Rating: 
Summary: In Search Of Yourself
Review: In Nelson DeMille's "Up Country" former Army criminal investigator, Paul Brenner is on the trail of many things. An Army captain allegedly murdered a U.S. Lieutenant in Hue, Viet Nam in 1968. Brenner is sent to find the witness. Susan, an alleged American businessperson in Viet Nam, befriends him. He seeks to discover her real identity. Finally, this is Paul's third tour of Nam. His main search is to unravel the horrific nightmares that continue to haunt him."Up County" is a delightful journey. First, Paul Brenner's first person narration is addicting with his constantly wisecracking outer voice and his more thoughtful inner voice. The novel is a travel log of today's Viet Nam with interesting details about the culture, geography, food and mood. Like Paul, much of the country remains haunted by the war. The victorious Northern veterans continually try to rationalize their role while the vanquished southern citizenry resent their occupation. Like locusts, Americans and French businesses swarm into Nam, reversing defeat by buying recovering commerce. The main story is Paul reliving his nightmares and better understanding the war's sorrow and savagery. Will he find his peace? That question becomes more intriguing then the murder mystery. "Up Country" is a vivid and fascinating journey that yields as much joy as the destination.
Rating: 
Summary: A bad book by a writer who lost his skill
Review: There was a time when publishers actually took pride in publishing quality books. Today there is a trend to make money by publshing bad books to trade on the past good reputations of writers who have lost their skills. This is one such book.
This is a boring book with much too many words. The protagonist of the book undertakes a tedious trip from south to north Vietnam. This trip and the author's rather cursory description of present day Vietnam takes up most of the book.
I suspect that many readers of this book, unless they are
completely bored and have a great deal of their time to waste,
skip many of the pages that describe this trip to find out how it all ends. An end which is really not worth the tedium of reading this book.
The plot is equally unimaginative and uninteresting. A former army investigator is sent on a mission to gather evidence about a murder that was committed in the past war. This individual has served in the war and relives some of his war
experiences with frangmented flashbacks. And supposedly this
investigation involves much more than just the murder, but even that attempt to hook a reader's interest fails.
And the characters are not very well developed. The relationship between the protagonist and his traveling companion, a woman who simply appears in Vietnam to join in the trip, can be summed up in these few lines of dialogue between.
them. You really "pumped me" last light, says the woman. To which the book's hero replies, I was "horny". She says no, I am talking about all the questions you asked me.
...
Rating:
Summary: Transition from a genre writer to a master novelist.
Review: First, a disclaimer. The Vietnam War seared my extended family's soul. A wonderful young man who questioned whether he should go was KIA after two weeks in country. A member of a third generation Marine family (including a posthumous medal of honor award winner at Tarawa) was savagely wounded when he stepped on a land mine while leading a patrol.
Reading about the "Harvard Boys' War" (Kennedy, the Bundy brothers, McNamara, etc) whose sons did not have to fight in that horrible place only increases one's frustrated rage. It gets worse if one reads about how Johnson lied to the American people.
Demille, in this book, employs all the writer skills to evoke setting, conflict, character fascination, complicated plot and theme to give a most satisfying read. It captures the emotions of one's feelings about Vietnam, but transcends that county into the larger questions about life itself. I think the ambiguous ending is a fitting parallel to the ambiguity of the war. This novel needs to be a permanent selection in everyone's library.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the Demille I expected
Review: I was hoping for another General's Daughter type mystery. I thought for a little while there, that it could be, but I was disappointed. I have read all of Nelson DeMille's books and I do think that he is a great writer, however, I was looking forward to the mystery part, which really did not satisfy me.
This is a great book if you are interested in taking a detailed tour of an American Veteran's Vietnam and are a war buff.
Rating:
Summary: where have all the good men writers gone
Review: I thoroughly enjoy Mr.DeMille's books, until his recent books, with this one being terrible....I did not buy this book to take a personal tour through the Viet Nam war....my father served in WWII, and you never heard any of them complain about serving their country...I started this book and by chaper 3 that was it...my daughter did the same thing...what a waste of money...why is he writing this way now??? what happened to The Charm School, The Talbott House writer?????
Rating: 
Summary: Great Travel Documentary
Review: I liked this book much better than my wife. She was expecting a riproaring action tale in the vein of "The Lion's Game." I appreciated DeMille's wonderful description of the country and people who live there. Can't help but think this is what our country must have felt like after the Civil War. Two different cultures and points of view inhabiting the same land. Really loved the insights. The story definitely took second place to the travel documentary....but that's not a bad thing. Very good book.
