Nelson DeMille died on September 17, 2024, aged 81. His family said he had been ill with cancer for nine months. The Washington Post later reported that he died from complications of esophageal cancer, citing his son Alex through a spokesman.
How Nelson DeMille died
DeMille’s family announced his death in a remembrance on his official website. “It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of our father’s passing yesterday after a nine month battle with cancer,” wrote his children, Lauren, Alex and James. The family statement did not name the type of cancer. The Washington Post obituary, published September 18, 2024, reported complications from esophageal cancer, attributing that detail to his son Alex through a spokesman.
What was Plum Island about, and was it a series?
Plum Island, published in 1997, introduced John Corey, a former homicide detective who became one of DeMille’s best-known characters. The novel follows an investigation into the murder of a young couple who may have been involved in biological-warfare research. The story is fiction; the island and research premise are part of the novel’s thriller plot.
The Authors Guild memorial identifies Plum Island as the beginning of the John Corey series. For readers who want to follow Corey’s story from its start, Plum Island is the natural first book.
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DeMille’s military service and writing career
DeMille served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam and was combat-decorated. He later became known for suspense and thriller novels that often mixed investigation, military or political themes, and humor. His books included Word of Honor, The General’s Daughter, The Gold Coast, The Charm School and The Cuban Affair.
The Authors Guild says his career began with The Sniper in 1974, first published under the pseudonym Jack Cannon, and describes By the Rivers of Babylon (1978) as his breakthrough. DeMille served as president of the Mystery Writers of America and was named International Thriller Writers’ 2015 ThrillerMaster of the Year. The General’s Daughter was adapted into a major motion picture starring John Travolta and Madeleine Stowe, according to his publisher biography.
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Why published totals for his books differ
Published career and sales totals are not consistent, in part because sources use different measures. They should be read with their attribution rather than combined into a single definitive count.
- DeMille’s official biography, also presented on the Simon & Schuster author page, says he wrote 24 novels and had seven No. 1 New York Times bestsellers.
- The Authors Guild’s 2024 memorial describes his output as more than 30 novels.
- The New York Times obituary, published September 20, 2024, calls him the author of 23 books, 17 of them New York Times best sellers, and reports that 58 million copies had sold at the time of his death.
- The Washington Post reported that Simon & Schuster estimated more than 45 million copies in print worldwide when DeMille signed a book deal in 2014. That earlier in-print estimate is not the same measure as the New York Times lifetime-sales figure.
These figures describe different counts and measures—novels, books, bestseller placements, copies in print, and copies sold—so they are not directly interchangeable.
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What made his fiction distinctive
DeMille described his approach to the Washington Post as aiming for books that were “not plot-oriented” but “character-oriented — sort of a slice of life, the way life could really be.” His publisher Sally Richardson, quoted in the New York Times, said his books were “fun and literate” and praised his grasp of human nature and humor. Novelist Harlan Coben, quoted by the Washington Post, similarly highlighted the combination of suspense, large themes and humor, as well as characters readers wanted to spend time with.
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