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John Corey #4

Wild Fire

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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 business leaders, military men, and government officials. Ostensibly, the club is a place to gather with old friends, hunt, eat, drink, and talk off-the-record about war, life, death, sex and politics. But one Fall weekend, the Executive Board of the Custer Hill Club gathers to talk about the tragedy of 9/11 and what America must do to retaliate. Their plan is finalized and set into motion. That same weekend, a member of the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force is reported missing. His body is soon discovered in the woods near the Custer Hill Club's game reserve. The death appears to be a hunting accident, and that's how the local police first report it, but Detective John Corey has his doubts. As he digs deeper, he begins to unravel a plot involving the Custer Hill Club, a top-secret plan known only by its code name: Wild Fire.

Racing against the clock, Detective Corey and his wife, FBI agent Kate Mayfield, find they are the only people in a position to stop the button from being pushed and chaos from being unleashed.

519 pages, Hardcover

First published November 6, 2006

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About the author

Nelson DeMille

166 books6,579 followers
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 States Army (1966-69). He saw action in Vietnam as an infantry platoon leader with the First Cavalry Division and was decorated with the Air Medal, Bronze Star, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.

After his discharge, DeMille returned to Hofstra University where he received his bachelor’s degree in Political Science and History. He has three children, Lauren, Alexander, and James, and resides on Long Island.

DeMille's first major novel was By the Rivers of Babylon, published in 1978, and is still in print as are all his succeeding novels. He is a member of American Mensa, The Authors Guild, past president of the Mystery Writers of America, and Book-of-the-Month Club Judge. He is also a member of International Thriller Writers and was chosen as ThrillerMaster of the Year 2015. DeMille is an Honorary Trustee of the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association and holds three honorary doctorates: Doctor of Humane Letters from Hofstra University, Doctor of Literature from Long Island University, and Doctor of Humane Letters from Dowling College.

Nelson DeMille is the author of: By the Rivers of Babylon, Mayday (co-authored with Thomas Block ), Cathedral, The Talbot Odyssey, Word of Honor, The Charm School, The Gold Coast, The General's Daughter, Spencerville, Plum Island, The Lion's Game, Up Country, Night Fall, Wild Fire, The Gate House, The Lion, The Panther, The Quest, Radiant Angel, The Cuban Affair, The Deserter (co-authored with his son, Alex DeMille), The Maze, and Blood Lines (co-authored with Alex DeMille). Nelson DeMille has also contributed short stories to anthologies, and book reviews and articles to magazines and newspapers.

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,302 reviews
Profile Image for Paul Weiss.
1,252 reviews235 followers
April 24, 2023
A frighteningly plausible story of the escalation of global terrorism!

To paraphrase Nelson DeMille's own words about WILD FIRE ... if this novel doesn't frighten you, it certainly should!

On one level, WILD FIRE is a well-crafted, enjoyable but relatively routine police procedural which details John Corey's doggedly skilled but definitely off-the-wall and well outside the boundaries investigation of fellow agent Harry Muller's disappearance and murder. As a character starring in his fourth outing (PLUM ISLAND, LION'S GAME and NIGHT FALL were the first three novels), Corey comes as a package with no surprises. He's brash, vulgar, earthy, outrageously opinionated, self-righteous and arrogant, in your face, sarcastic to a fault and oversexed. Yet he can also be witty, humorous, kind, warm, loving and even self-effacing on the odd occasion when his beautiful wife Kate Mayfield slaps him upside the head and brings him down to earth a little! While his personal version of teamwork is somewhat lacking, there can be no question of his loyalty to the people he believes are on that team.

