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A review by andimontgomery
Plum Island by Nelson DeMille
4.0
Plum Island was written more for the male audience, but it still captivated me from the very beginning. The lead, John Corey, is a NYPD detective who is recovering from several gunshot wounds at his uncle’s beach house on Long Island. He is reluctantly pulled into a murder investigation by the local chief of police when a local couple whom he knows are murdered. They worked on Plum Island, a secret government research facility run by the Department of Agriculture.
John is in his mid-40s and has a sarcastic stream-of-consciousness way of thinking, a cocky attitude, and witty verbal one-liners. He can be annoying at times. And yet, he is VERY astute in his work. He has the deep-seated instincts of a competent detective. Yes, he has frequent unfiltered—and politically incorrect—thoughts about women’s bodies. Even so, I enjoyed his refreshing character very much.
The writing was so compelling and easy to read. And the mystery had many layers. While I prefer to watch police procedurals rather than reading them, this book was very good. Even though it was released twenty years ago, the plot didn’t really seem dated…except for a few references, like The Readers’ Digest, and limited references to mobile phones.
I understand the author intended this to be a standalone, but decided to make it a series based on the response to this book. I’m glad he did, and will definitely continue reading!
John is in his mid-40s and has a sarcastic stream-of-consciousness way of thinking, a cocky attitude, and witty verbal one-liners. He can be annoying at times. And yet, he is VERY astute in his work. He has the deep-seated instincts of a competent detective. Yes, he has frequent unfiltered—and politically incorrect—thoughts about women’s bodies. Even so, I enjoyed his refreshing character very much.
The writing was so compelling and easy to read. And the mystery had many layers. While I prefer to watch police procedurals rather than reading them, this book was very good. Even though it was released twenty years ago, the plot didn’t really seem dated…except for a few references, like The Readers’ Digest, and limited references to mobile phones.
Spoiler
The one part I didn’t enjoy was that the researchers conducted animal testing on Plum Island. NOT cool. At least this wasn’t a significant component of the plot.I understand the author intended this to be a standalone, but decided to make it a series based on the response to this book. I’m glad he did, and will definitely continue reading!