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Rating: 
Summary: Accept this novel on its own terms and you'll enjoy it
Review: For all of the oceans of ink spilled on serious criticism and Top 100 lists, there's still something viscerally satisfying about a good straightforward read like The General's Daughter. After all, if it weren't for fare like this, what would we do for beach & airplane books? Luckily there are guys like Nelson DeMille cranking them out. DeMille, who won a Bronze Star in Viet Nam, has written a couple of excellent books, I especially liked By the Rivers of Babylon and Cathedral, though I've read some others that I didn't like as much. I'd recommend this one. General's Daughter opens with Captain Ann Campbell, a West Point honors graduate and daughter of the general of the base, staked out, raped and strangled in an artillery field. Wisecracking investigator Paul Brenner of the Criminal Investigation Division and rape specialist Cynthia Sunhill, his former lover, team up to solve the crime. Turns out the General's daughter has a pretty sordid past, which makes just about every male at Fort Hadley a suspect. This profusion of suspects combines with normal Army red tape and extraordinary reticence about scandal, to form the basis of a briskly plotted procedural. The solution to the mystery is pretty pedestrian and Brenner's a little too much of a wise guy, but the story hums along and DeMille does us all a favor by not piling on multiple melodramatic conclusions. He tells his story and then wraps it up neatly. The one thing I really liked was Brenner's righteous indignation at the despicable conduct of his Army brethren. At least in this novel, the sense of military honor is not dead. Accept this novel on its own terms and you'll enjoy it. GRADE: B-
Rating: 
Summary: Terriffic read
Review: I had seen the movie several times and enjoyed it enough to read the book. The book is better. Hard to believe. The main character has charm and yet is cynical and sarcastic. My favorite type of character. He's Paul Brenner and a wonderful character to get to know. The General's daughter is killed on post and the story resolves around her hidden life and the desire to find her killer. All the while dealing with Army regulations and rules. This book is full of mystery and lies. Amazing to see how they solve it. A definite five star recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Read. Suspenseful and Fast Moving!
Review: The story is about a general's daughter found dead on the practice range of an Army Base. The intrigue and behind-the-scenes capers going on at this base are incredible. Investigator Paul Brenner (Up Country) opens up a hornet's nest with his intelligent snooping and sarcastic humor.
The action is continuous as always and this is another
'can't put it down book'. Again DeMille's characters leap out at you from the printed page. The piecing together of what REALLY happened is a work of art. The mixture of power, intrigue, back-stabbing etc. make this a great story. The sexual detail is a bit much in spots, but DeMille blends this in fairly well. Any negatives about this book are greatly outweighed by the overall quality of this book. The writing is superb and as usual DeMille shows that he is a great story-teller.
I wish Nelson Demille could write as fast as I can read.
He is among the FEW authors whose books I keep to read
again later.
My second read will be right before I watch the movie.
Enjoy this book!
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