I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

This is another exciting book from Nelson DeMille. The writing was shared with his son, Alex. The main characters, Army investigators Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor, are reminiscent of John Corey and Kate Mayfield in previous DeMille novels. The plot is timely and revealed a lot about the steamier and dangerous side of Venezuela.

This was a good, mostly fast-paced action thriller.

Things I enjoyed: various locations primarily Afghanistan and Venezuela described in detail with a high level of authenticity, character development particularly of Brodie and Maggie, inner dialog, humor in the face of danger.

The first half was a fast, engaging read, but about halfway through I felt that the pace dragged, particularly on the way to and in the jungle. The ending seemed sudden and incomplete after the laborious river and jungle scenes.

Overall this was an entertaining thriller but maybe not my favorite DeMille. Looking forward to how these characters develop in future books.

Nelson DeMille delivers a great read in The Deserter and introduces the reader to an amusing, sarcastic, and quite the character in Scott Brodie, an Army Investigator. Ripped for the headlines (One might remember the real life story of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl who deserted his post in Afghanistan.) Nelson starts with a deserter in Afghanistan and produces a thrilling ride as Scott and his new partner, Maggie Taylor, are sent to bring Captain Kyle Mercer to justice and back home. Sent to Venezuela, Brodie and Taylor hunt for Mercer. And what a great local for DeMille to expand upon. His description of Venezuela in the socioeconomic and political crisis that is Maduro's Venezuela is powerful. DeMille keeps one guessing through the final pages.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for this electronic copy.

Substitute Scott Brodie for John Corey, Maggie Taylor for Kate Mayfield, Colonel Brendan Worley for Ted Nash, set the story in Venezuela and turn it into a manhunt for Kyle Mercer who stands in for Bowe Bergdahl (a real US Army deserter) and it could be any of DeMille’s books.

After Kyle Mercer deserted his battalion in Afghanistan he was captured by the Taliban, miraculously escaped and found his way to Venezuela. Something happened, he came off the rails, he lost the brotherhood of the US Army. Chief Warrant Officer Brodie and Warrant Officer Taylor are tasked by the Generals to locate, apprehend and return Mercer to the United States to face trial by court martial for desertion and maybe a few other things. Brodie wise-cracks at every opportunity, Taylor is the voice of reason and neither of them completely trusts the other. Brodie suspects Taylor of being CIA. Taylor has some idea of what derailed Mercer but is not talking, concentrating her effort on the mission at hand. They both embody “Do What Has To Be Done” but very differently.

Navigating the corruption in Venezuela heightens the tension of every situation. The local currency is worthless, the people are starving, theft, murder, bribery is an every day, every minute activity. Oh yeah, our heroes are thrown in the thick of it and they find themselves in one insane situation after another. From their arrival at the airport to their transport to El Dorado the safest hotel in Caracas, to a whorehouse in one of the poorest slums, Brodie and Taylor don’t need to do something stupid to find themselves in trouble, it finds them everywhere they look, everywhere they go. And this is before they start the hunt for the fugitive Mercer. They go here, they go there, they look around, they are chased, they do the chasing, they shoot it out and then shoot it out again for over 400 pages, which felt a bit too long,

DeMille, as always, is observant, well informed and allows us a close up look at the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the the US Embassy in Caracas, the nefarious CIA plotting and scheming to accomplish those goals we will never understand, and the political culture of Venezuela under the Madura regime.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance copy.

This is the beginning book in a new series by Nelson DeMille and his son. Kyle Mercer was a great officer in the Army and one night disappears in Afghanistan. Declared a deserter, after he was filmed by the Taliban and offered in trade for other prisoners of war. He shows up a year later in Caracas, Venezuela by a fellow Army soldier. The Army assigns Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor, CID officers, to go find him and bring him back. There starts the long journey through all kinds of adventures with lots of humor and action, to keep it interesting and hard to put down. I love DeMille's other books, especially John Corey, and Scott is very reminiscent of John. I highly recommend this book.

