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Book Review
Reviewed: 31 January 2024

Kingpin

by: Mike Lawson

Joe DeMarco - Book 17

  • Rating: full starfull starfull starstar outlinestar outline (3/5)

Sometimes it is better not to get a peek behind the curtain.

This is the first time reading this author and this series. My take on it is that DeMarco is a political fixer. He may work for Mahoney but answers to his conscience. 

I liked Sydney, her resilience and smarts. Hope to see her again in the series as well as the sassy Capital cop that helped DeMarco.

I even liked the assassin. He had his process and limits - until he didn’t. 

A couple things were confusing to me but not enough to derail the story. 

Liked the story, the pacing and the characters. It is a heady book and my curiosity is peaked about what is next for DeMarco.

Thank you to #NetGalley  for the opportunity to do an early read and share my thoughts on the story. 

Happy Reading!

Release Date: 6-February-2024

Plot Summary

The latest pulse-pounding thriller from Edgar and Barry Award finalist Mike Lawson starring his beloved Washington DC “troubleshooter” Joe DeMarco. Carson Newman doesn’t wear tracksuits. He doesn’t have a consigliere or operate out of the back room of a restaurant. And as evidenced by his ever-growing Boston empire, he doesn’t get his hands dirty. Usually. Joe DeMarco, on the other hand, is paid to get his hands dirty. So, when John Mahoney, the former Speaker of the House, calls, DeMarco knows it’s time to get to work. Brian Lewis, an intern for Mahoney, has been found dead, seemingly from a drug overdose. But Brian didn’t seem like a drug user, and even more concerning, he seemed to be on the cusp of releasing a report that identified a group of politicians who had taken bribes in helping dismantle a recent bill.  Brian’s mom is convinced that Brian was murdered because of what he’d learned, and it doesn’t take long for DeMarco to come to a similar conclusion. In a city full of shadowy agreements and duplicitous deals, DeMarco will soon learn that to get to the bottom of Brian’s death, he’ll have to look at people perched the very top of the world.