I just love wise-cracking protagonists; they have a skill I've never been able to develop. Sean Drummond is the JAG attorney creation of Brian Haig, son of Alexander (you know, of "Don't worry, Alex is here. I'm in charge, so nothing to worry about" fame), but I won't hold that against him.Major Drummond has been asked to spend a year working for a private law firm - Culper, Hutch, and Westin - that represent some of the District of Columbia's most respectable institutions, as an experiment in army/private sector cooperation. The fact that he is unpopular with his army superiors for his sharp tongue and insubordination might also have had something to do with it. Drummond begins irritating his stuffed shirt bosses from the moment he arrives. He figures if he makes himself sufficiently unpopular, he can get himself kicked out of the program, where he follows in the footsteps at the law firm of Lisa Morrow, another JAG officer and Sean's erstwhile old flame.Lisa had been killed in the Pentagon parking lot just before a dinner date that Sean hopes might rekindle some of the former embers. Her death is followed by three others, all the ostensible work of a serial killer whose modus operandi appears very similar to that of the LA Killer of several years before, i.e., the victims' necks had all been snapped. There was no apparent connection between the victims.Sean, in the meantime has become embroiled in an audit of Morris Telecommunications, a company that has retained his law firm. Sean discovers some unusual financial arrangements, but he has no reason to suspect anything particularly nefarious until his brother, a financial wizard with spreadsheets, points out that several "swaps" on Morris's books put Sean's firm in some financial jeopardy. (Swaps are what sank Enron. Basically, two entities get together to show revenue on their books for the largely insubstantial use of each other's services. It's a way of propping up income statements to keep stock prices up, all legal according to generally accepted accounting principles, but another reason to shoot the accountants before going after the lawyers. :)) ) Drummond also begins to realize that the firm's attorneys might be capitalizing on his inexperience with corporate law to set him up as a fall guy. They to reckon without his long experience as a criminal attorney for the army.In the meantime, Janet Morrow, Lisa's sister and assistant district attorney in Boston, has decided to follow the investigation into her sister's death from close up. She and Sean discover that Lisa's emails had been hidden and quarantined in the firm's network behind a secure firewall. Sean is accused of malfeasance by the firm, but by some not-so-subtle pressure on the privates of his boss (in a very funny scene), Sean extorts the help of the firm's computer expert to examine Lisa's emails. It's there that he discovers a link between the victims. Lisa had known all of them.Soon Drummond is snared in a mesh of conflicting loyalties, as he discovers that some governmental agencies are involved in some very secret business. A fun read. Drummond is a great character who ranks with Nelson DeMille's wiseacre CID investigator.
I could swear that every book I’ve picked up in this series just gets more and more complex. Sean Drummond is hired out to a private law firm to gain some skills in corporate contracts, syndicates, audits, and telecoms. When his JAG rival and friend, Lisa ‘Moonbeam’ Morrow is murdered shortly after his arrival, there is no such thing as coincidences. Three more women are violently murdered and there is a connection, but to get some answers, Sean must go up against the most powerful client in the firm. Once again he must out-wit, out-smart and stay ahead of the game of the infamous L.A. Killer copycat. It starts with an audit of the firm and ends in a conspiracy and espionage involving syndicates, trade swapping, and money. Only a skilled accountant will manage to keep up with this novel and I am not one of them but there are enough twists and turns to keep you riveted to find out who is behind all these secrets. Sean's humor does not falter here as he continues to make me laugh at his wise-ass cracks and bring even the most powerful of tyrants to his knees. Another great novel in the Drummond series. Brian Haig keeps his mind sharp and creative with great characters and ideas when it relates to our military, government, defense department and laws while at the same time makes you question the very foundation of your morals and ethics throughout. Weighing the greater good against the lessor wrongs.
What do You think about Private Sector (2003)?
From the moment he learns he's being loaned to a white-shoe D.C. law firm, Army attorney Sean Drummond smells trouble. His bull-headed manner and sarcastic wit are a bad fit. But how bad can it be? Worse than he ever imagined.A plush corner office and outrageous perks can't make up for the legion of uptight, Armani-suited lawyers he must contend with. Then fellow JAG officer Lisa Morrow, his predecessor in the loan-out program, is viciously murdered - and Drummond realizes that the corridors of Cupler, Hutch, and Westin are just where he wants to be.He starts investigating, and within days more women are found slaughtered. Pitted against the most savage criminal in D.C. history, Drummond quickly finds himself over his head helping the police and handling the firm's biggest client, a gluttonous media giant vying for a lucrative Pentagon contract. He soon senses that something is amiss with the client and its charismatic owner. Something that may be bigger - and more sinister - than anything he has encountered during his years in the military.Plagued by dangerous corporate secrets, driven by a wily murderer who strikes with brutal abandon, and able to count on only one ally - Lisa Morrow's sister Janet, a gorgeous and shrewd Boston ADA - Drummond takes matters into his own hands. That means toes are going to get stepped on and no one is going to get in his way. Not some sadistic serial killer. Not some greedy telecom behemoth. And definitely not a group of buttoned-down stuffed shirts.
—Shelley aka Gizmo's Reviews
