Up Country

By: Nelson DeMille

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 28 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

This production features a special audio introduction by Nelson DeMille.

There is a name carved into the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., of an American army lieutenant whose death is shrouded in mystery. The authorities have reason to believe that he was not killed by the enemy or by friendly fire; they suspect he was murdered.

At first, Paul Brenner, himself a Vietnam vet, isn't interested in investigating the case. After his forced retirement from the army's Criminal Investigation Division, he has adapted to the life of a civilian with a comfortable pension. Then his old boss, Karl Hellmann, summons him to the Vietnam Memorial to call in a career's worth of favors.

Hellmann tells Brenner of the circumstances surrounding the officer's death, and gives him this much to go on: The incident happened over three decades ago in Vietnam; the only evidence is a recently discovered letter written by an enemy soldier describing an act of shocking violence.

Brenner's assignment: return to Vietnam and find the witness.

Reluctantly, Brenner begins a strange journey that unearths his own painful memories of Vietnam and leads him down a trail as dangerous as the ones he walked a lifetime ago as a young infantryman. From sultry, sinful Saigon, where he meets beautiful American expatriate Susan Weber, to the remote, forbidding wilderness of up-country Vietnam, he will follow a trail of lies, betrayal, and murder...and uncover an explosive, long-buried secret.

©2002 by Nelson DeMille, Alll Rights Reserved (P)2002 by Time Warner AudioBooks, a Division of the AOL Time Warner Book Group

Critic reviews

"A profound exploration of...war, justice, and...the human heart." (Lisa Scottoline, author of Moment of Truth)
"Finely drawn characters, wickedly crisp dialogue, and brilliant twists...Nelson DeMille [is] the master storyteller of our times." (Linda Fairstein, author of The Deadhouse)

Vietnam revisited

Paul Brenner, hero of the General's Daughter is back. He's headed to Vietnam, a place he wants very much to forget. Nelson DeMille does, from my point of view, a great job of describing the angst, anger, and perplexity of returning to Vietnam for a man who spent too much time there trying desperately to stay alive. Scott Brick brings his usual stellar performance and makes the characters come alive. While this story might bring back some bad memories for those who spent time in Vietnam, it is an excellent look, for those of us who lived through this time stateside, to show us the horrors these men lived through and the scars, both internal and external they still deal with daily. Well worth a credit.

Liked it

My lottery number for the draft in 1969 was 78 when I graduated from high school and then started college. Upon my college graduation, I enlisted as an officer in the USMC in 1973, while we were de-escalating our U.S. involvement in the Vietnam war. We only sent two Marines from my TBS class(all Marine officers go to TBS for 6.5 months to become infantry officers first before going to specialized schools) in 1974 to Vietnam and they were recon.rangers. I never served in Vietnam. My first duty station was as an artillery forward observer attached to a rifle company abourd a Med task force for 6.5 monhts. This story helped me get a feel for what created so much hatred and ill will from the prospectus of both Vietnam and the U.S. I recommend.

Okay I Guess

Seemed to take forever to get to the end then nothing happens. I found this book interesting from a historical perspective but other than that boring.

Great story that you get drawn into.

Great story that you get drawn into and are sad when it ends. Initially I didn't think I was going to enjoy this story buy as it went along I got more and more interested. There were times when the description of an event was so detailed it almost felt as if I had been there and through the same event. Outstanding narration. I would highly recommend this book and caution soldiers of the Vietnam Era.

GREAT

One of my all time favorites I've read it twice and listened to it three times.

Vietnam revisited

Fairly typical Nelson DeMille story. Scott Brick does an admirable job of narration, very professional. The story itself spent too much time with the in depth introspections of the main characters but otherwise was a good crime novel. Hope it was as cathartic for Mr. DeMille as it sounded.

Fantastic!

If you grew up during the Vietnam War, you will love this. I actually believe the narrator is what made the book so enjoyable. I don't think reading it would be as entertaining. The narrator is wonderful. I found myself laughing out loud many times. He has the character's personality down to a T. In fact, I went in and searched for the narrator just to listen to him again. Any Vietnam Vets out there will get a real kick out of this.

Unwavering Suspense

Where does Up Country rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Up Country ranks in the top 5 DeMille novels in spite of the fact that it competes tangentially with the John Corey series.

What other book might you compare Up Country to and why?

This novel is in the same genre as Word of Honor since both relate to the U.S. military participation in the Vietnam war. I find it particularly interesting since I as in the military during that war. DeMille captures the Vietnam mindsets both positive and negative and does a masterful job storytelling.

Have you listened to any of Scott Brick’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Scott Brick is an outstanding narrator. In every novel he narrates he brings the characters to life. He is truly a craftsman at what he does.

Super Historical Mystery

I am a big fan of Nelson DeMille and this may be his best ever. As a Vietnam vet, Navy and only offshore, he taught me a lot about what happened “on the beach” while telling a gripping story at the same time.

Capt Mike

While Nelsons novels are always exciting thorough and incredibly enjoyable this was a tough read. I am in my late 60s and missed going to Vietnam for medical reasons. But listening to Nelson‘s description of the country the people and the soldiers who fought and died there let me feeling like a psychiatrist listening to someone pouring their heart out trying to clear their mind. Often left me in tears, but ultimately it was wonderful to read. Thank you Nelson..