House Rules: A Joe DeMarco Thriller

Muslim terrorists attack the Washington, D.C. area by air, by car and by suicide bomber. Although all three attacks failed, the country panics as everyone assumes a new 9/11 will reoccur soonest as anyone with a competent thought knows you cannot negotiate with people willing to die for their cause especially if they fully believe God awaits to hug them. Amidst the fervor of patriotism and fear, House Speaker John Mahoney, having learned from Oklahoma City and the extremes exploited by our leaders after 9/11, calmly looks at the known facts. He has some doubts about the majority wisdom of the pundits that Middle Easterners are behind the assault and assigns his operative Joe DeMarco to investigate the incidents. Joe wonders if the attacks are tied to anti-Islamic legislation championed in a patriotic with me or terrorist supporter against me fervor of Virginia Senator William Davis Broderick who constantly reminds everyone of the failed attempt to blow up the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel on Labor Day. This exciting post 9/11 Continental United States thriller is fast-paced, but what makes it a strong read is Joe who "escorts" readers through DC political power in which ambition, manipulation, and conspiracy is the norm. Fans will enjoy the hero's effort to learn the truth behind the attacks, but each step he takes seems to be murkier and fraught with "J'accuse" danger as the shadowy opponents seem in control of the media; recent NYT revelations on military experts on the TV news affirms Mike Lawson's theory that Pogo is right that we met the enemy and they are us. (see THE SECOND PERIMETER and THE INSIDE RING). Harriet Klausner

Mike Lawson has given us a book with a timely believable plot, lots of plot twists, and a superb cast of characters. The dialogue is snappy, the action scenes are taut, and the resolution is "O. Henryesque." I zipped through the book, and stayed up late to finish it. Highly recommended! SPOILER ALERT: The reason this book doesn't rate 5-stars is because there is a superfluous subplot that adds nothing to the meat of the book, and seems as though it was added in to pad the pages.

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!

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.

In Mike Lawson's "House Rules," Joe DeMarco is a "Counsel Pro Tem for Liaison Affairs" for Speaker of the House John Fitzpatrick Mahoney. Although Joe (the son of a deceased Mafia hit man) has a law degree, he has never actually practiced law and has "no marketable skills." He works out of "a windowless box" in the Capitol subbasement and his job description is "absolute gibberish." His silly-sounding title was invented to mask his real role, which is to do whatever his calculating and controlling boss, Mahoney, wants him to do. Joe pokes around, checks things out, and sometimes skirts the boundaries of the legal system in order to accomplish his assigned tasks. Lawson focuses on terrorism and the fear that Americans feel when they think about 9/11 and other similar tragedies. The FBI manages to abort a potential catastrophe when their agents arrest two American-born Muslims who were planning to detonate a powerful bomb in the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel. Another disaster is averted when the pilot of a small Cessna is intercepted before he accomplishes his goal--to fly into the White House. These and other unsettling events provide a boost for a polarizing piece of legislation sponsored by "a minor party hack" named Senator William Broderick. His bill includes some controversial provisions that would curtail the rights of Muslims living in the United States. Since "radical Muslims...can be proselytized and turned into weapons of mass destruction," the senator asserts, we must be proactive in protecting ourselves from our enemies. Mahoney is shocked to learn that the aforementioned Cessna pilot was Reza Zarif, a prominent American-born Muslim attorney and the son of the Speaker's old childhood friend. Mahoney orders Joe to conduct a low-key investigation into the Zarif affair and report back to him. While conducting his inquiries, Joe manages to step on some powerful toes and he incurs the wrath of several influential individuals. One of them tries to scare him off, telling Joe that "there are probably a dozen...things I can do to make your life miserable if you don't crawl back under the rock you came from." Also preying on Joe's mind is a phone call that he receives from his self-centered ex-wife, Marie. She has the temerity to ask him to help the man who stole her away, Joe's handsome and sleazy cousin, Danny DeMarco. Joe would rather have his wisdom teeth pulled than lend a hand to Danny, but how can he turn down a request from the sexy woman he once loved? In this lively novel, Mike Lawson tackles a number of hot button issues: Should we deny civil liberties to some of our citizens in order to protect ourselves from fanatics who wish to destroy us? Is there any practical way to prevent terrorist attacks within our borders? Can the various competing agencies of the United States government put aside partisanship and work together productively? Is political corruption so endemic in Washington that it is impossible to u