Man in the Middle

Brian Haig
Warner Books (2007)
ISBN 0446530565
Reviewed by Thomas Gabrielli for Reader Views (2/07)

The main character, Army Lieutenant-Colonel Sean Drummond, is called in to investigate an apparent suicide in Washington, D.C, where he meets Bian Tran, a sexy, smart MP officer, who is also investigating the case. They discover that the victim may have had ties to Iraq that might have jeopardized American intelligence. Halfway through the book, both are transferred to Iraq to substantiate these findings, where they enter into a complicated series of wartime events.

“Man in the Middle” is an action thriller whose main character is a quick-witted, barbed-tongue ex-lawyer turned Army officer who has a comeback line for almost all the other characters in the novel. Admittedly, some of his “zingers” are quite laugh-out-loud humorous, and when I first started reading this, I immediately compared the author’s style to Nelson DeMille. Unfortunately, the momentum isn’t sustained. After 50 or so pages of this, Drummond’s one-liners become tiresome and troublesome, and the reader begins to wonder why he is so negative.

For an action thriller, most of the action is crammed into the final half of the book. During the first 200 pages, there is very little action or significant plot development. However, once the scene switches to Iraq, the novel takes off and it becomes the page-turner you hoped it would be. Weighing in at a hefty 450 pages, the book is a fairly quick read once you get into the action sequences, and there are many surprise plot twists. The ending, while satisfying and explanatory, is a little too fast-paced. I was left with the impression that the author got bored and tried to rush completion of the story.

“Man in the Middle” is well written and entertaining, with humor interspersed with bombs and bullets. There may be some commentary here on our involvement in the Iraq war, although that is downplayed enough to be almost unnoticeable. The story also gives you some insight into what may actually be going on in the Iraq war, with a brief but enlightening explanation of the conflict between the Shiites and the Sunnis. Overall, this was worth the read, and you’ll probably end up looking forward to the next Sean Drummond adventure.

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