Rating: 
Summary: A Wonderful Book!
Review: I not only enjoyed but connected emotionally to this story about star-crossed lovers and the idiot... husband who impedes their togetherness. Keith, our protagonist, is a retired Cold War veteran who returns to his hometown to find Annie, his high school and college sweetheart whom he left in Ohio when wanderlust proved more powerful than regular lust. She, in the intervening twenty years, married the local bully, Cliff, a man whose power as the town's corrupt police chief is exceeded only by his paranoia. A sociopath walking the fine line between sanity and absolute psychosis, Cliff responds not well to Keith's arrival, and soon enough the situation becomes both intolerable and amusing, as Keith is more than ready for the challenge Cliff presents. What I found so impressive on an emotional level was the way Cliff's absolute asinine-ness (if that's a word) worked. ...However, his misuse of power, exaggerated though it is, is entirely believable, and the consequences -- the veritable imprisonment of his wife, his personal manipulation of the law to his own ends -- relatively terrifying. Annie's plight bothered me, as her lack of power in the face of the larger, more evil, hopelessly crazy husband basically left her a sitting duck, even when Keith was on her side, and even when she herself chose to fight back. Of course, as this is a modern American novel, we all know how it ends. Anyway, I took away a star for three reasons. First, I don't like Keith's hippie friends. They contribute very little to the story, and I find them distracting... The author was trying to demonstrate just how "over" that era is, and no, these two don't fit into contemporary society at all... They have next to no point, except to get in the way and distract readers who're bothered by their dimness. Second, I missed Annie's children. The idea of her having children was, I suppose, to connect her more to her husband -- and to explain why she stayed with the nutcase for twenty years. But if she HAS children, they should be important even if they're in college and not home. Are they crazy like their dad? Do they emulate him at all? Does she like them? How does he treat them? The children presented a number of questions that remain hanging in the background. Last, the author tantalizes readers with snippits about exactly what Keith did for the government for twenty years and throws in Keith's old boss to tempt him back to the government fold. Yet, he never ties up these loose ends. I think this book has a necessarily wide scope, but I think some of the width means that the author had to incorporate more information than was germane to his main plot line. But there are consequences to that. However, this is a marvelous book! If you're looking for a chunky summer read, this is a great bet.
Rating:
Summary: C'mon. Lighten up on Nelson. He's still great read.
Review: You know. Reading some of the reviews of Spencerville, I'm surprised DeMille had the guts to ever pick up a pen again. He's a sexist. He's cruel to women. His hero is an idiot, blinded to the emotional superficiality of the woman he pines for. And the villain, Cliff Baxter, is a bad, bad man. We can hope he's worse than DeMille is in real life. All of this criticism of the whims and vicissitudes of the FICTIONAL characters reminds me of, to name a few, Hemingway, Dumas, Ludlum, Chandler and Michner. I think Michner wrote 750,000 pages without treating women like anything but fleshy Tonka toys. So I like DeMille. And I read to be entertained. Wilbur Smith. Dennis Lehane. Robert Parker. Francine Matthews. Elizabeth George. All of these people create events that I have never seen replicated in my life, with heroes and heroines who do things I could never do. That's why, I think, it's called fiction. I like Keith Landry and I like Annie Prentiss because they both made mistakes. Landry thought that if he helped clear the woods of dragons, someone would care. There are men like this. I have been lucky to know a few. I suspect DeMille is one of them. And Annie never realized that she didn't have to SETTLE on anyone who came along. Prince Charming may only live in Reader's Digest or Redbook or Cosmo, but there are some good guys out there and Keith Landry was one of them. And he came back for her. Golly. I must have been completely misled. I think that's kind of inspirational. We make mistakes, we have the courage to ask for forgiveness, and the people we choose to be with have the fortitude and the wisdom to forgive us. Then we move on. So it's a love story. Maybe that's where DeMille let us down. He didn't tell us that he was going to write about would-be-heroes after the war was over. After Vietnam was shown for the charade it was with 60,000 dead and 10 times that number emotionally crippled. Maybe he should have warned us that he, having served in Vietnam, like the aforementioned Dumas, was writing "Twenty Years After." Billy Marlons belongs on The Wall, with the footnote "for wounds suffered 13,000 miles away and 20 years ago." And the Porters were idiots who smoked too much grass, but that's what happens when you do a lot of herb. And Charley Adair was like the soothsayer, reminding us of conscience and ethics, and the sacrifice of both and the relentless search for a second chance. I'm still a fan. A little romance never hurt anyone. You critics, lighten up. His best effort? No. An excellent read? Yes.
