House Standoff

A Joe DeMarco Thriller, Book 15

De: Mike Lawson

Narrado por: Joe Barrett

When someone close to him is shot dead in a roadside motel in a small town in Wyoming, DeMarco shirks his responsibilities as the speaker of the house’s fixer to make sure the authorities are doing everything that can be done to catch the killer. He soon realizes that the rural area is dominated by Hiram Bunt, a wealthy rancher with an obstructionist streak who is willing to take on the federal government at gunpoint and seems to have a number of politicians under his thumb.

But Bunt is not the only one in the way. DeMarco also learns that his friend - a woman he was once in love with - had unearthed a number of explosive secrets during her time in the backwoods and that the deputy in charge of the investigation may be ignoring several leads to preserve a secret of his own.

Surrounded by people willing to kill to maintain the status quo, DeMarco launches his own investigation into a growing list of intertwining suspects. And being DeMarco, he concludes that breaking the law to uncover the truth is the best way to ensure that justice is done.

This thriller is gripping and genuinely unpredictable to the very end.

©2021 Mike Lawson (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing

Technical errors and irrational decision-making

Minor spoilers here: But only to illustrate situational blunders by the author that typify the entire series. Not revealing the story.

Joe DeMarco, having a self-admitted aversion to doing his job--preferring golf instead--exhibits the prototypical lack of self-preservation of any clueless victim in a horror movie. (The audience screams, "Don't go down that dark alley!!!") He blithely turns down offers of backup in situations where backup is clearly indicated. His situational awareness approximates that of a six-year-old. He is totally oblivious to his surroundings--right up to the moment of getting sapped--failing to do even the most elementary checks of his environment for threats. All this in spite of the fact that he constantly and often intentionally provokes dangerous people in the course of his investigations--after which, when he is jumped by the henchmen of those whom he provokes, he never seems to learn to take precautions. DeMarco's naturally unguarded nature appears to be at least partially autobiographical for the author who, while acknowledging the corruption on both sides of the political divide, appears to generally espouse left-leaning views in his 3rd person omniscient narration of the stories--characterizing Democrat politicians as corrupt but kind-hearted while, of course, Republican politicians are equally corrupt and universally mean-spirited. Issues such as gun-control are commented on with the standard left-wing bias.

I have read every book in this series. So, that tells you that I find them entertaining. Mostly I give them 5 stars. This one is not the pick of the litter--probably because it reeks of the stereotypical metrosexual leftist prejudice against the hicks in flyover America. Also, as in the other books, each time that DeMarco walks unsuspecting into a parking garage or turns his back to the sidewalk and gets his head beat in, I groan. Not out of sympathy for his pain but in embarrassment for his sheer stupidity given the obvious danger that he places himself in and that he learns absolutely nothing in the course of 15 books about personal risk management. And the corollary to this is that his tradecraft is abysmal. In one book he makes a video recording of a mobster's testimony against an extremely dangerous adversary and doesn't get a copy made for security. You would think he would learn from his mistakes but, from one year to the next, he learns nothing.

Also, in this book, House Standoff, at one point the author characterizes an otherwise competent FBI agent as totally ignorant of the law when the author allows her to be convinced that she can't detain the subject of a search and seizure warrant during the duration of the search. According to the law, the subject may be detained until the search is completed consistent with the safety of the officers. Of course, the subject in this story is allowed to make the phone call--when the agent erroneously admits she has no right to stop him from so doing--which a real agent would never allow. The subject then calls in armed reinforcements. This creates a totally unnecessary and ignorant armed confrontation. In actuality, the subject of a search warrant does not have a right to a phone call during the search. Just as they don't have a right to a phone call during an arrest. To allow that, as the author graphically portrays--poses a grave threat to the law enforcement personnel conducting the search, causes the search to be threatened, forces the search to be terminated prior to its completion, etc., etc.--which is why a subject can be legally detained and held incommunicado for the duration of a lawful search. The officers actually have an unambiguous right to restrain the subject consistent with their need to safely complete their task. In the incident portrayed in this book, there was a well known concern about officer safety. Also, the fact that the subject was allowed to call for help caused the search to be rushed and ended prior to completion. The author pretending that the subject of a search has a right to call for help is the epitome of ignorance of the law.

Joe Barrett is one of the best narrators ever! I listen at 1.25 speed because it sounds more natural to me. Slower than that is a lazy drawl. But Joe Barrett does a good job with accents to both differentiate characters and also locate them in space, time, and national origins. I thought he did an outstanding job with the Native American hotel owner in this story--voicing him with that soft, uninflected speech characteristic of members of some of the tribes. Noticeable and not overdone.

The author captures the corruption of Washington D.C. with all of the color and verisimilitude that we have come to understand.

Oh

This was a very interesting book. I really enjoyed listening to the book. This book made the listener feel as they were in the story.

Must read

Loved it. I was on edge and was afraid of the outcome. I was glad it ended the way it did. Read all fourteen books and you will know why I said I was on the edge of the ending of the series.

Similarities

Too many similarities to a real occurrence at the Bundy Ranch standoff. Except for the truth.

A Totally Different Joe DeMarco Book

My reviews are not discussions of plots and how the ends are not what I expected. I just like to comment on the fact this is a great read (or listen) and I recommend it highly.