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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN num: 9780871139832
ISBN number: 0871139839
Label: Atlantic Monthly Press
Manufacturer: Atlantic Monthly Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 368
Printing Date: June 10, 2008
Publishing house: Atlantic Monthly Press
Sale Popularity Level: 137953
Studio: Atlantic Monthly Press
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Mike Lawson’s Joe DeMarco thrillers have drawn praise for their fine-tuned suspense, off-kilter characters, intricate plots, and revealing portrait of Washington, DC behind closed doors. In House Rules, a terrorist bombing of the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel is narrowly avoided. Then a private plane headed straight for the White House ignores warnings and is shot down. An atmosphere of fear and panic overruns the country, and when the junior senator from Virginia proposes to deport all noncitizen Muslims and run extensive background checks on all Muslim Americans, his bill gains surprising traction.
Speaker of the House John Mahoney is not pleased. He knows it is the kind of knee-jerk response people will come to regret, like Japanese internment camps, and he needs to find a way to kill the bill before it exposes a secret he wants to keep. So Mahoney calls his man DeMarco. An average guy who struggles with debt, divorce, and an unreasonable boss, DeMarco is an unlikely hero, in over his head, relying on old friends as he attempts to get to the bottom of the attacks in this riveting read, full of suspense, fascinating characters, humor, and timely political intrigue.
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Rated by buyers 
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Mike Lawson's Joe Demarco character is one of those rare thriller protagonists that can solve problems without himself having to resort to violence, in fact he doesn't even like to carry a gun. It takes a little more skill to write a novel with this kind of character and make it both satisfying and hard to put down. Mike Lawson has that talent and has written another satisfying and topical thriller that should please his fans and at the same time make some new ones.
"Its only a matter of time if--if nothing changes."
Rated by buyers -
This was my very first exposure to Mike Lawson's writing and Joe Demarco's life in Washington as a Mr. Fix-It for the Speaker of the House. I look forward to more.
Others have practically retold the story, so no need to go into the story line. Lawson is a very first class writer, excellent with dialogue and character creation and interesting plot twists, you bounce from chapter to chapter wondering where this is all going to end up.
My only reason for witholding a star was the quick and easy way he cleaned up some things at the end. If Amazon allowed half stars it would be a 4.5 rating.
If you like novels about Washington intrigue, this looks like it would be your glass of bourbon.
Rated by buyers -
This is the third in the Joe DeMarco series about a guy who works as an unofficial trouble shooter for The Speaker of the House in Washington. The Speaker, Mahoney, is an abrasive and slightly corrupt character although a very shrew operator with a heart of gold. De Marco is a tenacious guy with a group of friends that usually help him out when he is desperate.
Two really interesting and unusual characters - with Mahoney you see the corruption of US politics and with DeMarco you have someone who looks tough and hard but actually isn't - a bit of a twist of the usual invincible ex Special services type.
The plot is an interesting one too - again a slight twist on the usual Muslim extremist terror attacks. Here we have a US Senator proposing strict controls on all Muslims just as two terror attacks are thwarted which seem to support his view and thus he gains unexpected public support. The trouble is that the son of an old friend of Mahoney was involved so Mahoney asks DeMarco to have a quiet look into it. As readers of this kind of stuff will know, `a quiet look' usually becomes something else.....
Set with interesting characters and a scenario that captures the fear of terror attacks and a blame culture this is very good stuff indeed. I liked the characters and the interplay between them and the author also provides a subtle vein of humour. The characters make mistakes and have their own failings which make them more interesting and believable.
Mike Lawton is getting better and better with each novel and this suggests that the subsequent one may be something very special indeed.
Rated by buyers 
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Muslim terrorists attack the Washington, D.C. area by air, by car and by suicide bomber. Although all three attacks failed, the country panics as everyone assumes a new 9/11 will reoccur soonest as anyone with a competent thought knows you cannot negotiate with people willing to die for their cause especially if they fully believe God awaits to hug them.
Amidst the fervor of patriotism and fear, House Speaker John Mahoney, having learned from Oklahoma City and the extremes exploited by our leaders after 9/11, calmly looks at the known facts. He has some doubts about the majority wisdom of the pundits that Middle Easterners are behind the assault and assigns his operative Joe DeMarco to investigate the incidents. Joe wonders if the attacks are tied to anti-Islamic legislation championed in a patriotic with me or terrorist supporter against me fervor of Virginia Senator William Davis Broderick who constantly reminds everyone of the failed endeavor to blow up the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel on Labor Day.
This exciting post 9/11 Continental United States thriller is fast-paced, but what makes it a strong read is Joe who "escorts" readers through DC political power in which ambition, manipulation, and conspiracy is the norm. Fans will enjoy the hero's effort to learn the truth behind the attacks, but each step he takes seems to be murkier and fraught with "J'accuse" danger as the shadowy opponents seem in control of the media; recent NYT revelations on military experts on the TV news affirms Mike Lawson's theory that Pogo is right that we met the enemy and they are us. (see THE SECOND PERIMETER and THE INSIDE RING).
Harriet Klausner
Rated by buyers -
Mike Lawson has given us a book with a timely believable plot, lots of plot twists, and a superb cast of characters. The dialogue is snappy, the action scenes are taut, and the resolution is "O. Henryesque."
I zipped through the book, and stayed up late to finish it. Highly recommended!
SPOILER ALERT:
The reason this book doesn't rate 5-stars is because there is a superfluous subplot that adds nothing to the meat of the book, and seems as though it was added in to pad the pages.
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