Wild Fire

by: Nelson DeMille

Published by: Warner Books

Reviewed by Jeff Foster

Once again, Nelson DeMille has discovered a loose thread of a story and pulled on it until he has gained enough data to construct a plot that is so believable, you'll search the Internet to see if it had been previously reported. In his latest thriller Wild Fire, DeMille has constructed yet another mission, outside the box, for his most popular protagonist NYPD Detective John Corey.

Wild Fire is the code name for a secret U.S. Government plan for an automatic retaliatory strike, should there be an attack on America using a weapon of mass destruction. Reminiscent of the mutually assured destruction we all lived under during the Cold War, Operation Wild Fire calls for the societal obliteration of all Islamic nations. The twist in this story is: who is actually responsible for the strike about to take place?

Harry Muller, a former NYPD detective like Corey and contract employee of the FBI's Anti-Terror Task Force has been sent to upstate New York. His mission: conduct routine surveillance on a group of rich and powerful men spending a testosterone weekend as the guests of oil magnet, Bain Madox, at his private bastion in the Adirondacks. Muller doesn't return, and his body is discovered outside the perimeter of the estate. Local police rule it a hunting accident.

Corey and his partner/wife Kate Mayfield don't buy the accident explanation and insert themselves into the investigation of Muller's death. They focus on Madox. Corey's interactions with Madox, or anyone for that matter, are classic DeMille.

The dialogue flows at light speed and Corey is at his self-professed, wise-ass, best. You trudge through the Adirondacks with Corey and Mayfield as they trail Madox, disrespect authority and evade their superiors in the quest to nail Muller's killers. They stumble upon the elaborate plan to trip the trigger and release Operation Wild Fire.

For those that have read Plum Island, The Lion's Game and Night Fall, you will revel in this latest edition. The story is mostly told from John Corey's point of view of the world--one few humans have experienced. Thriller lovers that haven't encountered the scathing wit and sarcastic humor of, Detective John Corey, this is one of those rare experiences.

You will laugh aloud and want to read passages to your friends.

Armchair Interviews says: DeMille pleases his readers again and again.