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Not my preferred Demille’s book, however, thanks to the usual quality of the prose, the lively dialogues and the intriguing plot, it still makes a pretty enjoyable read.
I think the main flaw of the novel stems from its origin: as the author explains in the preface, the inspiration for the book sprung from his trip to Vietnam that he did in 1997. It is easy to imagine how this must have been a highly emotional trip and it is pretty evident how the author sees himself personified in Paul Brenner. This does not leave much space to the development of the mystery/investigative side of the story: effectively, what you have as a structure is 1) a nice plot set up in the first 200 pages followed by 2) a long central section of around 500 pages where said plot is totally abandoned in favour of a travel diary across modern Vietnam interwoven with flashbacks of war memories; 3) in the last 200 pages we go back to the mystery plot for its solution, which is sort of predictable, but then again it’s more the how than the what which makes it intriguing. The strongest common thread across these sections is the love affair between Brenner and a fascinating lady, so you could say this is firstly a love story, secondly a war memoir, thirdly a travel diary and only lastly a mystery.
I say this with the maximum respect for the feelings of a war veteran going back onto the scene, but reality is that those who did not go through the war experience cannot look at these descriptions with the same eyes and heart. So a lot depends on your expectations: if you are looking for another novel like The General’s Daughter, where the mystery side of the story is prominent and the military just provides the background, you are likely to be disappointed. If instead you want to go through a journey of Demille’s war memories delivered through the eyes of Paul Brenner, where the investigation is more the excuse to be there the the real epicentre of the novel, then you will probably be more satisfied.