Rating:
Summary: Too many details---
Review: At first I thought this would be a very good read---even took along on vacation! The beginning was there but the story was a drag too many details the story line got lost and never came back.
Rating:
Summary: A "5" for us boomers: truth, suspense, and sexual tension
Review: Nobody but a Vietnam War (in country) veteran could have written this book. Indeed, Nelson DeMille was an Army First Louie in 1968, a very troubled time for our country and the world. According to his web site, he returned for a nostalgic tour of Vietnam just a few years ago, and from that trip was hatched this book. Part travelogue, part intimate retrospective, it will probably hit home far harder for those of us over 50 than for those who really don't know what Vietnam was or wasn't about. Even so, the horrors of war depicted are almost too lucid -- in fact, I felt I was almost watching a movie throughout much of the proceedings; and to no little surprise came the author's revelation in his afterward that a screen version is indeed in the making. There is a gripping plot to go with the history lesson. Reprised from the DeMille's "General's Daughter" (also a movie) is criminal investigator (now retired) Paul Brenner, who is a twice survivor of tours in Nam. He is persuaded to go back to investigate the 30-year-old alleged murder of a US Army Lieutenant by a US Army Captain. There is more unsaid about the mission and the probable outcome than is revealed, and we get wiser with each succeeding 100 pages (of 700) as to the real motivations and story behind the mission. Meanwhile, our hero meets a sexy "helper", businesswoman Susan Weber, who (eventually) Paul beds during the night while worrying during the day that her orders are to kill him . This relationship adds a great deal of tension to an already excellent premise. The ending, of both the plot per se, and the boy/girl sub-plot are not totally resolved, which will disappoint some readers who like things all wrapped up. What a jump point for a sequel though! I found myself picking up this book to notch a chapter or two at other than my normal reading times, so it had my attention throughout. And while I personally never got further than Hawaii during the war, one could not help recalling much of one's own experiences, politics, and feelings -- then and now. To the extent much of the material almost has to be autobiographical, I applaud the author's sincerity and courage for telling it like it was and like he recalls. It was not obvious he did a thing to spin the mutual devastation to make things nice. And his descriptions of some of modern day Vietnam were truly frightening. Possibly a little sharper editing (we could probably have stood a couple of hundred pages less) would be all to move this book, Demille's 12th novel, to the top of the scale. Nonetheless, a very fine book.
Rating:
Summary: Vintage Demille Breathtaking -View of the Viet Nam war
Review: Mr Demille hasa wonderful talent for producing main characters that are irreverent and iconoclasts. I was most taken though by the journey into the Viet Nam war from a soldiers point of view. I know he researchs his books well so I was very saddened to read how repressive the government still is there. The author, as usual, really fleshes out the characters to the point where you feel you know them, or would like to. His power to tell a story is gripping.
Rating:
Summary: Up Country - Up With DeMille
Review: Up Country begins at the black marble wall of the Vietnam War Memorial -- which is significant because that is the place children of the future will think the story of Vietnam ended. But it doesn't, does it. Paul Brenner takes us back to Vietnam to solve a murder of an American soldier that happened during a heated battle. The witness to the killing was North Vietnamese. The victim was American. Now the FBI, the CIA, and other shadowy figures all purportedly want the crime solved, and Paul Brenner is their man to track down the witness and discover what he saw. Their main question is, can he identify the murderer? And, is the man still alive? Paul Brenner believes in the truth, and against his better judgment he returns to Vietnam, the land he left so long ago, on a mission to discover the real events of that tragic event. Before Brenner is in Vietnam 15 minutes he encounters suspicion. A former North Vietnamese officer interrogates him about his purpose in visiting Vietnam. With that meeting, the adventure begins. Danger accelerates. At his hotel, Brenner accidentally meets a beautiful American woman who says she's living in the Asian country for thrills. Her business? Investments. She speaks perfect Vietnamese. She seemingly falls under Brenner's charm and wants to invest more than money in his quest, she wants to become part of it. Together they travel across the country and the peril mounts. While Brenner is dedicated to his mission, he's also drawn to the ghosts of the past. The Battle of Hue. His lost comrades. The futility of war. Nelson DeMille's talent and heart fill this book with memories that will take you back to those days of conflict (if you're old enough to remember) or recreate them for you. Our efforts in Vietnam began nobly. Thank you, Nelson DeMille, for reminding us of that.
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