On a second level, WILD FIRE is a terrifying tale of the escalation of global terrorism in the aftermath of 9/11 and the destruction of New York's World Trade Center. A 21st century version of the 1960's Cold War MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction), WILD FIRE is a plan to reduce the Middle East to a radioactive glassy parking plot in response to any Islamic terrorist nuclear attack on an American city. The plan, set to operate entirely automatically with a feather light hair trigger, would kill hundreds of millions of practicing Moslems and, of course, eliminate the Islamic faith in the blink of an eye. That WILD FIRE is presented in such a fashion as to appear entirely reasoned and plausible is chilling and thought-provoking enough. That a US right wing plot to trigger WILD FIRE by the suitcase nuke bombing of San Francisco and Los Angeles is presented as a realistic possibility given the existence of such a plan is positively terrifying!

Those who love suspense thrillers and members of John Corey's fan club will eat this one up. Highly recommended!

Paul Weiss
Profile Image for RJ - Slayer of Trolls.
811 reviews191 followers
September 29, 2020
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.
Profile Image for Ellen Peterson.
115 reviews
June 29, 2008
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 the F-word. It just becomes redundent when uttered as a response to every and anything. Looking passed that. . . the story is good.
Profile Image for Jeanette (Ms. Feisty).
2,179 reviews1,946 followers
March 11, 2008
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 of great snappy dialogue.
This book is about a secret club of "elites" from various walks of life who have taken it upon themselves to decide when and how we're going to permanently eliminate Islamic terrorism from the planet. Their methods are extreme, and it's up to John Corey and his wife to figure out what they're doing and stop them before it's too late.

Profile Image for Razvan Banciu.
1,090 reviews64 followers
June 22, 2023
DeMille is the father of a couple of masterpieces, but that's not the case with Wild Fire. Almost the entire book looks like a more elaborated James Bond: the plot is one of epic magnitude, the bad guy has some charisma but his vanity makes him talk too much instead of a swift kill, the final scenes lack some credibility, as two unarmed and foot-cuffed persons win a battle against three armed men with military experience. In addition to these, John speaks too much rubbish, trying to be sympathetic, but finishes being tedious and annoying. So, three stars are more than enough...
5,065 reviews57 followers
December 4, 2022
A deadly dull conspiracy thriller without any thrill.

It's the usual false flag deal, with a plot of bombing US cities so the US will nuke The Middle East in reprisal.

The only part of any interest was reading about how they decided which cities to bomb. They were trying to bomb the city terrorists would bomb, but their own politics and self interest got in the way. I'm pretty sure, with a little thought, you could get Frisco AND Oakland with one bomb.

Profile Image for Corey Woodcock.
221 reviews34 followers
July 21, 2021
”And now, a year and a month later [after 9/11], we are living in a state of perpetual color-coded anxiety. Today is Alert Level Orange. Tomorrow, who knows? For damn sure, it’s not going to be Green again in my lifetime.”

Before I go into my review, I’d like to say that for whatever reason, this is the book that drew me to the John Corey series. I picked it up a few months back and planned to read it, and then found out that it is Book 4 in a series. Begrudgingly, I put it off and started at Book 1, Plum Island. so needless to say, I have been looking forward to this one. Something about the plot just grabbed me. Also, in the comments I will have a spoiler-hidden comment containing my only gripe with this book, and why I’m giving it 4 stars, instead of 5, which I gave to the last 2 Corey books.

The plot of this one sees John and Kate Corey back in action, this time traveling to the Adirondack Mountains deep in Upstate New York—this is a beautiful, remote, and often overlooked part of the USA, an area larger than the state of New Hampshire that is mostly untapped forest, game land, and hunting lodges. In this novel, it is the home of the Custer Hill Club, a radical right-wing elite group of rich white guys, many of whom are high up in the government. Their true purpose, and that of the owner, Bain Madox, is a mystery, but there are many conspiracies speculating on it. After an agent and friend of John’s disappears while doing some surveillance on the club, Corey and Kate are sent to investigate. As before, hijinks and shenanigans ensue.

