Rating: 
Summary: Game over
Review: Nelson Demille's The Lion's Game, featuring the enigmatic John Corey begins with considerable premise before descending into stereotype and obscurity. The type is typical action/mystery fare- a flight arrives in America with all its occupants dead. While this may seem riveting initially, Nelson Demille continues unsuccessfully to maintain interest through a string of murders as John Corey pursues the antagonist, with limited success.By far the book's biggest drawcard is its realism- Corey is often confused and at a loss to explain his failure to catch the assassin. However, this alone is not sufficient to raise the reader's interest. The ending, in particular is not satisfying.
Rating: 
Summary: When the implausible becomes plausible
Review: THE LION'S GAME is my first Nelson DeMille novel but clearly it will not be my last. His writing style kept me on the edge of my chair and at times I started to sweat from the suspense. It's very easy to get lost this novel. Reading THE LION'S GAME was like watching a film in my mind. I have often wondered what techniques authors employ to induce readers to become intensely drawn into the world of their novels. I don't have the answer, but believe I am on the trail of focusing a few particular writing skills. Two aspects of DeMille's writing are noteworthy.
First, throughout the novel, DeMille is able to seamlessly move from first person pronouns (the hero, John Corey) to third person pronouns. Later, he manages to employ the same skill with Asad Khalil, the anti-hero. In particular, I found the phone conversation between the two men nothing less than fascinating. It was written in the first person for both hero and anti hero. What emerged was a life-like conversation - pictures in the mind. Due to DeMille's skill of moving from first to third person, he was able to create a vivid picture of both characters' motivations. Good and evil in this novel is not black and white, it is grey. DeMille's writing skills, particularly his seamless ability to switch from first to third person pronouns, creates realism to his characters that we rarely witness in novels.
Second, the capacity to make implausible situations plausible is another important skill. A 747 jumbo jet independently and successfully lands at New York's JFK airport with the entire crew and all passengers dead - except for Asad Khalil. To me with no technological knowledge of commercial jet travel, I accepted the idea. Yes, although implausible, DeMille had me believing that jets can successful land without a pilot at the helm. I remained lost in the pages of this book until the scene where Asad had cornered Corey and Kate behind a small boulder. As a sniper, Asad employed a silencer and a telescopic lens, but Corey and Kate elected NOT return gunfire. They feared that upon hearing their gun shots, the Secret Service agents would enter the situation thereby giving Asad additional targets. At that point, the novel stopped creating pictures in my head - the implausible didn't plausible. In my mind, by returning gunfire the Secret Service would be able to identify Asad's location and take him out. In fact this scene forced me to stop reading. With great frustration, I describe the scenario to a retired Special Forces sniper who later was part of a SWAT team. He informed me that the actions of Corey and Kate were common procedure under such peculiar circumstances. Well - DeMille does his homework and I was able to finish this grand book. What I thought was implausible was common.
I found the end quite unnerving, but had a rare kind of realism that infrequently appears in such novels. I am hoping that DeMille will bring back Asad and Corey for a final showdown. Yet, I doubt this will happen - too implausible.
I still don't have the answer to my question, "what makes an author create pictures in the mind of the reader?" But - I do know that DeMille has this rare skill and I will continue to read his work.
Rating: 
Summary: Good read, disappointing ending
Review: This Demille book is very well thought out all the way until the ending. Following 600 pages of suspense and speculation, I felt the denouement was abrupt and disappointing. I won't detail why, as this could ruin the book for those reading it. Other than my disappointment with the ending, the rest of the book was wonderful. It was a joy to follow Demille's portrayal of John Corey as a cynical, humorous ex-cop working for the FBI. I did find myself laughing out loud a few times. Asad Khalil is an excellent villain; Demille gets in his mind, helping the reader understand why he does what he does. I noticed a few reviews indicating that some information about Khalil and Libya is factually incorrect. While I cannot confirm that, I do think that Khalil is a great example of the bad guy who uses religion to justify horrendous crimes--a zealot who will stop at nothing to complete his jihad. All in all, an excellent book. I just acquired Demille's The Gold Coast, and I look forward to experiencing more quality storytelling.
Rating:
Summary: Reads Like Today's News
Review: This is the only DeMille book I've read and after reading this book I do want to read some of his others. I read this book about two years ago, closer to 9/11 and this was a very errie read. I will not summarize the book, others already have. Sometimes it seems as though game plans are being laid out for terrorists. It was a very very quick read, the characters were believable and it was like a semi non-fiction because it reffered to many real events. It is a long book about 600 pages, you can read it over a long snowy weekend.
| 
