DeMille’s Character Is No ‘Angel’

Author Nelson DeMille didn’t think hard-charging hero John Corey would anchor more than a single story.

Something about the character, who debuted in the 1997 novel “Plum Island,” clicked with readers all the same. He’s a scrapper, a realist and, perhaps most of all, says things we wish we could, but never dare.

It’s why the politically incorrect Corey returns in “Radiant Angel,” DeMille’s latest thriller evoking a fresh chapter in the Cold War.

“The public loved [him] … that’s why I brought him back,” DeMille said in an interview.

“Radiant Angel,” Corey’s seventh adventure, finds our hero leaving the FBI to join the Diplomatic Surveillance Group. He expects a lighter workload and fewer gun barrels pointed his way. Instead, he ends up tracking a Russian colonel whose disappearance could be tied to a terrorist attack on American soil.

The author’s commitment to research helps fuel his best-selling novels — more than 50 million copies sold and counting. Putting words in John Corey’s mouth? That’s the easy part.

“A lot of it is politically incorrect humor. It’s an easy target. People really respond to it,” the Long Island, N.Y. resident said.

Sexist, ageist jokes are par for Corey’s course. “The women love him anyway,” the author said of Corey’s romantic exploits.

The 71-year-old DeMille could also be talking about his female readers.

“They don’t see it in the real world, that’s for sure,” he said of Corey’s outsized personality. “They’ll accept sexist remarks from a sexy man … but [Corey] doesn’t really believe the sexism he’s spewing. He really likes women.”

“A lot of it is politically incorrect humor. It’s an easy target. People really respond to it,” DeMille said of John Corey.

DeMille, a decorated former U.S. Army lieutenant who served his country in Vietnam, spends months getting to know the men and women who help keep our country safe for tales like “Radiant Angel.”

It’s how he brings authenticity to his page turners.

“You have to absorb that world,” said DeMille, who might hang out at a cop-friendly bar or break bread with law enforcement types to fuel his imagination. “The courthouse is not too far from my office. You gotta translate it into a novel at the same time, make it sound real,” he said. “You can’t make it up.”

That ear-to-the-ground research tells him the modern police officer is under plenty of pressure.

“What’s going on in Ferguson and Baltimore … police and other people I know … it hits close to home,” he said. “All of a sudden the police themselves are under attack in a lot of ways. They’re taking it personally.”

The law enforcement officials DeMille quizzed to create “Radiant Angel” had more on their minds than the latest headlines, however.

“Seaport security is a very touchy issue … they’re very afraid of a nuclear attack, a dirty bomb or a suitcase nuke,” he said, in part due to the “many holes” that exist in the security system.

One might think DeMille’s prose would have sparked a dozen or so film projects by now. To date, Hollywood delivered an adaptation of “The General’s Daughter” starring John Travolta and a 2003 TV movie, “Word of Honor,” based on DeMille’s 1985 novel.

“Seaport security is a very touchy issue … they’re very afraid of a nuclear attack, a dirty bomb or a suitcase nuke.”

And that’s essentially it, despite a major film studio mulling a John Corey feature. The author said he isn’t interested in writing for the small screen, and he seems uncomfortable with a John Corey franchise that doesn’t reflect his existing novels.

DeMille, whose first major novel “By the Rivers of Babylon” came out in 1978, is prepping his next novel to be set primarily in Havana. He’s also mulling a memoir of sorts, although he admits the project is a long shot given his contractual obligations.

“It’s hard to convince the publisher you need to take a year off,” said DeMille, who would focus on leaving a “comfortable, middle-class existence” for the jungles of Vietnam.

For now, he’s planning a fall research trek to Cuba and absorbing the fan mail that reaches his desk every week.

“I always like to read [the letters] … it’s a synthesis of what you’re doing wrong,” he said. That’s true even if it relates to a popular figure like John Corey. “If five people say your character is too much of a smart ass, you have to listen to that.”

Author — and Proud Vietnam War Veteran

The bestselling author saw combat in some of the war’s most critical moments, from the Tet Offensive to the fight to control A Shau Valley, according to Legion.org. Here are some of DeMille’s other military connections:

• DeMille’s father served in both the Canadian and U.S. military, the latter with the Navy.
• The walls of the author’s office are filled with photos from Vietnam, including snapshots of his fellow soldiers.
• DeMille served as U.S. Army first lieutenant with the 1st Cavalry Division from 1967-1968.
• He earned a Bronze Star during the A Shau Valley fight.
• His 2002 novel “Up Country” didn’t sell well initially, but it went on to become one of his most popular novels. The book was inspired by a 1997 trip to Vietnam. The story follows a Vietnam veteran who returns to the country to investigate a decade-old murder.

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