Critical Comments
"Does a 17-year-old incident still have the power to shock? Indeed it does, and Nelson DeMille, who served as a lieutenant in Vietnam, knows exactly how to employ his surge within us, but the military scenes have the gunmetal ring of authenticity. This is The Caine Mutiny of the '80s, a long, over-the-shoulder look at a time that grows larger as it recedes from sight." - Time
"If fiction can assuage the lingering moral pain of the Vietnam War, it's through the kind of driving honesty coupled with knowledgeability that DeMille (By the Rivers of Babylon) employs here, in a story which, as riveting as The Caine Mutiny but with wider implications, probes the conflicting concepts of honor, duty and loyalty as they relate to an event of the My Lai variety and assesses blame." - Publishers Weekly
"Word of Honor entertains without reaching for moral revelation or subtle psychological effects. It is about a nail-biting career complication in the life of a man whom, otherwise, you would like in your golfing foursome." - Richard Nalley, The New York Times.
"DeMille has hit a home run.... One is completely gripped by the question of what will happen to the haunted, guilt-resistant, essentially honorable man as his life and loved ones are massacred... Bears favorable comparison with Herman Wouk's The Caine Mutiny... deep-running themes." - Kirkus Reviews
"Moving...thought-provoking...it will hold you spellbound... This novel will make every reader stop and think about personal values, the moral issues of guilt or innocence, and culpability in wartime." - Richmond Times-Dispatch
Word of Honor has 4.5/5 stars on both amazon.com and bn.com as of June, 2008.
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