Two recent offerings from Nelson DeMille explore his similar but different sub-genres and both are well worth your time.
Radiant Angel is another in the series about ex-NYPD detective John Corey, the wise-cracking hard-boiled contract investigator. As ever, the dialog owes much to Robert Parker’s Spenser books although Corey’s wry remarks tend to be more often in the nature of side observations to the reader, except when pushing some official’s buttons. This particular novel also draws on the Clancy approach with Russians and technical terminology. It is a true thriller in the sense of guns, terrorists and chases.
The Cuban Affair, by contrast, is without a doubt an homage to John McDonald and his creation, Travis McGee. With the settings in Key West and Cuba, and the inevitable maritime phases of the story, there is a great deal of mention of Hemingway and some reflection on his biography during his Cuban residence, but those are mostly color. This story is in Travis McGee’s voice and it develops by acting pretty much as McGee would have. The difference is that McDonald’s stories were pretty much straight up: damsel in distress, reluctant participation, ferret out and deal with bad guys while getting injured or having boat blown up in process; girl goes her way in the end. In DeMille’s hands, while the book follows the same general arc, the plot is broader and twistier, and the big question is whether we really grasp who the good guys and bad guys are. In addition to enjoying the thriller part of the novel, you’ll be interested in DeMille’s take on the “Cuban thaw”; for those who think socialism would be just wonderful, it offers glimpses of what life under such regimes has always been.
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