Nelson Richard DeMille (born August 23, 1943) is an American author of thriller novels. His works include Word of Honor (made into a 2003 TV movie starring Don Johnson), The Charm School, The Gold Coast, Plum Island, and The General's Daughter (made into a 1999 movie starring John Travolta).

DeMille has also written under the pen names Jack Cannon, Kurt Ladner, and Brad Matthews.

Biography[link]

DeMille was born in Jamaica, Queens and resides in Garden City, New York, a village on Long Island. He attended Elmont Memorial High School in Elmont, New York, and graduated from Hofstra University.^[1]

DeMille served in the United States Army as a First Lieutenant and saw action in Vietnam.^[2]

He is a member of Mensa.^[3]

Writing style[link]

Many of DeMille's books are written in the first person, and as such his books follow a linear plotline in which the reader moves along with the main character.

Although the tone of his writing varies from novel to novel, one consistent tool is DeMille's liberal use of sarcasm and dry humor.

Most DeMille novels, especially the more recent, avoid "Hollywood endings," and instead finish either inconclusively or with the hero successfully exposing the secret/solving the mystery while suffering in his career or personal life as a result. There are generally loose ends left for the reader to puzzle over, Night Fall being a perfect example.

Works[link]

DeMille often uses Long Island as a setting in his novels, as in The Gold Coast, Plum Island, Word of Honor, and Night Fall. His most recent novels have followed two main characters, John Corey (starring in five novels) and Paul Brenner (starring in two novels). In earlier works, the storylines were completely separate, but there have been hints in the novels that they are part of a larger "DeMille Universe" that references events and characters in earlier novels, such as The Gold Coast and The Charm School.

DeMille has written himself into Up Country and Wild Fire. He spends approximately two years crafting each of his novels due to the extensive research involved, and because he writes them longhand on legal pads with a number one pencil.^{[citation needed]}

His most recent effort, the 2011 Mystery Writers of America Annual Anthology The Rich and the Dead, edited by DeMille, and to which he contributed its introduction and first story, was released May 2, 2011.

DeMille will release his next book, THE PANTHER, in his John Corey series on October 16, 2012.

Bibliography[link]

Joe Ryker Series[link]

1. The Sniper (1974)
2. The Hammer of God (1974)
3. The Agent of Death (1975) - retitled The Death Squad when republished in 1989.
4. The Smack Man (1975)
5. The Cannibal (1975)
6. The Night of the Phoenix (1975)

Stand-alone Novels[link]

1. The Quest (1975)
2. By the Rivers of Babylon (1978), ISBN 0-15-115278-0
3. Mayday (1979, updated 1998) (with Thomas Block), ISBN 0-446-60476-3
4. Cathedral (1981), ISBN 0-440-01140-X
5. The Talbot Odyssey (1984), ISBN 0-385-29322-4
6. Word of Honor (1985), ISBN 0-446-51280-X
7. The Charm School (1988), ISBN 0-446-51305-9
8. Spencerville (1994), ISBN 0-446-51505-1

John Sutter Series[link]

1. The Gold Coast (1990), ISBN 0-446-51504-3
2. The Gate House (2008), ISBN 0-446-53342-4

Paul Brenner Series[link]

1. The General's Daughter (1992), ISBN 0-446-51306-7 (also made into a movie of the same name)
2. Up Country (2002), ISBN 0-446-51657-0

John Corey Series[link]

1. Plum Island (1997), ISBN 0-446-51506-X
2. The Lion's Game (2000), ISBN 0-446-52065-9
3. Night Fall (2004), ISBN 0-446-57663-8
4. Wild Fire (2006), ISBN 0-446-57967-X
5. The Lion (Sequel to The Lion's Game) (2010), ISBN 0-446-58083-X
6. The Panther (2012), ISBN 0-446-58084-7

Short Fiction[link]

• "Revenge and Rebellion", in The Plot Thickens, ed. by Mary Higgins Clark (1997), ISBN 0-671-01557-5
• The Rich and the Dead (Anthology) (2011), ISBN 978-0-446-55587-6
• The Book Case (2011) (Featuring John Corey)

Fiction[link]

1. Hitler's Children: The True Story of Nazi Human Stud Farms (1976) (as Kurt Ladner)
2. Killer Sharks: The Real Story (1977) (as Brad Mathews)

Recurring characters[link]

Detective Sgt. Joe Ryker, a tired, no-nonsense plainclothesman whose natural understanding of his environment gives him an enhanced instinct for tracking down criminals. A loner, he carries two weapons: a standard police special .38 in an ankle holster, and a shoulder-holstered .357 Magnum. He appeared in the first six novels by DeMille — The Sniper, The Hammer of God, The Agent of Death, The Smack Man, The Cannibal, and The Night of the Phoenix. All were republished in 1989 bearing DeMille's nom-de-plume "Jack Cannon".

John Corey, a retired New York City police detective on special assignment for the F.B.I. He was introduced in Plum Island and reappears in The Lion's Game, Night Fall, Wild Fire, and The Lion.

Paul Brenner, an investigator for the United States Army's Criminal Investigation Division. He was introduced in The General's Daughter and reappears in Up Country.

Asad Khalil, a Libyan terrorist. His family was wiped out in an American military attack in 1986, for which he swore revenge.

Kate Mayfield, an F.B.I. special agent. Introduced in The Lion's Game. She marries Corey and reappears in Night Fall, Wild Fire, and The Lion.

Colonel Petr Burov/Boris/Boris Korsakov Though not explicitly stated, DeMille hints that Burov, the antagonist in The Charm School, is the same person as the mysterious "Boris," a character in The Lion's Game and The Lion who trained Asad Khalil.

Ted Nash, a CIA agent and arch-rival of Corey, who is introduced in Plum Island and reappears in The Lion's Game, Night Fall, and Wild Fire.

Col. Karl Hellman, Brenner's superior officer at the CID. Appeared in The General's Daughter and Up Country.

John Sutter, Susan Sutter, Felix Mancuso, and several other characters of The Gold Coast reappear in the sequel The Gate House.

References[link]

External links[link]

• The "official" DeMille webpage
• Nelson Demille Bibliography
• Military.com article on Nelson DeMille