The Panther

This was a great addition to a great series. There are enough twists in the plot to keep you guessing.

This review is for the unabridged audiobook version. I've pretty much listened to or read every Nelson DeMille book. The John Corey character is one of DeMille's best--he's got all the toughness, swagger and political incorrectness you want in a mostly real-life action protagonist, but he usually tempers all that with humor, a strong moral code, intelligence, experience and dare I say sensitivity (it's there if you look or listen hard enough). And much of the swagger and political incorrectness are actually internal--the bulk of his wisecracks and jokes are only between him and the listener/reader. Anyway, the guy is pretty complex for a terrorist thriller type book. But the last two Corey books before The Panther--Wildfire and The Lion were disappointing to me. The plots and action seemed pretty far-fetched and Corey's character seemed more forced--like all those disparate pieces of his personality didn't mesh to make him the guy we liked so much in Plum Island, The Lion and Night Fall.In The Panther Corey is back and more amusing and interesting than ever. The plot is reasonably believable and the setting in Yemen is perfect. Some have criticized the Yemen setting, but it's genius:it's a real place, but it's so alien to most of DeMille's readers that he can pretty much say anything he wants about the country and what might happen there. I actually found some of the more objective historical and cultural info on Yemen fascinating, and then was perfectly happy to believe whatever DeMille told us about the the socio-economic, political and geographical that facilitates the action in the book. The story's actually believable in Yemen, where it never would have worked in the US (maybe that's one of the reasons I found the last two Corey books to be a bit too far-fetched).A nice bonus in The Panther is the appearance of Paul Brenner, another of DeMille's memorable characters and strong enough to complement Corey without upstaging him. Actually, there's no way to upstage Corey because the book is all from his perspective, so it's all about John Corey and what he's thinking. Everyone else is filtered through Corey and sometimes that can make the other characters seem a little two-dimensional (just by comparison). Brenner provides a bit of a good-guy foil for Corey with his own humorous arsenal of irreverent, ironic,and sarcastic quips; and his attraction to Corey's wife Kate (even if most or all of that is in Corey's mind).The audiobook is narrated by Scott Brick, a prolific, highly effective and versatile narrator who has become the undisputed "voice of John Corey" over the course of the last several books. Brick's voice and cadences capture all of the personality of Corey without going over the top or getting in the way of the narrative. As I noted, the book is told from Corey's perspective, but other characters do have dialogue and Brick is especially good at modulating his voice to delineate individual characters without breaking the natural bounds of his own vocal timbre. Many narrators (even generally very good ones) make women and children sound odd, upping the vocal pitch or exaggerating cadence or modulation, but Brick is a master and always a pleasure to listen to. The audiobook is 19 hours long. I listened mostly in the car and would actually look for excuses to go out to drive somewhere so I could listen some more. When the book was done it was like a good friend had gone away.

These john Corey novels never disappoint. Creative stories with little left to the imagination. Suspenseful and entertaining I read a few chapters every night and I'm drawn into the story every tim.

This is a thick book which I hoped would never end. This is DeMille at his best, with wisecracking hero John Corey never failing to take every opportunity to make me laugh with his acerbic comments. The scenes are well set and the plot is excellent.

Long and slow, but witty narration. This is just not one of his better stories. Antagonist is lacking in believable development.

I enjoyed reading "The Panther", and appreciated what I saw as an attempt to provide the reader with information regarding Yemen, al qaeda and the middle east. It was fun to question my husband about said information, to see what he thought in relation to his multiple deployments in other parts of that area. In fact, there were quite a few things that I read in the book that my husband has said previously. In my opinion, it's important to know as much as possible about "extremists", so I think that the information provided is very useful.On the other hand, I was also a bit bored by some of the "information dumps" and felt that perhaps there was *too* much detailed explanation. I can see that in order to understand why the differing tribes and governments act the way they do, one must first be informed about their beliefs and motivations, but it seemed like a lot to absorb.John Corey is one of my favorite all-time characters. He is, indeed, sarcastic. He always has been, and hopefully he always will be; I think that he's pretty hilarious. I know that some readers found his constant wisecracking annoying at best, but after living with a Marine for a long time, I have been told that "inappropriate" (sometimes downright "morbid") humor is normal when some people are in dangerous or stressful situations. It's a coping mechanism, and while I have never experienced combat, apparently it's very common -- and can be necessary. Regardless, I find Corey's humor to be entertaining and and think that he's written very intelligently.I also love Kate, Corey's wife, and think that she is written as a strong, intelligent woman. (She also gets annoyed at John's wisecracking every now and then.) To add to the cast of wits, in my opinion, Paul Brenner makes an excellent addition to the core group. He and John work well together, in spite of any misgivings each might have, and they clearly have much in common. It was great to see the pieces fall into place as they worked together to find their enemies... even the unexpected ones. He, too, had some wisecracks that played off of John's, so be alerted that there are plenty of jokes.Bulus was not what I expected, and could have benefited from some Diabolical and Frightening classes. I thought he was an adequate villain, but not a great one; to me, he needed a bigger part, somehow.And Chet gave me the willies.In all, I really liked "The Panther" and would recommend it to others who like a LOT of sarcasm, a well-researched and informative book, and who have enjoyed John Corey et al in the past.

