Night Fall
by Nelson DeMille
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Book Summary Information
Author: Nelson DeMilleEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-11-22
ISBN: 0446576638
Number of pages: 496
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Product features:
- Nelson Demille
- First Edition
- Hardback
- Flight 800
- mystery
Book Reviews of Night Fall
Book Review: Is This Book Just Fiction or Actually Fact ?
Summary: 5 Stars
Nelson DeMille has managed a truly remarkable feat; to write a suspenseful, taut, interesting and engaging novel about the crash into the ocean off Long Island on July 17,1996 of TWA Flight 800. The book is written in memory of the two hundred and thirty passengers and crew members who perished in that midair explosion; in my opinion he uses the flexibility available to the author of a work of fiction to discuss the alternate theories of the crash and perhaps come closer to the truth than any other discussions that I have read.
The supposedly fictional device which Demille uses to allow him to develop a believable storyline is that a couple engaged in adultery were videotaping themselves on a deserted beach near the site of the crash and caught the flash of light streaking towards the plane from the ocean surface that was seen by so many eyewitnesses but discounted by various alternative explanations in the official version of what caused the accident. Of course, the couple immediately flees the scene and as Chapter One ends they are entering their motel room and arguing about whether they should erase the tape or turn it over to the authorities given the huge personal price each of them would undoubtedly pay if their affair was made public in such a sensational fashion. (The X-rated scenes were very explicit and quite lengthy.)
The story resumes five years later. The investigation has been concluded with an explanation (the explosion of volatile fuel vapors in the nearly empty middle fuel tank) that failed to satisfy not only the usual conspiracy theorists and but the many individuals such as myself who simply remained confused about several elements of the official version of the causes of the crash. John Corey, a former NYC homicide detective is now pursing "the second act of a one act life" as a contract agent on the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force. His second wife, FBI agent Kate Mayfield, who is also a member of the task force, asks John to attend the beachside memorial service for the victims of the crash. After the service, Kate decides to violate specific instructions given to all agents who worked the case never to discuss it with anyone except on a need to know basis and confides to John the reasons for her misgivings about the official conclusion. They discuss the seven major theories regarding the crash (death ray under development at Brookhaven Labs, underwater methane explosion, reflection of burning jet fuel, etc.); then conclude their evening in a manner that reminds John of "that X-Files episode where Mulder and Scully go ....".
Kate and John are obviously conflicted about John conducting his own unofficial investigation regarding the possible existence of a definitive videotape showing the crash; they realize that their discovery may not only ruin their professional careers but could possibly be life threatening if there really has been a cover up involving foreign terrorists and the clandestine operatives of US Government intelligence agencies. Of course, the reader knows that they will pursue the truth whatever the price they pay personally, both because that is the sort of individuals who they are and because otherwise DeMille wouldn't be able to tell his story. And have no doubts, this would have been a wonderful story even if it were totally fiction; the fact that the author did such a marvelous job of never contradicting the known facts concerning the crash makes it absolutely riveting. The discussion of the obvious flaws in many of the wild theories that have been advanced (e.g. a military coverup of a stray missile fired as part of the naval exercises being conducted in the area that night) on occasion added to my knowledge of the events and made the story quite plausible.
The fact that DeMille clearly had done a lot of research on the subject of the TWA 800 crash caused me to wonder how much of the material which he presents as fiction is actually disguised reality (in order to protect his sources). He states in his author's note that he has relied not only on published reports of the events but also on interviews which he has conducted with both investigators who worked on the case and eyewitnesses to the crash. Since the dissatisfaction of many of these individuals is well known, I strongly suspect that the anonymity which the disclaimer accompanying this work of fiction would provide for such individuals led them to be anxious to assist DeMille in writing a book which clearly is meant not only to entertain the reader but also to present an alternative theory of those events on the night of July, 17, 1996. (After all, how often has it been said "If only someone had their video recorder on that night"?)
I want to emphasize that this is not only an interesting speculative examination of the crash, but a really good police procedural. John Corey is an extremely interesting and entertaining character. His interaction with Kate is integral to the story, and some of the conversations with his former partner Dom Fanelli are priceless. (I really enjoyed the humor which Demille interjected into the story, both for the realism which it added to the character development and as a counterweight to the depressing nature of the subject.) As the story raced towards its conclusion (the general outline of which becomes obvious about fifty pages before the end), I was increasingly fascinated by how DeMile could end it without veering from the fidelity to all the publicly known facts which he had maintained throughout. I was not disappointed, although of course saddened both by the course of events and by the ambiguity that I knew would inevitably have to remain.
STRONGLY RECOMMENDED both for readers who just like a good thriller combined with an excellent police procedural and also for those who continue to wonder what caused the midair explosion of TWA Flight 800.
Tucker Andersen
Summary of Night Fall
On a Long Island beach at dusk, Bob Mitchell and Janet Whitney conduct their illicit love affair in front of a video camera, set to record each steamy moment. Suddenly a terrible explosion lights up the sky. Grabbing the camera, the couple flees as approaching police cars speed toward the scene. Five years later, the crash of Flight 800 has been attributed to a mechanical mal-function. But for John Corey and Kate Mayfield, both members of the Elite Anti-terrorist Task Force, the case is not closed. Suspecting a cover-up at the highest levels and disobeying orders, they set out to find the one piece of evidence that will prove the truth about what really happened to Flight 800-the videotape that shows a couple making love on the beach and the last moments of the doomed airliner.John Corey, former NYPD homicide detective, assigned to the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force in the pre-millennium 90's, makes a return appearance in a thoughtful novel offering an alternative to the government's "official" position on what really happened to TWA Flight 800, which crashed off the Long Island coast in the summer of 1996. Accompanying his wife Kate to a memorial marking the five-year anniversary of the crash, Corey's curiosity is aroused by what appears to be a concerted effort by Kate's fellow federal agents to keep him--and her--from investigating a case that appears to be closed. Corey's detecting skills lead him to two witnesses to the crash, who were enjoying an adulterous interlude on the beach at the time the plane went down--and videotaping their sexual escapades while what appears to be a terrorist missile attack takes place in the background. What ratchets up the tension in this capably written thriller is what the reader knows but Corey doesn't as he heads for a showdown with those responsible for the official cover-up as the clock ticks down to the morning of September 11, 2001. DeMille's deft touch with a riddle wrapped in an enigma--what really happened to Flight 800--makes his "what if" scenario a more than plausible theory; you don't have to believe in conspiracies or government cover-ups to find his latest engrossing, entertaining, and enlightening. --Jane Adams
Amazon.com Exclusive Content
Nelson DeMille on Night Fall: An Exclusive Essay
It was a true story, the explosion of TWA Flight 800 off the coast of Long Island in 1996, that inspired Nelson DeMille to write the fictional Night Fall. Read this Amazon.com exclusive essay for insight into the coincidences that made this tragedy a subject DeMille couldn't ignore.
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