Customer Reviews

Mortal Allies

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Major Sean Drummond continues to fit the bill, as a witty, wise-cracking, charismatic JAG attorney who finds ways to entertain in cases where the odds are severely stacked against him. "Mortal Allies" takes place in South Korea. A by-the-book Captain is charged with the most unspeakable acts one can be charged with. The evidence is strong enough to convict even with a severely biased jury. Sean Drummond was hand-picked as co-counsel by an old schoolmate from Georgetown Law. A female student whom he just couldn't get along with. As an added kicker, these charges were committed against the son of the South Korean Minister of Defense!

All of this makes for a compelling novel. And from what it seems, when this novel is written by Brian Haig, it's practically guaranteed to satisfy. Drummond is raw, funny and witty. The plot is thoroughly engaging and quick. The character development is as strong as is necessary.

This is easily a book I'd recommend to anyone who likes a strong central character in military fiction. Well done!

I've definitely become a fan of Brian Haig's with this latest (second) novel.

The South Korean Defense Minister's son is brutally murdered and raped. The people whom stand accused for this heinous crime are three US military men. Katherine Carlson, a highly intelligent and cunning civilian attorney, is representing one of the accused, a Thomas Whitehall, who doesn't stand much of a chance since the other two will testify against him. Katherine requests Major Sean Drummond to be the military co-council. Drummond takes on the job with some reservations. When Drummond was in law school, Katherine was a classmate and they constantly fought like cats and dogs. Never did they get along. So needless to say Drummond is quite baffled as to her choice of co-council. It turns out the case goes beyond just the murder and rape.

Brian Haig's witty first person narrative and a fast-paced story line, gets the reader highly involved and makes this a very good novel. The South Korean setting and gays in the military are two prominent themes in the story. A great military legal thriller.

Highly recommended

"Mortal Allies" tells the story of an Army lawyer assigned to defend an American soldier in South Korea accused of murder. But there is layer upon layer of complications that make this an extremely interesting read. First, the accused is gay. The victim is male lover of the accused. The victim is also the son of the Minister of Defense of South Korea. Finally, the case is airtight, with conviction virtually a certainty.

All of the above would have made it a decent thriller, but there's more. We get to look into the fragile alliance our country has with South Korea. If not for the American presence, the Korean War would likely resume after half a century. But there have been so many accounts of misbehaving U.S. soldiers that the Koreans are ready to toss them out anyway. The danger that North Korea poses, both in the novel and in today's headlines make it better.

But what puts it over the top is the relationship between the defense lawyers on the case. The narrator is a fairly conservative Army lifer who was second in his class. By one point. To a female. A very liberal female. They were at each other's throats in college, and he finds himself with her on the defense team. There has not been such good sparring since Bruce Willis took it up with Cybil Shepard, and this makes for great reading.

The book executes a perfect balance between the serious and the humorous. The murder plot gets more and more complicated, reaching to high levels of government More people die, and we see the pain experienced from this very clearly. I was hoping for more information on that most mysterious country, North Korea, and was not disappointed in that area either. But the humor does balance out at the right times, as the lead character has to work with his old nemesis, her very gay team, and the issue of military gays in general. The plot takes several twists, and quite a few secrets are revealed as we go along.

I will make note of one of the secrets, but only to point out a hint. Like the movie "The Sixth Sense", all the clues are there if you just look for them. If you read the book, look for the term "blue eyes", and it will give you a connection for one of the books big surprises.

Now go out and get the book.

Katherine Carlson, a turbo charged attorney whose crusade is defending gays in the military, asks for her old law school rival JAG Major Sean Drummond as co-counsel on a high profile case that threatens the US alliance with South Korea. Captain Thomas Whitehall, a seemingly straight arrow officer, was found in bed with the corpse of his young lover, the South Korean Defense Minister's son. Whitehall is charged with rape and murder, and anti-American protests rock the Korean Peninsula.

