UP COUNTRY by Nelson DeMille

03/07/03 | vanity

[genefromjersey]

Paul Brenner, the too-smart-for-his career Army CID investigator , featured in " The General's Daughter ", is back in this gripping novel, set in post-war Viet Nam.

Brenner,who had been forced to retire from the Army, because his investigation of the murder of a powerful General's daughter led him to information the General did not like, gets conned by his old CID boss into investigating the murder of an Army Lieutenant, in Viet Nam : a murder which came to light over 30 years later, and which is sensitive enough to get Brenner himself killed.

I'm not going to tell you any more of the plot, but I guarantee you the final chapters will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up !

This is one helluva book : written by a man who saw extensive combat in Viet Nam, and who drew heavily on the shared experiences of his fellow veterans.

[genefromjersey]

If there is a decent library on your area, " Up Country " should be in the "new books" section; but be warned : it is already much in demand !

[Poohbah]

He's done some good stuff over the years. By the Rivers of Babylon is one of the better Mideast novels going, even though there was a way out of the crisis at the very beginning (I ain't saying what it is). The Talbot Oddysey kept me guessing for the entire length of the story. The Lion's Run was just amazingly well done.

[genefromjersey]

Hope you enjoy it !
It kept me on the edge of my seat...

[B-bone]

Read this in hard cover. As with many of DeMille's books, it is a good read. I normally like to read this type of book in paperback while on vacation, but received the hard cover as a gift. Glad I made an exception and read it.

I'm always disappointed when I finish one of his books because I know it will be at least another year before another is published.

Great literature? No.
Good read? Definately.

[tet68]

What about Bruce Willis's "Tears of the Sun"?
Just caught a few seconds of the trailer.
Know anything about it?

[Poohbah]

Haven't seen any first-run movies since 2000. Don't know a thing about it.

[Poohbah]

Well, I found The General's Daughter to be a very disturbing novel, and this has the same lead character.

I dunno...

[Euro-American Scum]

He's done some good stuff over the years.

If this book is all it's said to be, you might want to check out Word Of Honor. DeMille revisits his service in the 1st Cav and gives a look at the inside workings of military justice.

Don't know how accurate his portrayal is, but it sure made for a riveting story.

[Trust but Verify]

I read it and have copies of all of DeMille's books. There is only one I did not like, Spencerville.

Up Country was not one of my favorites, that would be reserved for The Lion's Game OorPlum Island.

Funny you mentioned By the Rivers of Babylon, as I'm re-reading it now. It's a good read. After this I'm going back to Talbot.

[tpaine]

Watch out, or you'll be bored to 'Tears'.
Dumb plot, - lots of deep dark jungle footage, - and about 15 minutes [total] of good combat scenes.
- It will be on TV soon.

[Andyman]

Gold Coast is my favorite of his, but I highly recommend Up Country too. Plum Island is terrific as well.

[Trust but Verify]

Cathedral and The Charm School were gems as well. Especially the latter. You KNOW there is/was a Charm School.

[cyncooper]

I read Gold Coast and am almost done with Up Country.

What is with him having a weird naked scene in his books? As I recall in Gold Coast, which I read years ago, the woman would go horseback riding ala Lady Godiva. Then in this book they go to the nude beach where everybody has a good body and Susan straddles his back to put on suntan lotion and they hadn't been even been intimate yet. LOL

Other than noticing this little quirk I am enjoyig the book and would have finished long ago except I am on FR too much to spend time reading novels these days.

[Lancey Howard]

If this book is all it's said to be, you might want to check out Word Of Honor

Yep, that's my favorite DeMille book, and I've read most of them. Great story, well told, and I got the impression that it was largely inspired by DeMille's service in Vietnam.

[Ima Lurker]

Plum Island was a good book. It was a little different for DeMille. My favorite book of his though is The Charm School. That is one thought provoking book!

[cyncooper]

Ping regarding the book I am almost finished reading.

[Trust but Verify]

Looks like we have quite the little DeMille fan club here! I've been waiting for the next one. Every few weeks I do a search at Amazon to see if there is a new one to pre-order!

[Lancey Howard]

By the way, anybody who is specifically interested in Vietnam-based fiction might want to check out Koko by Peter Straub. Pretty disturbing book, but it holds you.

[GnL]

I love Nelson DeMille. I've read them all except Up Country (waiting for paperback). My favorites: Plum Island, The Gold Coast, The Charm School. All of them are page turners, many have very good dialogue which is often quite humorous, and all are pretty good, though not perfect, technically (weaponry, tactics, etc).

[Positive]

Its "Lions Game" (just wanted to correct that since some might want to do a search for it).

One of the most compelling aspects of "Lions Game" is the amazing insight it gives us about the current muslim crazies.