#1 New York Times bestselling author Nelson DeMille brings back Detective John Corey of The Lion's Game and Plum Island in a provocative new novel inspired by actual events.

On a Long Island beach at dusk, Bob Mitchell and Janet Whitney conduct their illicit love affair in front of a video camera, set to record each steamy moment. Suddenly a terrible explosion lights up the sky. Grabbing the camera, the couple flees as approaching police cars speed toward the scene. Five years later, the crash of Flight 800 has been attributed to a mechanical malfunction. But for John Corey and Kate Mayfield, both members of the Elite Anti-terrorist Task Force, the case is not closed. Suspecting a cover-up at the highest levels and disobeying orders, they set out to find the one piece of evidence that will prove the truth about what really happened to Flight 800 — the videotape that shows a couple making love on the beach and the last moments of the doomed airliner.

"Demille's latest is sure to be a #1 bestseller — but it's also sure to be controversial. The book is centered on an investigation of the July 1996 crash of flight TWA 800, 'when...a big Boeing 747 bound for Paris with 230 passengers and crew on board, exploded off the Atlantic coast of Long Island, sending all 230 souls to their deaths.' In July 2001, Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force detective John Corey, a brilliant, smart-ass detective last seen in Plum Island and The Lion's Game, accompanies his FBI agent wife, Kate Mayfield, to the fifth anniversary of the disaster. John, whose wife worked the crash in 1996, understands that Kate has brought him along because she doesn't buy the official finding of 'mechanical failure' and wants him to mount his own investigation. There are 200 eyewitnesses who swear they saw a missile lift into the clear night sky and bring down the airplane, a charge dismissed by the CIA as an optical illusion. Though Corey is warned away from the investigation, like any good fictional detective, this only serves to spur him on. He uncovers evidence that a man and a woman, on the beach that fateful night videotaping their adulterous affair, inadvertently caught on tape the missile hitting the plane. The book is primarily about John tracking down the couple, but as the end nears, readers will begin to understand the perilous direction in which Demille is leading them. The pages will turn in a blur as a feeling of dread grows, until the end comes and one's worst fears are confirmed. Readers will think about this one for a long time. Agent, Nicholas Ellison. (Nov.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"As usual, DeMille spins a well-crafted, timely, and exciting tale." Library Journal

"This real-life tragedy hands DeMille perhaps his finest plot ever, one that involves real feeling, and will have you squirming and calling out at various dangers." Kirkus Reviews

"A true master...his most entertaining novel to date." Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code

"Gripping...fascinating…important." Washington Post

"DeMille ratchets up the tension…heart-thumping." Associated Press

"A fast-paced treat…surprising turns…John Corey is surely one of the most fun alpha males in the fictional world." Denver Post

"Relentlessly captivating...A terrific protagonist....Name a writer of big, bestselling thrillers who is better than Nelson DeMille." New York Sun

"Told with attention to detail by a witty narrator...DeMille tries to examine the investigation from every side....What he produces is a novel that is somehow bigger than its whole." Daily Oakland Press

"DeMille's dialogue cracks with his trademark wit, his research is impeccable, and the landscapes of the story vivid and disturbing....Night Fall is nearly impossible to put down." The Oregonian

Five years after the crash of Flight 800 two members of the Elite Anti-terrorist Task Force suspect it was no accident and they set out to recover the one piece of evidence to prove it: a videotape that shows a couple making love on the beach as the airliner crashes.

Provocative, frightening, and based on true events, DeMille's latest #1 New York Times bestseller begins five years after the crash of TWA Flight 800. Two members of the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force suspect it was no accident and set out to recover the one piece of evidence to prove it.

It is dusk on July 17, 1996. A man and a woman who are married-but not to each other — make love on a Long Island beach as a video camera records their pleasure...and something more. Out over the ocean, TWA Flight 800 suddenly explodes with 230 victims on board, the terrible blast illuminating the sky. The government's verdict is mechanical failure. But the videotape may tell another story — if it can be found.

Now, on the fifth anniversary of the crash, two members of the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force set out to reopen the case: John Corey, an ex-NYPD detective, and his wife, Kate Mayfield, a career FBI agent. Together, they hunt for the crucial video...and race toward an elusive truth even more horrifying than the crash itself.