This is the first book to take place in a post-9/11 country, and DeMille decides to take a break from Islamic terrorism to give Corey a more domestic assignment-homegrown, right wing loonies; something we have no shortage of here in the US. The threat is real, and while this particular plot was especially far fetched, perhaps the most out there we’ve yet seen from DeMille, the root of it is definitely real and I enjoyed this change of pace for John Corey. Once again, he is a cynical, wise-cracking hero with a smartass one liner ready to go, even when the bullets are flying. John Corey just never gets old for me; I love this character. This may also be the first book that contained virtually nothing misogynistic coming out of Corey’s mouth, which is good. He’s growing!

This books packs the same punch to the gut that DeMille has given us many times before, done in his trademark style. He’s unique, he’s funny, and he knows how to build the tension as good as any author I have ever read. Once again, by the end of this book, nothing short of your hair catching on fire will allow you to put it down; and even then, it’s questionable. The book takes place over the span of only a few days, and starts out in a rapid fire style, alternating viewpoints between the missing agent, Bain Madox, and John Corey. This is done brilliantly and the first 1/4 to 1/3 of the book flies by in what feels like no time at all. The Upstate NY/Adirondack Mountain setting is fantastic, and wonderfully put to paper. It’s especially fun traveling along with John Corey, a die-hard New Yorker and city boy to the core, as he navigates the middle of nowhere. (For those not familiar with the area, New York State is enormous, the largest state in the Northeast by far—the majority of which is rural and completely disconnected from the City of New York, which lies in the extreme southeast corner of the state in a cluster of islands. This book takes place far, far away from the NYC metropolis.)

My complaints come in at the end. Despite the somewhat ridiculous, mustache twirling, full-on Dr. Evil style villain, I had no problem suspending disbelief to become invested in the story. While it wasn’t a terrible ending, things happened awfully fast and I wasn’t totally thrilled with how things played out, and as I said before I will leave specifics hidden in the comments for anyone interested who has read the book. I also have a little bit of an issue with the fate of a character that has been in every book in the series so far, for better or for worse.

Nonetheless, this is still very entertaining and definitely worth the read if you’re keeping up with the adventures of John Corey. Despite this one being the reason I jumped into this series, and the fact that I have been looking forward to it throughout the first 3 books, I believe it falls at the bottom of my list of favorite Corey books. Books 2 and 3 are still my favorites, and I think I prefer Plum Island to this one by knuckle hair. BUT, it is still a fun read, and if you’re a fan of DeMille, it is absolutely worth the time. Next up, it’s time to do battle for a second (and hopefully final) time with Asad Khalil!
Profile Image for Luffy (Oda's Version).
765 reviews760 followers
August 2, 2014
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 that would make me sit up and take notice.


Soon I was engrossed and had lost my self consciousness. Isn't that what is important for any book aspiring for success? I don't know how he does it, but Nelson Demille can procastinate the intense bits and still retain your attention. Well the exception to that form is the Charm School. But let's focus about the good ones here. Wild Fire is definitely readable and then some.