Huge fan of Nelson DeMille!! It started with John Corey and Plum Island and now I can't stop. Loved this book!!! I can definitely say I will not be visiting Venezuela anytime soon. I'm not really sure how Brodie and Taylor were able to survive their little adventure. Between Caracas, the whore house and Kyle Mercer, the odds were not in their favor. Plus, Brodie did the exact opposite of everything that he was told to do and always took the most dangerous course of action. The book is action packed and throughout Brodie and Taylor are trying to figure out the mystery behind Mercer's desertion. Mercer was a killing machine and was able to out smart pretty much everyone to remain alive. The biggest question I have is- would Brodie and Taylor really be able to capture him??? My answer is no. How do Brodie and Taylor get out of Venezuela??? Why did the book have to end there? Brodie and Taylor remind me of John Corey and Kate Mayfield. (Although I love Corey and his wit more than Brodie) Taylor still felt like a mystery to me, like there is still more to learn about her. All around I loved the book- the characters (especially Luis), story and writing style.

Definitely recommend the book, especially if you were a fan of DeMille's previous books. I look forward to reading more books by the author. Hopefully there will be more with Brodie and Taylor, although I wouldn't mind more with John Corey!!!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Simon & Schuster through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Desertion is serious. When the deserter is a member of Delta Force, it’s even more serious. When the deserter is a decorated Captain in the Delta Force, that’s even worse. Then, this Captain shows up as a prisoner in a Taliban video. Next, he is rumored to have escaped and disappears into thin air. Another classified video shows Mercer beheading five Taliban before looking directly into the camera and ‘resigning his commission.’ Lots of people want to find Capt Kyle Mercer and bring him to justice.

Any clues about a deserter are to be brought to the Army. A few years after the reported escape, a former bootcamper of Mercer’s was in a Caracas bordello, saw a man he thought was Mercer and approaches him. The guy just up and leaves. The report of a Mercer sighting is relayed up the chain of command. The head of the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division assigns Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor, an investigative team known to aggressively carry out the CID’s motto: “Do What Has to be Done” to find, arrest, and bring Mercer back to the US. But under no circumstances, was Mercer to be interrogated.

Brodie and Taylor arrive in Caracas and meet their local contact, a Colonel Worley who is of questionable loyalties (Army or CIA? Hard to tell) and agendas. He helps Brodie and Taylor navigate the many conflicting issues currently at play in Venezuela. But so does Brodie's driver, Luis.

It’s a complex chase through various gangs, cops, secret police, barrios, and hookers, but Brodie eventually finds Mercer’s favorite girl at the bordello (that specializes in underage girls). Her information sends Brodie and Taylor deep into the jungle where they find Mercer leading a bunch of local mercs that do the bidding of Venezuelan General Medoza.

Brodie and Taylor are captured, but then they escape and take Mercer into custody. Now loyalties are seriously tested, and trust becomes a casualty.

Full disclosure here: I’m a Demille fan and have most all of his books, many before we started this blog. Three books of his are reviewed here. The first book of his I read, The Charm School, is still probably the best spy novel I’ve ever read. His book, The General’s Daughter, made the big screen. Alex is his son who works in various capacities in Hollywood. Demille is a decorated Vietnam vet and proudly cites his Mensa membership. Why The Charm School hasn’t been made into a movie or one of those 6-10 episode features is baffling. He also does something interesting. People who donate money to his favorite charities get their names used as characters in his books. Two such characters appear.

While reading this book, I saw multiple parallels with Apocalypse Now. Brodie and Taylor = Captain Willard; Mercer = Kurtz; the jungle setting far up a forgotten river; the lawless band of loyal followers; and more. Make no mistake about taking up this book. It’s a beast. Nearly 600 pages. But that’s what Demille writes. Big books. But it’s all tightly sewn together with the smartass Brodie, the deeply bruised Taylor, the deserter Mercer, the settings and the people who struggle day to day to survive in what was once a vibrant country.

If you like our selection of books that we post on this blog, this is one not to be missed.

Get ready for a long and entertaining read. Father/son team Nelson & Alex DeMille will take you on a journey reminiscent of Apocalypse Now, although the overall flavor of the tale is much different. While the ride is not smooth at times, the thriller/spy aspects will definitely keep your nose buried in the book until the end.

It was refreshing to read a book in this genre where the characters are not enshrined with superhero status. Yes, protagonists Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor excel in their roles as Warrant Officers, but they are not perfect. They make mistakes and bad things can happen to them. The storyline matches their skills, as the plot never jumps into uncharted waters with descriptions of an impossible plot that could never happen. There are multiple layers of misdemeanors and crimes, and Brodie/Taylor have to dig through all the clues to find the truth.

