The Inside Ring

By: Michael Lawson

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's Summary

From a bluff overlooking Georgia's untamed Chattooga River, an assassin fires three shots. The President of the United States is wounded; his best friend and a Secret Service agent are killed. Two days later, a man in Landover, Maryland, commits suicide, and in the man's home is overwhelming evidence that he was responsible for the assassination attempt.

General Andy Banks, the Secretary of Homeland Security, is nursing a guilty conscience. Only days before the assassination attempt on the President, Banks had received a note with a dire warning: "Eagle One is in danger. Cancel Chattooga River. The inside ring has been compromised. This is not a joke." The message, on Secret Service stationery, was signed "An agent in the wrong place". Banks immediately passed the note on to Secret Service Director Patrick Donnelly, who proceeded to ignore it.

Even after the assassin is found dead, Banks is determined to dig a little deeper. He turns to Speaker of the House John Fitzgerald Mahoney. The Speaker has a guy, an under-the-radar, go-to guy he uses for things like this, things he can't afford to have connected to his office. The guy is Joe DeMarco, an honest lawyer with a sordid family history.

After one meeting with Banks, DeMarco realizes he's in way over his head. But Mahoney finds the prospect of taking down Donnelly irresistible and sets DeMarco on a trail that twists through the Secret Service, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security and snakes all the way back to one of the more enduring mysteries of the 20th century.

Brimming with suspense, authenticity, and wit, The Inside Ring marks the debut of a major new talent and introduces a cast of intriguing characters with many more cases ahead.

©2005 Michael Lawson (P)2005 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"This is high-level entertainment from a writer who could soon rise to the top of the thriller heap." (Publishers Weekly)

Thrills & Chills

My wife and I really enjoyed it. Good action, some scenes with seriously scary suspense, and engaging characters.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Great Read

This book grabs you and never lets go! Scott Brick is great as usual. I seek out his books and rarely do they disappoint. The Inside Ring is no exception. Fun Read Indeed!

9 of 10 people found this review helpful

The Perfect Shot

Would you listen to The Inside Ring again? Why?

I would listen to The Inside Ring again because there are some important parts I missed, interpreted wrong and perhaps I didn't give a character his/her true significance to the part he/she played. When re-listening to a book, I pick up parts that give meaning to a concept that I might have missed the first time through. The book was a good enough listen that I could come back and start the series over. I've done that before and I've gained much more learning. I realize that novels don't follow reality in all things but they do encourage me to go to the internet and trace the facts.

What other book might you compare The Inside Ring to and why?

The Inside Ring could be compared to Boundary Waters. The two of these novels both attempt to protect the inner circle who needs the utmost protection from the evils that can be loosed upon anyone or anything at anytime.

What about Scott Brick’s performance did you like?

Scott Brick's performance was excellent. The character's personality comes through the narration of Scott Brick. I could envision the anger exuding from Dale Estep, who was an extremely evil man. He truly enjoyed murdering in cold blood. Man, woman, child, even member's of his own family. He enjoyed killing so much, if he was asked to kill his own mother, he would have no problem. Murder was his reason for living. The people come alive when Scott Brick provides a voice for them.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

How the most thought out plans go wrong or do they?

Any additional comments?

The novel had interesting character's who were well developed. The plot was a good one that was pulled together to a viable conclusion. The secrecy of the inner workings of the government are given justice. Each character has a personality that is written befitting to who he is. There is suspense, intrigue and problem solving throughout the book. The Inside Ring is worth your credit.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Enjoyable

Interesting Characters, with a rollercoaster plot. Solid Story.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

not!

Even Scott Brick couldn't save this one! The premise of the story was good and I was really into it for the first half. Then it just got off track and totally unlikable, unbelievable characters took over with a lot of torture and unreal violence that wasn't necessary. The story lost a lot of ground while the main characters got totally abused. And I, as a reader, didn't really care about these unsympathetic people. I look for books with Scott Brick as a narrator but the last two, this one and The Traveler were disappointing.

6 of 8 people found this review helpful

Wow!

Great book - and just who knew that Scott Brick could do such an amazing job of a southern accent? A couple of twists and turns that caught me by surprise , and I was real worried about how Demarco was going to extricate himself. Can't wait to read book two!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

could have been great

This story line is interesting and the twist in the conclusion was generally foreseeable, although not specifically predictable because not all the information was provided to you. The main character is interesting enough to where you want to know what happens to him. The first part of the book is excellent, but the second half spends way too much time with violence and brutality that goes on and on after awhile, does not add any more to the story. The book gets better again at the end but you have endure a lot of gratuitous violence to get there.
Overall, this book was above average for the genre but there are plenty of better choices.

5 of 8 people found this review helpful

The Foul Language Ring

I purchased this book and decided to listen to it while driving to a destination that took 8 hours to reach. I thought it would be a good book for my 15 yr old son, myself, and my two 75 yr old grandparents to listen to. Boy was I shocked, disappointed, and embarrassed at the constant use of hard core foul language and the over-use of the "F" bomb (I didn't realize that there was explicit language that could be used that is worst then the "F" bomb but the author proved me wrong) that is used continously as well as unnecessary use of graphic language that the author uses to push the story line through. I stopped the book (of course) but I can tell you playing the "name that car" game with a 15 yr old and two grumpy 75 year old grandparents who are "lost in time" for 7 hours was painful beyond explanation! This book would have been great if the author would have written it with PG-13 language.

Maybe Audible can establish a rating system for the books that are sold on their site.

"Not a sermon - just a thought..."

14 of 23 people found this review helpful

Good, not great

Lawson has some great characters in both this book and teh sequel, but the storiues are just so so.
I think , as he keeps writing these, they will get better.
The stories are decent, just not really new ideas.
Scott Brick makes it as good as it can be.

M

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

A great Story and performance

I enjoyed this book very much. Good perspective of all the Sherlock Holmes characters. Great narrator