There are a few moments where clues about crimes on behalf of Bain Madox, and miscalculations about initiatives by Corey occur. Without going into spoilerish details, let's just say that really motivated and careful people don't forget the details in staging a murder or staking a villain's den. I've heard rumors of Nelson Demille losing his mojo in subsequent books. I hope that's not true. Maybe in recent books he is stretching out the jokes in disfavor of the plot. That's not a problem. His way of handling the English language is delicate, rare and praiseworthy. Should we part ways prematurely, I'll think of Demille's greater works. But there's more to come from him. Strange thing though, I imagined three actors from the Good Wife as Ted Nash, Kate Mayfield, and John Corey. Their age don't match, but boy do their personality do.
Profile Image for Karl Jorgenson.
556 reviews30 followers
April 16, 2020
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 to kill a quarter of the world. From that point on, we follow DeMille's clever, snarky investigators, Kate and John, as they poke and prod their way to uncovering the plot. But at all times the reader knows everything. This book would be so much better if DeMille had axed his explainy chapters and let us discover the plot from the clues, as Kate and John do.)
There is some suspension of disbelief necessary here: Bane has enlisted a dozen highly-placed government and military people who agree that nuking 200 targets around the world will make it a better place. One guy can be crazy, but who believes a whole organization is this stupid or this suicidal? How are these people recruited? 'Hey, Dave, I was thinking of committing mass-murder of people who are ethnically similar to people we don't like. You want to help?'
And the reader has to accept the ludicrous premise that the U.S. would have a plan to nuke all of Islam in retaliation for one attack, and that they would commit to doing so without examination, analysis, or thought. The logic goes like this: if I'm ever injured in a car accident, it will probably be caused by a drunk driver, so I will arrange to have every liquor-store owner, every bar employee, every distiller, brewer, and their families and neighbors killed immediately, all across the country.
Once we're past the impossibility of the premise, it's an enjoyable read. John spreads snark and condescension every where he goes while his long-suffering wife Kate tries to keep him focused. They battle the bad guys, the locals, their bosses at the FBI, and every metro-sexual they meet.
DeMille is a bit long-winded, the book could have been shorter, but most of it's humorous and fun. Unintended humor: a body is found in the woods, killed by a shot in the back from a high-power hunting rifle. Everybody, the cops, the FBI, the Medical Examiner, keep asking each other, 'Do you think it was a homicide?' They apparently mean 'murder,' which is a distinct subset of homicide. Or maybe he shot himself in the back with the rifle and then hid it. That would be suicide.
Profile Image for Mikey B..
1,007 reviews373 followers
December 31, 2013
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 . A cop-out because the resolution was all too . 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 world” antics are starting, for me, to get tiresome.
Profile Image for Hanan Kamal.
72 reviews28 followers
July 10, 2020
الصفحات : 542
الكاتب : نيلسون ديميل

• طريقة سرد نيلسون ديميل للأحداث تفوق روايات أجاثا كريستي جمالاً

عاصفة النار والمشروع الأخضر خطة ثأرية وتقوم لضرب النووي للقضاء على الارهاب من قبل المجلس التنفيدي الموجود في نادي كاستر هيل ،، الذي هو في الظاهر نادٍ للرجال في بيت كبير فخم للصيد يضم أوسع رجال الأعمال نفوذاً والمسؤولين الحكوميين وضباط الجيش ويشكل مكاناً في الظاهر للاسترخاء مع الأصدقاء ،، تضم الرواية العديد من الشخصيات منها مادوكس وهو المنفذ لعاصفة النار وهاري مولر الضحية الذي تم قتله والسيد والسيدة كوري وهما المحققين في قضية قتل هاري مولر ومن ثم اكتشاف الخطر النووي ..
Profile Image for Steven Z..
598 reviews122 followers
February 6, 2016
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, NYPD detectives, special agents, Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents, Port Authority detectives, and of course CIA types. The story begins when special agent and former NYPD detective, Harry Muller is sent on a surveillance mission in upstate New York designed to gather information concerning the Custer Hill Club, or as Muller describes as the “right wing loony lodge.” While taking photos and observing the membership, Muller is captured and taken inside the club.

Once inside the reader meets Bain Madox, president and owner of the Custer Hill Club and Global Oil Corporation. Other members of this right wing cabal include Scott Landsdale, a CIA official; General James Hawkins, USAF and a member of the Joint Chiefs; Paul Dunn, a member of the President’s National Security staff; and Edward Wolffer, Deputy Secretary of Defense. After his seizure, Muller observes an executive board meeting of the Custer Hill Club where he learns of the memberships concern about a possible nuclear attack from a dirty bomb on American soil. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union a number of these small nuclear devices, referred to as “suitcase nukes,” have been disseminated worldwide. At the meeting Muller learns of a secret government protocol developed during the Reagan administration called “Wildfire,” a hardwired, meaning the American response to any nuclear attack will happen automatically with no presidential influence. The response is focused on an Islamic terrorist nuclear attack against the United States that is designed to destroy the Islamic world. Muller sits in the meeting and wonders if this is a fantasy of the “wacko birds on the right,” or were these men serious.

