Review by Booklist Review
John Corey, the ex-NYPD detective who now works on a government anti-terrorism task force, returns in this exciting and uncomfortably realistic thriller. Bain Madox, a brilliant and probably insane villain, has hatched a fiendishly clever plot to force the U.S. to launch an all-out nuclear attack against the entire Islamic world. It's up to Corey, with the help of his FBI agent wife, to stop Madox before he can detonate nuclear weapons on American soil. Set in 2002, barely a year after 9/11, the novel presents a what-if scenario that's so plausible we have to remind ourselves that DeMille is making the whole thing up. Or is he? As usual, DeMille appears to have done a ton of research; what sets his thrillers apart from those of some of his competitors is the way he seamlessly incorporates real technology and real government organizations into his stories. It really is tough to tell what parts of his novels are real and what are the products of his imagination. And although Operation Wild Fire, the American nuclear retaliatory strategy that Madox hopes to jump-start, is fictional, DeMille makes us believe that something very like it could and possibly does exist. --David Pitt Copyright 2006 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Set in October 2002, bestseller DeMille's can't-put-it-down fourth thriller to feature ex-NYPD detective John Corey (after 2004's Night Fall) involves an American right-wing plot to suitcase-nuke two U.S. cities. The idea is to provoke an existing government plan called Wild Fire that automatically responds to nuclear terrorism in the homeland with a nuclear attack that will wipe out most of the Middle East. That such a plan probably exists, according to an opening author's note, heightens the tension. Corey and his FBI agent wife, Kate Mayfield, set off to find antiterrorist agent Harry Muller, who has disappeared after being assigned surveillance duties at the Custer Hill Club, a rich man's hunting lodge in upstate New York. John and Kate are a wisecracking, affectionate, deadly duo, with a new resolve born in the tragedy of the World Trade Center bombing. This tour de force of relentless narrative power neither stops nor slows for twists or turns, but charges straight ahead in the face of danger. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
This is the exciting sequel to DeMille's hugely successful Night Fall and is his fourth novel to feature the irrepressible and irreverent retired New York Police Department cop John Corey (Plum Island and The Lion's Game were the others). It's been a year since 9/11 and Corey is still searching for terrorists. The United States is contemplating invading Iraq and a right-wing fanatic wants to start a nuclear war against Islam by nuking two American cities. Very rich and very crazy former army officer Bain Madox heads an organization of high-ranking government officials, and they have four suitcase nukes. Obviously, it is up to Corey and his FBI agent wife, Kate Mayfield, to stop the mayhem. "Wild Fire" is the name of a government program guaranteeing an automatic and massive nuclear response in case we are attacked by atomic weapons. This book is fast-paced and thrilling, and if the plot may seem implausible and over the top, a check of recent headlines is in order. An excellent read for a multitude of reasons. Highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 7/06.] Robert Conroy, Warren, MI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Number 14 (Up Country, 2002, etc.) from the master of the parboiled potboiler, in which an intrepid cop single-handedly staves off Armageddon. Granted, he gets a bit of help from the little woman. John Corey, ex-NYPD detective, currently employed as part of a crack ad-hoc group called the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force, is married to his boss, gorgeous Kate Mayfield, an FBI agent. Boss she may be, but Kate recognizes star quality when she sees it, and defers to it becomingly, as in Corey's world good little women are wont to do. Her faith in him is about to be tested, however. A colleague is murdered--one of those homicides made to look like an accident that seldom for a minute fools the savvy protagonists in the DeMille stable. Having smelled a rat, Corey goes after him like a starved cat, irritating an array of his by-the-book bosses. But this indeed is a rat to be reckoned with--a megalomaniac with a secret agenda aimed at saving the planet by permanently rearranging its population. And he has allies, people whose comfort in the corridors of power might be counted on to cause a certain discomfort among their adversaries. Not in Corey, however. His creed says it all: "At the end, you carry the gun and the shield out into the field, for the sole purpose of confronting the bad guys." So, never mind the power, the fat wallets, the four suitcase-sized nuclear bombs and the scary conspiracy--Corey's plugged in and ready to confront. Americans can now rest easy. Until the next time. Too long, too repetitive, too many one-liners that don't quite work, but Corey's hard-nosed way with a bad guy (homegrown as well as foreign) may resonate even with the skeptical. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
