The Panther (John Corey) (edition 2012)

Years ago I read The Gold Coast by Nelson DeMille; I wasn't impressed. While an interesting story, I thought it was too long and too slow. Since then, friends have pushed more from DeMille. I resisted.
Until now.
I got my hands on an early copy of DeMille's latest novel, The Panther, released Tuesday October 16, 2012. It is the latest in the John Corey/Kate Mayfield series. The short version of this review: I can't believe I've missed the first five in the series. I have a lot of catching up to do!
Of course, I've never given the short version of anything, so here is the rest:
John and Kate are married, both working on the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York City. John is an NYPD Detective, Kate an FBI Special Agent. The story is told from mostly in the first person from the point of view of John, a smart, reflective, witty, pain in the ass. The same qualities that make him a good investigator make him difficult to get along with and even more difficult to supervise. That, of course, makes a great story!
In The Panther, John and Kate are given an assignment in Yemen: to arrest the terrorist responsible for the attack on the USS Cole. Well, "arrest" might not be the most accurate way to describe what the team is really supposed to do, but that is the official assignment. They've been specially selected, since the American born and raised Panther would like to "arrest" John and Kate, too, to avenge the death of an al Qaeda terrorist that they were responsible for. The two are working with agents from myriad intelligence agencies on this mission: military, State Department, the CIA. All are hardened and experienced patriots, and all have secret agendas that are slowly revealed throughout the book.


Nelson DeMille
The book includes loyalty, deception, betrayal, murder, and more, and that's just among the good guys! Despite being over 6o0 pages, it is a page turner, helped along by fast dialogue and the laugh out loud wit of the protagonist.
I don't know if was DeMille's intent, but I felt Corey's distrust and cynicism, along with the methods used on their Panther hunt, was a critique on the War on Terror, or at least the way it's being fought.
The Panther is more about the story than the characters. John Corey is a New York cop, and narrates as one would expect from a New York cop. Although he has depth so far as recognizing the danger of the mission, and that there is a good chance he'll be killed, he isn't complex. He knows what he knows and doesn't seem to worry much about what he doesn't. Even the private moments between John and Kate are light. But the danger of the mission always looms, and even reading from the safety of my home I was tense waiting for the surprise attack, ambush, or explosion that I felt was imminent.

The Panther is an excellent book that I'm confident will return Nelson DeMille to the Best Seller list. His other John Corey books are now on my read list, and I've even considered giving The Gold Coast a second read, thinking there must be something I missed! ( )

All talk, no action. This has to be one of the worst books by Nelson Demille I've read, (or tried to read; it's so terrible I'm not even going to finish it). I'm almost 250 pages into a 600+ novel and the only action that has taken place are meetings, meetings and more meetings and John Corey's dialogue with himself (that gets old very fast) and colleagues. Apparently the plot of the story is to use John Corey and his wife as bait to try and catch the Panther in Yemen. However, there has been no character development and hardly any portion of the plot has been devoted to the Panther. I loved The Lion but this novel has been such a letdown. It makes one wonder if the author was paid based upon the word count rather than the content and quality of the writing. ( )

Nelson DeMille has written another really good book. Excellent story about Yemen and al quada although his humor tends to run juvenile after awhile . I have not been disappointed in any of his books. ( )

DeMille does not disappoint. From the first to the last page, this was a real page turner filled with twists and double crosses. John Corey and his wife take an assignment to go to Yemen to help search for a leader, code named "The Panther." While there, they discover the real reason they were chosen for this mission. The story ends with an obvious opening for his next book. I loved the description of the land and the people. I felt like I was there. I could not put this down and would recommend for any DeMille fan. ( )

Another fine book by Nelson DeMille. Detective John Corey and his wisecracking ways are fun to read. The asides that he thinks but don't say aloud are some of the best parts. All of us are like that at times, where we just want to say some of those things.

The novel is a follow up to The Lion. Detective Corey and his wife are asked to join the anti-terrorist task force in Yemen. They are tracking down an American born jihadist who is leading Al Queda in Yemen. They are the bait to attract this terrorist in a CIA plot to kill him. There is a lot of plot twists and turns through out the novel that keeps your interest up. The cast of characters accompanying Corey and his wife on this terrorist hunt is very entertaining.

If you like thrillers, this is a good book to read. It will take some time, it is a long story. The story is so good because of all the detail that is in this book. ( )