Since Arab governments were informed of “Wildfire” it was designed to operate like the Cold War concept of mutually assured destruction or MAD, and it provided governments a strong incentive to control any terror plots in their countries. An added bonus for Madox and company was that any US response would also allow the seizure of Arab oil fields. Since the likelihood of any nuclear terror attack by Islamic extremists was low, Madox argued that the US should attack two of its own cities which would trigger “Wildfire.” For Madox this made sense because the US was about to launch an invasion of Iraq and as a Vietnam veteran he argued once war begins one does not know where it will take you. The Custer Hill Club members developed Project Green, an immediate attack on two US cities that would launch a nuclear response and destroy the Islamic world, negating a need to invade Iraq. Landsdale believed that Muller was sent to scare the Custer Hill Club into action, ordered by higher ups in the government that were not club members. The man behind the plot is Ted Nash, a former CIA operative who was supposedly killed in 9/11. Nash was also an old enemy of John Corey, who with his wife Kate Mayfield, an FBI agent, were committed to solving a murder that would lead them to “Wildfire.”

DeMille scenario is extremely scary. However, if one thinks about the last fifteen years of American policy in the Middle East is it beyond the pale that someone might have thought of it and possibly kept it on the back burner for the appropriate time. I am certain that the reader will engender some of these thoughts as they read DeMille’s novel as John Corey and Kate Mayfield are dispatched to locate Harry Muller and they soon confront the possibility of a nuclear holocaust.

DeMille provides his usual sharp and crisp dialogue, enhanced by Corey’s sarcasm and witty comments. The characters that are created are purely fictional, but DeMille tries to leave some doubt in the reader’s mind that they are 100% fictional. As usual the conflict and poor communication that existed before 9/11, and probably still exists today between the NYPD, State Police, CIA, and many other agencies is well represented in the plot. Overall, the conclusion of the story is predictable, but because of DeMille’s talents, WILDFIRE is a good read.
Profile Image for M(^-__-^)M_ken_M(^-__-^)M.
347 reviews78 followers
February 17, 2020
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. There are some good old honest torture prisoner scenes, some escaping, shootouts and some "frick me days" is our hero going to get out of this crap. Overall a fun excursion into the simple world of good bulls%t.
I did like the husband wife team up gives it a different spin.
Profile Image for Don.
326 reviews8 followers
December 26, 2008
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 second of two stars) is the way some right-wing wacko in upstate New York plans to set off a couple of nuclear bombs in the U.S. and finger Al Qaeda or the like ... of course, sparking Wild Fire.

But DeMille (way past his prime of Gold Coast) is apparently too full of himself these days to respect the reader enough to write meaningful dialogue. He leans so heavily on this idea for a plot that he forgets to make interesting characters or eye-opening twists (John Corey is a shell of his famous self). Instead, he essentially tells the end in the first 50 pages, and then spends 450 pages showing how we get there, via many weak detours and dead ends -- with no real questions asked or answered along the way. Just an increasingly annoying and frustrating ride.

Here's the good news: I'm glad I read it to remind myself that sometimes you've got to read a few toads to find a princess.
Profile Image for Amanda Patterson.
896 reviews272 followers
November 16, 2010
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 alert status on permanent green. Their leader, and lodge owner, Machiavellian Bain Madox has a plan to accomplish this.
The government know something is going on and send agent Harry Muller out to investigate. Poorly briefed, Muller doesn’t live long enough to share what he has learned about Madox’s plans. He leaves clues which point to billionaire Bain Madox.
Once John Corey and his wife, FBI agent Kate Mayfield know that Muller is missing they head for The Custer Hill Club.
Corey, is a bit too smart mouthed for my taste. But he doesn’t lack courage. Wild Fireis a good holiday read.
Profile Image for J Stanley.
51 reviews
September 1, 2015
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.
Profile Image for Tim.
2,184 reviews212 followers
February 9, 2013
Where was the editor in this overly long novel? Half of this could have been easily cut without any loss whatsoever. The attempts at wise-cracking humor is sophomoric. 4 of 10 stars.
Profile Image for Eric_W.
1,924 reviews369 followers
July 31, 2010
"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 and blaming the Muslims. Only in this way can they obtain the power they need to force changes in government. The idea is to force a nuclear response and bomb the middle east. That it would make all the oil totally unusable -- or at least visible in the dark -- seems not to have crossed their minds. And, of course, they are doing God's will. They literally ask the question, "which city would Jesus want to take out?"

