The Lions Game [Hardcover]

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Oxmoor House
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446931381
• ISBN-13: 978-0446931380
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (519 customer reviews)

More About the Author

I was born in New York City in 1943. My father was a Canadian, serving at that time with the American Navy, and my mother was a Brooklyn native, trying to figure out how to grow a Victory Garden for the war effort.

My family moved to Elmont, Long Island, New York in 1947 where my father was a house builder, and my mother was a homemaker raising four boys.
I attended Elmont public schools, played football, ran track, and was on the wrestling team. I graduated Elmont Memorial High School in 1962 and spent the summer at the beach.

I attended Hofstra University, but left before graduation to join the Army in 1966. I served three years in the United States Army as an infantry lieutenant and spent one year in Vietnam as a platoon leader with the First Cavalry Division. You'll see that I used this experience in my novels "Word of Honor" and "Up Country."

After the end of my military service, I returned to Hofstra where I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History. I married and had two children, Lauren and Alex, and eventually divorced.

I held a series of good and bad jobs between 1970 and 1974, and in that year, for some reason I can't remember, I decided to be a writer. My first books were paperback originals, New York City police detective novels, thankfully all out of print and hard to find.

In 1978, I published my first major novel, "By the Rivers of Babylon," which was a commercial and critical success. Since then, I've written fourteen other novels and had a good time creating my characters John Corey, Ben Tyson (played by Don Johnson in the TNT movie of "Word of Honor"), foxy Emma Whitestone, Paul Brenner (played by John Travolta in the Paramount movie of "The General's Daughter"), sexy Susan Sutter, the never-say-die CIA officer Ted Nash, and my favorite villain, Asad Khalil, a misunderstood Libyan terrorist with unresolved childhood issues.

I am a member of The Authors Guild, the Mystery Writers of America (past President), American Mensa (thank God I don't have to retake that test), and I hold three honorary doctorate degrees (thank God I didn't have to study for them) from Hofstra University, Long Island University, and Dowling College.
I'm married to the love of my life, Sandy Dillingham, whom I met while I was on a publicity tour in Denver. We have a son, James, two years old, and he's keeping me young.

There's more about me on my website. Thanks for reading about me here, and I hope you enjoy my novels.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of DeMille's better books, January 20, 2000

By 

Don Ellis (Hong Kong) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lion's Game (Hardcover)

Nelson DeMille has written good books -- The Charm School, Word of Honor, The General's Daughter, maybe The Gold Coast -- and bad books -- Spencerville, By the Rivers of Babylon and Plum Island, which was plum awful. So I wavered a bit before buying...then they announced boarding and I bought it.

It took me 100 pages to get over the fact that this book featured John Corey from Plum Island, but once I finally put that out of my mind, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. You've got to like banter to like this book, but the dialogue was fast and clever. I thought the plot was good and I didn't have the same problems with the ending that other readers had. Under the circumstances and considering the skill of the terrorist Asad Kahlil, it was one of several plausible endings. The nearly 700-page journey was very enjoyable and I would put this in the top three of DeMille's books -- his best being The Charm School and I'll let everyone choose their own number two.

For me, DeMille is a hit-or-miss author. This one hits.

43 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Much better than I expected!, January 16, 2000

By 

Paula Aulton - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lion's Game (Hardcover)

Forget Grisham, Baldacci and the like who have failed with their last books, pickup DeMille. He never fails. The dialogue is witty, believable and delightful. The plot moves along so swiftly I suspect a good many people have called in sick to the office just to finish this thriller. Having worked for the government I'm familiar with their incompetencies and find it refreshing that an author actually tells it like it is instead of glorifying federal law enforcement. John Corey is, of course, what everyone thinks of when you mention New York cop, cynical and a whole lot more intelligent then expected. This book, like the General's Daughter, grabs you at the beginning and does not let go. After being disappointed in Plum Island I was a little leary of reading another DeMille but this one does not disappoint, actually it's probably worth reading a second time. Not only is it a good thriller but it's funny. There were parts I had to read aloud to my spouse--calling the terrorist a 'psycho camel jockey' was priceless and just one of many of the book's amusing quips. Buy this book, you can't go wrong!

53 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't read reviews or blurbs - Read the book, January 13, 2000

By 

Peter Giordano (Williamstown, MA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Lion's Game (Hardcover)

The best way to read a book by Nelson DeMille is to avoid all reviews or blurbs or anything that will give you even the slightest idea of the plot. After a series of excellent books he has earned my trust. Therefore when I saw he had a new book out I bought it without knowing a thing about it. Lucky for me it wasn't a diet book. And even more lucky for me, every element of the plot came as a complete surprise (and what could be better when reading a thriller?)

Even better, take a day off from work, take the phone off the hook and spend the day with a swell book. I was up until 2AM and I don't regret it.

The book is funny, exciting, and thought provoking. But I won't say more since virtually everything else would spoil the many surprises in the book.