Customer Reviews

General's Daughter

5 star:		(87)
4 star:		(60)
3 star:		(27)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a novel that showcases many of DeMille's strengths as a writer--it manages to be incredibly sad in parts, and utterly hilarious in others. This is a military detective story, and probably the best one I've ever read. DeMille's authenticity as regards military life in the modern Army is total--he transports the reader into the military culture--which is a culture derived from American culture but nonetheless profoundly separate from it.

The daughter of the Commanding General of Ft. Hadley has been murdered under bizarre circumstances. DeMille's protagonist, Warrant Officer Brenner, a detective of the Army CID, is detailed to discover who, how, and why. This novel is written in the first person from Brenner's perspective and in this novel this perspective works brilliantly. Brenner and his teammate, WO Sunhill, discover that finding the answers to the riddle is like peeling an onion--with multiple layers of intrigue and corruption surrounding the circumstances of the victim's death. Brenner's observations about the investigation, military life, and his approach to crime-busting are all fascinating, possess a wry but sad humor, and contain a gritty authenticity that make this story highly plausible. The characters crackle with life and realism. The story develops smartly and never drags.

This is one of those books that you won't put down. The ending is climactic and startling--and incredibly sad. I was depressed for days after reading this novel, but since then I have read it several more times. This book is an incredibly "good read" and anyone who likes suspense novels will enjoy it thoroughly. Few will read this novel without being moved by it.

When Nelson DeMille gets going, there are few fiction writers to beat him. Other than "Finnegan's Wake" in Sanskrit, there's nothing more difficult for a reader than putting down "Plum Island" in the last 150 pages. "The General's Daughter" actually is the reverse, though, pulling you in quickly and then running out of steam.

The concept grabs you fast: A female Army officer is found bound, naked, and dead on the rifle range of a Southern military installation. A Criminal Investigation Division warrant officer is pulled from his undercover case to investigate the homicide, and learns about the victim's secret life, which basically consisted of rough sex games that connected to her interest in aberrant psychology and her own wounded past.

DeMille provides some details into what this is all about, with descriptions that are quite graphic, though more in a clinical than salacious way. I didn't have a problem with this, though I can see why others would. Not only is the victim sexually active, she is actually quite eager to be hurt. At one point, she talks about being raped by a male character as the only time she found him "interesting."

This is thin ice for a writer to skate on, but DeMille carries it off because his depiction of the character, Capt. Ann Campbell, is both vivid and compassionate. DeMille works the reader's libido, creating an edgy, lusty portrait much like Sharon Stone did on screen in "Basic Instinct," the same year of this book's publication. Yet the more you read of her, the sorrier you feel.

"Why do some men think they have to be knights in shining armor?" we read in her journal. "I am my own knight, I am my own dragon, and I live in my own castle."

The problem with "The General's Daughter" is none of the living characters seem as alive. Not only do they lack Capt. Campbell's dark spell, they are rather inert and soulless. Paul Brenner, the CID investigator, has some good wisecracks but his tough-guy routine wears thin.

With him is former flame and rape specialist Cynthia Sunhill who DeMille needs in this book not only to give Paul someone to talk to by way of exposition but also to remind us from time to time that rape and suchlike are bad things most women really don't like. But DeMille's attempts to create some romantic interest between the two investigators feels forced, and by the end of the book, fairly absurd.

Also a problem is the mystery. Though well set up, it just didn't make much sense when it was over. Like other reviewers here note, there are too many suspects and too little is done to fill the reader in on how, other than gut instincts, the investigators come to focus on one. There's a slow crawl to the end, a sudden resolution, and a number of questions DeMille strangely leaves unanswered, like the reappearance of a ring and the disappearance of a material witness in another case.

In the end, I couldn't get Capt. Campbell out of my head, and I'm guessing DeMille couldn't either. After the first 100 pages, the book never seems to go anywhere without her in it. Even though her story has its share of logic gaps, too, she's so erotically high-charged in her uncomfortable, heroic way you kind of skirt over them until after you get through the novel. "The General's Daughter" is one mystery where the victim is more interesting than the crime.

Ann Campbell, an army captain and daughter of a famous general, is found dead. With consideration of her position and her father, the army doesn't want this becoming a media event. A military undercover investigator and a sex crimes specialist are brought in to investigate the case. Although you might think you have it all figured out, keep reading. Each secret that's are uncovered about the General's daughter will keep you guessing.

This was the first Nelson Demille book that I read and it got me hooked. His characters are true to life and his story lines are full of twists, turns and surprises

I am a book snob. I refuse to see a movie of a book I really like. I also seldom read a book after it's been made into a movie. That explains my reluctance to read "The General's Daughter". I was however going into Demille withdrawal and having read all of his other books had no choice. This is a great book. The story grabs you and you can't put it down. It's a fairly complicated story with a lot of villians. If fact almost every character in the book is a real jerk. All of Mr Demille's main characters are the same people with different names. The men are caustic, mid 40's, strange sence of humor. The female lead is about fifteen to twenty years younger and madly in love with caustic 40 year old men. I don't find this to be a problem. This book is a page turner. I didn't expect the ending which is unusual. I thought he laid the ground work for assisted suicide.
Read this one, it's not as good as Plum Island, The Charm School or Lions Game but it's a great book from a great author. Actually read everything he's written it's worth the time.

