Rating: 
Summary: The past is never really gone:
Review: A brilliant, clever story that bridges the past with the present in a story line that could be very real. I was a graduate student at UC from '65-67 and I feel like a chunk of my history has come home for me to ponder and digest. Thank you, Mr. DeMille.
Rating:
Summary: Another DeMille epic
Review: In Up Country, Nelson DeMille brings back Paul Brenner, his hero from The General's Daughter. Although the two books were written roughly a decade apart, this sequel takes place less than a year later.Although Brenner has been forced into retirement, he is recruited by his old boss to investigate a murder that took place thirty years ago in Vietnam. There isn't much evidence, but there is one possible witness, who if still alive, is somewhere deep in Vietnam. Brenner is canny enough to know he is not getting the full story, but he proceeds anyways. In Vietnam, he teams up with the mysterious and beautiful Susan Weber and they are off on their adventures. Although this is nominally a mystery story, it actually is a tale of Brenner and his revisiting with the old demons of war. For most of the first six hundred pages or so, this murder mystery takes a back seat to Brenner's rediscovery of a country that he last visited under much different circumstances. And even though there is now peace, there is still a lot of danger, and not just from the Vietnamese. While Paul remains the same smart aleck as always, we can tell it's not so much because of an inherent obnoxiousness but rather as a defense mechanism. Although the mystery takes a while to truly kick in, when it does it is pretty good, as is Brenner's own quest for personal peace. In a way, this is the Odyssey in reverse; the hero starts at home and is driven further and further away. Even if you have not read the General's Daughter, this is a great book, suspenseful, insightful and a sometimes harrowing look at Vietnam both during the war and in the present.
Rating:
Summary: Up Country
Review: A recent reviewer critized this novel because the book only dedicated 50 pages to the murder plot while the rest of the book had to do with Demille's reminiscing. All I can say to that is - thank god for his walk in the past! As a two tour combat veteran and a person who fought in the 1968 Tet Offensive, Demille's views, feelings and observations brought home to me the fear, anger and pride I had long surpressed. His memories of the fighting, the crazyness of combat and the daily heroism of the those young men who chose to serve is seldom discussed these days by those who lived it. A very few good choice books have been written on this subject. For the most part, the majority of the nonfiction on this subject has been self serving and biased eventhough popular with the public. Demille, through a novel, has been able to present accurate perceptions without glorifying the war or apologizing for the behavior of the soldiers involved. I have not returned to Vietnam but his discription of the areas I served in bring back a nostalgia and a desired to see these battle areas again. I can only speculate on the awe one must feel standing in the areas where friends and comrades fought and some died. It must be remarkable. Buy this book, read it and feel the power of combat, the confusion of a nation at war and the tales of the survivors. If you can't find the empathy in that, then it is still a good murder mystery.
Rating:
Summary: Another must read from one of the all time best authors
Review: Nelson DeMille writes with a razor sharp wit that has an edge that beats all the others. I have read all his books and this one might be his best work yet. Buy this book and read it! You won't be disappointed. In fact, you will probably go to your favorite used bookstore and find as many of his previous novels as you can. I know I did. Enjoy
Rating:
Summary: Another excellent work
Review: I've just about decided Demille is one of my top favorite authors. This is an excellent story: interesting subject, lots of intrigue and action. As a 50-something, this brings back many memories of the Viet Nam era, even though I did not serve in the military. I would say this is must reading for any VN vet, and also for anyone who was alive during the war. It's a great perspective for anyone of any age, and just plain old good storytelling. I've read and greatly enjoyed many of Demille's books: Gen. Daughter, Lion's Game, Gold Coast, Plum Island, Charm School... they're all good books.
Rating: 
Summary: Up Country is a good read
Review: I've never read a DeMille book that I haven't liked, and this one is no exception. Paul Brenner (the army investigator from The General's Daughter) sets out to find a North Vietnamese witness to a 30 year old murder. On the way he comes to terms with his involvement, as a soldier, in the Vietnam war. Mr. Brenner also finds action, romance and keeps his wry sharp wit honed throughout (my hero). The book is a little less action-packed than others this author has written, but a page-turner, nonetheless.
Rating:
Summary: Let Nelson DeMille take you up country...
Review: Paul Brenner, Army warrant officer/homicide investigator, the idioticly sarcastic yet extremely perceptive man who solved the case of the General's murdered daughter, is retired. But not long into his retirement, he is contacted by a former commanded, with a request: to solve a murder. After all, isn't that Brenner's job? But there's a catch: this murder was committed thirty years ago. But Brenner, under pressure from his girlfriend and simple boredom, takes the job. As soon as he arrives in contemporary Vietnam, he is hit by how much the country has changed. But to solve this crime, Brenner must live in the past--after all, the murder was committed during the War, at the same time Brenner was here. Obviously, a thirty-year-old crime won't be easy to solve. Throw into the mix a sexy, mysterious "ally", a cunning Vietnamese colonel, and a whole host of slick, conniving characters, and you see that Brenner has got an almost impossible mission. And there is always the nagging thought in Brenner's head: he knows his government didn't tell him everything. There is something about this murder that he has to find out...and if he solves this case, it might be the last one of his career. Or his life. Nelson DeMille brings the hero of "The General's Daughter" back to life in this new novel, set in present-day Vietnam, from the perspective of a man who was there during the war. This is much a look into Brenner's--and DeMille's--psyche as it is about a murder investigation. The fact that Paul Brenner isn't perfect makes him that much more real--a cop who hates guns, and yet doesn't mind throwing in the towel when his own butt in in the rifle sights. Pick up "Up Country" today, and return to a place thirty years ago... a time we wish we could forget, a time that we will remember always.
Rating:
Summary: Great Spy
Review: I really liked "Up Country" as a personal history book but felt that it was more of a documentary and less of a novel. Plot character Paul Brenner's interaction with his companion Susan Weber develops steadily but on a peripheral level. He doesn't really have a relationship with her as the male characters in Demille's other books do, with their female counterparts and seems to regard her more as an a spy "asset". The emotion that the Brenner exudes regarding his Vietnam experiences seem to pervade the book and overwhelm the plot.
Nevertheless, I truly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: More Travelogue/Vietnam-War-Memories Than Novel
Review: The author wrote a novel fashioned around his trip back to Vietnam to see places where he and his buddies had fought. This book is touted as a sequel to his "The General's Daughter" (that became a John Travolta movie) but only the only evidence of that is using the same name of the hero. Not much action here; mostly recollections of old battles and how the old battlefields look 30 years after the war. DeMille writes very well but has a habit of not finishing his novels. In this one, the reader wants to know - So what happened to the hero? - to the girl? - to the Vice President? Etc. He did this in his "The Lion's Game" also and even more shamefully. This is cheating the reader. In real like we take these hits, but as readers we trust the writer to give us the full story and the neat endings we are denied in life.
Rating:
Summary: Up Country
Review: Excellent, should be college recommended reading!
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