Customer Reviews

Lions Game

5 star:		(202)
4 star:		(108)
3 star:		(60)
2 star:		(36)
1 star:		(24)

 

 

I confess that I love the character, John Corey, the tough talking, wise-cracking NYPD homicide detective that the author first introduced in his mega bestseller, "Plum Island". I was, therefore, delighted to find him headlining this novel. No longer with NYPD, John Corey is now with the federal government's Anti-Terrorist Task Force (ATTF).

When a Libyan terrorist, Asad Khalil, known as "the Lion" decides to defect to the West, a jumbo jet from Paris carrying him, as well as hundreds of other passengers, is approaching the runway at JFK airport in New York City. The plane has been incommunicado and remains so, when it lands. Something is terribly wrong.

Asad Khalil is apparently on a mission, and his goal is to kill by any means necessary all those who were involved in the 1986 bombing of Libya that killed his family. He leaves a swath of carnage as he seeks to complete his personal jihad. John Corey and ATTF colleague, FBI agent Kate Mayfield join forces, and when these two are not busy trading light-hearted banter, they are at the top of their game in trying to stop Asad Khalil from completing his mission.

This is a top-notch action thriller. The author is definitely at the top of his game with this book. The book presents perspectives of both John Corey and Asad Khalil, so that the reader knows what makes them each tick. Great dialogue, non-stop action, and interesting characters, including one of the most intriguing and interesting villains of all time, are some of the hallmarks of this page-turner. With a fiendishly clever plot, peppered with many twists and turns, this novel is sure to thrill those readers who enjoy action packed thrillers. I loved this book!

Lion's Game is the first Demille novel I have read, and I was thrilled with it. I had difficulty putting it down. It was interesting that when I looked up Demille on Amazon, it mentioned, among other similar auithors, John Forsythe, who wrote Day of the Jackal. I read that one thirty years ago and considered it great. The movie or its remake did not do it justice. While reading Lion's Game, before seeing that reference on Amazon, the book frequently reminded me of Day of the Jackal.

Anyway, Demille's book portrays the travels of a Libyan killer, Asad Khalil, who travels about the United States, seeking to avenge the bombing raid on Libya that occurred in 1986. The book takes place in 2000. It also follows the work of the hero, John Corey, a NYPD detective, temporarily assigned to the FBI's Counterterrorism unit.

Demille is able to put the reader inside the heads of both his main characters as the story progresses. The suspense builds rapidly and the reader is locked into the story within a few pages.

Demille's writing style is excellent. He balances suspense with humor, and while parts of the story are a bit contrived, it never goes overboard in that way.

I would strongly recomment this book to anyone liking spy or detective stories, and I am looking forward to reading another of his books.

I read this book before 9/11 and at the time found it contrived, flippant and generally disappointing. After 9/11, I find it extremely offensive.

The book begins rather well with a riveting description of the bombing mission over Lybia in 1986 and proceeds downward from there. Asad Khalil, the terrorist du jour, lost his family in that bombing raid while concurrently deflowering his reluctant girlfriend in defiance of the law, religion, etc. He also murders said girlfriend at the same time to stop her from screaming in fright as the bombs drop near their rooftop love nest. This, in his twisted way of thinking, gives him one more reason to hate the vile Americans.

Swearing vengeance - and possibly to escape his own death sentence based on his tryst on the roof - Khalil vows to make the Americans pay. He receives training in the necessary skills to murder and maim from a dubious character named "Boris" and presto-chango turns from a bungling juvenile rapist into a brilliant terrorist operative who can thwart the powers that be at every turn.

From that point on there are so many twists and turns in the story it makes one sea sick. No matter how absurd the circumstances, Khalil manages to be three or four steps ahead of everybody while killing infidels left and right.

Enter John Corey complete with a new girlfriend, Kate, (what ever happened to the "love of his life" from Plum Island?) to somewhat save the day. Never mind that just about everybody is dead by the time Corey and Kate manage to figure things out.

DeMille's books up to now have been quite good. I especially liked Plum Island. Corey's quick witted character fed up with administrative overkill and bungling in that book made sense. The John Corey in "The Lion's Game" has the same "I-don't-give-a-rip" attitude, only this time his witticisms come off as juvenile and very annoying. To sum up my feelings at the end of the book - the weak come off as strong and the strong end up dead. If you like that kind of plot, you will love this one.

