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Nelson DeMille

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American author (1943–2024)

Nelson DeMille
A picture of Nelson Demille, an American author.DeMille in 2017
BornNelson Richard DeMille
(1943-08-23)August 23, 1943
New York City, U.S.
DiedSeptember 17, 2024(2024-09-17) (aged 81)
Mineola, New York, U.S.
Pen name
  • Jack Cannon
  • Kurt Ladner
  • Brad Matthews
  • Ellen Kay
OccupationNovelist
NationalityAmerican
Alma materHofstra University
Genre
SpouseSandy DeMille
Children3
Website
www.nelsondemille.net

Nelson Richard DeMille (August 23, 1943 – September 17, 2024) was an American author of action adventure and suspense novels. His novels include Plum Island, The Charm School, and The General's Daughter. DeMille also wrote under the pen names Jack Cannon, Kurt Ladner, Ellen Kay, and Brad Matthews.

Biography

DeMille was born in New York City on August 23, 1943 to Huron (1916-1992) and Antonia aka Molly (1919-1999). Huron was born in Hagersville, Ontario Canada and immigrated to the United States on or about 1935. Nelson was predeceaced by his three brothers; Clark (1950-1980), Dennis (1947-2018) and Lance (1957-2022). He moved as a child with his family to Elmont,Long Island where he and his brothers were raised. He attended Elmont Memorial High School where he played football and ran track. There is a street in Elmont, DEMILLE AVENUE named after his father who was a builder who helped develop Elmont in it’s early years.

After spending three years at Hofstra University, he joined the Army and attended Officer Candidate School. He was a first lieutenant in the United States Army (1966–1969) and saw action as an infantry platoon leader with the First Cavalry Division in Vietnam. He was decorated with the Air Medal, Bronze Star, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, and was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.

DeMille returned to the States and went back to Hofstra University, where he received his degree in political science and history. He had three children, Lauren, Alexander, and James. He lived in Garden City, New York.

DeMille's earlier books were New York City Police Department (NYPD) detective novels. His first major novel was By the Rivers of Babylon, published in 1978 and still in print, as are all his succeeding novels. He was a member of American Mensa and the Authors Guild, and president of the Mystery Writers of America. He was also a member of the International Thriller Writers, who honored him as 2015 ThrillerMaster of the Year. DeMille held three honorary doctorates: Doctor of Humane Letters from Hofstra University, Doctor of Literature from Long Island University, and Doctor of Humane Letters from Dowling College.

DeMille is the author of By the Rivers of Babylon, Cathedral, The Talbot Odyssey, Word of Honor, The Charm School, The Gold Coast, The General's Daughter, Spencerville, Plum Island, The Lion’s Game, Up Country, Night Fall, Wild Fire, The Gate House, The Lion, The Panther, The Quest, Radiant Angel, and The Cuban Affair. He also co-authored Mayday with Thomas Block and The Deserter and Blood Lines with his son, Alex DeMille, and has contributed short stories, book reviews, and articles to magazines and newspapers both online and in print.

DeMille died of esophageal cancer at NYU Langone Hospital – Long Island, on September 17, 2024, at the age of 81.

Writing style

DeMille signing books at BookExpo America in 2019
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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, such as in Night Fall.

Works

DeMille's home Long Island is a setting in many parts of his novels, as in The Gold Coast, The Gate House, Plum Island, Word of Honor, Night Fall, and Radiant Angel. His most recent novels have followed two main characters, John Corey (starring in seven novels) and Paul Brenner (starring in two novels, with also a part in Corey's sixth novel). 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 spent approximately 16 months creating each of his novels due to the extensive research involved, and because he wrote them longhand on legal pads with a number one pencil.

Written books

John Sutter series

  1. The Gold Coast (1990)
  2. The Gate House (2008)

Characters

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

Paul Brenner series

  1. The General's Daughter (1992)
  2. Up Country (2002)
  3. The Panther (2012), Paul Brenner teams up with John Corey on a case.

Characters

Paul Brenner, a criminal investigator/ Special Agent for the United States Army's Criminal Investigation Division (CID). He was introduced in The General's Daughter and reappears in Up Country, and The Panther. In the latter novel he has retired from the Army and works as a Special Agent for the US State Department's Diplomatic Security Service (DSS). His girlfriend is US Army CID investigator/ Special Agent Cynthia Sunhill.

Colonel Karl Hellman is Brenner's superior officer at the CID. He appeared in The General's Daughter and Up Country.

