Brian F. HaigCritiques

The best of a very good series!

Rereading of book 2 in the Major Sean Drummond militia legal series.

Not your run of the mill hero, the protagonist battles using his wits rather than brawn. Made for very entertaining and stimulating reading.

Fictionalized account of real life events of the 1990s. Russian financial genius is plotted against by Russian government, US Attorney General and FB I. Frightening.
Listening to this book was superior to earlier reading.

I needed a change of pace in my reading and I was looking for a good story. It had all the elements of a good story: greedy businessmen, corrupt politicians, noble and smart regulator, cunning hero, various other villains. This was a book I had a hard time putting down. I wanted to find out how the story was going to end. A capital group seizes on the idea of a cunning entrepreneur and ruthlessly buys out a company that had a chemical product that protected tanks and humvees from explosives and IUDs.

How this capital group and their minions (ex Presidents, Senators, Saudi investors) get scammed and deceived makes this a fun book to read. The hero and heroine are always two steps ahead of the villains looking to stop them.

Very entertaining story.

Second read of Haig's dip into corporate crime and CIS program to investigate global money laundering plot. More murders than typical for this series and more wise-ass Drummond behavior. Ending is a bit abrupt with several unresolved secondary and tertiary plotlines.

I was predisposed to like this book. The author's uncle years and years ago did me a great service and was a wonderful friend. (His father, was the secretary of state under Regan but I knew from previous books that Brian Haig is more of his uncle than his father.)

And I did like it. The characters were interesting and true. The plot was actually pretty fascinating. I thought I had it figured out most of the way and was totally wrong. There was a pretty draggy part in the middle - hence 4 stars instead of 5 - but the beginning and the ending were great.

JAG attorney Major Sean Drummond's bad attitude is probably responsible for his assignment on loan for a year to a large corporate law firm. Just before he can get information hand off from the JAG attorney who did the stint before him, she was murdered. Other murders pile up and it's looking like they aren't random and they are connected to the firm. This is another good read from Haig.

Someone is killing off the people around the president. And has offered $100 million bounty for killing the president himself. The premise is good but the telling of the story is even better. I had never heard of this author before but it turns out that this is apparently the 5th in a series featuring Sean Drummond - a former Army lawyer. And the author is the son of Alexander Haig. Now I need to catch up on the other 4 books he's written!

Really enjoyed this book. I really enjoyed the personally of the main character and the mystery which kept me engaged. Will be checking out other BH books.

At the beginning I liked the view of the Army scene from the eyes of this rather crude JAG officer. We see how he views women and the powers that be, much of that view he does not actually verbalize. There are murders in the story and we point of view shifts to the murderer. The murders are gruesome and I dropped reading this book at about 40% not wishing to read descriptions of more of them. It was just too much darkness for me. I had grown pretty tired of our hero's thoughts on the attributes of various women as well.

The most recent Sean Drummond novel. I somehow missed it when first published, but I really enjoy Haig's wit and style he gives him.

When you listen to a lot of audiobooks, those in a series tend to take on the characteristics of a particular reader, especially if h/she is well suited to a given author. I’m a devoted fan of the Sean Drummond character invented by Brian Haig who has been narrated primarily by Scott Brick. The narrator becomes Drummond. Brick captures all the nuances of Drummond’s humor. LJ Ganser is fine, just takes some getting used to if you are accustomed to Brick, but he often reads the wiseacre passages so endearing to Drummond fans too flatly.

Drummond is now a Lt. Colonel, still in the JAG, but assigned to the CIA in a special projects group and he’s assumed the role of an FBI agent to infiltrate the investigation into the suicide/homicide of a man with lots of classified access, Clifford Daniels, and the man about to be outed as a major force in promoting the invasion of Iraq.

