Mike Lawson - The Inside Ring: A Joe DeMarco Thriller

Praise for Mike Lawson

and

The Inside Ring

Enlivened by just the right touch of menace and mystery... witty [and] lightning quick.

Library Journal

Mike Lawson has certainly made a claim as the best political thriller writer working today. That would certainly be my contention.... Im especially impressed with the consistently high quality of this series. The stories are not only scarily believable, but exciting and very well told. Im a big fan.

George Easter, Deadly Pleasures

One of the most engaging heroes Ive ever encountered. In Joe DeMarco, Mike Lawson has created a charmingly likeable character whom Ill happily follow for many books to come.

Tess Gerritsen, author of The Bone Garden

Seattle thriller writer Mike Lawson has quickly established himself as someone to watch. His work is a potent combination of high good humor, deft prose, and insider smarts.

The Seattle Times

Despite his many flaws, DeMarco is a sympathetic character with a self-deprecating sense of humor.

Mystery News

Lawson has a true insiders insight about real-world spinelessness, venality, and corruption that have taken the place of moral courage and true leadership on Capitol Hill... a fine ear for dialogue... and a good eye for irony.

The Washington Times

Mike Lawson shows every understanding of the skills required of a thriller writer to keep a reader fully engaged and utterly thrilled.

The Guardian (UK)

Joe DeMarco, fixer for Speaker of the House John Fitzpatrick Mahoney, is shrewd, tough, discreet, and resourceful.

Booklist

Lawson writes a mean thriller and has a sense of humor that hurts. I loved this one.

The Independent (UK)

This assured first novel shows Mike Lawson to be a talented storyteller.... DeMarco makes a likeable hero as he follows an intricate trail through some typically murky American politics.

The Telegraph (UK)

The Inside Ring

Also by Mike Lawson

The Second Perimeter

House Rules

House Secrets

House Justice

House Divided

Mike Lawson

The Inside Ring

Grove Press

New York

Copyright 2005 Mike Lawson

Excerpt from The Second Perimeter copyright 2006

by Michael Lawson

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Scanning, uploading, and electronic distribution of this book or the facilitation of such without the permission of the publisher is prohibited. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the authors rights is appreciated. Any member of educational institutions wishing to photocopy part or all of the work for classroom use, or anthology, should send inquiries to Grove/Atlantic, Inc., 841 Broadway, New York, NY 10003 or .

This book contains an excerpt from the The Second Perimeter by Mike Lawson. This excerpt has been set for this edition only and may not reflect the final content.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters, and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authors imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or localities is entirely coincidental.

Published simultaneously in Canada

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN-13: 9780802194985

Grove Press

an imprint of Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

841 Broadway

New York, NY 10003

Distributed by Publishers Group West

www.groveatlantic.com

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For my Father

Bernard Norman Lawson

19242004

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am deeply indebted to a number of people for their help in publishing this novel.

At the Gernert Company, Matt Williams for his hard work on all the contracts, Tracy Howell for her expertise on foreign rights, and Karen Rudnicki for her help and her patience with all my phone calls and questions.

I want to thank Abner Stem, Andrew Nurnberg, and their associates for getting the book published in so many countries overseas. Talk about European allies! One day I hope to meet all of you in person so I can thank you properly.

At Doubleday, my editor Stacy Creamer, for the improvements she made to the manuscript, particularly the twist she added at the end. Also at Doubleday, Karla Eoff, for her outstanding work in finding all the typos, misspellings, and broken English; and Tracy Zupancis, for all her assistance to a beginner.

The person I am most grateful to is my agent, David Gernert, for agreeing to represent a new author, for his boundless enthusiasm, for the time he took to help me improve the manuscript, and for his phenomenal ability to convince others that it was a book worth publishing. David, thanks to you, Im now doing what Ive always wanted to do.

PROLOGUE

The video begins with the President walking toward a marine helicopter.

The rapids of the Chattooga River are visible behind the helicopter, and beyond the river is a dense pine forest, the ground rising sharply to a bluff overlooking the river. The President is dressed in khaki pants, a blue T-shirt, and hiking boots. Over the T-shirt he wears a lightweight fishing vest with multiple pockets for storing tackle. He appears relaxed, his pace is unhurried. He smiles and waves once in the direction of the camera, and then ignores it. In the third year of his first term hes comfortable with the mantle of power, undaunted by the medias ever present eye.

There are two Secret Service agents in front of the President and two behind him. The agents wear identical dark-blue Windbreakers and all have on sunglasses. A puff of wind exposes the automatic weapon one agent carries on a sling beneath his Windbreaker.

Walking next to the President, on his right, is the writer Philip Montgomery. Montgomery also wears outdoor clothing, though his outfit has a more lived-in look than the Presidents. Montgomery is talking to the President as he walks, then looks toward the camera and holds his hands apart as if describing a good-size fish. The President shakes his head and mutters something, his lips barely moving. Montgomery throws back his head and laughs.

As the group of men nears the helicopter they pass into the shadow created by the bluff across the river. A Secret Service agent in front of the President, the agent on his right-hand side, takes off his sunglasses. He folds them quickly and attempts to pocket them in his Windbreaker, but he misses the pocket and the sunglasses fall to the ground. The agent quickly bends at the waist to scoop up the glasses but Philip Montgomery, who is still talking to the President and looking to his left instead of forward, bumps into the agents rump as hes reaching for the glasses. The agent pitches forward, almost falling, and the collision throws Montgomery off balance and he stumbles into the President.