Man in the Middle

Interesting book, just not my cup of tea. Lots of military and government agency jargon. If you're into government/military novels you would probably love this. ( )

Ripped from today+s headlines, Army lawyer Sean Drummond caught between duty to Washington+s elite and the soldiers in Iraq. Dispatched to investigate the suicide of one of DC+s most influential defense officials-an ardent, early supporter of the war in Iraq-Drummond and his female partner find themselves in the middle of a tug-of-war between Washington+s most influential power brokers and his own personal allegiance to the soldiers dying overseas. What he uncovers are the secrets that led to the war, secrets that once exposed would destroy public support and undermine the presidency. Now, Drummond faces the greatest moral quandry of his life: What is the true meaning of patriotism? ( )

This turned out to be a fair book but the first 12-15 hours were like listening to a monotone reader read the New York City phone book. Lots of boring, boring sleep inducing back story!!

I had two problems with Man in the Middle. First, the story relied upon the relationship between newly-promoted Lt. Col. Sean Drummond and another character. Unfortunately, the relationship never "worked" for me. Second, I saw the twist long, long before it happened (although, I guessed the twist for completely wrong reasons). Thus, I was left with a bit of a disappointed feeling. ( )

Drummond is a lot slower on cracking the case in this one. Took him a long time to realize what was going on (which, the reader, at least me, knew almost from the beginning - the murderer, at least), and once I thought he was starting to do so, I find out, 10-20 pages later, that certain issues were still not yet recognized by him.

"Worst" book before this one was rated, by me, 4.38 out of 5 stars. I'll read the next one by him (I've read 6 books by him, 5 rated close to 4 1/2 stars out of 5 stars), but I am deeply disappointed. ( )