In this gripping thriller, the third to feature Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor, the CID warrant officers are sent to Camp Hayden to investigate the death of Major Roger Ames. It’s been reported that Ames was killed by one of the camp’s autonomous weapons, a seven-foot-tall human-shaped titanium robot called a D-17. 

Camp Hayden has been revived specially for this top-secret program. The military wants the D-17s tested for use in warfare, and the Rangers here provide the enemy combatants for the exercises. When Brodie and Taylor arrive, the score is Rangers 0 – Robots 67. That’s 67 combat engagements, and 67 times the Rangers have lost. To the army, it’s called success. To the Rangers, it’s called disaster. Morale is tanking, substance abuse is rising, and protocol is not being followed. All of this can --- and does --- lead to a catastrophic tragedy.

"THE TIN MEN is Nelson's final gift to us. But what a wonderful gift it is. I hope that Alex will continue to follow in his father’s footsteps. Sure, he has some big shoes to fill, but I am confident he will succeed."

Both Brodie and Taylor have seen combat in their careers. Neither expected to see more of it at Camp Hayden. They’re aware that their job can be dangerous. But if this was a death caused by a machine that malfunctioned, finding out how it happened shouldn’t be too perilous for the likes of Brodie and Taylor. However, they are in uncharted waters when it comes to this sort of technology. By design, the D-17s are lethal, so safeguards had to be built in --- a key inserted in each one to turn it on; a two-person access to the Vault, where they are stored; manacles attached to each unit when they are dormant. But are the robots themselves stronger than the restraints placed on them? Brodie begins to suspect they are. Add in the almost perverted humor of naming these monsters after baseball greats. Are they trying to humanize their opponents, maybe in hopes that the Rangers will underestimate them?

The CID officers immediately launch their investigation. The sooner they can get out of there, the better. Something about the place feels sinister. Of course, now that one of the D-17s has gone rogue, all further combat exercises are suspended, and all personnel are confined to quarters. It makes it easy to interview whoever they wish but tough to see the normal activities and functions of the machines. To an extent, the people who want answers are also impeding their progress. Brodie and Taylor are convinced that at least one person on base sabotaged the system and set the fleet of robots on a future killing rampage. Finding out who will be the tough part. And once the programming of the D17s is modified, there is no safe place at Camp Hayden to hide.
 
THE TIN MEN is a grim look into the future of warfare, which I hope never comes to fruition. The robots in this novel terrify me to my core. Technology, though, is advancing so fast that I fear we already may be capable of creating automatons such as these. But a machine with the capacity to do what the D17s can do in this story, without the counterbalance of mercy, compassion or any number of other human emotions, just might foretell the end of us.
 
In his long and prolific writing career, the incomparable Nelson DeMille gave his readers a library of many excellent books. He was a master of espionage novels, thrillers and suspense. It will be hard to go on without Nelson, who passed away last year after a nine-month battle with esophageal cancer. In the last several years, he brought in his son, Alex DeMille, to write with him, which has made the stories even better. 

Sadly, though, THE TIN MEN is Nelson’s final gift to us. But what a wonderful gift it is. I hope that Alex will continue to follow in his father’s footsteps. Sure, he has some big shoes to fill, but I am confident he will succeed.