The scene eventually shifts to Iraq where the plot gets thinner and the content more wordy. Haig engages in digressions that often have little to do with the story, and sometimes the point he wants to make regarding the war gets muddled. For example, he goes to great lengths to portray the dangers of Fallujah yet Drummond and his escorting contractors have little difficulty making it through town to their target where a great fuss is made over Bien’s conduct in identifying the man they want to kidnap (but only after a ridiculous banter over who gets to go that was really silly). Their attempt must be made speedily because the Marines are about to obliterate the town with artillery. Shift to a hospital where much is made of the injuries to soldiers from roadside bombs without even a consideration given to the effect of artillery on non-combatants.

One interesting historical mention was the terrorist bombing in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, in which a truck bomb was placed next to an eight-story structure that housed members of the coalition forces being used to enforce the no-fly zone in Iraq. Close to 500 coalition servicemen were killed or wounded as the whole side of the building collapsed. Precursors of many attacks to come.

In spite of a constant refrain that as members of the Army, both Drummond and Bian Tran, his female MP major sidekick follow orders, they consistently avoid doing what they have been ordered to do, all the while proclaiming the rightness of the cause.

The book resonates best when Sean is dealing with the bureaucracy and its silliness, less so when he meanders all over in assorted sermons/lectures. There are some seriously incredible plot twists and devices. But I do like some of the characters in spite of their flaws hence three instead of two stars. Haig (and his editor) need to learn the difference between imply and infer.

This is one of those quick reads that feel like a break from deep thought. This isn't to say its a mindless read because some - ok most - of this espionage and Russia stuff is over my head.

This is a book about a JAG lawyer, Sean Drummond, who is hired to represent General Morrison who is accused of "the worst case of treason in U.S. history". To complicate matters, Morrison's wife, a CIA boss lady, is an old girlfriend for whom he still has feelings. What Drummond finds is "this simple case of treason is actually a chess game being played at the highest levels by the best and brightest-one in which Morrison is merely a pawn."

The narrative is funny and delightful. I really enjoyed reading Drummond's story from his clever, flawed point of view. This view lends to a very one-sided development of only the main character, however, but I'm not sure it would have been as fun to read otherwise.

Ultimately a typical spy thriller with not too much of a surprise ending. Same suspense, same romantic tensions, same conspiracies, same action. So not a favorite, not one I need to own, and I'd likely not recommend it, but it was a delightful read.

Another great Sean Drummond story! Haig's stories never drag. There are very interesting characters, and lots of intrigue and humor.

Sean Drummond is a character that I probably would not like if I had to be around him, but he is a great character to read. This book had great plot, character development and dialog, and humor as well as some very serious questions to ponder. It held my interest from the beginning--I didn't feel there was a word wasted in it. I'll be checking out the next book in the series.

Jack Wiley brings a great deal to the Capitol Group, a company that takes over smaller companies and revamps them. Jack knows of a company that makes a miracle polymer and wants the Capitol Group to become partners with him to obtain the company. Lots of twists and turns and dirty dealings ensue. There is a big twist which I saw coming from very early int he book so not much of a thriller for me.

Sean Drummond becomes conflicted and very tough

Excellent, my first Brian Haig read.

Lieutenant Colonel Sean Drummond is assigned to defend a guard who has been accused of committing grave atrocities against her charges. (She is one of five people.). He and his co-counsel have a past together which they need to put aside so that they can work together to see what drove these guards to do what they did.

I can't review this book just yet even though I've had it for a couple of weeks now. It wouldn't be fair to give it a rating. But I just couldn't get into it and it seemed to start slow; maybe I wasn't in the right mindset. I tried a couple of times but now it's overdue at the library. I really like the subject matter and Mr. Haig seems promising as a writer. I will try again some other time; or maybe I will try another of his books.

I can't review this book just yet even though I've had it for a couple of weeks now. It wouldn't be fair to give it a rating. But I just couldn't get into it and it seemed to start slow; maybe I wasn't in the right mindset. I tried a couple of times but now it's overdue at the library. I really like the subject matter and Mr. Haig seems promising as a writer. I will try again some other time; or maybe I will try another of his books.

My favorite character and wiseass, Sean Drummond, is back. Someone has offered a $100 million bounty on the president's life and just to get everyone's attention, assassinates, in his home, the Chief of Staff and his family and the Secret Service detail assigned to their protection.