Again, we have wiseass John Corey investigating. Some reviewers have complained that it's too much lecture and not enough action with Corey's wise cracks just hanging out there and not funny enough or pertinent enough to make this a good book. These reviewers seem to like The Lion's Game better. Hmmm, I'm the opposite. I found the unremitting action in the Lion's Game a little over the top.

One reviewers commented, "Anyone who gives this sophmoric clap trap more than two stars is as stupid as the characters in this poorly written tome." Well, I guess I'm sophomoric. Three point five stars and I always round up. On the other hand, many of the negative reviews appeared to object to the premise of the book, i.e., that of a right-wing cabal that would engage in such action. Personally, right-wing or left-wing, true-believers, I believe, are quite capable of such end-justifies-the-means behavior. The book does have a Dr. Stragelove quality, albeit without the Peter Sellers mad scientist. Personally, I drink only Diet Mountain Dew, not wanting to pollute my bodily fuids. (WARNING: This joke may be totally lost on anyone who has not seen the classic movie - you know you're getting old when you feel compelled to explain your jokes.)

One little scene I really liked was when John and Kate were checking in to a very expensive resort, The Point. (Lots of "what's the point? jokes.) Rooms are $1200 per night and Kate, knowing they will face a hassle if they use their government credit card, urges John to use his personal one. "It was stolen," he says. "When?" she asks. "Four years ago," was the reply. "Didn't you call the police to report it?" John replies, "No, the thief was spending much less than my ex-wife." Chortle.

DeMille is always fun, no matter. NOTE: I listened to the unabridged (why would anyone ever even consider abridged?) read by Scott Brick.
Profile Image for Ross.
753 reviews29 followers
August 27, 2010
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 dialogue becomes extremely tedious.
The general outcome of the story becomes clear within 20 or so pages and the only reason to continue to the end is to learn the horrific fate awaiting the bad guys who our hero will kill. I am afraid that an excess of testosterone is what caused me to finish the story. With less of the hormone you would not want to touch this book.
Profile Image for Lauren Gladstone.
2 reviews13 followers
September 29, 2018
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 recommend.
Profile Image for Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ....
1,937 reviews47 followers
August 29, 2017
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.
Profile Image for Deb Jones.
733 reviews85 followers
October 24, 2018
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.
Profile Image for David Freas.
Author 2 books26 followers
August 31, 2012
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.
Profile Image for Corey.
435 reviews101 followers
May 3, 2015
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.

Profile Image for Jenna.
1,836 reviews18 followers
July 6, 2020
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 w/9/11).
Also, while this is fiction, I know DeMille does research and I imagined that some of it was close to reality. 9/11 was obviously a huge turning point in our country & many things changed. (most specifically, federal organizations guidelines/procedures for investigations)
definitely some surprises along the way. and the suspense was good b/c you weren't sure which characters to John could trust.

Negative- too long & slow moving.
Profile Image for Dan Banana.
275 reviews3 followers
November 22, 2022
Great action, sarcasm, inappropriate comments, violence, guns and psychos.
Profile Image for Ken.
93 reviews3 followers
December 29, 2022
The last book I read from this author was The General's Daughter. This detective, policeman novel was full of macho talk and one-liners. Thankfully it got better after the first 50 pages.
Profile Image for Rex Fuller.
Author 6 books173 followers
July 24, 2017
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 relies on an barely stated agreement among conspirators instead of solidly building it. However, overlooking that weakness, Corey and his wife and partner Kate Mayfield are show-cased as superbly as any protagonists you will ever find. The final confrontation is really well done.
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