Wild Fire

by Nelson DeMille

Book Overview

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Nelson DeMille comes a suspenseful new novel featuring Detective John Corey and an all-too-plausible conspiracy to detonate a nuclear bomb in two major cities.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 044657967X
• ISBN13: 9780446579674
• Release Date: November 2006
• Publisher: Warner Books (NY)
• Length: 519 Pages
• Weight: 1.57 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Comical

Love this author he depicts thriller and suspense there are several adventures to be had in this novel.

Another great read by DeMille

Demille picks up where he left off in Night Fall with Corey still on the job working to stop terrorism against America. The book is fictional, of course, however Demille likes to include real agencies (or close to real agencies) in his work along with real laws, tactics, newspaper headlines and he also includes his biting commentary on how and where the government really screws up in its defense of the country. Now this book deals with the threat of Islamic terrorism, however unlike Night Fall in which we don't ever find out who exactly the villain was (it may really have been an accident) or The Lion's Game in which the villain was a Libyan terrorist; this work throws us a curve ball with the choice of villain. The irony is strong when the bad guy's plan has a little bit of common sense to it. Unlike some of the editorial reviews I've seen I don't want to present any spoilers here; so it's a little difficult to argue the pro's and con's of the fictional governmental program called Wild Fire as it's presented in the book. In one of his brief comments on the book, DeMille notes that the idea for Wild Fire is based upon information that can be considered anything from fact to pure fiction, however he believes something similar does exist and if not it should. I agree with him that it should, I'm doubtful, from what I've witnessed that it does. Of course I strongly recommend DeMille, he's become one of my favorite authors, however I'd like to mention that there are two different kinds of DeMille books. This one is an action thriller, law enforcement based, it reads much like a mystery thriller and presents some interesting and thought provoking things about terrorism and how to deal with stopping it. The other type of DeMille book is powerful literature, The Gold Coast and Word of Honor for instance. Not all readers will necessarily find themselves liking both types of book the same, however they are all well written and enjoyable to read. If you're new to DeMille and haven't yet read any of Detective John Corey stories, you may want to start earlier and then finish up with this latest book, however it's not really necessarily as each book does stand alone well. If you're not into action thriller books or don't think the law enforcement angle is something you really are hot to read, yet you've heard great things about DeMille try picking up The Gold Coast, it is really one of the best pieces of modern literature I've read yet and perhaps you'll become a fan of the more genre based works. In any case, if you're a fan of DeMille you'll no doubt get this latest book and enjoy it, if you're not yet a fan, I give a strong recommendation to this author's work.

The literary equivalent of "24"

I'm a big fan of the TV series "24" and I found Wild Fire by Nelson DeMille to be the written equivalent to a series of the popular Keifer Sutherland show. It follows the lives of Detective John Corey and his FBI agent wife Kate Mayfield as they try to avert a terrorist plot (much like Sutherland's Jack Bauer does). There are twists aplenty and one must wonder if the TV show didn't have just the slightest of influences over DeMille's wonderful imagination. Corey and Mayfield are initially trying to track down a colleague Harry Muller who has disappeared without trace. From here on in there is simply one plot turn after another, and the story just gets bigger and bigger as it goes along, without becoming even the slightest bit unbelievable (not on a first read anyway!). There have been a lot of top drawer "edge of the seat" special agent / crime fiction titles this year, notably Echo Park, The Book With No Name and The Collectors, and although I wouldn't be so bold as to pick a favourite, Wild Fire does touch on some great topical issues and sets the heart pounding in a way that a fast paced TV show like 24 does. What sets it apart from TV of course is the fact that you get to picture it all in your own mind with the help of DeMille's wonderful descriptives and fascinating narrative. At times this felt like I was trying to drive a car at 100 miles an hour while reading, it's that much of a pulse racer. Ideal reading for lovers of crime fiction, but this might also make for a good present for a couch potato who watches too much TV...

