3.5 stars
John Corey is an out of the box thinker with a New York state of mind and cavalier attitude.

This case is interesting and keeps you on your toes. It also sees the return of Beth from Plum Island.

I highly recommend you read the books in order or you’ll be left in the dark even though it’s explained, you won’t get the full picture.

I really liked the detective plot line of this book and the John Corey novels, what I didn’t like is the “personal life” plot line. In my opinion, that could/should have been less prevalent. I found myself skipping those parts as they didn’t pertain to the story at hand.

If you don’t mind the personal life sideline brought forth during an active investigation, then you will really like this book/series.

Even though I've always enjoyed John Corey's sharp, occasionally biting humor, I must admit that I struggled with the most recent book in this series. Even though I occasionally laughed, I found the persona of John Corey to be disrespectful for the most part because I just couldn't handle the "humor." He may have been really entertaining when I first started to like him, but circumstances have changed, and John Corey now comes across as a misogynistic pig. In all honesty, the problem might just be that John hasn't developed the same level of social and self-awareness that I have. Regardless, I'm the wrong person to read this series right now.
Even the mystery itself was lacking in many ways.

Great book. It was very slow getting started, but once the action began, it really took off. My husband and I both enjoy DeMille's books.

DeMille books I had read include The Charm School, The Generals Daughter…. I had never read a John Corey story before this one and I will certainly be looking them up now!
John is a retired NYPD officer and has much experience with other agencies, not always in a good way.
His rapid thinking, speechifying, grandiose dialogue is amusing on many levels. Underneath all of this bravado is a truly good cop.
In this story he is recruited by an ex flame to help solve nine murders in a small town.
Full of action and humor, this is a great read. Entertaining and fast chapters make it fun guessing how and who are involved.
Highly recommend. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me this ARC.

good new entry into the john corey series. you know what you will be getting into, no surprises for the ill but not earth shattering and redefining the series.

"The Maze" by Nelson DeMille is a good, fast paced thriller, full of twist and turns in the plot as well as many references to Long Island (which I personally appreciated). Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

John Corey is back -- DeMille's "hero" detective from his previous books is back after an injury/recovery/disability. He's been relaxing until Beth shows up to enlist his help. He tries to infiltrate a PI service that's apparently linked to dirty cops and murder.

I hadn't read any of the previous Corey books, and I'm not likely to go back and catch up if all the books are like this one. I didn't find Corey likeable and far too much of this book involves what's going on in Corey's head. The plot was just not that engaging and far too predictable. The "action" really doesn't even happen until about the last 20% (10%?) of the book. It just took way too long to get to the point. Plus there was a sub-plot that hinted at Russian assassins that went absolutely nowhere -- nada -- no assassins, just a lot of hinting and reference to the possibilities. I will admit that I chuckled a few times at Corey's sarcastic wit, but I just wasn't captured by his charm. I've read a lot of detective/mystery books. I need a likeable, engaging main character (Jack Reacher or Sarah Linton or Harry Bosch) and a plot that builds the suspense slowly to a gripping finish. This is not one of those books.

Many, many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC copy of this! I have read everything by this author. And I have loved everything by this author. This was a joy. Based on the Gilgo Beach Murders, this one will pull you in. If you like the John Corey stories, you will like this one as well. This is a great way to spend a rainy day. Highly recommend to all Nelson DeMille fans. If you haven't discovered DeMille yet, this is a good way to get started.

John Corey, that danger junkie, you know that crazy guy who is addicted to risk and peril, well, he’s back. In between all the sarcasm, sex, love affairs, more sarcasm former lovers and even more sarcasm there is an interesting story about bad cops and a stranglehold they maintain over their departments. I am not sure that the story gets fair play because there is so much politically incorrect “crap” going on and strangely it is embraced, flaunted and repeated yet again.

DeMille is a better writer than this and it is time for his character to grow up, put aside the self aggrandizement and get current. Thank you Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for a copy.

This is my first Nelson DeMille book, but it won't be my last. It was so good, I didn't want it to end, but I also wanted to see the bad guys get their comeuppance. I knew it was a thriller, but I didn't expect it to be funny. Not just funny, laugh out loud hilarious! John Corey's thoughts and what he actually says are completely different, but the reader gets to enjoy his inner monologue.

The only thing I didn't like in this book, and it's just my personal preference, is him referring to himself in the third party. He would say, "I bet they didn't expect that from John Corey". It's just a minor beef, and I can't wait to read another one of his excellent books.

I'm not going to go over the synopsis of the book, because this is a review, not a summary. If you like funny, thrilling, mystery type books, then you'll love this one. It would also be perfect to read during the summer at the beach, since it takes place on Long Island and it's summer. A perfect beach read, that's not a romance or some fluffy book.

Don't read this is if you don't like gritty cop talk, violence, nudity, sex, and a little bit of gore (which I really hate, but was OK with in this book).

Do read this book! You'll love it as much as I did. I highly recommend it.

Thank you to #NetGalley for letting me read this as an e-book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to #NelsonDeMille for writing #TheMaze. Thank you to #Simon&Shuster for publishing this excellent book.

I have been a huge fan of Nelson DeMille since his I first found him in the 80s. (Cathedral was my favorite.) So I jumped at the chance to get an advance look at his latest novel, The Maze. The Maze is the latest in DeMille’s John Corey series. We first met John Corey in Plum Island when he was with the NYPD. Since then he’s gone through a lot of women and worked for a lot of alphabet organizations (FBI et al.) Now he’s out of work and on his way to another divorce.

