The dazzling sequel to The Inside Ring finds Joe DeMarco, the Speaker of the House’s all-purpose “fixer,” in a battle of wits against a lethal female spy. On a tip from his nephew, the Secretary of the Navy asks House Speaker John Mahoney to send his troubleshooter, Joe DeMarco, to check out a potential case of fraud within the navy. As DeMarco and his friend Emma, a retired DIA agent, begin to investigate, they come to the terrifying realization that an espionage ring has infiltrated the naval base. The leader of the espionage cell is a woman with whom Emma has a history that goes back to the cold war. Their encounter destroyed the woman’s once promising career and turned her into a ruthless operative who cares about only one thing: destroying Emma. DeMarco has never been near a spy in his life and now he’s dealing with a foreign agent who is more deadly than anyone he’s ever encountered.
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"Joe DeMarco may not grow much as a character in this second book but he is getting around to interesting places and, again, with much at stake. 4 stars reflects the compelling, page-turning way in which Lawson constructs his thriller.Now on to the next. "
— HBalikov (4 out of 5 stars)
" Very Good; Continuing character: Joe DeMarco; while investigating a complaint regarding possible espionage at a nuclear base, DeMarco and friends come across a much larger plot and a very scary villain "
— Joe, 1/5/2014" Nothing exceptional about this book. Good story. It was mildly entertaining. "
— Becky, 1/5/2014" I enjoy the Joe DeMarco books. He's a likable character and even Mahoney, an old reprobate, is likeable. "
— Peg, 12/27/2013" Another good book from Mike Lawson, although there seems to be a part that got left out at the end of the book. Read it, and tell me if you have the same thought as me. "
— Eric, 12/13/2013" A fast paced thriller worthy of the genre "
— Chris, 11/19/2013" Fun thriller featuring a fixer for the speaker of the house. The main character understands his limits and while he gets the job done he never seems like a superman. Audio read by Scott Brick "
— Sandi, 11/15/2013" entertaining and probably accurate view of the spy world to a certain extent "
— Jim, 6/27/2013" Ho Hum! I think the series would be much better with Emma as the main Character! Very weak but still entertaining. Like watching t.v! "
— Buck, 6/4/2013" Well written, engaging, several twists to the plot. This is author's second book and in the spy, thriller category, I suspect he will do well. Sort of like NCIS "
— Don, 4/27/2013" Joe Demarco is a fixer who works out of a basement office for the Speaker of the House. He gets called in by the Speaker help the son of a friend and finds himself mixed in an espionage case involving stolen classified information. Not outstanding, but a decent read worth 3 stars. "
— Bob, 3/11/2013" Not such a hot writer but good story. His physical descriptions of the male protagonists began to make me giggle as they were so much the same, without imagination and superfluous to the story.Made want to be an editor. "
— Gaile, 1/3/2013" Likable characters and gripping plots make Lawson's DeMarco series a fun read... "
— Greg, 9/27/2012" I'll probably read another DeMarco novel before dropping the series or not. This book did not make me want to rush out for the next installment. "
— Yvonne, 8/10/2012" Easy, entertainment. The second in this series. The author is consistent in his writing without getting yawningly formulaic. "
— Sandy, 5/30/2012" This was better than the first book about Joe. Easy read. Hard to put down. "
— Becky, 11/18/2011" A pretty good book. It stayed interesting the whole way through. "
— Joe, 3/18/2011" Picked this up as was sucked in by the "if you like Lee Child, you will love Mike Lawson" - sorry fully disagree! Main character is not a touch on Jack Reacher and will not be returning to the author for further reads. "
— James, 3/16/2011" This was a decent story and fairly well told. There several leaps of credibility and a bit of sentiment as plot ploy which always annoys me, but over all, not too bad. "
— Susan, 1/29/2011" I like this book, but I think the author should spend more time developing DeMarco. He's a good protagonist, but there seems to be more about Emma than anyone else. The plot was ok. Altogether, an average book. "
— Julie, 12/11/2010" entertaining and probably accurate view of the spy world to a certain extent "
— Jim, 7/10/2010" book on tape <br/>like joe demarco. <br/>good story. <br/>entertaining!!!!! <br/>Re-listened to it during a 4 day drive to downtown for LNGUAGE ! training. Augu 2010 "
— Steve, 9/26/2009" Well written, engaging, several twists to the plot. This is author's second book and in the spy, thriller category, I suspect he will do well. Sort of like NCIS "
— Don, 8/20/2009" This was better than the first book about Joe. Easy read. Hard to put down. "
— Becky, 7/8/2008" This was a decent story and fairly well told. There several leaps of credibility and a bit of sentiment as plot ploy which always annoys me, but over all, not too bad. "
— Susan, 1/6/2008Mike Lawson, a former senior civilian executive for the US Navy, is the author of numerous novels starring Joe DeMarco. His first book, The Inside Ring, was rated by the Seattle Times as one of the top ten thrillers of 2005 and was a finalist for the Barry Award for Best Thriller. House Secrets was selected as one of the best thrillers of 2009 by Library Journal, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine.
Scott Brick, an acclaimed voice artist, screenwriter, and actor, has performed on film, television, and radio. He attended UCLA and spent ten years in a traveling Shakespeare company. Passionate about the spoken word, he has narrated a wide variety of audiobooks. winning won more than fifty AudioFile Earphones Awards and several of the prestigious Audie Awards. He was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine and the Voice of Choice for 2016 by Booklist magazine.