Plum Island

Rating:
Summary: Plumb Disappointing
Review: "WICKED WIT...MIND-TWISTING SUSPENSE...A WINNER" is what the front cover of PLUM ISLAND promised, quoting Newsday. With the exception of the "wicked wit" element, the promise remained largely unfulfilled. Not that Nelson DeMille isn't a competent writer; on the contrary, his easy style and descriptive prose make for lucid reading, but PLUM ISLAND - which may not be typical of his work - never succeeded in raising my adrenaline level once. I thought I was buying a thriller, but this book probably falls more comfortably into the detective mystery genre. In any event, it proved to be a disappointment.

The story is related in first person narrative by cavalier NYPD homicide detective John Corey. But although Corey's sardonic, flippant humour (think Sam Spade out of Dave Barry) makes for easy reading, sometimes even evoking a laugh-out-loud response from the reader, the story itself, and its lack of momentum disappoint. After being shot and seriously injured on duty, Corey is convalescing at his uncle's house in a Long Island seaside hamlet, when the local sheriff presses him into service as a "consultant" to investigate the brutal murder of a married couple with whom they are both acquainted. Only a couple of chapters into the book, the story founders, becoming bogged down in an unnecessarily lengthy and detailed exposition of the animal disease centre on Plum Island where the murder victims worked as research scientists. This seems to set the pace for most of the remainder of the book; indeed, the first real action does not take place until more than 450 pages have been turned. DeMille develops his characters well, and the quick-fire dialogue is amusing and frequently entertaining, but Detective Corey's highly speculative deductions, by which he ultimately solves the murders, are implausible. I look forward to reading another, and hopefully more suspenseful book by Nelson DeMille. This one, for me at least, fell flat.

Rating:
Summary: DeMille has struck gold
Review: A fabulously entertaining read with a hilarious, likable protanganist and interesting dialougue, I consider Plum Island one of my top ten books. Not for the plot - while it was nicely woven and gave a fascinating picture of that area of New England- but for the story and the effortless relationships between characters. DeMille has no need to clearly state any relationships or give absolute definitions - girlfriend, partner, enemy, ect. They fall into place seemingly without any effort by the author. While reading, I forget entirely that I am reading a book by an author, and begin to think that I am being told an amusing tale by an ex-cop named John Corey. The next book in this series is equally entertaining, and offers new relationships with the same authentic ring. I was mildly disappointed by the speed with which John Corey abandons one love interest and picks up another, but this is a small complaint in a set of hilariously written novels.

Rating:
Summary: keeps you guessing!
Review: This is my first book by Nelson DeMille and what a pleasant surprise it was. This is one of the best examples of great mistery novels. It has everything: great suspense, good character development, main character NYC detective John Corey is very likable and could be easily identified with, a lot of humor, etc. It's also quite informative on the some subjects that are related to the plot. If anything, I was a little surprised to read some other reviews saying that the first part of the book was a little boring and the last two pages is where the most action takes place. I actually found first part to be the most suspenful and thought that whole sea adventures didn't need to be covered in so many pages. Still, great mistery novel that is highly recommended to all mistery fans. I am looking forward to other books by this writer.