The Lawmaker (Hardcover) Review

After finishing The Lawmaker (gosh it took me a long time--sorry Rick) I was fairly convinced that the author was a former trial attorney...turns out that while he DOES work in law enforcement, being a lawyer wasn't his career...so kudos first off for writing a legal thriller without not actually BEING an attorney. My all-time favorite legal thriller is also NOT written by a former practicing lawyer (The Quiet Game by Greg Iles) so you're in good company as far as I can tell.

B-u-u-u-t The Lawmaker isn't exactly a full-on legal drama, either. It also adds the element of politics, bribery and a few other un-seemly underworld adjectives. Meet Wayne Lott, an attorney who seems to hit the jackpot when an opportunity to run for public office seems to fall right in his lap. As the majority of moral America already knows, politics are not as fancy as one may initially believe them to be. Pure as the driven snow? Hardly. And Mr. Lott discovers this the hard way as he quickly finds himself (literally) stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Now I have personally never had to choose between participating in Blackmail or possibly becoming victim to mob-like individuals bent on encouraging (ie: forcing) you to follow your 'pre-determined' path...but, I'd like to think I'd do the right thing. Does Wayne have what it takes to make the right choice? I won't spoil it for you, but let's just say finding out the answer is all part of the fun that is The Lawmaker. On the back of the book it says the book is a cross between Casino & The Firm, and I gotta say that particular description fits like a glove.

If you're looking for a tension-laced novel that doesn't follow the usual predictable pattern which seems to be a plague within the legal thriller genre these days, give The Lawmaker a try. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the outcome...I know I was.

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Product Description:
Wayne Lott is a young attorney out to make a name for himself. When a state legislative seat becomes vacant, Wayne jumps at the chance to run for office and enter what he thinks is the glamorous life of politics. But he's in for a deadly surprise.--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Good Morning, Darkness [Hardcover] Review

The fundamental theme of this novel is obsession and the price it extracts on all of the characters. The obsession takes human form in the attractive body and movements of Laura Finnegan. Everyone who comes into contact with her, even at a distance, becomes attracted to her like moths to a flame. Her boyfriend, Scott Goodsell, loves her so much he wants to marry her. A nameless Mexican fisherman changes his daily routine so that he can stand outside her home and watch her as she moves around her kitchen. Laura's boss, Mr. Johnson, wants her to the point of committing sexual harassment, something he has done and gotten away with before. Then there is Reggie Brooks, a local police detective but also her martial arts instructor. Laura Finnegan has that rare ability to inspire love and devotion in every man and all are prepared to give up everything they each have for her. Then she vanishes.

The Mexican fisherman finds an arm on a local beach and a few miles away, the matching arm washes ashore in Malibu. Since he hasn't seen Laura in days, he begins to wonder if the arms are hers. He also realizes that he hasn't seen her boyfriend, Scott Goodsell, a man he knows only by the car he drives, a white BMW. Assigned to the case of the found arms, Reggie Brooks begins to wonder as well as Laura hasn't made it to class lately. Mr. Johnson also wonders about her even though he got a letter from her stating that she was quitting her job. While there is no reason to suspect that the found arms and Laura's disappearance are in any way related, the detective and the fisherman believe, for different reasons, they are linked.

Shifting between the boyfriend Scott, to detective Brooks, to the Mexican fisherman, and others, the novel gradually reveals a tale of murder and deceit. A weak storyline of a gangland execution is introduced to provide some complexity to the work and as character development, but is not used to any real effectiveness. Additional story elements of classicism and accounting fraud are used much more effectively used and do enhance the tale, but the primary focus is obsession. Obsession in each character drives the work forward and it is only because of obsession that every single thing happens. The result is a good read that engages the reader from start to finish.
This entire review previously appeared online at OnceWritten.

Kevin R. Tipple © 2005


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Confession (Z Graphic Novels / Hand of the Morning Star) (v. 3) [Paperback] Review

These graphic novels have captured my kids interest.They are also subtling teaching us something.Satan is referred to as the star of the morning in Isaiah.I do not believe that the Morningstar is Jesus, but Satan masquerading as an angel of light.I believe that in the books to come Zondervan will reveal this more fully.Clues, such as not praying to Jesus, but Morningstar, evolutionary comments, killing just to kill, these are not how Jesus operates. The missionary & his daughter in Argentina are seeing this also.I love the books,as do my kids, and I believe that it will show us not to just blindly trust in those who claim to be of God.

