The Lion's Game: Top-Tier Beach Book Fare
Written: Jul 10 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great suspense and dialogue; completely engaging read
Cons: A bit long, and if language bothers you...well, don't read this book.
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| mgreber's Full Review: Nelson Demille - The Lion's Game |
John Corey is a New York cop, assigned as a Special Contract Agent to the Anti-Terrorist Task Force (ATTF), Mideastern team. This, despite the fact that he knows little about the Middle East, and in fact has requested a transfer to the Irish Republican Army section. As he puts it, ”I don’t have any real feelings about the IRA either way, but at least the IRA babes are easy to look at, the guys are more fun than your average Arab terrorist, and the Irish pubs are primo. I could do some real good in the anti-IRA section. Really.”
Yes, John Corey is a bit brash, politically incorrect, and pretty amusing. (He also uses enough foul language to make sailors blush.) He was a great character in Plum Island, and he’s back in Nelson DeMille’s latest, The Lion’s Game. And while the above quote may sound like Corey is a guy who doesn’t take his job too seriously, that’s far from the truth – when it gets serious and personal, Corey is a load to deal with – as evidenced in Plum Island when he literally disemboweled the bad guy.
Oh yes, The Bad Guy. The novel begins with a suspenseful incident involving an airplane landing at JFK on autopilot, with no radio contact from the crew for hours. I’ll provide no more details – it’s a great series of scenes, and clearly DeMille did his homework, providing enough information and description to make it entirely plausible, without drowning the reader in arcane facts like a Tom Clancy. Suffice it to say that there’s a bad guy at work here, and his name is Asad Khalil. His name translates to “The Lion,” and his game is essentially the entire plot of the novel, so I’ll try and keep details to a minimum. Let's just say that Asad is one bad-mamma-jamma, a perfectly plausible evil machine. Impacted by historical events that anyone over 20 can clearly remember (I hope), Asad is on a mission based on hatred and revenge.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Corey and Khalil’s paths will cross, and it’s definitely a fun read to see exactly how that will transpire. Working with Corey on this case are folks from the CIA, FBI, other assorted agencies, and others from the ATTF, including Kate Mayfield. She’s a nice character – like almost every female character in mass-market novels, she is gorgeous, and she complements that with a gritty but honest personality that juxtaposes nicely against Corey. She’s young, goes by the book, and isn’t quite so willing to ignore, bend or break the rules like Corey. This sounds stock, and of course it is, but it’s done in a way that makes it feel natural and easygoing.
This is due to DeMille’s excellent command of dialogue and characterizations. In all of his prior novels, whether it’s the espionage of The Charm School, the light-hearted intrigue of The Gold Coast or Plum Island, or the traditional adventure/action novels like The General’s Daughter or this novel, it’s always sharp and engaging.
DeMille also employs a neat trick in this novel – interspersing chapter by chapter from the perspective of Corey and Khalil – Corey writes/speaks in the first person, whereas Khalil is written about in the third person. It’s an effective ploy, and helps the reader know what Khalil is up to while still allowing us to hear Corey in his own voice.
The Lion’s Game is a nice upper-tier “beach book,” one that reads quickly and interestingly, but also gives the reader the credit of wanting to know the whole story. DeMille’s prose is the main draw here, but the story is top-notch as well. It’s can feel a bit “stock” at times, but never in a way that makes you think this was phoned in. There are a few things in the novel that didn’t jazz me, two clear jabs at film critics who obviously panned the film The General’s Daughter, which starred John Travolta. It comes across as petty, especially considering how many people didn’t like the film. And, at 673 pages, it’s a pretty sizeable investment of time, even considering how easy it is to read. Still, I have to heartily recommend The Lion’s Game for anyone looking for a good read – it’s well worth it.
Recommended:
Yes
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mgreber
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