Rating: 
Summary: Funny as hell
Review: I won't bother with the summary but DeMIlle's narrator is just hilarious. Brenner makes this book fun, travelogue critiques notwithstanding. It's a fun tale...not reaching Gold Coast or the precursor to this one, but good nevertheless.
Rating: 
Summary: DeMille wrote this?
Review: I'm sorely disappointed with this book. I was looking forward to this book but halfway through, I ended up just skimming the pages. I mean, the book jacket said that it is a DeMille thriller and all his fans would know what to expect. What I didn't expect was a long, winding and never seem to end travelogue on Vietnam (even the leading lady character is not interesting.. give me Ms Sunhill back!!). Maybe DeMille's publisher should market this book as a Vietnam war book so that readers will not be misled.That said, I'm looking forward to reading the next DeMille's thriller.. a real thriller.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Adventure Story
Review: I just finished reading this book and loved every bit of it except for the woman's constant smoking.She must have smelled like a smokestack. Why the author felt hersmoking was relevant I do not know.The assignment of Paul Brenner wasa mystery and remained so until thevery last chapters but the murders did not seem to be the focus of the novel. For the first time I enjoyedthe description of the country ofViet Nam and the people living there. Paul's feelings as he revisited the battle fields and went back in time to remember thebloody battles and reactions to awar 40 yrs. ago brought back theTV reporting and body counts everynight ad nauseum for the viewers.There was enough suspense in everychapter to hold my interest. If you are interested in reading the travelng thru the cities. villagesand country side you won't be disappointed. If you want a thriller, that is there too buttoned down as you realize the comfort the vets find in going backto the source of so much pain. Iwished the book was longer ,too butPaul's assignment was finished. I wonder if DeMille can come up with a sequel to finish the story. Ihope so. This was the first book Iread by him.
Rating:
Summary: An ex- Demille fan
Review: I am a very big Nelson Demille fan and have read everything he
has written. When I received this book in the mail, I was very
excited about reading it. Unfortunately, I had great difficulty
becoming absorbed in the plot and caring about the characters.
I slowly muddled through the too-long book and thought many times
about not finishing it. In fact, I read several Dennis Lehane
books while in the middle of this travelogue. I guess this was a cathartic experience for Demille, but not one that was
worth the price of a hardcover copy for me. I was very disappointed and will think twice about spending money on his next book. If I wanted a travel guide for Viet Nam, I would have
bought one.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: I kept saying to my husband, who had just finished the book, "It actually makes me want to go to Vietnam." And when I finished it: "He must have served there or interviewed people who had experienced the war; it was so real." I love good mysteries and adventures, but this was even more...he has a masterful way with words, but even more important, seems to really understand people and to appreciate their feelings and motivations, even an enemy's. His wry humor is terrific. After that, I read The Talbot Odyssey and couldn't believe it was the same author: I wondered if it was a parody of a bad Robert Ludlum book.
Rating: 
Summary: Definitely not Demille's Finest Work
Review: Just finished Up Country. While I did manage to finish the book, it could have been about 200 pages shorter and no one would have known the difference. I kept wondering what was going on with the plot while Brenner relived his nightmarish experiences from Vietnam. I read it, and I'm happy that I did, but in retrospect, save your money or buy Charm School instead.
Rating:
Summary: Up Country
Review: I very much enjoyed this book, even though I usually shy away from Vietnam books. This book gave me a view of the war I had never seen and in a way that made it interesting and enjoyable in the learning. However, I have to add that since I listened to the audio version of this book, I have to add that the man reading the book, Scott Brick, added greatly to my enjoyment. It was the largest book (with the most tapes) that I have ever listened to, but I enjoyed every bit of it.
Rating: 
Summary: Personal catharsis, not a great novel
Review: The prior reviewer nailed it on the head; This book was obviously a major catharsis for DeMille, and a major disappointment for the reader. If it weren't for the fact that I'm a devoted fan of his, and his great wit, I probably wouldn't have been able to finish the book. Instead of a great storyline you are presented with page after page of painstaking detail about the surrounding countryside. This novel pales in comparison to his better ones like The Charm School, Plum Island, or The Lion's Game.
Rating:
Summary: I should have read the ... Customer Reviews
Review: Mr. DeMille generally writes a pretty good book. However, this one is a clunker, at least for the first 500 pages which is a boring (and a not too accurate) travel log of Viet Nam with a sterotype romance the last 100 pages. To net out, the meat of the first 500 pages is contained in the fly leaf of the book cover. The pace does pick up in the last 200 pages. This book is no advertisement for either Doubleday or Book of the Month Club that apparently selected this book sight unseen. My first mistake was not reading the ... Customer Reviews that in many cases warned the book was needlessly wordy. My second mistake was continuing to read the book after the first boring fifty pages under the mistaken belief that a fine author such as Mr. Demille would not produce such a disappointing book.
Rating:
Summary: Not very Good
Review: I was so disappointed in Up Country. As a fan of DeMille's I really anticipated his newest book. It is really quite dull. It's almost as if someone else wrote it using his name! Don't waste your time.
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