Customer Reviews

House Rules: A Joe DeMarco Thriller

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The back cover PR says that "Mike Lawson is a talented thriller writer who is only getting better". That is an understatement.......Mike Lawson has catapulted himself into (in my mind) the ranks alongside such greats as Baldacci, Flynn, and Thor. "House Rules" is one terrific book.

As "House Rules" opens, several foiled terrorist acts have the nation on edge.

The first foiled attack prevented two American Muslim's from blowing up the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel. Unfortunately, the third member, and leader, was not in the building at the time of the FBI raid and was not captured. Upon questioning the two young men the FBI were able to identify the man, "Muhammad" , as an "honest-to-God al-Qaeda operative".

Two weeks after that aborted attack, Senator William Davis Broderick introduced a bill that would severely limit the freedom of all Muslims (citizens or not) in the U.S. Introducing the bill made Senator Broderick an instant media star, but, it was three more American Muslim terrorist attacks (all were foiled) that catapulted the bill to approval in the Senate and moved it to the House, where it sat in deliberation per instructions from Speaker of the House John Mahoney.

This is where Mahoney asks Joe DeMarco, special Congressional troubleshooter, to find out the true story behind the situation. The FBI had a theory, and it sounded great, but, where others fail to uncover the whole truth, DeMarco, Emma, and computer geek, Neil, succeed. With additional help from individuals in Homeland Security, FBI, and other law enforcement agencies, DeMarco's team uncovers a complex, multi-layered, plot to enlist these American Muslims to commit terrorist acts.....with the express purpose of encouraging the passage of Broderick's "Muslim Registry" bill.

DeMarco and friends slowly unravel the truth, and people, behind the plot. The mystery, intrigue, and violence ratchet up as time and time again well laid plans and schemes to uncover the next higher person in the plot are hindered by surprising and complicated twists and turns. Great reading!

TracyReaderDad

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 next one may be something very special indeed.

I labored through this book. There were so many fringe characters and almost a new set of characters were introduced in every chapter that it just felt very diluted. There was nothing tense about this book and it was hardly a thriller because it was easy to know where the author was going with it. The fear instilled by 9/11 has become a topic for many, many terrorist fiction books, but this one fell flat and is worth skipping.

a series that continues to grow. It is difficult to find a place to pause and put the book down and go about your life. That's not a bad thing. Action and intrigue. A hero who isn't Superman, who makes mistakes. It makes the reader start looking for the next in the series with anticipation. The toughest character is a retired woman, that's different.

Joe DeMarco is a trouble shooter for the House Speaker, John Mahoney, a wheeler-dealer who has his hand on the pulse of everything in DC and seems to like to stir the proverbial pot.

This thriller focuses on a suspected conspiracy to cast Muslim Americans in a bad light so as to get a bill passed that would restrict their rights.

DeMarco, Mahoney, and a varied cast of clever characters slowly unravel the conspiracy, despite lots of dead ends and many of their efforts being thwarted. The character development was good, as was the plotting, and it kept me guessing all along with all of its twists and turns.

I liked Lawson's apparent insider's look at the political process and his skepticism about Washington, which I share.

Despite all the complexities in the book, I felt that some solutions were just a little too "pat" and convenient. Otherwise, I would have given it 5 stars.

House Rules is a pacy and entertaining read. While it's the third Mike Lawson book to feature Joe deMarco (who works in a very unofficial capacity for John Mahoney, the Speaker of the House in the US), it's not necessary to have read the others.

After several attempted terrorist attacks in the US, a Senator introduces a law to put strict controls on the Muslim population including compulsory registration. Mahoney has a personal connection to one of the would-be terrorists and therefore asks deMarco to quietly investigate whether there was anything more behind the attack than the straightforward case being presented by the media. As deMarco starts to investigate it quickly becomes apparent that there are some strange elements to the case - and that someone is determined to stop him from asking any more questions.

Mike Lawson's writing tears along and is very easy and enjoyable to read. My one complaint is that I felt that he lost interest towards the end as things got wrapped up a little too quickly and neatly. It was a satisfactory ending in the sense that no strings were left dangling, but it felt too simple after the rest of the book. Nevertheless it's a good read and better than many others in this genre.

Be aware that in the UK this book was published under the title "Dead on Arrival".

This was my 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 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.

This is a great series which starts with The Inside Ring followed by The Second Perimeter followed by the current novel, House Rules. Several reviewers have stated this is the best of three and I agree, however, I enjoyed all of them and I would recommend you start with the first and read all of them. He's an excellent writer. This was definitely a book I didn't want to put down!

The only thing good about this book was that I bought it on a daily deal. It took me about five days to labor through it as I kept laying it down to do other things. Too many weird characters and too thin of a plot. And... politically correct in that the bad guys were all Conservatives or Republicans. Ugh.

As a Mike Lawson fan, I couldn't wait to get a copy of his latest DeMarco yarn. I wasn't disappointed. In my opinion, this is his best yet, packed with typical Lawson humor, an intriguing plot, and totally memorable characters. Highly recommended for thriller fans.