Rating: 
Summary: pure drivel
Review: Nelson DeMille has written some excellent books such as the Gold Coast and Charm School. However, this book does not even come close to the excellent writing that DeMille has previously shown. The characters are almost cartoonish in their sterotypical portrayals. It is impossible to believe that a man such a Cliff Baxter would reign supreme in the small town Spencerville, and that his wife Annie, would suffer through his neanderthal and emotionally abusive behavior for 20 years, awaiting a rescue from her high school/college lover, Kieth Landry. The ending, which I gather is meant to be suspenseful, is so outlandish and implausible I nearly laughed from the stupidity. If you like to read for the sake of reading, you might be able to stomach this book. If you want a book of depth and meaning, pass this one! Choose the Gold Coast, Talbot Oddysey or any other DeMille book but this.
Rating:
Summary: Better than most people give it credit for
Review: I've seen plenty of complaints about this novel, pertaining mainly to the characterization. I truly felt that DeMille painted his character portraits perfectly. Keith Landry, the ex-operative who comes home to Spencerville to get back together with his college love, Annie, who suffers through a marriage devoid of emotion. The story does slow down from time to time, but I kept turning the pages. Only a well-crafted novel can produce this, and Spencerville pays off. I felt that I knew the characters, the surroundings, and felt comfortable with everything in the novel. Though the ending certainly wasn't shocking, I truly enjoyed this novel from cover to cover. John Misak, Author of SOFT CASE and TIME STAND STILL
Rating: 
Summary: Spencerville
Review: Mr. DeMille's writing style cannot be beat! Even when the main character turns out to be an overrated wimp, it's hard to put the book down. As usual, this novel has lots of action. The writing cannot be faulted, but the hero is less than heroic. He does not live up to his self perception and in most situations, is saved by others. I look forward to more real men as DeMille's main characters. If Keith Landry was supposed to be a loser, the author portrayed him perfectly.
Rating:
Summary: where De Mille gave up
Review: Before this book the author seemed capable of great things and certainly showed a lot of promise. Spencerville seems to be sections of several different books, the most interesting what happens when the opposing sides of the Vietnam Generations reunite 20 years later.
At some pont however he decided to stick a small melodrama into the pages and let it all go, and since then he has written nothing more than page turners, the last embarassingly bad.
Rating:
Summary: Domestic abuse is not his best subject
Review: DeMille has written some excellent, fast-paced, engaging action about terrorists, cops, and spies. He creates an identifiable, likeable, male lead. But this is one of his weakest works, about a small-town guy who returns from sadness in the big city, only to find himself immersed in the small-time life he thought he had set aside years ago. Enter the old girl friend, with an abusive boy friend and soon you have a struggle between good and evil with an antagonist not worth our time. He makes the hero less heroic. And the dark side of domestic abuse simply does not rouse the interest, passion, or even sympathy for the characters of his other books. I'd pass on this. There are so many other, great DeMille works: Cathedral, Rivers of Babylon, Charm School, Plum Island, and more.
Rating:
Summary: Offensive
Review: DeMille has written some really good books, "Word of Honor" and "The Charm School" are great reads; this one is an embarrassment that I hope he regrets. DeMille is never going to get any awards from feminists, but his books generally contain at least one strong and effective female character. In "Spencerville", the abused wife behaves with incredible stupidity and spousal abuse is exploited to a sickening degree. Especially offensive is the last scene where the lovers go off gaily together; after being imprisoned, chained, raped, and brutalized by her husband for days, there is not even a suggestion that the woman might need medical attention before rushing into the arms of her paramour.....garbage. An all-time low [I sincerely hope] for DeMille.
Rating:
Summary: Spencerville
Review: This is an airport book, nothing more, but if you tend to alternate between heavy reading and light, DeMille is a good author in the latter category. This is the third novel of his I've read, and it's filled with action, wise-cracking characters, and a somewhat predictable plot that starts with promise and ends a little short of fulfilling it. It's entertaining, and the villian is truly vile. Take it to the beach.
Rating:
Summary: A Dud
Review: Keith is downright pitiful to have been this supposedly top secret, highly trained government agent. Annie is an even bigger loser. She dumped the love of her life for a promiscious lifestyle and then played mind games with a psychotic husband for over twenty years. And we're supposed to believe that Keith has loved her for umpteen years and was never able to move on. I can't think of a book so filled with unlikeable characters. I'm sorry I wasted money on a hardback book about a bunch of intellectually challenged characters.
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