If you are a DeMille fan, this is a great addition to his oeuvre. John Corey is a fun character, and this is Book 8 in the series. However, as great as DeMille is, I personally am over John Corey. A funny, sarcastic person is so much fun when you first meet, but after a while it starts to wear you down. That’s where I am. One book too many, I think.

The writing and plotting in The Maze are excellent, and if you’re new to DeMille, it reads fine as a stand-alone.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me an eGalley.

DeMille used to be one of my favorite authors. I don’t know if I’ve outgrown him or if I’ve just outgrown John Corey, his sarcastic protagonist in the latest Corey novel, The Maze. I found Corey’s sardonic character to be annoying rather than erudite. I once found Corey fun—like I said, maybe I outgrew his wit.

When a paragraph starts with sarcasm and ends with the same, paragraph after paragraph after paragraph, you eventually have one sticky mess—like a huge gooey dessert that leaves you with a sickly sugar high. I also found it annoying that DeMille inserted John’s thoughts between dialogue, requiring the diligent reader to re-read, looking for quotation marks to distinguish what he said from what he thought.

The plot of The Maze was a typical police procedural—serial killer, prostitutes, crooked cops, dirty politicians, and explosive action. If you like this type of book and can handle the cleverness, have at it.
I will probably read DeMille again if it is a book outside of this series.

My thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for an advanced copy of this book.

This is book 8 of the John Corey series. John Corey is now retired from his last job as a Federal Agent with the Diplomatic Surveillance Group. This book is inspired by and based on an actual unsolved serial murder case, DeMille leads us on a winding and unputdownable book.

I have always loved John Corey. While we all love his dry sense of humor and funny comments, it seemed a little overdone in this book. Still funny, still enjoyable, still a great, fun read! Been too long since we were caught up with John! Thanks, Nelson Demille, for bringing him back.

3 Grizzly Stars
* * *
The Maze by Nelson DeMille was my first reading of this series. I had no past experience with this author or NYPD detective John Corey. This has been an extremely successful series and I could see how that was the case by the quality of the writing.

We are taken on a detailed journey in the search for a serial killer, one that could mirror the unsolved Gilgo Beach murders. What this does is bring to life the horror and the need to find out who this killer is no matter what.

Published by ‎ Scribner on October 11, 2022

Some John Corey novels are nonstop action. The Maze keeps the reader waiting for action to break out. It inevitably does, albeit in a pronged scene near the novel’s end. During the wait, Corey’s snark becomes the story.

Corey is on a three-quarter disability retirement. He can’t take a law enforcement job without losing his disability — not that he could return to law enforcement without crossing all the bridges that he’s burned. Corey is wasting time at his uncle’s Long Island vacation home, idly wondering whether he should become a mercenary while keeping an eye out for an SVR hit team (or anyone else who might want to kill him). While he waits, he’s offered a job with a couple of former NYPD colleagues in a private investigation firm.

Not so coincidentally, one of Corey’s former lovers, Beth Penrose, comes back into his life and bed. She encourages Corey to take the job. When he discovers that the firm hosts parties, complete with hookers, for local politicians and cops, Corey wonders whether Beth is setting him up as a spy. Without waiting to learn the truth, he decides to go undercover and gather evidence of political and police corruption.

The Maze has a lightweight plot. Since the gunplay comes late in the story, the reader is largely left with Corey’s unspoken thoughts. The thoughts are amusing but not a substantial foundation for a thriller. While the plot eventually makes a connection to the discovery of several dead bodies, the corpses add little but background to the story. The Maze left me with the feeling that Nelson DeMille phoned this one in based on an idea that he sketched out on a napkin. At least he didn’t hand it off to his son, as he did with the previous Corey novel. I'm getting the impression that DeMille, like many successful writers, has decided he can feed thin gruel to his base and they'll lap it up.

I recommend The Maze with reservations to John Corey fans because it’s a John Corey novel. To readers who haven’t followed the series, I suggest starting with earlier, meatier entries and working your way forward. If you don’t get around to this one, the world won’t end.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

idk if it's just me but I had to DNF this book cause of the characters. the characters were odd and the story got so slowwwwww

I was not able to finish this book because the main character was such an awful chauvinistic pig. I got to the 6th chapter and could not make myself read anymore. By this point in the book, barely even touching John Corey, the main character, has struggled at least three times with which of the four women in his life he's going to have sex with. Granted from the way it sounded, none of them were interested but obviously that was not something he took into account.
Not for me at all. I could care less what the actual storyline was about since this nauseated me without even getting to that.

Convoluted thriller involving former NYPD Detective John Corey.

After leaving his previous job as a Federal Agent, John is recovering in Long Island when he is asked by a former lover, Detective Beth Penrose, to help her out with an investigation. John is hired by a local security company and infiltrates their organization trying to get to the bottom of a series of murders in the area.

I was quite disappointed with this book and it took me forever to read. I did not like the cocky jerk of a main character who is sexist in the extreme and thinks quite highly of himself and his abilities. For the longest time, I wasn't even sure what the story was about as it was slow going and boring. The rest of the characters in the book were total stereotypes. The action (in the maze), when it came, went on and on and ended exactly as expected. I can't think of any reason to recommend this one but I would guess that the serious Corey fans will check it out. The plot went nowhere for ages until something finally happened. I did not enjoy Corey's interactions with the other people in the book and I won't be reading another in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for this e=book ARC to read and review.

The Maze is my first book to read by Nelson DeMille. I found it hard to get interested in the story, but slowly got into the book. I will try to read another book by DeMille because of his popularity.