John Corey is back, along with his wife, on his next mission to Yemen to stop The Panther, a vicious terrorist who in the opening scene killed tourists. He was also responsible blowing up the Cole. In any case, it’s up to Corey to put a stop to him.
One thing you can say about Corey is that he is full of jokes and wise cracks throughout this long 642 page book. I think it takes a certain talent to keep up the laughs for over 600 pages but DeMile does a great job. It doesn’t matter if Corey is speaking with someone, or when he is thinking about something, there is always a good laugh to come.
In one part for example, when Corey’s wife is forced to wear a balto, Corey says why don’t you wrap it around your eyes when you go shopping. Her reply was why don’t I wrap it around your throat. There is constant banter like this throughout the book and there are times when you see other characters join Corey in his brand of jokes and wisecracks.
While the laughs are there throughout the book, the suspense seems to have disappeared. Yes, of the 642 pages, the action and the suspense never really begins until the last 100 pages of the book. I was also surprised that I read so little of The Panther’s character since Corey’s character took up over 90% of the book.
I enjoyed the Lion’s Game and The Lion and the biggest reason was that not only did you have Corey but you also had a terrorist who was killing people throughout the book, making it more suspenseful since the point of view switched between Corey and the terrorist. The balance was great and the suspense was top notch.
In looking at some of the reviews on Kindle, many of the people said that the book was too long and should have been shorter. That’s an excellent way to sum this up. The other part is Corey’s character. I happen to think he is funny but not everyone has the same sense of humor as I do so there will be people who won’t like his jokes or feel that he is getting worn out. That’s the risk that DeMille takes when he writes this book.
Books like The Lion’s Game and The Lion had a tremendous amount of suspense and both of those books deserve more than five stars. I enjoyed The Panther but not enough to give it five stars. Four stars is more than fair for this one.
Ron Hummer
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