Man in the Middle

November 6, 2006
Despite the intention declared in an author's note to broaden Americans' understanding of the current war in Iraq, bestseller Haig (Private Sector
) delivers a routine mystery thriller that awkwardly blends fact and fiction. Lt. Col. Sean Drummond, Haig's wisecracking series hero, finds himself partnered with an exotic female military police officer, Bian Tran, when Clifford Daniels, a high-ranking Defense Department official, is found dead in his Virginia apartment, an apparent suicide. The pair soon learn that Daniels was the U.S.'s main liaison with Mahmoud Charabi, an Iraqi exile who, like the real-life Ahmed Chalabi, was a leading advocate of military action to topple Saddam Hussein. The discovery that Charabi may have been in the employ of Iranian intelligence raises the stakes for the inquiry, which takes place just weeks before the 2004 presidential election. The action detours to the Iraqi war zone before the predictable windup.

Starred review from December 1, 2006
It's just as long-suffering and insufferable U.S. Army lawyer Sean Drummond is finally promoted that his real troubles begin. Drummond, the protagonist of Haig's previous novels (e.g., "Private Sector"), is called on to investigate the kinky death of an influential defense official. Was it suicide or murder? If it was murder, is there a cover-up? And does the case involve events leading up to the Iraq war? Aided by an attractive female army officer of Vietnamese descent, Drummond starts to unravel a complex plot that leads to Baghdad and concerns people very high up in the government who desperately want Drummond stopped. Haig's novels always feature excellent writing, smart dialog, interesting characters, intriguing and often Byzantine plots, and lots of action, and this book is no exception. Everyone is out to get or discredit Drummond, who's always underestimated. A marvelously twisted plot and marvelously twisted characters help along a tale in which Drummond actually gets to act a little human. Great entertainment; highly recommended. [Prepub Alert "LJ", 9/15/06.]Robert Conroy, Warren, MI

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2006
Sean Drummond, the military investigator who keeps moving from job to job (as events and plot demands dictate), has been temporarily assigned to the CIA. He is still getting himself oriented when a case drops into his lap that could easily blow up in his face if he doesn't handle it diplomatically. Unfortunately, the words " Drummond" and " diplomat" rarely appear in the same sentence, but with a dead government official and an unresolved question of suicide or murder on his plate, our hero must learn the art of circumspection and learn it quickly. But when the investigation takes him deep inside the secret corridors of the intelligence community, it's straight shooting, not subtlety, that will keep him alive. The Drummond novels are big, action-packed thrillers that say something meaningful about American politics, and this one is as satisfying as its forerunners.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)