The literary equivalent of "24"

I'm a big fan of the TV series "24" and I found Wild Fire by Nelson DeMille to be the written equivalent to a series of the popular Keifer Sutherland show. It follows the lives of Detective John Corey and his FBI agent wife Kate Mayfield as they try to avert a terrorist plot (much like Sutherland's Jack Bauer does). There are twists aplenty and one must wonder if the TV show didn't have just the slightest of influences over DeMille's wonderful imagination. Corey and Mayfield are initially trying to track down a colleague Harry Muller who has disappeared without trace. From here on in there is simply one plot turn after another, and the story just gets bigger and bigger as it goes along, without becoming even the slightest bit unbelievable (not on a first read anyway!). There have been a lot of top drawer "edge of the seat" special agent / crime fiction titles this year, notably Echo Park and The Collectors, and although I wouldn't be so bold as to pick a favourite, Wild Fire does touch on some great topical issues and sets the heart pounding in a way that a fast paced TV show like 24 does. What sets it apart from TV of course is the fact that you get to picture it all in your own mind with the help of DeMille's wonderful descriptives and fascinating narrative. At times this felt like I was trying to drive a car at 100 miles an hour while reading, it's that much of a pulse racer. Ideal reading for lovers of crime fiction, but this might also make for a good present for a couch potato who watches too much TV...

Insane. Terrifying. Don't Miss It.

Retired NYPD Detective John Corey and FBI Special Agent Kate Mayfield are a husband and wife team at the ATTF--Antiterrorism Task Force. After a weekend vacation, they return to NYC to find that Corey's friend from the ATTF has gone missing from a surveillance assignment in upstate New York. As Corey and Mayfield probe into Harry Muller's disappearance, disturbing clues surface. Muller's assignment wasn't what it seemed, and now he's dead. Bain Madox, the billionaire owner of a "right-wing loonies'" rural hunting club, is obsessed with security. High-ranking government officials were weekend guests at the time of Muller's arrival. And then there are the clues left by Muller before he suffered a "hunting accident." Corey wants justice for his friend's death. Little does he know that Madox has a project ready to launch--four nuclear devices are set to trigger a nuclear holocaust that will make 9/11 look like a play date. All this in the name of future peace. If Madox isn't stopped, the world will change. Forever. DeMille brings back the wisecracking Detective John Corey in his most intense case yet. It begins as a search for a friend and turns into an unthinkable nightmare. Real-life research into nuclear terrorism inspired DeMille's terrifying "what if" scenario. From start to finish, readers will be caught breathless. Beyond its fictive value, WILD FIRE explores the question of how far people are willing to go to secure future peace. Are millions of deaths a fair trade for a world free of terrorism and war? Should sacrifices be made, and if so, how many and who? After the final page is read and the book shelved, the question will remain: "What if?" Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer 10/27/2006

Sinister Combustion: Wild Fire is a Must Read.

`Wildfire' by Nelson DeMille is a pulse-beating, spin tingling modern day story of `what if's? the world of freedom must seriously pay attention to as the issues of terrorism become more complex. The use of historical fact combined with potential and alarming acts of terrorism presented by the author had my stomach turned inside-out, upside-down, and ways I can't describe. DeMille has written a clever, well researched and intelligently written novel that focuses on the dangers of global fanaticism, and makes a very strong point that terrorism has no boundaries . . . and that radical thinkers who believe that the end justifies the means exists everywhere . . . including, very possibly, in the United States itself. In Wild Fire, Agent Harry Muller is found dead while on a surveillance mission of the Custer Hill Gun Club in upstate New York. John Corey, a hard as nails former NYPD detective and present member of the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force, along with his wife, FBI agent Kate Mayfield travel to New York to investigate the suspicious Custer Hill Gun Club, which borders on the grounds where Agent Muller's body was found. DeMille's `Wildfire' is one tightly woven tale filled with a unique setting of the isolated mountains of the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York . . . which allows for an isolated, yet extraordinarily tight story about nuclear terrorism to unfold. But there is so much more here than a story of potential protagonist terrorist actions: there is a very real and believable story of a man and a woman (husband and wife): John Corey and Kate Mayfield. Bain Maddox, the story's insane antagonist who is behind the plot to implode two nuclear bombs in U.S. cities in order to provoke the U.S. into action that would essentially destroy the Middle East, is a terrifying character who represents in a certain way the far-far-right extremist that exist in America today. The members of the Custer Hill Gun Club are truly background, which works well in this scenario, as the reader's concentration must be on Corey and Maddox. DeMille brings out a very important question in 'Wild Fire': how far should governments go with respect to scrutinizing their own citizens with respect to fanatical right-wing mischief? Well Done . . . Nelson DeMille's `Wildfire' is an absolute must read.