Nelson DeMille
Alex DeMille
The Tin Men is Nelson DeMille’s last novel co-written with his son, Alex. Popular characters Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor return as Army CID investigators. They are the Army version of the Navy’s NCIS: investigators of criminal acts committed by members of the Army. A horrendous death has taken place at a remote and secretive military camp. Brodie and Taylor are sent to investigate.
Camp Hayden is strategically located in the Mojave Desert, in the middle of nowhere. Mobile phones, tablets and personal computers are not permitted. Communication with the outside world is only possible by landline telephone which is not secure communication. Brodie and Taylor are on their own.
Major Roger Ames was Camp Hayden’s chief scientist and computer genius. He was in charge of the small team tasked with running, and maintaining a fleet of seven foot tall, titanium dressed, robot soldiers. Looking to the future of warfare, the military is building, testing and advocating for the use of AI and robotics in future battles. Not everyone is onboard with this drive to modernise warfare.
Camp Hayden is relatively small with a handful of officers, and a platoon of Army Rangers. The secretive work being carried out there in the isolation and harsh desert conditions is taking a huge toll on the morale of the soldiers. It is a claustrophobic environment that breeds suspicion and paranoia.
Brodie and Taylor must solve a murder mystery in an atmosphere of fear and mistrust and existential questioning. They move from clue to clue, interrogation to interrogation. Brodie and Taylor’s bafflement is reassuring as this complex area of computers, AI and technology is still a niche field.
The war in Ukraine has shown in gory and painful detail the result of using drones against human beings. The tests at Camp Hayden are of next level complexity and innovation. The human actors at the Camp are a mixed lot and conflicts and simmering resentments are plentiful. Major Ames’s colleagues are a reserved, insular group and the battle weary Rangers have been beaten and tested to the nth degree.
The battle sequences are well written and extremely disturbing. Technologies such as 3D imaging and recording of battles, VR goggles and computer enhancement conversely exaggerate the details and give the appearance of transparency whilst distancing the human from the actual skin ripping, blood letting that is taking place. Invariably, readers will remember the images from films like Terminator and other popular culture media man vs machine battles.
The DeMille’s, father and son, are skilled practitioners of the thriller genre. The action sequences are thrilling and addictive. Fans of the series will be familiar with Brodie and Taylor; they are different personalities and yet similar in the ways that matter. Intelligent, brave and, at times, arrogant, they steer the narrative with logic and gut instincts.
Apart from an ill judged and incredulous sojourn involving Brodie, Taylor, an Army Ranger and magic mushrooms, The Tin Men is a thought provoking thriller. The nature of warfare will change, as everything must. New technologies will replace human energy and activity but some questions remain eternal: who do we trust to program and create machines; who will control the machines?Nelson DeMille will be missed but the signs that his son might carry on his work are promising.
Barking Books 