Customer Reviews

House Justice: A Joe DeMarco Thriller

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a big Mike Lawson fan ... and so it pains me to say that this newest entry is, IMHO, nowhere nearly as good as the previous ones. First, there are simply too many subplots thrown at the reader one after the other early on.

Second of all, Mahoney has a much smaller role than in previous books in the series, and even that is rather contrived, about a long-ago affair.

Also, two of my favorite Lawson characters, Emma and Neil, have minimal roles here - they were always fun and interesting.

And there is only minimal about congressional politicking, which was always the beef of the prior books, and often quite fascinating.

Finally, there is simply way too much of these brutal Russian mafia guys, who are only minimally distinguished as character types from one another.

Sorry, Mike, this one just does not do it for me - I finished it only because I'm a Joe Demarco fan, but even he is less alive, less scared, less outrageous, less funny, less goofy even, than in the previous books.

Come'on, Mike, don't let me down in the next one in the series!

What begins as the usual Joe De Marco coverup on behalf of his boss, Speaker of the House, John Fitzpatrick Mahoney, explodes into a complex plot of murder and mayhem, all beneath the radar of law enforcement. De Marco is a fixer for the Speaker, an off-the-record employee whose only real job is to do the dirty work for his powerful boss, within limits. But in this thriller, which begins with a leak, a newspaper story of a clandestine meeting to sell Iran missile technology and the tragic death of a dedicated spy in Iran,
De Marco finds himself embroiled in the shady world of spycraft, the CIA's reaction to the loss of one of their own and the clandestine activities of the Russian mob in America.

De Marco is dispatched to deal with the reporter who has chosen jail in order to protect her sources. Over-the-hill and desperate for a book deal, Sandra Whitmore demands Mahoney's help via the threat of revealing a past indiscretion. Hoping to work his magic and make the problem go away, De Marco steps into a morass of complicated agendas, a CIA director who wants revenge, a brutal Russian mobster who has been bleeding a company dry, a surfer-tech genius whose greed has left him vulnerable, a beautiful CIA agent who wants to make her bones and make a difference in the war on terror and a silent, deliberative killer who stalks De Marco from one source to another, a pile of dead bodies in his wake.

For all the drama and the danger, there is a grim irony in Lawson's novel, the characters a rogue's gallery of miscreants and patriots, from hired thugs and contract killers to the cold-eyed Russian who hovers below the radar of federal attention until the botched Iran deal. And while De Marco is the link between these disparate folk, from mob muscle to corrupt individuals courting personal gain, it is the solitary killer who remains the key, who tortures and kills with impunity but saves De Marco from another's bullet. House Justice is a wild ride through unpredictable territory, from the CIA's passion for revenge to the Russian thug, each link in the chain that led to the spy's demise eliminated. Washington politics seem tame compared to this tale, but greed and corruption breed at the heart of it all. Luan Gaines/2010.

This is the fourth book I've read by Mike Lawson. I'm pretty fussy when it comes to books, but have found each
and every one of Lawson's book extremely entertaining with just the right amount of Washington insight, humor,
and just good old fashioned suspense and action. Can't believe that I've never heard of him berfore. With so
little info about the author, I suspect that the books are the work of someone with a name I'd recognize Whatever,
I've found all of his books a great read and he's now right up there with my favorite legal thrillers. The plots
move right along. The characters are interesting. I'm glad I found this author whoever he is.

I just read the series - in chronological order. By the middle of "House Justice" I was getting a tad tired of Joe. I guess if I had read any one of them it would have been O.K., putting up with Joe and his "just a bit too dim-witted" in a single installment, but after four of the series, one might think (hope) that Joe had learned a few things.

Certainly, he's no Jack Reacher, and he doesn't compare to Mitch Rapp, John Corey, or any of those guys, but if Joe had maybe 10 more IQ points, he'd be a contender.

Emma ought to at least send him to basic training on how to recognize he's being followed.

Yeah, I liked the series and yep, I'll read the next one IF THE PRICES DON'T GET TOO HIGH!!!- but I sure was verry happy to see that as I finished and removed "House Justice" from my Kindle, that Jack Reacher and "Worth Dying For" had been delivered on its release date!

Just PJ's $0.02.

In Mike Lawson's "House Justice," Joe DeMarco gets involved in weightier matters than usual. Until now, Joe, a non-practicing attorney, has made his living as a bagman, fixer, and messenger for Speaker of the House John Mahoney, a hard-drinking womanizer and wheeler-dealer. Now, DeMarco finds himself in the middle of an ugly mess involving a CIA agent, Russian thugs, a playboy millionaire, a vengeful tycoon, an angry Iranian, a jailed newspaper reporter, and a corrupt congressman. Speaker of the House Mahoney, who is being blackmailed, wants Joe to head off any damage that might tarnish his reputation. However, events quickly spiral out of control, and Joe winds up dodging bullets and teaming up with a tough and beautiful American intelligence agent.