With 164 other reviews here you don't need much from me. No, I'm not a large fan of Mr. DeMille but two of his books have caught my interest: this one and UP COUNTRY which coincidently have the same character, Paul Brenner.

This is a very satisfying read and though the murder case is kinky and unpleasant the writing and humor along the way will keep most readers reading. His partner, Cynthia Sunhill also of CID, adds repartee as they verbally play off one another. The story flows along very well and anyone who has been in the military will find the dialog or jargon fairly familiar. For those who did not spend time in uniform, Mr. DeMille does his best to demilitarize the jargon into everyday language. So many things in this novel ring true. Hope he writes another concerning these CID people, makes for very interesting reading.

If you are looking for a past bestseller from a decade ago that still offers good reading you might want to look this one up. It's worth it.

Semper Fi.

I didn't think I'd like this book one bit. A friend had recommended it to me, and I never thought a military thriller would grab me. But doggoneit, this book is one good read. Another good sign is how well I can remember this book a year and a half after I actually read it. DeMille is a good writer. he keeps the story moving, and the reader enthralled... even though this book has very little in the way of action. All the real action occurs before the novel begins. It's the unraveling of the mystery that makes this book so fascinating. Whoever thought a bunch of people walking around and talking to people would be so well done as to keep the reader up all night? Well, this book will make you a believer. Definitely a cut above a regular thriller, DeMille is a talented writer, and I definitely will read more of his work in the future. An intelligent, well crafted novel.

This is mediocre DeMille, far below the level of his fine "Word of Honor."

The general concept of the book is excellent, although the reaction of CPT Ann Campbell to her "betrayal" while a cadet is more than a little over the top. So is the supposed venality and corruptibility of virtually every single field grade officer at Fort Hadley, save one. It really doesn't work, not least in the goldfish-bowl environment of a small post, where a senior officer can't look crosswise at a pretty girl without setting the tongues to wagging. The author has let shock value get in the way of sound execution.

As a retired Army officer I was disappointed at the very large number of technical errors. DeMille, a combat veteran as a junior officer, has the junior-officer-and-below bit down quite well, but stumbles at the more senior level with which this story deals. Colonel Fowler was General Campbell's executive officer, not his "adjutant." (Generals don't have adjutants.) Aides-de-camp wear special insignia, not branch insignia such as infantry. Many ranks are wrong for the person's assigned job. Staff duty officers do not, under any circumstances, go out to inspect the guard. Military police officers wear helmets only on parade and they're not armed with .38s. And so on.

My point is not to nitpick. My point is that when your plot relies on willing suspension of disbelief, you had better not put very many feet wrong on the milieu. OK, yeah, a mistake here and there -- but this book is studded with them.

Characterization is also a problem. Cynical antihero Paul Brenner exceeds his authority so often in so many ways that it's hard to picture him as effective in a service that values (overvalues) consensus. The two facets of the victim's character are unreconciled and probably irreconcilable. The victim's boss -- even as a specialist -- would have had a helluva time making captain, let alone full colonel. Brenner's partner/sidekick/ex-lover is probably the book's most believable character, even though she is the least clearly drawn of the major players.

Finally, without giving anything away, the identity of the perp is evident many, many, many pages before the climax.

Mr. DeMille, in sum, this is just another potboiler, far below your abilities. You are way too good for the airplane-read genre.

I have enjoyed a previous novel or two from Mr. DeMille, but I have to admit being somewhat relieved when this novel finally sputtered to a halt. The story draws you quickly into the classic murder mystery setting--there is a closed-off, highly conservative community that is rocked when one of its members is killed by one of its anonymous members. Sex is a predominant theme in the crime, and the detectives find many of the characters have a grave weakness for illicit sex as the investigation into the murder of Captain Ann Campbell proceeds.

The book quickly becomes bogged down by too much detail with description after description of the sort...car A parked 16.2 minutes before car B's tread created a mark near the hoofprint of a deer sighted by a person who slept with the driver of car A's mother. You don't feel, that when the perpetrator is identified and his/her reasons given, that this was a particularly difficult crime to solve. There was no aberrant psychology at work, and the ending was predictable.

Although somewhat shallow, the writing is simple and straightforward. The same can be said of the characters DeMille draws to lead us through this tale. DeMille can always be counted on to provide some mixed feelings about the Army, and this book is no exception--that the Army and its personnel are basically sound, if often inefficient, but they doen't interface with reality or civilian life very well. It's a fun and easy-to-follow story, but you won't put it down after the final page to contemplate the writer's talent or the story's intensity.

I am so glad that I read this book before I saw the movie, as it was so much better. The story is about the body of a girl who is found bound and naked on the firing range of an army base. To make matters worse she is the daughter of The General. The case is passed on to Paul Brenner and Cynthia Sunhill who have to try and solve it without going outside of the armies rules and regulations. This becomes quite difficult when they stumble across corruption and the daughters secret life. The book moves at a fast pace after the initial character building and kept me hanging on every word. Great mystery Novel.

Mr. DeMille is a new author for me, so I have no basis of comparison with his other novels. His writing style is easy and quick to read and he obviously knows a lot about the military.

This is a murder-mystery is set at an army base that has many disreputable and corrupt officers. The female victim has a sad background, is very manipulative and tormented pschologically. This novel has few positive things to say about men in the military. The main character, Paul Brenner, has wit and self deprecating humor which offsets some of the gruesome details of the murder investigation.

The ending is a little weak, but for the most part I enjoyed this book.