The book might seem overly lengthy at times, due to the deep description. Most of the time I didn’t notice the length as the details were laced with Brodie’s thoughts, much of them sarcastic or irreverent. Seeing the world through his viewpoint kept the book rolling. Without his constant interpretation of events, the book would have certainly bogged down under its own weight.

For those concerned, there is harsh language including f-bombs (more in the beginning than were probably necessary, though these thinned out as the book went on). One early scene had Brodie and Taylor in an embrace while hiding from the Caracas police, with sophomoric references to Brodie’s excited genitalia. One can only wince when an author stumbles down this path. Unfortunately, the DeMilles went from subtle hints concerning the sexual undertones to blatant high school double entendres. The unsaid internal dialogue from Scott Brodie was, at the very least, an unwelcome distraction. Although the number of instances slowed as the ending came closer, they never completely stopped.

Thankfully, none of these small bumps in the road were strong enough to destroy a powerful story. The majority of the descriptions and dialogues moved the story forward at a rapid pace and the ever-present danger kept me interested throughout the entire book. Definitely recommended. Four-and-a-half stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance electronic copy of this book.

One lesson I’ve learned from both The Deserter and The Cuban Affair you don’t want the DeMille father and son writing team to write a travel guide about your country. Nelson in The Cuban Affair then Nelson and son, with The Deserter strip away all of the misguided romance about the socialist countries of Cuba and Venezuela, two countries that are about a half bubble from being classified as a failed state.
The DeMilles’ expose all of the ugliness, brutality and corruption of those governments their military and financial elites while showing all of the misery of the lower classes with their flashes of beauty.
This particular travel guide, so to speak, begins in Afghanistan, another miserable hopeless country. Captain Kyle Mercer, a member of the elite Delta force deserts his men during the middle of the night, but is soon captured by the Taliban. After enduring a miserable two years Capt. Mercer manages to escape, but resigns form the US Army on video in a spectacular manner. Since Mercer had undergone Taliban captivity he could have returned home and maybe faced lesser charges than desertion. But since two soldiers were killed while hunting for Mercer, nothing will be forgiven. Ever.
After about a year, a reliable source reports seeing Mercer in Caracas, Venezuela. Two Army CID investigators, Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor are sent to investigate the sightings and if possible bring Capt. Mercer home to face charges. Hints are given that if he isn’t bought home alive, then no harm, no foul.
Brodie isn’t a trusting guy, but his suspicions are always counter-intuitive. He thinks there is more to Mercer’s story so despite strict orders, he really wants to question Capt. Mercer.
At the same time he thinks his new, open- book partner Maggie is full on mess of contradictions and lies. Of course that doesn’t stop Brodie from thinking about having sex with her almost constantly. Or so it seemed. This was distracting and distasteful as he was Maggie’s superior and it seemed more about nailing her than having a relationship with her. I’m not a prude; it was just way over done and became tiresome..
Almost from the beginning Brodie and Maggie have to fight to stay alive in Caracas. They do so with the help of their driver, Luis, who risks the life of his entire family because he has helped them. Brodie insists that Luis immediately take his family to the US to seek asylum after one particular shoot-out. Brodie knows, however, that the US has a spotty record of giving asylum to allies who have helped the US, starting with Iraqi interpreters. The Nelsons make the secondary characters as interesting as the protagonists.
Brodie and Taylor soon pick up Mercer’s trail which leads them into the incredible beauty of Venezuela’s wilderness, the jungle bordering the Orinoco River. It is in this “heart of darkness” that they really encounter danger.
The almost non-stop action makes for a heart-pounding page turning story. I say almost because sometimes Brodie and Maggie spend too much time debating their next course of action with Brodie wanting to go off the rails and Maggie wafting to go by the book. No surprise as to who usually wins.
The dialogue switches from thoughtful to witty, with Maggie easily keeping up with Brodie’s smart aleck ways.
Some readers have been put off by the DeMilles’ descriptions of the economic and political reality of Venezuela. I wouldn’t eliminate a word as the DeMilles seamlessly work the information into the story. The smoothness of Nelson’s writing seems to have been passed down to his son.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Another DeMille winner - written by father and son this time

I have been reading Nelson DeMille books for years. The first was PLUM ISLAND, which I loved, so I went back and read some of his earlier books and I've read every book since.

