Zen Garden > Book Review - Wildfire by Nelson de Mille

Nelson de Mille is, without doubt, a MASTER story teller. He is among my favorite authors. I can honestly say that I don't think that I have read any of his many books that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed.

I started several years ago with a book called "Plum Island." It introduced me to de Mille's two prime characters, namely Detective John Corey, a street-wise, smart-mouthed, ex-police officer and FBI Agent, Kate Mayfield.

De Mille has several sub-characters who also run through some of his books like Ted Nash, an obnoxious, in-your-face antagonist, also an FBI agent, but Corey and Mayfield are the main two.

In Wildfire, de Mille writes about - you guessed it... terrorism, the word on everybody's lips, unfortunately. But it is a terrorist plot with a twist. It involves a plan to eradicate all Muslim based countries on the premise of... well, I can't tell you. You'll have to read it for yourself.

Wildfire is a medium paced novel. It's not like "The Lion's Game," also featuring Corey and Mayfield and Nash.

What I particularly like about Wildfire, and indeed most of de Mille's novels, is the development of his characters. Corey is a thoroughly lovable larrikin who is never short of some wise-ass thing to say, even when he is in dire peril. So many of his snide remarks make me laugh. In fact, I often read them several times because I find them so utterly amusing.

In Wildfire, it would seem that Mayfield is starting to catch Corey's "disease" by virtue of their recent marriage to each other. Either that or de Mille just loves making these comments so often that he has begun to share them between the couple. Either way, it works well.

In my opinion, it would be more enjoyable for readers to follow these characters in the order of the books written. These are:

1. Plum Island (1997)
2. The Lion's Game (2000)
3. Night Fall (2004)
4. Wildfire (2006)

This would enhance your enjoyment of the characters because you will be able to assemble their history in your mind. However, any and all novels can be read as stand alone stories.

Now... to my score. I should let you know that I am a very critical and discerning reader. Books that do not captivate me simply remain unread. I have a rather large stack of them. Knowing that only makes my score for this novel all the more complimentary. Wildfire gets from me a 9.5 out of 10. In a single word - outstanding!

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Gary Simpson is the author of nine books covering a diverse range of subjects such as motivation, self esteem, affirmations, self defense, wealth creation and much more. His many motivation and success articles appear all over the web.

Gary Simpson is a 7th Dan karate master who teaches self defense, motivation, self help and wealth building to students around the world through home study courses. You may reprint this article as you include this author credit and an active link to his web site. Finance - Self Help - Motivation - Self Defense - Personal Growth MotivationSelfEsteem.com