As in 'Secret Sanction', Sean and his no nonsense investigator Imelda Peppercorn must work through a wall of brass obstacles to get at the truth. This task is complicated by the belligerent and manipulative ways of lead counsel Katherine but helped by the CIA station chief who's actually a good guy, a rarity in this type of novel. The Koreans have been running something a lot like Nelson DeMille's 'Charm School', and a local police chief is one of its graduates. Sean gets beaten up and shot at a few too many times, but he comes up with the clues that the CIA need to conclude that the kid's murder was part of a North Korean plot to change the balance of power in the world.

The set up is tedious and the plot incredulous, but the action and final showdown make up for it. John Rubinstein, a superb narrator of action adventure stories, really brings Sean Drummond to life and is a big part of what makes the audiobook version work. I'm ready to move on to 'Kingmaker'.

Sean Drummond returns to investigate a puzzling murder.

Summoned to South Korea, Sean must look into the bizarre murder of a young Korean man. The crime is unlike anything Sean has seen, and the defendant, a young officer, swears his innocence. The Koreans see the crime as a repulsive act of homosexuality, and necrophilia, but Whitewall (the young accused officer) claims he did not kill the young man and have sex with him, and to make matters worse Sean must team up with his law school rival, Katherine Carlson, a lawyer known for taking controversial cases.

As the investigation heats up, Sean senses an attraction with Katherine, one that could prove to be dangerous for both of them for behind the murder of the young man lies a conspiracy too shocking for words, friends that may be enemies, and a killer waiting for the right moment to strike again.

`Mortal Allies' continues the strong series of Sean Drummond military legal thrillers and what an enjoyable novel it is; suspenseful and well-written the novel grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go until the last page is turned. Taking elements of the best military, and legal thrillers `Mortal Allies' speeds along with an engrossing plot filled to the hilt with unexpected twists.

Brian Haig is quickly taking over the territory once owned by Nelson DeMille, and he is doing a terrific job of it. His new novel deserves to be one of the summer's big bestsellers, and catapult Mr. Haig to the front of other authors writing in the genre.

A MUST read!

Nick Gonnella

JAG lawyer Sean Drummond is back with a BANG in the new Brian Haig military-legal thriller Mortal Allies, following the success of his Secret Sanction.

Drummond is called from vacation to serve as counsel to Captain Thomas Whitehall who has been accused of the gay rape-murder & necrophilia of a Korean soldier.

The murder has its political implications also - the deceased being the son of the South Korean Defense Minister. On arrival in Korea, Drummond is informed that he is only the co-counsel in the defense team & that civilian lawyer, Katherine Carlson, will be the lead counsel. Drummond & Carlson, though classmates in the law school, never saw eye-to-eye on anything, & their relationship is far from cordial.

While Carlson, who has made a career out of defending homosexuals & arguing gay rights, has had little experience in military law, Drummond is at home in militia-legal procedure, although it is the first time he is defending a client on charges of gay-rape & necrophilia.

Captain Whitehall, while admitting to being a homosexual, denies the other charges. Drummond & Carlson investigate into the matter & find that Whitehall has been made a scapegoat - that there is a bigger conspiracy that might even involve the break-up of the U.S./South Korean Military Alliance.

Drummond is a street-smart, wise-guy character. He is patriotic, but not a jingoist, & he doesn't hesitate to point out a wrong, reminding me of MASH's Hawkeye. The clashes & constant effort to be "one-up on the otherų between Carlson & Drummond, makes for an interesting & amusing read - similar to Ruth Gordon's Adam's Rib (yes, the Tracy/Hepburn movie), & in Ivan Reitman's Legal Eagles. However, Haig has presented a really tough question that has found no effective answer - the question of the rights of gays in the armed forces. Though the author speaks of OGMM (Organization for Gay Military Members), formed to protect the rights of gays, it still remains a vital issue in the armed forces.

