This author is why I avoid male writers. He didn't bother developing the female character, his wife and colleague through all the scenes, and he thinks his narrator is cute. It makes no sense that a smart woman FBI agent would continue to overlook or accept all the stupidness and self - centeredness of this guy. His over - the - top snarkiness and identification with the bad guys is inconsistent with a smart character. I have him a point for good plot.

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

My first and last Nelson DeMille book.

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 alert.
Have fun with this one, it’s a true joy.

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.

Just a good solid action thriller - dastardly bad guy, evil plot to destroy the world, cop going rogue to save the day. The humour was slightly too overt for my taste, but it is a minor criticism.

Enjoyable read, and I will definitely be picking up more of these John Corey stories on audio book (I listen to audio books while running or cleaning, and it these stories are great for that).

He refers to his penis as "little John" after a sex scene.

Not my fave DeMille book -- maybe my expectations were too high.

I do love his stuff, and my disapointment in this one won't make me less eager for the next one...

John Corey everyones favorite narcisstic and wise cracking detective is back. With his wife Kate the FBI agent and his boss are lead into a bizzare plot to destroy the Middle East. After Johns friend and fellow ATTF agent and ex-NYPD detective Hary Muller goes on a surveilance expedition in upstate NY he winds up murdered. This on a holiday weekend also. When John finds out that he was supposed to go originally nothing will stop him from looking into what happened to his friend. As John and Kate go to the Adirondacks and start to follow the clues they become aware that even their own people are working against them. As they discover a group of powerfull conservatives have developed a plan that will change the world. John and Kate must survive to dish out their revenge and justice. A little long but an interesting theorey that develops. Sometimes to many wisecracks from John but he does make you laugh.

Scary scenarios remain, a dozen years after published. But oh how I enjoy the Author-Narrator blend with the John Corey and Kate Mayfield characters. Thanks Nelson and Scott for another wild ride and the discussion between the two of you to finish off.

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 world Armageddon had a distinct James Bond/Dr. Strangelove feel to it. A cop-out because the resolution was all too easy. 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.

This is my first Nelson DeMille book, and I'm sorry to say that it will be my last. He's an excellent writer and a compelling storyteller, but he is badly in need of an editor.

Detective John Corey is the most irritating character I have ever encountered. His wisecracking dialogue is funny for the first 200 pages or so, but as the plot unfolds, a plot that involves murder and the threat of nuclear catastrophe, said dialogue sidetracks the story so many times I found myself wishing that he would just please, please shut up and get on with the investigation. This book could have easily been 200 pages shorter. A good editor--any kind of editor at all, to be honest--would have sent the manuscript back to DeMille with instructions to do some major pruning. The humor is overdone and makes no sense in this type of story. I see that many book lovers and many reviewers here love John Corey, and that's fine. But to me, he became tedious very quickly.

Eventually I just couldn't stand it any more. I skipped the last 150 pages of this book and went directly to the end. When I finally finished the book, the only thing I could think of was Johnny Rotten's famous question at the end of the last-ever Sex Pistols concert in San Francisco in 1978: "Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?"