Island and the The Lion (as well as the the Lion’s Game), but this one was a little harder to read. Maybe it was how casual and “okay” genocide and Islamaphobia was portrayed in the books, not just through the bad guys. The only real anger from the characters was about the death of potential death of Americans. Based on the time frame being set after 9/11 and the fact that it’s centered around Corey
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Nelson Richard DeMille was born in New York City on August 23, 1943 to Huron and Antonia (Panzera) DeMille, then moved with his parents to Long Island. He graduated from Elmont Memorial High School, where he played football and ran track.
DeMille spent three years at Hofstra University, then joined the Army where he attended Officer Candidate School and was commissioned a Lieutenant in the United S ...more
DeMille spent three years at Hofstra University, then joined the Army where he attended Officer Candidate School and was commissioned a Lieutenant in the United S ...more
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