Gay rights & homosexuality have been effectively dealt with in many a legal thriller (Authors Michael Nava's series protagonist Henry Rios & Tony Fennelly's Matthew Sinclair are gay lawyers) like Lynn Harris' Abide With Me, Mortal Allies I believe, is the first work that has dealt with the issue of such rights in the armed forces. Strong-themed & devoid of heavy legalese, Mortal Allies keeps the reader riveted.

A couple of months back after reading Haig's Secret Sanction, & Norm Harris' Fruit of a Poisonous Tree, I voiced my thoughts on the possibility of a new sub-genre in popular legal-fiction-the military legal thriller. Now with Haig publishing Mortal Allies, & Norm Harris already at work on his next JAG thriller, I can definitely assure you, a new sub-genre in legal thrillers has been born, & Harris & Haig are its exponents.

A fantastic read! Highly recommended.

This is another volume in the series about Major Sean Drummond, an army lawyer whose smart aleck attitude usually places him one wisecrack short of a court martial. In this story he is paired up with a civilian lawyer, a smart lady who can be best described as a finely sculptured ice statue. Don't be taken in by her frigid demeanor, however, as her speech often seems to be ejected from a flame thrower. Do Katherine Carlson and Major Drummond get along? Does a pit bull get along with a bobcat?

Four gay guys are found in a room. One of them is dead, and one of the four, an officer is thought to be the murderer. It's kind of like an old British locked room mystery. How can the accused possibly be innocent? Naturally things are not always as they seem. Both of our lawyers plough along trying to find out what really happened. Major Drummond manages to insult not only his superiors, but also diplomats, U.S. and Korean. The reader begins to feels certain that by page 417 the Major will be standing in front of a firing squad. As time goes by, however, the case becomes more and more sinister, and reaches the point of becoming an international incident.

This is a fun story, as are all of Brian Haig's novels. Even if you haven't served time in the military you'll chuckle as Sean Drummond brings a general or two to the point of apoplexy. The case eventually gets resolved, but, you ask, does the ice maiden thaw and fall into the open arms of our handsome major? Maybe, maybe not.

Sean Drummond is summoned to Korea. He's a JAG lawyer, and in this case he's going to act as the military member of a defense team that's mostly civilian. They're defending a gay army officer who's accused of a rape murder. As if the savagery of the crime isn't bad enough, the victim is the son of the Korean defense minister, and it's beginning to look as if any sign that the defendant might get off with anything less than the death penalty could cause the U.S. alliance with South Korea to tumble into the ocean. And that's just the beginning of his troubles.

The civilian lawyer he's working for is a woman he fought with constantly in law school. She doesn't know how to try military cases without antagonizing the army, doesn't care if she does antagonize them, and is basically culturally insensitive to the Koreans, also. The result is that Drummond spends most of his time trying to repair damage she's done, or forestall what she's about to do, so that the case doesn't completely come off the rails. It comes off anyway, but in a fashion that's unexpected and interesting, and suspenseful enough, that the last third of the novel is great. The minor characters (a pair of lesbians who are co-counsels on the case, an army non-com who's their legal assistant, various officers, the defendant and his colleagues) all are well-drawn, and the whole effect is very good.

I would recommend this book highly.

Since I don't get paid to be a critic, I judge the books I read by how often I put them down to . . . you know . . . talk to my wife and kids and go to work. Needless to say, wife, kids and work took a back seat to Mortal Allies. An absolutely exciting and riveting read. The storyline was explosive and interesting, the plot twists were totally unpredictable and the characters and dialog were entertaining. I am definitely hooked and look forward to Haig's #3 (and hope that he continues with Sean Drummond).

Brian Haig has brought back his irreverant and appealing hero - Sean Drummond. Haig is an excellent story-teller, and again brings his hero into an interesting entanglement with another equally clever and tough female co-counsel. Haig's narrative is quick, his characters' interesting, and he is very good at deftly combining humor and high suspense. In this new book, he combines the intricacies of international politics, sexual scandal, and military justice. Drummond is definitely as interesting as Clancy's Jack Ryan. I look forward to Haig's books being made into movies.