Nelson Richard DeMille (August 23, 1943 – September 17, 2024) was an American author of action adventure and suspense novels.

DeMille also wrote under the pen names Jack Cannon, Kurt Ladner, Ellen Kay, and Brad Matthews.

He was decorated with the Air Medal, Bronze Star, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, and was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.

DeMille is the author of By the Rivers of Babylon, Cathedral, The Talbot Odyssey, Word of Honor, The Charm School, The Gold Coast, The General's Daughter, Spencerville, Plum Island, The Lion’s Game, Up Country, Night Fall, Wild Fire, The Gate House, The Lion, The Panther, The Quest, Radiant Angel, and The Cuban Affair.

He also co-authored Mayday with Thomas Block and The Deserter and Blood Lines with his son, Alex DeMille, and has contributed short stories, book reviews, and articles to magazines and newspapers both online and in print.

[2] DeMille died of esophageal cancer at NYU Langone Hospital – Long Island, on September 17, 2024, at the age of 81.

Most DeMille novels, especially the more recent, avoid "Hollywood endings," and instead finish either inconclusively or with the hero successfully exposing the secret/solving the mystery while suffering in his career or personal life as a result.

[6] DeMille spent approximately 16 months creating each of his novels due to the extensive research involved, and because he wrote them longhand on legal pads with a number one pencil.

In the latter novel he has retired from the Army and works as a Special Agent for the US State Department's Diplomatic Security Service (DSS).