Another fantastic novel by DeMille, I can't believe some of you guys aren't eating this up. If you like suspense/mystery/cop/thillers this is it. Middle East terrorist stuff, love, sex, guns, murder, this book has it all.

I found a fault in "Plum Island" and it was that the antagonist wasn't believable enough because the book was written in the first person in its entirety and therefore the actions of the bad guy only happened in front of the main character. The Plum Island story preceded this book so read that first if you haven't already been turned on to DeMille. There is enough back story so that you don't have to read it first, but it would make the second book better in my opinion.

Anyway, in this one, DeMille uses the first person in a chapter and then goes to the third person in a chapter, jumping back and forth between our hero and the murderous terrorist. What it does is make the novel flow much better than the previous one and turn it into a real blockbuster. It is interesting how much better a novel is when you are able to feel and empathize with the bad guy a little bit. Excellent story the whole way through.

I can't recommend DeMille enough, he has it all, page turning books with suspense and a wonderful sense of humor. And when I say funny, I really mean good solid witty humor here, the man has a razor sharp wit and a great insight into the male/female relationship. Strong recommendation here, it's my second favorite after "The Gold Coast" which is a novel in a class by itself.

I just finished the Lion's Game, and it was a bit spooky. Without giving anything away, the plot obviously centers on a terrorist from Libya determined to inflict violence in the US. The book was published in 2000 (I believe), and so there are lots of references to the US Intelligence failings related to the World Trade Center bombing in the early 90's. DeMille portrays the intelligence community as still recovering from the oversights that allowed that incident to occur. Of course, from the post 9/11 perspective, that incident seems almost trivial in scope. I can only wonder what DeMille felt/thought when people similar to his character Asad, carried out the 9/11 attacks.

Apart from these issues, the book was classic DeMille. He truly is a master story teller and I'm looking forward to more DeMille books with John Corey as the primary character..

An awesome story with a solid plot I recomend it to all my friends

NYPD Homicide cop John Corey ("Plum Island") is back and this time he's on the trail of the Lion.

Asad Khalil, the Lion, earned this nickname because he's good at what he does. He's a wanted terrorist. He lost his father to murder and the rest of his family to the 1986 American bombing of Libya, so he was ripe for training and he bought it all, dedicating his life to ridding the world of infidels. Now he is ready to wreak havoc on America. He surrenders to U.S. authorities in Europe and is transported to the States on a commercial flight. When the plane lands, the passengers and crew are found dead, except for Asad, who is now free in America. Free to kill the infidel.

John Corey and Kate Mayfield of the ATTF (Anti-Terrorist Task Force) get on Asad's trail, but he is always just a jump ahead of them. What is he after? How many will he kill?

This pre 911 five star novel seems at times to be a warning. Brrrr.

Reviewed by Vesta Irene

About a terrorist's revenge against the Libyan bombings by looking to kill the airmen involved provides an exciting and realistic plot.
This book is amazing! It touches on so many terrorist items that
forewarn about the hijackings and terrorist acts of Sept 11, 2001.
The references to continuations of the 1994 attack on the Twin
Towes in uncanny. The CIA, FBI, and other intelligence forces should make this required reading at ALL levels.
The dialog is superb. The action is continuous and makes the book
almost impossible to put down. When I start on his books, I just put aside work and wife and settle down for A GOOD READ. I love his sarcastic humor combined with suspense and action.
The emotional characterization of the people is amazing. They beccome real as they pop out of the pages. His characters think of themselves honestly and openly. The reader can associate with many events and feeling in Nelson Demille's novels.
The incident in Florida when the terrorist looks for another victim just ahead of the pursuing John Corey is fantastic. The reader is on pins and needles wondering what will happen to the pilot.
Read Plum Island first because this is a sequel to it, I think.
Fellow readers, confirm this, please.
As I have said before, Nelson Demille puts women right up there in the action. These women are good investigatin partners, intelligent, educated, gutsy, witty and sexy.
I wish Nelson Demille could write as fast as I can read.
He is among the FEW authors whose books I keep to read
again later.
My second read will be right before the movie comes out.
Enjoy this book!

I read this after 9/11 and the sections on the Lion is very relevant and seemed straight from the headlines. I also like John Corey and his wisecracks, making an otherwise serious story more entertaining. I feel Demille had fun writing this and it shows.

I was absolutely loving this book, but the end left me short, as if there is a sequel coming...But a great read and the language is pure NY. Enjoy!