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Product Description:
When Michael reveals himself as the Tempest, he will find out whether the one he loves and the larger public will embrace or reject him.

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Good Morning, Killer [Paperback] Review

The story of the child abductor that Ana Grey, FBI agent is hunting with the assistance of the Santa Monica police department is riveting.Ana's relationship with one of the young victims adds dimension to Ana's character and engages the reader in the hunt and capture of the suspect.
The other characters in the story, however, are so thinly formed that they add no veracity to the rather incongruous turns in the story.One co-worker that had a friction filled relationship suddenly comes to Ana's aid, while another character moves from a bereaved widow to a crazy killer.
A truly unbelievable relationship is Ana's so-called obsession with Andrew Berringer of the Santa Monica PD.The reader is not given any opportunity to begin to understand Andrew or the relationship he has with Ana.It is difficult to believe that Ana risks her much loved career not once, not twice, but three times for someone that you can't really feel her connect with.
Overall, Good Morning Killer is a relatively quick read.The strength of the abduction plot is flawed by the sub-plot with Ana and Andrew.Although I enjoyed the book, I found I began skimming through the final portion.

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Morning Spy, Evening Spy [Paperback] Review

Colin MacKinnon's "Morning Spy, Evening Spy" is a chilling look at the clandestine world of American intelligence before 9/11, written by a Middle East expert who lived and worked in Iran for years.The first person narrator is CIA Officer Paul Patterson, who tells his story both in the present tense and in flashback.The book opens with the shooting of an American named Ed Powers in a frontier province in Pakistan.Was Ed killed by al-Qaeda because of his government connections or because of his shady business dealings involving drugs and armaments?Another possible scenario is that Powers may have been the victim of a random act of terror.No one knows for sure, but American officials are anxious to find out who murdered Powers and why.An Afghan named Kareem may have some answers but he has suddenly vanished.

Patterson is a former Marine and a twenty-five year veteran of the CIA, who has lived in a number of overseas capitals during his long career.Patterson's obsession with his work has come at a price; Nan, his wife of twenty-four years, has filed for divorce.Paul is in a new relationship with Karen, a Washington-based journalist, who seems to be a bit more tolerant of his work-related responsibilities.

Paul's current title is special assistant for counterterrorism, and his colleague, Bill Cleppinger, heads the Antiterrorism Action Committee.Because the CIA has been under fire of late, Clep and Paul have been summoned by Jim McClennan, chief of staff of the Senate Committee on Intelligence, to answer some tough questions.Although the two pretend to be forthcoming, they carefully censor the truth and deliberately withhold key facts from the committee.

The plot of "Morning Spy, Evening Spy" is incredibly complex, and the book's large cast is, at times, a bit unwieldy.However, the strength of the story lies in the MacKinnon's insightful exploration of several key themes:Why did America's intelligence community fail to thwart the 9/11 hijackers?Does the CIA's penchant for secrecy go so far that its policies actually harm the people whom they are sworn to protect?How does a CIA officer, who is forced to lie frequently and keep secrets from his colleagues and family, survive emotionally?

There is a telling passage in which Paul chats with his friend, a Pakistani journalist named Amjad Afridi.Afridi tells Paul what is wrong with the CIA:"I sometimes think that you cannot see the living, breathing reality in front of your faces or the dangers that lurk just off to the side..." Afridi believes that the American intelligence community is in a state of denial.Furthermore, Afridi insists, the failure of America's leaders to come to terms with the truth about Islam, terrorism, and their own mistakes and shortcomings will hurt them badly someday.These words prove to be eerily prescient.Colin Mackinnon's "Morning Spy, Evening Spy" is a powerful and stunning indictment of a bureaucracy that has outlived its usefulness and has not kept pace with a geopolitical climate that is irrevocably different from the one that prevailed during the cold war years.

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