The most sympathetic person in "House Justice" is Mahata Javadi, a spy for the CIA who has sacrificed her youth to gather intelligence in Iran for six years. When she receives a message that she should run for her life, she fears that it may be too late. Lawson makes us sympathize with Mahata; we hope that this courageous young woman will find a way to elude her pursuers.

The rest of the large cast in "House Justice" consists, for the most part, of obnoxious, selfish, ruthless, and violent individuals. This is one of the weakest books in the series. The novel is almost entirely plot-driven; the characters are colorful but thinly drawn; so many people are executed that the bloodshed quickly loses its impact; Joe, who is likeable enough, is ineffectual and beleaguered. For a thriller to work, it is not enough to place men and women in peril. The author must create characters and situations that grip us and generate suspense. Somehow, Lawson never quite pulls this off.

On the other hand, "House Justice" does provide a timely look at the CIA's missteps, the disastrous consequences of political game-playing, and the tricky position of journalists who possess information with national-security implications. Although Lawson has the raw materials that should have led to an edge-of-your-seat thriller, he fails to develop either his characters or his story in a dynamic and convincing manner.

One of the things I like best about Lawson's legal thrillers is that no matter which side of the political fence you're on, your side is going to get some flack within the pages. Democrats get skewered, Republicans get skewered, and probably Tea Party folk will get skewered in the next book as well. The equal opportunity criticism of all politicians helps any reader get absorbed in the terrific plot line, zesty dialogue, and twisting plot without worrying about if the writer has some kind of agenda against any political party.

House Justice was an easy-reading page-turner with a great plot with lots of underhanded CIA shenanigans, a dollop of sexual activity, and some great scenes of violence, one of which was so funny I laughed out loud while the main character practically wet his pants!

I highly recommend all the books by Mike Lawson to this point, and newcomers can read this novel without feeling like they have to read the previous five thrillers.

This was my second round of a Mike Lawson work and I found it to be just as good as the first, "The Inside Ring". The characters are vivid, bold, and purposeful. The author's works keep the reader on edge throughout the book as he introduces new problems and dangers for the characters. The story line is very interesting and insightful. The writing is of the kind where the reader is almost placed right there in the room with the characters as the book unfolds. There is danger, intrigue, drama, and even a dash of romance for the reader.

There were no drag points in the book as the pages flew by. It's pure story, action, and even more action. The reader will have a hard time putting this one down for want of learning what happens next. I know I carried the book everywere just trying to read another ten or so pages before work and so on. The story itself gives the reader a full feel of how terrorism can reach back to even the simplist of lives and destroy the fabric of family life. Here we have a story that involves terrorists, the Russian mob, Washington politicians, the CIA and the FBI, and then poor Joe DeMarco who is asked to solve a problem for his psuedo boss, the Speaker of the House.

The best part of the book was that the identity of the mystery man was not revealed until the last ten or so pages. That was fun and interesting reading. One weak point in the book was that there may have been too many sub plots going on. The Russian mob had something, the CIA and FBI had their thing, the terror angle was there as well, and the murders kept coming from each group as the story progressed. Plus a mystery man was introduced along the way who also participated in the killing. However, he had the real reason behind the book and the plot.

It's a good book, you'll enjoy it. I look forward to reading another of this author's works in the future.

Mike Lawson is at it again with his latest political thriller, House Justice, . This time I found myself engrossed in established characters, with back-stories I now must explore from his previous books. Political intrigue in high places, shadowy figures, dead CIA operatives, bodies piling up, all linked to the mysterious 'unnamed source' of a journalist desperately trying so salvage a failing career, add up to a splendid yarn where no one in the book is quite sure who all the players are until the dramatic conclusion. His style is straightforward, filled with tension, insight into the machinations of Washington D.C., and a firm grasp of unremitting motion in plot and characterizations. Unforgettable and another fun read for thriller fans. I highly recommend it, and look forward to catching up with his series, starting once again at the beginning with Inside the Ring. From there I'll move on to The Second Perimeter, House Rules and House Secrets, while the rest of you are reading his latest

Characters, bread and butter, for this series. And the author does it well. An enjoyable entry in a fine series.

This is the fifth book featuring Joe deMarco (who works in a very unofficial capacity for John Mahoney, the Speaker of the House). It's not necessary to have read the other books to enjoy this one. In fact the story is quite different in structure to its predecessors and several regular characters barely appear.

A journalist has reported on a defense contractor's visit to Iran. As a result of the story, an undercover CIA agent's identity has been revealed and the agent is executed by the Iranians. The Director of the CIA is determined to discover who leaked the story to the journalist, and Mahoney asks Joe DeMarco to investigate whether a member of Congress was involved. DeMarco ends up working with a CIA agent to follow the trail.

The plot juggles several strands, has a high body count and never loses momentum, but it doesn't feel like it has a clear arc or structure. Rather it unfolds in a "this happened and then this happened" way. While all the loose ends get tied up by the end, it does feel slightly anti-climatic.

A perfectly good thriller. Not a "must read", but very far from being a waste of your time.