(Originally Published 2002, Mass Market Paperback 859 pages)
Though this Paul Brenner sequel picks up shortly after the conclusion of "The General's Daughter," it isn't necessary to have read the bestseller in order to understand what is going on in "Up Country." It seems that Mr. DeMille took his personal experiences of revisiting Vietnam in January 1997 after his tour of duty in 1966-69 and then incorporated them into this fictional adventure with Paul Brenner. Revisiting and reliving the battle sites, including the famous the Tet Offensive, are truly intense passages. I was completely immersed in the emotional turmoil that Brenner experienced as he relived many episodes that felt to him like they only happened yesterday instead of thirty years prior. Mr. DeMille is in top form as an author in this area.
The military mystery of a 30-year-old murder, which is the reason Brenner is in Vietnam, is also very well done, but feels more of an afterthought as compared to being given a tour of 1997 Vietnam. There is some very intense moments, especially with a North Vietnam veteran named Colonel Mang, but yet again, such events are pretty sparse. Practically everyone in this thing is also a compulsive BS artist. The only person you'll trust is the two-faced Brenner because he's the narrator of the novel. My biggest disappointment was the relationship between Paul Brenner and the mysterious Susan Weber. The dialogue between them felt extremely hokey and the evolution of their relationship seemed highly implausible.
The reader will need to have a lot of patience if they were expecting a suspenseful mystery. You'll be wading through a few hundred pages at a time before anything exciting happens and you may be upset at how this sucker ends. "Up Country" wasn't what I was expecting, but worth reading because of the emotional and moral quandaries experienced by a man scarred by the Vietnam War. The big question you may want ask yourself is do you want to commit to reading over 850 pages for 200-300 pages of suspense?
The military mystery of a 30-year-old murder, which is the reason Brenner is in Vietnam, is also very well done, but feels more of an afterthought as compared to being given a tour of 1997 Vietnam. There is some very intense moments, especially with a North Vietnam veteran named Colonel Mang, but yet again, such events are pretty sparse. Practically everyone in this thing is also a compulsive BS artist. The only person you'll trust is the two-faced Brenner because he's the narrator of the novel. My biggest disappointment was the relationship between Paul Brenner and the mysterious Susan Weber. The dialogue between them felt extremely hokey and the evolution of their relationship seemed highly implausible.
The reader will need to have a lot of patience if they were expecting a suspenseful mystery. You'll be wading through a few hundred pages at a time before anything exciting happens and you may be upset at how this sucker ends. "Up Country" wasn't what I was expecting, but worth reading because of the emotional and moral quandaries experienced by a man scarred by the Vietnam War. The big question you may want ask yourself is do you want to commit to reading over 850 pages for 200-300 pages of suspense?
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