House Justice by Mike Lawson, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Attorney Joe DeMarco, a self-described "fixer" for the Speaker of the House of Representatives, relegated to a windowless office in the sub-basement with no official connection to any Congressional department, is tasked with seeking out the person who leaked confidential information that led to the death of an undercover CIA agent in Iran in House Justice, the fifth political thriller in this series by Mike Lawson.

The dead agent is Mahata Javadi, in Iran for more than 6 years before being revealed as a spy, brutally tortured before her murder. House Speaker John Fitzpatrick Mahoney is determined to know who revealed her true identity to the Iranians. Mahoney thinks the leak is in the CIA, but the Director of the CIA believes it to be someone in the Capitol. It could be neither, as a newspaper reporter has revealed that a Conrad Dillar, an executive for a prominent defense contractor, was in Iran just prior to Javadi's capture. But that raises the question, how did he know? She won't reveal her source and Mahoney is reluctant to press her on this … for personal reasons. Mahoney assigns DeMarco while the CIA brings in Special Agent Angela DeCapria, who work together to discover the source of the leak.

To mix metaphors here, House Justice is one of those mile-a-minute thrillers that simply doesn't let up. Often exhilarating in the pace of its twisty plot, time is still taken to develop interesting, appealing characters; the relationship between DeMarco and DeCapria, for example, who always seems to be in the face of danger, is both amusing and touching. The supporting cast is equally engaging, from members of Congress, agents with the CIA, lobbyists, the Russian Mafia, and a man intriguingly known only as "the florist". House Justice should definitely be on your summer reading list this year.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of House Justice.

Acknowledgment: Kaye Publicity provided a copy of House Justice for this review.

House Rules
Atlantic Monthly Press (Hardcover), June 2008
ISBN-13: 9780871139832; ISBN-10: 0871139839

House Justice

A Joe DeMarco Thriller by Mike Lawson