NIGHT FALL by Nelson DeMille
Nelson DeMille is a clever writer. He creates clever plots and clever characters. Sometimes this cleverness works for him and sometimes it works against him. In his latest novel NIGHT FALL it does both.
The book centers on the actions of John Corey, a member of the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force, who was introduced in the books PLUM ISLAND and THE LION'S GAME. As this story starts the year is 2001 and Corey is married to Kate Mayfield, an FBI Agent. He and she are on their way to an event marking the five year anniversary of TWA Flight 800 exploding shortly after take-off from New York.
Kate worked on the investigation into this tragedy and has never been completely satisfied with the answers that were given. Now she indicates she thinks Corey should do some investigating of his own. Both he and she both know that the government will not look favorably on one of their own doing any independent prying. Still Corey is a rebel; and if anyone is going to do it, it will be someone like he.
The book follows Corey's probing examination of the occurrence and his interviews with witnesses to the explosion. There is a rumor two people inadvertently videotaped the entire scenario of the explosion and that they saw a missile head toward the aircraft. This is where Corey puts his most intense efforts.
The best part of the book is the sarcastic nature of Corey. His asides and other remarks are hilarious and make the book fun to read. DeMille is at his best creating these lines and seems to enjoy being able to give a character such irreverent and brittle humor. This is where the cleverness works for him.
It is also clever to pin his plot on such a controversial true life event as the crash of TWA Flight 800. But in doing this he also boxes himself into a corner as to where his story can go. As the pages unfold the astute reader can see the handwriting on the wall and can know exactly how this plot is going to be resolved. This is where his cleverness works against him.
For some reason the book starts off slow. It has a plodding pace and doesn't actually pick up until the reader is two thirds of the way through the pages of the book. During this early part DeMille appears to just be spinning his wheels waiting to move towards the finale.
Nelson DeMille's NIGHT FALL is an enjoyable read, once it gets going. The crisp dialogue adds to the pleasure and makes it more fun than it otherwise would be. John Corey is a smart aleck to the nth degree, but everyone who reads this book will be oh so glad he is.
NIGHT FALL is published by Warner Books. It contains 496 pages and sells for $26.95.