On the back of the book it is described as ‘action packed...’. That isn’t entirely accurate. The action scenes - when they finally arrive - are epic and nail biting. However a very large amount of this bulky tone is about scene setting and tension building.That isn’t a criticism as I had no knowledge of The Yemen before I read this book. I now feel educated as well as entertained! Also you never quite know if danger is lurking around the corner - and sometimes it is!!!Wise-cracking John Corey is all you want from a hero. Similarly it’s great having him share the pages with one of DeMille’s previous stars, Paul Brennan, who is cut from a similar cloth to Corey.The book’s ending contains so many twists you are constantly shocked (in a good way). Worth the wait for it to all ‘kick off’!There are a couple of loose ends (which in no way spoil the main plot) that seem likely to be picked up in the sequel ‘A Quiet End’ (aka: ‘Radiant Angel’ in the USA).I for one have rushed to get that next book to see what happens next.Good work Nelson.

As a study of the history, geography and culture of Yemen, The Panther is very good, and has obviously been well researched, a trademark of Nelson DeMille. The storyline had promise. My previously favourite DeMille character John Corey, along with wife Kate Mayfield, was sent to Yemen as part of a team to track down Bulus ibn al-Darwish, aka The Panther - the Al Qaeda operative behind the bombing of the USS Cole. Unfortunately Corey's far too frequent wisecracks and observations distracted my attention especially as they became more irritating and unnecessary. I suspect this may also have happened to DeMille as the lack of action, suspense and progress in the story was painfully slow to the point of tedium. I had been aware that Paul Brenner, an excellent DeMille character in The General's Daughter and Up Country was to feature in this story, but his role and impact was negligible. Having now finished the book which I had looked forward to reading for many months, it pains me to say that I was bitterly disappointed, have had more than my fill of John Corey, and cannot recognise the well paced, captivating thriller Nelson DeMille usually produces anywhere in The Panther. This was very much a wasted opportunity in my opinion and as someone who has read, and enjoyed, all of Nelson DeMille's books prior to The Panther, I hope that his next work is back to his previously brilliant standard.

As a big fan of the John Corey books I found this well up to the usual standard. The Corey character is perhaps even more irritating with his wisecracks and rudeness but at least he doesn't pretend to be anything other than obnoxious. The tension in the storyline is well maintained and the background is convincingly described. I have been to Yemen and the geography and climate were just as harsh as they are depicted here.

I'm a huge fan of the John Corey novels so I was looking forward to this instalment and I wasnt disappointed. John and Kate travel to Yemen to try and take down the high-ranking Al Qaeda operative known as "The Panther"...can they get him before he gets them? As you would expect from a Demille novel, its thrills and spills all the way, with John wisecracking and Kate rolling her eyes all the way to the ultimate solution. The only reason I have given 4 stars not 5 is because my favourite John Corey novel is still The Lions Game so I thought that should be reflected. That does not detract from the fact that this is a terrific read, the standard of writing as usual is high and I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you havent yet tried this series you certainly should - start with "Plum Island"..and I envy you the journey. More please!

As with other critics, I found the wise-cracking of the central character excessive, unnecessary and made him far less credible than in previous novels. As a manager I would have admitted him to hospital rather than select him for such a mission had I been aware of the displayed character traits. Having read all the previous fiction by the author, I was disappointed by this one. It was one of those books I kept putting down and had to have a break before I could continue. I hope the author regains his quality in his next novel. I did like to see his central character from Up Country reappear in this book.