“It was half past midnight, and September 11 had come and gone without incident. This was the time when every law enforcement officer and citizen in New York usually let out a sigh of relief. But I wasn’t sure about September 12.”

John Corey was once an NYPD detective, before several bullets ended that career. But bullets couldn’t kill Corey’s spirit, so he became an agent for the Anti-Terrorist Task Force, which certainly kept his adrenaline pumping. After a mission in Yemen that threatened to go very, very wrong, he moved out of the ATTF and now works for the Diplomatic Surveillance Group. Apparently, his former bosses thought this might keep him out of trouble, since his job now involves babysitting foreign diplomats. That mostly means hanging out in a car, watching the embassy, and making sure the dips don’t venture to places they’re not supposed to go.

"Nelson DeMille has crafted the perfect hero in Corey. To top that off, he knows exactly how to keep suspense ratcheted up and his readers’ hearts racing."

Sounds easy enough. And mind-numbingly boring. Especially where Corey is concerned. But on a quiet Sunday in September, which also happens to be the 11th, he and his trainee, Tess Faraday, begin what they hope will be a routine tail of Colonel Vasily Petrov and two of his compatriots. Of course, it is anything but routine.

Petrov’s car heads out of the city, with his followers from the DSG close behind. Their destination seems to be taking them beyond their allowable limits, for they exceed the 25 miles by a fair amount as they continue toward Southampton. But it looks harmless enough when they pull up to a rich Russian’s beach house where a party is in full swing. Corey, though, takes nothing at face value. And he trusts no one, not even Tess.

There’s little that can get him in trouble on this job, but the biggest faux pas is to lose the guys he’s watching. So when that happens, it thoroughly pisses him off. Petrov disappears into the night on a boat, leaving Corey and Tess standing on a dark beach with useless SUVs and no idea where the Russians are going. But the identities of the people speeding away from the party on that boat hold the clue to what they might be up to. And it doesn’t look like it’s party hopping, as their host tries to convince the DSG men.

What follows are several frantic hours filled with more tension than Corey has seen before, because the stakes are higher than ever. If he’s right about Petrov’s intentions, and if he and Tess fail to thwart the Russians’ plans, he can kiss everything he cares about good-bye, for the consequences will be unthinkable, the devastation vast and long term, and the death toll astronomical. Corey’s bosses may disapprove of his rogue approach to, well, almost everything, but they should thank their lucky stars that he doesn’t follow the rules. Ever.

John Corey is that irreverent, smart mouthed, uncontrollable and deadly intelligent character you almost hate to love. Besides that, he has a killer instinct and a sense of humor that boldly dares anyone to challenge him. Nelson DeMille has crafted the perfect hero in Corey. To top that off, he knows exactly how to keep suspense ratcheted up and his readers’ hearts racing. In RADIANT ANGEL, he terrified me even more than my other favorite author, Stephen King, and that’s saying a lot. My only problem with this book is its length. It’s much too short, and I didn’t want it to end. And, as always, I wish DeMille would write faster. I’m already craving another John Corey adventure.