The Inside Ring by
Michael Lawson
pbk out January 06
(HarperCollins)
at £10.99
If all the American novels about assassinating the President, government
conspiracies and corruption at the highest level were placed end to end,
they would probably reach from the White House to Timbuktu.
This is another one, but with such quirky turns and witty writing that it is
well worth reading. The (anti)-hero is Joe DeMarco, who if the book is
ever filmed, should be played by Danny DeVito. He is rather down-at-
heel lawyer who works as a gofer and trouble-shooter for the Speaker of
the House of Representatives, a large, bluff and corrupt Irishman.
Joe, the son of a deceased Mafiosa, has kept clear of the Mob and owes
his career to the Speaker for reasons which I've already forgotten.
An attempt on the President's life has been made, but his author friend
was shot alongside him and although the perpetrator soon kills himself,
some suspicion falls on a Secret Service agent, one of the 'Inside Ring'
that surrounds the President. The Speaker sets Joe to sniff around, as he
hates the head of the Secret Service and hopes to get something on him.
The Secretary of Home Security, who had ignored an anonymous letter
warning of the assassination, and the boss of the FBI are all involved and
Joe finds himself in deep water – literally at one point, as the trail takes
him to Georgia and the Okefenokee swamp, where he suffers almost
everything but actual death.
This is a true 'can't-put-downer' but I'll remember it mainly for the quips
and chirpy political incorrectness that makes the writing so attractive.
(
Bernard Knight
ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series)
The Inside Ring by
Michael Lawson