I enjoyed THE CUBAN AFFAIR, his last book, but I absolutely loved this book. I thought the two protagonists played off each other perfectly, making for a very funny book besides being a top-notch thriller.

Chief Warrant Officer Scott Brodie and Warrant Officer Maggie Taylor are a team of the U.S. Army CID (Criminal Investigation Division). They are tasked to bring back Captain Kyle Mercer, Delta Force, who deserted in Afghanistan. They get word that he was seen in Caracas, Venezuela and head there to bring him back for trial (hopefully but some think that it might be better to bring him back in a body bag).

They arrive in Caracas, a city in upheaval as people are fighting the current regime.

This is a story of war and the impossible things some soldiers are told to do. Brodie and Taylor quickly realize they haven't been told the whole story and are doing their best to do what's right.

I highly recommend this to anyone that likes military thrillers with a big dose of humor thrown in.

I received this book from Simon & Schuster through Edelweiss and Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

This is a fantastic and heart pounding read. The Demille brothers have done a wonderful job. Two CID investigators are sent on a mission to retrieve an Army deserter. Their mission is filled with many missing pieces that make it a very dangerous one. The story is filled with witty conversations and fast paced action. The characters Maggie and Scott are finding their way slowly through this partnership as they decide how much they can trust each other. Scott is a hard nosed devil may care investigator with an infantry mindset. Maggie is careful and pragmatic and seems to always want to follow the rules. As the story unfolds so does the conspiracy and dangers.

This is a well thought out and detailed story. It looks into motives and how even the person with the purest interests can be led down a dark path. In the end redemption is something you have to claim for yourself or die trying.

I enjoyed this new Nelson DeMille novel. Action packed, laced with wise-cracks and humor, this novel takes us to Venezuela, following a wanted army deserter. Full of suspense and many twists and turns, this was certainly a thrilling ride. Thank you NetGalley for the early reader edition. All opinions are my own.

I’m a huge Nelson DeMille fan and have been since his iconic PLUM ISLAND and THE CHARM SCHOOL. In his first collaboration with son Alex, he has again hit a home run. THE DESERTER might be based on the desertion of Bowe Bergdahl but it is so much more. In what I hope is the beginning of a new series, we meet US Army Investigators Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor. And I love these characters. The deserter in question is Kyle Mercer, a member of the elite Delta Force who disappeared in Afghanistan and was captured by the Taliban, apparently something that didn’t go well for his captors if a shocking video can be believed. Two years later, Brodie and Taylor are dispatched to Caracas, Venezuela to capture Mercer when he has been spotted casually sitting in a bar at a major hotel. Sounds simple enough. Not a chance. Not in DeMille’s world. What follows is a wild ride with plot twists and turns, break-neck action, and the fabulous dialog that is a DeMille staple. I loved this story. Highly recommended.


DP Lyle, award-winning author of the Jake Longly and Cain/Harper thriller series

Army CID investigators Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor find more than the man they are looking for when they deploy to Venezuela in search of Captain Kyle Mercer. Mercer went missing and was believed- based on video- to have been captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan. He's a Delta Force officer with special skills (of course) and access to classified defense information. There were and continue to be questions, however, about what exactly happened (this is reminiscent of the Bergdahl case). Brodie and Taylor are somewhat mismatched in their approach to the problem- he's a loose operator and she's more of a rule follower. What they both find is a pot of trouble in a mess of a country. This is a totally plot driven novel with some big implausibilities and a couple of things that nagged at me (umm, the CIA is a part of the USG not an enemy organization to the US Army) but you know what- it's a fast and entertaining read (although it does sag in the middle). There are good atmospherics from the Venezuelan setting (what a nightmare). Fans of DeMille know what to expect and I suspect they will be satisfied. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. This would make a good movie.

Agents Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor are tasked to go to Caracas, Venezuela to extract Army deserter Kyle Mercer and bring him back to face justice. I’m not going to detail any further of the plot since most reviewers already have done so, repetitively.

