DeMille often uses Long Island as a setting in his novels, for example in
The Gold Coast,
Plum Island,
Word of Honor, and
Night Fall. His most recent novels have followed two main characters, John Corey and Paul Brenner. At first, the story lines were completely separate, but there have been hints in the novels that they are part of a larger "DeMille Universe" that references events and characters in earlier novels, such as
The Gold Coast and
The Charm School.
DeMille has written himself into
Up Country and
Wild Fire. He takes about two years to write books because of extensive research, and because he writes them longhand on legal paper with a number one pencil.
Bibliography
- The Sniper (1974)
- The Hammer of God (1974)
- The Agent of Death (1975)
- The Smack Man (1975)
- The Cannibal (1975)
- The Night of the Phoenix (1975)
- Hitler's Children: The True Story of Nazi Human Stud Farms (1976) (as Kurt Ladner)
- Killer Sharks: The Real Story (1977) (as Brad Mathews)
- The Quest
- By the Rivers of Babylon (1978), ISBN 0-15-115278-0
- Mayday (1979, updated 1998) (with Thomas Block), ISBN 0-446-60476-3
- Cathedral (1981), ISBN 0-440-01140-X
- The Talbot Odyssey (1984), ISBN 0-385-29322-4
- Word of Honor (1985), ISBN 0-446-51280-X
- The Charm School (1988), ISBN 0-446-51305-9
- The Gold Coast (1990), ISBN 0-446-51504-3
- The General's Daughter (1992), ISBN 0-446-51306-7 (also a movie)
- Spencerville (1994), ISBN 0-446-51505-1
- Plum Island (1997), ISBN 0-446-51506-X
- "Revenge and Rebellion", in The Plot Thickens, ed. by Mary Higgins Clark (1997), ISBN 0-671-01557-5
- The Lion's Game (2000), ISBN 0-446-52065-9
- Up Country (2002), ISBN 0-446-51657-0
- Night Fall (2004), ISBN 0-446-57663-8
- Wild Fire (2006), ISBN 0-446-57967-X
- The Gate House (Sequel to The Gold Coast) (October 28, 2008), ISBN 0-446-53342-4
- The Lion (Sequel to The Lion's Game) (2010), ISBN 0-446-58083-X
Recurring characters
Detective Sgt. Joe Ryker, a tired no-nonsense plains-clothes-man whose natural understanding of his environment gives him an instinct for finding criminals. Famed for being a loner, he carries two weapons, standard police special .38 in an ankle holster and a shouldered .357 Magnum. Keller bears a resemblance in attitude and appearance to Harry Callahan. He appeared in The Smack Man, The Cannibals, and two other novels.
John Corey, a retired New York City police detective on special assignment for the F.B.I. He was introduced in
Plum Island and reappears in
The Lion's Game, Night Fall, Wild Fire, and
The Lion.
Paul Brenner, an investigator for the United States Army's Criminal Investigation Division. He was introduced in
The General's Daughter and reappears in
Up Country.Kate Mayfield, an F.B.I. agent. Introduced in
The Lion's Game. She marries Corey and reappears in
Night Fall,
Wild Fire, and
The Lion.
Colonel Petr Burov/Boris Though not explicitly stated, DeMille hints that Burov, the antagonist in
The Charm School, is the same person as the mysterious "Boris," a character in
The Lion's Game and The Lion.Ted Nash, a CIA agent and arch-rival of Corey, who is introduced in
Plum Island and reappears in
The Lion's Game, Night Fall, and
Wild Fire.Col. Karl Hellman, Brenner's superior officer at the CID. Appeared in
The General's Daughter and
Up Country.John Sutter,
Susan Sutter,
Felix Mancuso, and several other characters of
The Gold Coast reappear in the sequel
The Gate House.