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Summary: A reader from Western Australia
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed my first read of a Nelson Demille novel. His writing is excellent and he manages to keep you enthralled by his ongoing humour and story unfolding. I'm off to buy the rest of Nelson's books to read!
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Summary: A not too suspenseful thriller
Review: Plum Island's plot is quite convoluted and therefore interesting. However the unravelling of the mystery itself is a little bit predictable. Mr. DeMille attempts to add a fair number of twists and turns to the plot. Unfortunately, these unexpected changes hardly seem to throw the reader off for long. By the time the reader reaches the last chapter, he already knows too much... as does John Corey. For a guy who swigs that much beer and thinks mostly with a not so cerebral part of his anatomy, Corey's deductive skills are amazing, if not incredible. Also the narrative is clogged with too many trivial details.However Demille's unique blend of sometimes subtle and sometimes not so subtle sexuality as well as his action-packed sequences make for some entertaining reading. This is one book whose movie promises to be better.
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Summary: The BEST!
Review: From the very first sentence this book grabs you and doesen't let go. DeMilles first person writing style gets you into the mind of the hero. John Corey a wise-cracking homicide detective convelsing on Long Island. He is paid a visit by a Friend who happens to be the Chief of police in the quiet Town in which John is staying and asks for his help in solving a double murder of two biologists that work on Plum Island the governments top secret lab so dangerous it is housed on a island. I don't want to give it away but this book is the best i've ever read.
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Summary: The decent writer turned graphomaniac
Review: As many DeMille readers I've started with The Gold Coast - a good entertainment with a few bows in a general direction of the real literature. It's evident that the main reason for reading such fiction is pure enjoyment and recreation - to live somebody's life of danger and seduce a few dream ladies, to experience something not readily attainable in an everyday life. The reader spends a couple of dozens hours in the hero's shoes and pays for this with his pocket money, the author gets a few month in a skin of his alter ego and the money to finance the next few month of creativity. Not everyone can write and sell the product. You have to be eloquent and inventive, to flatter the reader not too obviously. The jokes better be funny. In Plum Island the trust is broken. The plot is not credible, the main character repelling and reading his jokes (there are at least 4 of them on every page) I had an urge to call him a jerk. I think Mr.DeMille had a good time killing the enemies and taking the ladies to bed using the lean and bronzed body of his creature. But it's not good to make the readers pay for this. Even in a very escapist mood you can not help noticing that Mr. DeMille's gratification spills from every page. I regret the money spent and if not for the long boring flight from New-York to Moscow I'd never have finished the book.
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Summary: Plum Island
Review: Boozy detective on a heterosexual rampage along Long Island's normally quiet North Fork. Alcohol swilling detective John Corey uses his badge as a battering ram, commiting multiple felonies and misdemeanors in the pursuit of vengeance for homicide victims. Due process and the constitution are trashed as our testosterone-driven hero wreaks havoc on persons and property, punching, shooting, and disemboweling his way into your heart. Stereotypical bad guys include the sinister head of security at the Plum Island facility and a sniveling winemaker. Definitely not Demille's best effort, but it's still a hoot. Pick it up for some light summer reading.
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Summary: Another Demille Success
Review: From the beginning to the very last page, the reader is anxious for the next turn of events. Aside from the engaging story line, we are constantly entertained by the "attitude" of the main character. The author has a fine ability to describe action sequences so that the reader "sees" it happen. This is another winner by Demille.
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Summary: Cliche & predictable story, boring lead characters
Review: As a fan of the Spencer for Hire novels, I enjoy the crime novel genre. We all expect the tough-guy detective with a sharp wit and lots of disdain for the bad guys - its required. This book brings us a boring detective with a sense of humor that falls flat and a little too much distain for just about everyone. Maybe its just coincidence, but I get the impression that DeMille heavily and unsuccessfully 'modeled' the character after the Spencer character. The most annoying aspect of the book is that the real plot was obvious pretty early on - even before the author starts sprinkling the "Ping" comments throughout the story just to make sure you get all the clues.
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Summary: Good read!
Review: I read DeMille's The Charm School years ago and enjoyed it very much. I don't know why I never picked up another of his books until Plum Island. It was a good read. Corey's wise cracks kept me snickering but, at times, they were excessive and a little over the top. I thought the initial tour of Plum Island was longer than it needed to be; it laid more ground work for the ending than was necessary. Nevertheless, the book was entertaining and I had to force myself to put it down when I really needed to do something else. I'm looking for another of DeMille's books to see if I enjoy it as much as this one.
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Summary: This was one of, or if not the, best book I have ever read.
Review: Plum Island, by Nelson Demille, is by far one of the best books I have ever read.
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Summary: A pretty bad read.
Review: I wish I has read the one and two star reviews listed here previously. I found them infinitely more entertaining than the book, and maybe I could have saved myself a few bucks. Contrived and predictable characters, s-l-ow to no pace, and an embarrassing B-movie ending (beer-guzzling and wise-cracking while being shot at on a boat in a hurricane with a bleeding colleague? Puh-leeze!) made this book a turkey! I'll have to take the word of Mr. Demille's faithful readers that he has writtten books of some merit. Unfortunately, this was my first encounter with this author and I don't intend to repeat the experience.
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