Hello.

Welcome to another edition of Inside the Cover.

Tonight's book comes from a famous writing family.

It is now time to go inside the cover.

Our book this evening is The Tin Men by Nelson Demille and Ale DeMille, a father and son team.

Over the years, Nelson DeMille has been one of my go to authors.

Someone who I could depend on for an entertaining, satisfying and often memorable read.

Nelson DeMille died on September 17th, 2024.

After the creation of this novel had begun.

Alex DeMille has a B.A.

from Yale University and an MFA in film directing from UCLA.

He had, prior to The Tin Men, co-written two books with his father, The Deserter and Bloodlines.

As Alex points out in a note to the reader at the beginning of this book his father began feeling unwell not long after the treatment for The Tin Men had been submitted, but they began writing in earnest about the time Mr.

DeMille began chemotherapy for late stage esophageal cancer.

He was not able to help finish the book, and Alex has dedicated The Tin Men to his father.

I found The Tin Men to be fun and entertaining read.

At the beginning of chapter seven, we meet the tin men: ‘running along each of the two long walls was a series of bays, 30 on either side, with each bay holding what could only be described as a robot seven foo tall metallic humanoid machines with two arms, two legs, large torsos and bucket shaped heads.

The only feature on each robot's face was a four inch long horizontal black slit.

Our protagonists are Chief Warrant Officer Scott Brody, and Chief Warrant Officer Maggie Taylor, members of the United States Arm Investigation Division, or CID.

Taylor is 35 and Brody is 40.

Both had previous experience in warfare.

Brody in Iraq and Taylor in Afghanistan where she earned a Purple Heart.

The two are sent to Camp Hayden, a U.S.

Army base in the middle of the Mojave Desert, to investigat the death of Major Roger Ames, a computer scientist involved with the experimental research and training that was being conducted at Camp Hayden.

This is an old fashioned detective story, a murder mystery, if you will, a whodunit topped with a bit of sci fi flavoring.

I'm cognizant of my responsibility to not spoi your read by divulging too much.

So let me just say that th initial investigation by Brody and Taylor focuses on one of the robots known as Bucky.

The 60 robots are numbered and the Army Rangers on the base have begun giving them baseball names based on their number.

That is, Bucky is named after Bucky Dent, a former New York Yankee who wore the number 20.

As the investigation proceeds there are a number of surprises more deaths and lots of excitement.

While I found one par of the story a bit unbelievable and another one totally unrealistic and unnecessary, in the end, I was anxiousl turning the pages to learn more, and I really wasn't able to predict the ending.

Towards the latter part of 2025, I read Nash Falls by David Baldacci, another of my favorite authors, who is also a fun read.

A major part of that book revolves around artificial intelligence.

I would sugges that the Tin Men carries on this trend based on the premise of what ends the military will go to in an effort to anticipate and outdo technological advances by our enemies.

Obviously, larger societa premises and moralistic issues are at play in this fiction novel.

Tonight's book has been The Tin Men by Nelson DeMille and Alex DeMille, a 2025 boo that I enjoyed and find worthy of passing on to you for your own consideration.

If you read the book, let us know your thoughts.

Good night and I look forward to our next conversation.

Until then, keep reading, keep thinking, and be well.