What I liked about the novel is that the setting is not the Middle East but one of the most dangerous and conflicted areas of South America. Brodie and Taylor navigate through crime infested slums and humid, predator filled jungles to get their man. When we do meet Mercer, his story is compelling, heartbreaking and worthy of a DeMille character who is neither hero nor villain.

Taylor isn't fully fleshed out as a character, but her motivations are explained adequately. Brodie could be exchanged for a favorite DeMille character from his other novels, John Corey. The same wisecracking, sex obsessed, spontaneous get-into-hot-water type of government agent who won’t stand down until he gets the job done. Reading from a woman’s perspective, I was annoyed by Brodie’s obsession with his “beautiful” subordinate. Why do they always have to be beautiful? Doesn’t the government send them to harassment training where they can lose their jobs for even looking at a subordinate in a suggestive manner? This may be nitpicking but just once, I’d like for a professional partnership to be just a professional partnership without the constant referral to the suggestion of hooking up while embarked on a dangerous mission to capture a Delta Force officer. How can you be on top of your game if you’re constantly thinking about sex?

If it was intended as comic relief to balance the intensity of the action, I didn’t find it funny. It distracted from the action and took me out of the story because it was so frequent and unnecessary. For that reason, I can’t grade this book as one of DeMille’s better efforts.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The author has a tendency to be either very good or so-so at best with his novels. This one falls in the so-so category. It may be that he co-wrote this one, but I tend to believe it is just not one of his better efforts. The main character is a copy of the main character from The Cuban Affair with just a different name. The story bogs down in several places and then has a very abrupt ending leaving a reader somewhat unsatisfied. It is like he got bored with it and decided to wrap it up.

I received a free Kindle ARC courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher. It was with the understanding that I would provide an honest review and post it on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook page.

This is another of Nelson Demille’s excellent books. I will avoid all of the spoiler alerts and simply say this was a terrific read from start to finish. The theme of the book becomes clear early in the book and Mr. Demille does well in staying on the topic. This book doesn’t contain fillers or distractions. Everything is connected and the story gets more exciting and intense like all of the other Demille books I have read. The story was descriptive throughout, well thought out and researched, and very entertaining. One of the main characters, Scott Brodie reminded me a lot of John Corey, from other Demille books. He manages to sprinkle in many funny and appropriate quips from Brodie, as he always did with John Corey. For me, the humor really adds to the quality of the book as it always seems to come as the book intensifies and provides a much needed lighter moment. I have read several Nelson Demille books and have enjoyed all of them. The Deserter is right up there with his best work. Looking forward to reading more of his books.

I enjoyed this book and look forward to more featuring these characters. I did find it a bit slow going - especially during the first half of the book. However, once I reached that point, it was no holds barred.

Nelson and Alex DeMille have written a very long, very complicated book with a very creative conclusion. They’re exploiting the publicity of a real-life Army deserter into an even more complex and unlikely conspiracy.

The book’s protagonists remind me of two of DeMille Sr.’s other characters (John Corey & Kate Mayfield). The plot drags on while their motivations are explored. Violence is outrageously ominous and stereotypical. Yes, we understand that there are so many bad guys who are really bad and desperately deserve to die a very bad death.

The final scenes on the river are ridiculously contrived for Scott Brodie to coerce his partner into following his lead.

The three-star rating starts with the five-star writing. It deducts one star for the excessive length and another star for the unrealistic plot twists.

Nelson DeMille and his son, Alex DeMille team up to write a fast paced, easy to read and enjoy novel that will leave you wanting more.
Captain Kyle Mercer, an elite Delta Force officer, reappears after being held by the Taliban as a prisoner for 2 years. He has killed his captors and then disappears after telling the U.S. military he resigns. Did he desert before or after the Taliban captured him? Acting on a tip from a former soldier who spotted Mercer in Venezuela, the Army sends CID officers Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor to find Mercer, arrest him and bring him to the United States for court martial, Venezuela is a country collapsing under a corrupt regime. Not knowing who to trust, Brodie and Taylor have to try to find Mercer without help form the local authorities, They travel to Caracas and then end up in the jungle with no back up. You have to read the book to see what happens in the jungle and it will be well worth your time. I hope there is a follow up to this book because I want to know more about these characters!
Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.