Political Thriller done right!

Joe DeMarco is back and the corridors of power have never felt so deadly…

First a bomb attack on the Baltimore Harbour tunnel is averted. Then a young American Muslim is shot down in a Cessna plane whilst trying to drive it into The Whitehouse.

What follows is chaos as a ruthless senator tries to pass a xenophobic law that will see non-citizen Muslims deported and extensive background checks on all Muslims living in the US carried out immediately.

Speaker of the house John Mahoney wants nothing to do with the bill being pushed through. He knows all to well what trouble a law like that could stir up, and what’s worse he knows the kid who tried to crash the plane into the White House.

Enter Joe DeMarco, a man with a shady past, a lawyer who has never practised law. He’s charged with investigating the attacks but there’s a twist to the attempted mass destruction, something the FBI didn’t even see, and suddenly at every turn DeMarco faces a new and terrifying danger…

Mike Lawson’s debut, The Inside Ring (2006) introduced us to Joe DeMarco, trouble-shooter for the Speaker of the US Congress, Mahoney. Called on to do all the jobs the Speaker doesn’t want publicised, DeMarco works in the dirty underbelly of US politics (not to mention having an office in the basement). In this, the third novel in the series (titled House Rules in North America) The novel is told primarily from the perspective of DeMarco and the Speaker (who’s actually an awesome character, so his increased presence here is definitely welcome), providing insight into both the public and private workings of the US government.

A series of failed attacks by Muslim Americans gets the politicians all riled up and calling for blood. At first, the call is only from a freshman, Senator Broderick, who calls for Muslim registration (to begin with). As these attacks get larger and more brazen, the Speaker sends DeMarco off to investigate why one of the attackers, who happened to be a family friend, decided to slaughter his family and try to fly his Cessna into the White House.

Working with various government agencies (cheekily dropping the Speaker’s name whenever he meets resistance), DeMarco uncovers a plot of far greater magnitude and consequence.

Lawson has recovered from his second novel, The Payback (2007), which I did not enjoy as much as his first. Dead On Arrival returns us to a gritty political world, where almost everyone can be bought or intimidate. For a hatchetman, DeMarco lacks the Bond-esque qualities of many leading men (he’s uncomfortable around guns, for example, and has a habit of getting caught), making him far more believable and, strangely, likeable.

With tighter prose, Lawson’s really upped his game. A longer, slow-burning thriller, Dead On Arrival will appeal to anyone who likes political thrillers focussing on current events, and especially those who aren’t in any hurry to get to the end. Highly recommended in a field that is growing increasingly more popular and competitive.

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Mike Lawson’s Dead on Arrival is out now, published by Harper Collins in the UK and Atlantic Monthly Press in North America — as House Rules.

For fans of: Andrew Britton, Vince Flynn, Kyle Mills, Alex Berenson, David Baldacci

[Originally posted on previous version of CR — this version has been lightly edited/updated.]