The Panther (John Corey)
*Starred Review* Following closely on the heels of The Lion (2010), this gripping thriller (set early in 2004) finds antiterrorist agent John Corey and his wife, FBI agent Kate Mayfield, joining an investigative team in Yemen. Their stated mission: to continue looking into the suicide bombing of the USS Cole, the military vessel that was attacked by al-Qaeda in the port of Aden three-and-a-half years earlier. Their unstated mission: to bring to justice the mastermind of the Cole bombing, the man known as the Panther. As with previous Corey novels, the book balances suspense and action with humor: Corey relates the story in the first person, spicing his narrative with witty or sarcastic asides and other entertaining verbal meanderings, as though he’s telling us the story at a far remove, when the tense and potentially deadly events of the mission have been tempered by time and distance. Packed as usual with memorable characters (including one who’s starred in a couple of his own DeMille novels), political commentary, gritty atmosphere, and action, the book will be gobbled up by the author’s many fans, but readers unfamiliar with DeMille’s work (if there still are any) should be steered in its direction, too. It’s a first-class thriller, regardless of whether John Corey is the reader’s old friend or a new acquaintance.       HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: DeMille’s latest will draw on both the author’s sterling track record and an A-list promotion campaign to vault it onto best-seller lists. --David Pitt