Rating: 
Summary: Man's Midlife Fantasy
Review: I liked the character of Paul Brenner in The General's Daughter but in this book, he was clearly an aging man's picture of what he would LIKE to be. Paul Brenner is something like 53 years old but in tip top fighting shape, is able to attract a "beautiful" (did he tell us often enough??) intelligent 30ish woman (along with keeping another honey waiting at home for him), and manages to quip and grouse his way through interminable miles "Up Country". Give me a break!! No PERSON would want to be with this character, let alone highly desirable women!!!
This overly long pointless contrived story represents Nelson DeMille's fantasy of what he could be - NOT any kind of character that is realistic.
I would skip this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Unexpectedly Engaging
Review: Don't get me wrong - I do love Nelson DeMille. But when I realized this book was mostly about Paul's return to Vietnam, I was not expecting the adrenaline rush I got out of Charm School. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Paul's journey through Vietnam as a veteran infantryman returning to the site of so many famous battles was engaging and even emotional at times. For someone expecting Charm School, this isn't it. As much as the plot itself was entertaining, I found Paul's internal journey interesting and well worth the read. DeMille is an excellent writer and he won't disappoint.
Rating: 
Summary: A good yet disappointing read.
Review: Demille is one of my favorite authors and from past Demille experience I have formed the opinion that you can't go wrong with one of his books. I may have proved my opinion wrong here. He provides wonderful and fascinating insight into the horrors of the Vietnam war and his sense of humor is wonderful and entertaining as always. The storyline was solid but the book could have been half as long. I found myself reading and reading and reading and not getting anywhere. Long story short; if you are a true Demille fan you have to read the book - even though it is long and sometimes slow it is not a waste of time to read. If you are looking at this as your first Demille book to read I recommend The Lions Game or The Gold Coast. If you start out with this one you may never read another of Demille's books. I hope the next book gets back on track. Sorry Nelson.
Rating: 
Summary: Wanted: Editor
Review: I've always enjoyed DeMille's books -- until now. The author has evidently become such an icon (read: money-earner) in the publishing industry that no editor was willing to put this bloated novel into readable shape (I found myself skipping large portions of text). There are three stories here: a vet's return to Vietnam, a "romance" and a thirty-year murder. The vet's return is the most solid part of the book, although it could have been more tightly written. The mystery is potentially interesting, but gets too little attention throughout most of the 700 pages. The "romance" gets far too much attention -- although I was still left wondering what prompted the characters to declare their love within a few says of meeting. As Tina Turner would sing, "What's love got to do with it?" I hope Mr. DeMille does better next time, it would be hard to do worse.
Rating: 
Summary: Up Country
Review: DeMille's biggest yet deserves high points for entertainment and readability, though nothing of his has been as moving or richly written as 1990's The Gold Coast. Up Country is a sequel to The General's Daughter (1992), filmed with John Travolta as DeMille's Army homicide detective Paul Brenner. Despite DeMille liking the film, it stuck closely to his plot and was a gloomy dud. Though lighter in tone, Up Country also turns on a bloody central event and an imponderable moral problem: Brenner's old boss Colonel K. Karl Hellman, head of the Criminal Investigation Division, calls the retired Chief Warrant Officer Brenner back in for a special op. Brenner's sent back to Vietnam, where he did two tours during the war (as did Lt. Nelson DeMille), to look into a murder that took place 30 years ago. A Vietnamese soldier wrote a letter to his brother, later recovered by the CID, that told of an American captain shooting a fellow lieutenant in the Treasury Building within the Citadel in Quan Tri City, then looting the treasury's safe. This monster later ran a black market that rewarded him with big money. Colonel Hellman actually knows who this captain is, but wants Brenner to investigate cold and see what he can find out as hard evidence for a military trial. Brenner lands in Saigon and falls in with Susan Weber, a businesswoman who sticks to him throughout his investigation and is, of course, far more deadly than she seems. This gives DeMille a chance to warm up his earlier fancy sophisticated dialogue between Brenner and CID rape investigator Cynthia Sunhill from The General's Daughter, although Susan, while mysterious, sexy and dangerous, turns out to be a less ingenious foil than Cynthia throughout several hundred pages of two-person dialogue that only too often rehashes what we already know. The climax lands Brenner in the same hot water that got him retired/fired. Bloated but bouncy, bound for big sales. ...
Rating:
Summary: Michelon Writes a Novel
Review: Demille is a terrific story writer. He also writes with amusing witticisms either voiced or thought by his first person narrator. He also can weave a decent mystery. This book contains all those qualitities. In addition to those qualities one expects from Mr. Demille, however, too much of the first half of this novel was a Vietnam travelogue - scenery, city life and growing economy. Too much of the next thirty percent was a battle history of Vietnam (which was generally interesting). Much of the rest was an up and down love affair. In the too few pages where the mystery unfolded, Up Country was not up to Mr. Demille's high standards. (Out of the 704 pages, those pages may have totalled 100.) I found the end result of the plot fairly predictable. However, after the main character solved the mystery, his extraction from the resulting predicament was interesting. All in all, too much up and down romance, landscape and weather description. The historical component may have enhanced the novel, but by the time I got there I was too impatient for something substantive to happen to move the book along. Not a bad book, but I've come to expect much more (not in number of pages) from Mr. Demille.
Rating:
Summary: didn't want it to end
Review: Loved Paul Brenners dry sense of humor. Wish they would make a movie out of this one. I didn't want it to end
Rating:
Summary: Realistic and beautiful insight into Viet Nam
Review: While I agree with others who have said that this book is missing the action of Demille's typical "thrillers" - I think it is an exceptional journey through memories of the Viet Nam war and an impressive description of that country today. As a teen during that war, I've always been interested in the profound impact it had on the US at that time and the resulting consequences still experienced today. This book does an amazingly beautiful job of painting a window through which those of us on the outside can see the impact of the war then and now.
Rating:
Summary: Let me off this plane
Review: Imagine getting on a crowded transcontinental flight and finding that you're seated next to a middle aged man who, after a double Jack Daniels, wants to regale you with dozens of his favorite war stories. Now you know what reading this book is like. A good editor could have made twice the book out of this with half the padding. The pace isn't just slow. It's narcoleptic. DeMille is a great writer who isn't on point with this one. It's amusing in spots, but mostly it's a lo-o-o-o-ong plane ride seated next to a bore.
Rating:
Summary: After 702 pages, where's the ending
Review: DeMille is one of my favorite authors. I actually buy the book rather than go to the library. While it was at times tedious going, I was anxious to see how it would end. What a let down that there was no ending after 702 pages. While it certainly does seemed poised for a sequel, unfortunately, I won't remember all the details when and if the sequel comes out. The writing about Vietnam was very interesting. It made me want to visit.
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