Haig nicely integrates some -- what I think -- pertinent information regarding the real world. While interviewing the major general in charge of the Army CID to help locate some missing weapons (specifically a Bouncing Betty and anti-tank missile) we learn that because of the enormous requirement for munitions in Afghanistant and Iraq, the Army has had to contract out security at the ports to civilian contractors who hire guards at $9.00 an hour and that given the amount of material being shipped (and later exploded) it was impossible to account for a lot of the explosives. That rings very true and is not particularly comforting.

Far-fetched plot, predictable ending. Nevertheless, I am a sucker for Sean Drummond, Haig's wise-cracking CIA/FBI/MP/JAG/CID jack-of-all investigative trades. Fun.

I have really begun to enjoy Brian Haig's books. Having shied away from him for several years, mostly because of the last name, his novels featuring JAG lawyer Sean Drummond are really lots of fun. Drummond is another one of those wise-cracking, self deprecating, protagonists that I enjoy.

In Mortal Allies, Drummond is ordered to Korea to defend a young captain charged with homosexual murder and necrophilia. He discovers his civilian co-counsel is an old adversary from law school. Drummond is soon involved with the CIA, corrupt cops and a North Korean conspiracy that he stumbles through quite entertainingly. Perhaps a bit preachy at times, it's still a fun read, something to take your mind off the mess in Iraq and the incompetence in Washington.

I just love wise-cracking protagonists; they have a skill I've never been able to develop. Sean Drummond is the JAG attorney creation of Brian Haig, son of Alexander (you know, of "Don't worry, Alex is here. I'm in charge, so nothing to worry about" fame), but I won't hold that against him.
Major Drummond has been asked to spend a year working for a private law firm - Culper, Hutch, and Westin - that represent some of the District of Columbia's most respectable institutions, as an experiment in army/private sector cooperation. The fact that he is unpopular with his army superiors for his sharp tongue and insubordination might also have had something to do with it. Drummond begins irritating his stuffed shirt bosses from the moment he arrives. He figures if he makes himself sufficiently unpopular, he can get himself kicked out of the program, where he follows in the footsteps at the law firm of Lisa Morrow, another JAG officer and Sean's erstwhile old flame.
Lisa had been killed in the Pentagon parking lot just before a dinner date that Sean hopes might rekindle some of the former embers. Her death is followed by three others, all the ostensible work of a serial killer whose modus operandi appears very similar to that of the LA Killer of several years before, i.e., the victims' necks had all been snapped. There was no apparent connection between the victims.
Sean, in the meantime has become embroiled in an audit of Morris Telecommunications, a company that has retained his law firm. Sean discovers some unusual financial arrangements, but he has no reason to suspect anything particularly nefarious until his brother, a financial wizard with spreadsheets, points out that several "swaps" on Morris's books put Sean's firm in some financial jeopardy. (Swaps are what sank Enron. Basically, two entities get together to show revenue on their books for the largely insubstantial use of each other's services. It's a way of propping up income statements to keep stock prices up, all legal according to generally accepted accounting principles, but another reason to shoot the accountants before going after the lawyers. :)) ) Drummond also begins to realize that the firm's attorneys might be capitalizing on his inexperience with corporate law to set him up as a fall guy. They to reckon without his long experience as a criminal attorney for the army.
In the meantime, Janet Morrow, Lisa's sister and assistant district attorney in Boston, has decided to follow the investigation into her sister's death from close up. She and Sean discover that Lisa's emails had been hidden and quarantined in the firm's network behind a secure firewall. Sean is accused of malfeasance by the firm, but by some not-so-subtle pressure on the privates of his boss (in a very funny scene), Sean extorts the help of the firm's computer expert to examine Lisa's emails. It's there that he discovers a link between the victims. Lisa had known all of them.
Soon Drummond is snared in a mesh of conflicting loyalties, as he discovers that some governmental agencies are involved in some very secret business. A fun read. Drummond is a great character who ranks with Nelson DeMille's wiseacre CID investigator.