Nelson DeMille's Blog

May 2023

It’s been awhile since my last Newsletter, which means (pick one) A) I’ve been busy; B) I’m lazy, C) I have nothing to report.

The correct answer is A. I’ve been very busy putting the finishing touches on Blood Lines, which will be published October 10. This will be my second co-authored book with my son, Alex, and the second in the series featuring Army CID Agents Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor who we first saw in The Deserter. If you haven’t read The Deserter, this is a good time to purchase it.

What is Blood Lines about? Well, you can read all about it on my website page and also pre-order it, based on the glowing description of the book on my website.

Or, if that doesn’t convince you, sometime before publication of Blood Lines I’ll post the first chapter or two on my website, and Alex will do the same. Hope you enjoy the chapters enough to pre-order the whole book. You can check out Alex’s website here.

My last novel, The Maze, will come out in trade paperback on June 13. This is the larger paperback edition, almost as big as a hardcover but less expensive. Perfect for the beach or the pool, or even a swiftly flowing stream or a stagnant body of water.

What am I working on now? I’m glad you asked.

I’m putting aside writing for the summer and I’ve enrolled in a sensitivity class at Columbia University. My goal is to become more aware of my readers’ feelings and to avoid microaggressions in my writing. When you see the new John Corey in a future book, you’ll agree that this was time and money well spent.

So, what is happening with John these days? Well, I’m happy to report that Sony TV has renewed their option for the John Corey series, and they’ll be looking for a screenwriter. Unfortunately, the Screenwriter Guild is on strike, so that’s on hold. I belong to the Authors Guild and we’ve never gone on strike. And if we did, I don’t think anyone would notice. In fact, the publishers might be happy if all their authors stopped writing. Maybe the readers would too. Just kidding.

I’ve written two short stories—Rendezvous and The Book Case which are available as e-books. Rendezvous is a Vietnam War story, and The Book Case is a John Corey story, showing John in his early days as an NYPD Homicide detective. I think you’ll like both stories and you can click here for more information.

So, after you’ve read my short stories and all my other books, here’s some suggestions for summer reading: Getting Out of Saigon, by my friend Ralph White. And The Siberia Job by Josh Haven to be published on June 6, which you can pre-order now. Also, another great book to pre-order now is Michael Koryta’s, An Honest Man that will be released on July 25.

Rather than me telling you what these books are about, check them out online and see if they interest you—which I’m sure they will, because I enjoyed them and I don’t like to read.

I enjoy hearing from my readers, so please keep your emails coming, and let me know what books you’re reading this summer. Also let me know if you’ve pre-ordered Blood Lines—I’ll take your word for this—and I’ll chose 5 people at random to receive an Advance Reader’s Copy of Blood Lines which I’ll have from the printer in mid-June, three months before publication date. I’ll even sign it if you want, and include a bookmark.

Memorial Day is upon us, which means summer is almost here, and Memorial Day weekend sales and barbeques are coming. But somewhere along the line we’ve forgotten the solemn meaning of Memorial Day which is to honor the men and women in the armed forces who have given their lives to defend the country. So please take a moment on Memorial Day to remember those who made the supreme sacrifice. And I will especially remember my brothers in the First Cavalry Division who did not return from Vietnam.

Have a great summer. See you in September.

Sincerely,
Nelson

As many of you may know, I lost my wife last September after a long and very brave fight with cancer, so I haven’t been writing any Newsletters for about a year. But I didn’t want to let the summer pass without reaching out to my readers, many of whom have sent me condolences, for which I thank you.

The first thing I want to share is that I just completed a novel that I co-authored with my son Alex. The title is The Deserter, and it will be published October 22 by Simon & Schuster. So let’s kick off this news with a giveaway of a signed advance reading copy. Submit the name of your favorite DeMille book on my Newsletter page and you will be entered to win

The Deserter was inspired by the Bowe Bergdahl case. You may remember that Bergdahl deserted from the Army while stationed in Afghanistan, then was captured by the Taliban and held for a number of years until he was released in exchange for five Taliban commanders that the U.S. had imprisoned. The Deserter has a different storyline, but Bergdahl’s desertion and capture gave me the idea for this story.

The Deserter introduces two new characters—Chief Warrant Officer Scott Brodie and his partner Warrant Officer Maggie Taylor who are investigators for the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division—the CID. The deserter in the story is a Delta Force Captain named Kyle Mercer who has escaped his Taliban captors and is spotted a year later in Caracas, Venezuela by an old Army buddy. Our heroes, Brodie and Taylor, are tasked with going to Caracas to pick up the trail. Why did Captain Mercer, a decorated war hero, desert? And why is he in Venezuela? All this and more will be revealed in 500 fast-moving pages.

You can check out The Deserter on my website now, and if you push the correct button you can pre-order it now.

Meanwhile, I’ll post one or two chapters on my website before the October publication. Hope you enjoy it.

So why did I choose to co-author a book, The Deserter, with my son? And how did that work out? Well, we’re still speaking to each other and the publisher is thrilled with the finished product, so it worked out fine. In fact, we’re going to continue with Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor as a series, and Alex is setting their next adventure in Berlin.

To find out more about my new co-author, please visit his website www.alexdemille.com.

My 12-year-old son now wants to co-author a book with me about a superhero who plays computer games all day and saves the world from an alien invasion. I’ll think about that.

Meanwhile, my new work in progress is a John Corey book—the eighth in the series. The book, tentatively titled The Maze, returns John to the North Fork of Long Island where he first made his appearance in Plum Island. In a way, John has come full circle in The Maze which opens where Plum Island did—on the back porch of his uncle’s house overlooking Peconic Bay. And, as usual, John is about to get himself into trouble. Publication of The Maze will be—hopefully—fall of 2020.

I’ll keep in touch with at least one more Newsletter before The Deserter is published in October. Enjoy the summer and live life to the fullest.

Best wishes,
Nelson