The Deserter

Starred review from July 29, 2019
This outstanding thriller from bestseller DeMille (The Cuban Affair) and his screenwriter son centers on a search for an Army deserter who has fled to Venezuela after escaping duty in Afghanistan under strange circumstances. On the hunt for Delta Force Capt. Kyle Mercer are Scott Brodie, a hardened ex-soldier with impulsive, rogue tendencies, and Maggie Taylor, a cunning by-the-book Army cop who does her best to rein in Brodie’s urges, both investigative and sexual. Brodie, the senior officer, quickly suspects his commanders aren’t telling him everything about Mercer; his desertion may have less to do with disobedience than his knowing too much about military atrocities in Afghanistan. Nonetheless, Brodie and Taylor track Mercer to a jungle hideout far outside Caracas, where he’s training a group of mercenaries with the apparent backing of President Maduro. In typical DeMille fashion, the last hundred pages move along like a ballistic missile, exploding in a satisfying finale on a remote airstrip. DeMille and son provide it all in this rumble through the jungle—authentic detail, lively dialogue, a vividly drawn setting, and an exhilarating plot. Agents: Jenn Joel and Sloan Harris, ICM Partners.