Funny and light
Customer Rating: 
The negative reviews I read talked about how obnoxious the lead character is, but I thought he was funny. What can I say, that uber-male banter always cracks me up. Here's an example: Corey has knocked a guy out, the guy rouses and pulls his gun on Corey. Corey goes along with the gunman, putting his hands on his head, kneeling, taking off his jacket etc. Finally he gets sick of it. The book goes, "I was sort of getting cramped in the kneeling position, so I stood. He screamed, 'Kneel! Kneel!' I walked over to him, and he pointed the Beretta right at my ding-dong and pulled the trigger. I winced even though the gun was empty..." Why does that crack me up? Well, frankly, I don't know, but it works for me. And it's pretty good writing, with a little surprise for the reader, so that we feel like insiders in on the joke, well, almost.
Plenty of suspense, and decent, original character portrayals, and an interesting, original plot with tidbits about animal disease and buried treasure.
It's a mystery romp, no doubt about it, but don't mistake Corey's badboy attitude with a casualness about writing on the part of DeMille. No misplaced modifiers or dangling participles, though I am sure Corey would make a joke about a dangling participle. A grammar sleuth, I take my clues from things like "dived" versus "dove." Which verb form does DeMille use? He uses the correct form: Dived. Thank you very much. To me, grammar symbolizes attention to detail. No gritting your teeth through this book on any level, and after a certain suspension of disbelief, it's light and humorous, engaging and suspenseful. A guilty pleasure, perhaps, but like Corey, I won't apologize for doing what I feel like doing, and that's liking this book.
