House Divided

By Mike Lawson
(Atlantic Monthly Press, Hardcover, 9780802119780, 384pp.)

Publication Date: July 2011

Categories: Thrillers

“A great novel from a great author! Lawson goes for broke in this Machiavellian thriller, where Washington power brokers take on elite super spies with one rather perplexed Joe DeMarco trying to outwit—and outlast—the carnage. Equal parts funny, clever and cool, this book will make your heart race and your mind ponder.”
—Lisa Gardner, New York Times best-selling author of Live to Tell

"Lawson's House Divided is a non-stop thrill ride. The author has created a disturbingly real Washington D.C. and peopled it with eerily familiar characters. He writes with wit and verve and displays a shrewd understanding of bureaucratic irony. Thoroughly enjoyable. The political thriller of the year." —John Lutz, New York Times bestselling author of Urge to Kill and The Night Caller

“Rating: A. House Divided exemplifies fascinating storytelling with scary overtones. … This series is a must read.”—Deadly Pleasures

“Joe DeMarco, ‘fixer’ for Speaker of the House John Fitzpatrick Mahoney, is shrewd, tough, discreet, and resourceful. … But when he innocently becomes embroiled in a high-tech joust between the supersecret National Security Agency and the Pentagon, DeMarco realizes he’s a mere babe in the woods. … Lawson creates multifaceted characters … [and] the pacing is relentless … a great thriller.” —Thomas Gaughan, Booklist (starred review)

“In Lawson’s excellent sixth Joe DeMarco thriller, DeMarco, the fix-it man for womanizing, alcoholic John Mahoney, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, discovers he can get into serious trouble all on his own without the help of Mahoney, who spends this entry offstage in the hospital. … Readers will enjoy watching the smart, funny DeMarco, who’s wise to the ways of Washington, as he extricates himself from one deadly threat after another.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A cousin’s death draws D.C. fixer Joe DeMarco away from the golf course and into a case that teaches him much about how the war on terror is fought in this entertaining thriller … the case moves at a nice clip and the manner and methods of the war within the war on terror are fascinating.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Crisply plotted.”—Entertainment Weekly

“The only problem with [Lawson’s] novels is that there are not dozens of them to read!”—Seattle Times

“I love Joe DeMarco. … These are wonderful. I think they’re inventive, nicely detailed, just a treat to read. Great airplane books.”—Nancy Pearl