John Corey series

  1. Plum Island (1997)
  2. The Lion's Game (2000)
  3. Night Fall (2004)
  4. Wild Fire (2006)
  5. The Lion (2010), direct sequel to The Lion's Game
  6. The Panther (2012), John Corey teams up with Paul Brenner on a case.
  7. Radiant Angel (2015)
  8. The Maze (2022)

Characters

  • John Corey, a former homicide detective, medically retired from the NYPD with 3 gunshot wounds, now working for the FBI’s Anti-Terrorist Task Force. He was introduced in Plum Island and reappears in The Lion's Game, Night Fall, Wild Fire, The Lion, The Panther, Radiant Angel, and The Maze.
  • Kate Mayfield, an F.B.I. special agent. Introduced in The Lion's Game. She marries Corey and reappears in Night Fall, Wild Fire, The Lion, The Panther, and Radiant Angel.
  • Asad Khalil, a Libyan terrorist. His family was wiped out in an American military attack in 1986, for which he swore revenge.
  • 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.

Joe Ryker series

  1. The Sniper (1974)
  2. The Hammer of God (1974)
  3. The Agent of Death (1975)
  4. The Smack Man (1975)
  5. The Cannibal (1975)
  6. The Night of the Phoenix (1975)

Characters

NYPD Sergeant Joe Ryker, a tired, no-nonsense detective assigned to the NYPD Detective Bureau, whose natural understanding of his environment gives him an enhanced instinct for tracking down criminals. A loner, he carries two weapons: a standard police snub-nosed .38 Special revolver in an ankle holster, and a .357 Magnum revolver carried in a shoulder-holster. He appeared in the first six novels by DeMille. All were republished in 1989 bearing DeMille's nom-de-plume "Jack Cannon".

Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor series

Both co-authored with DeMille's son, Alex DeMille.

  1. The Deserter (2019)
  2. Blood Lines (2023)

Characters

U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division Special Agents Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor first join forces on a mission in Venezuela to locate and detain an infamous Army Special Forces deserter, and then in Berlin to find the killer of a CID colleague.

Stand-alone novels

1. The Quest (1975, re-released 2013)
2. By the Rivers of Babylon (1978)
3. Cathedral (1981)
4. The Talbot Odyssey (1984)
5. Word of Honor (1985)
6. The Charm School (1988)
7. Spencerville (1994)
8. Mayday (1998)
9. The Cuban Affair (2017)

Characters

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.

Short fiction

  1. The Mystery at Thorn Mansion (1976)
  2. Life or Breath (1976)
  3. "Revenge and Rebellion", in The Plot Thickens, (1997)
  4. The Rich and the Dead (2011)
  5. The Book Case (2011)
  6. Death Benefits (2012)
  7. Rendezvous (2012)

Other novels

  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)

Non-fiction

  1. The Five-Million-Dollar Woman: Barbara Walters (1976) (as Ellen Kay)

Contributed works

  1. The Plot Thickens (1997)
  2. Getting Your Book Published for Dummies (2000)
  3. Takeoff! (2000)
  4. The Best American Mystery Stories (2004)
  5. Dangerous Women (2005)
  6. The Book that Changed my Life (2007)
  7. In the Shadow of the Master: Classic Tales by Edgar Allan Poe (2009)
  8. The Rich and the Dead (2011)
  9. The Book Case (2011)
  10. Long Island’s Gold Coast (2012)
  11. OHEKA Castle (2012)
  12. Death Benefits (2012)
  13. Rendezvous (2012)
  14. The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook (2015)
  15. The Books that Changed My Life (2016)
  16. Great Minds Think and Write: 50 Years of the Mensa Bulletin (2016)
  17. The Artists’ and Writers’ Cookbook: A Collection of Stories and Recipes (2016)
  18. MatchUp (2017)

Filmography

Novel Adapted Year of Adaptation Film/TV Extra Information
The General's Daughter 1999 Film – Paramount Starring John Travolta
Word of Honor 2003 TV – TNT Starring Don Johnson
Mayday 2005 TV – CBS Starring Aidan Quinn

References

  1. Dawson, Mackenzie (September 22, 2017). "NYC author likes to look for his own books at the bookstore". Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  2. "Nelson DeMille – About DeMille". nelsondemille.net. Archived from the original on April 18, 2009.
  3. Morris, Deborah S. "Nelson DeMille, 81, bestselling author, Long Islander, has died". Newsday. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
  4. https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/09/18/nelson-demille-dead/
  5. "Nelson DeMille, prolific author of action-packed adventures, dies at 81 - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. September 18, 2024. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
  6. "Table of contents for The book that changed my life". loc.gov.
  7. The author stated that he wrote in longhand on legal pads, most recently in the acknowledgements following The Panther.
  8. "Nelson DeMille web site, The Quest". Archived from the original on December 31, 2013. Retrieved June 1, 2019.

External links

Library resources
By Nelson DeMille
Novels by Nelson DeMille
Joe Ryker
John Sutter
Paul Brenner
John Corey
Stand-alone
Film adaptations
Category
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