Thanks to Dreamscape & NetGalley for providing an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I've been meaning to read Mike Lawson for awhile. I assumed that dipping in to his Joe DeMarco series cold would be OK, and I was correct. There might be some nuance I missed in his long-term relationship with the senator (John Mahoney) he is a Fixer for, but I don't think it diminished my enjoyment of the story, which is your basic political thriller. Which is not to say it's bad! Actually, it was a great story, just the right amounts of suspense and political intrigue, with a soupcon of this-is-how-the-sausage-gets-made.

In this story, Carson Newman, a wealthy political operator, has been making his dreams a reality via buying off politicians. A young intern for John Mahoney, Brian, who has landed the job after his mother, a widow of a soldier killed in Afghanistan who's an acquaintance of Mahoney, finds a paper trail showing proof of these nefarious doings. In short order, Brian, a man known for clean living and being driven and even a little boring, is found having OD'd on heroin, with baggies of other various drugs hidden all around his apartment.

Brian's mother knows something is not right, as does Brian's girlfriend, so the mom goes to Mahoney, who goes to DeMarco, who goes to the mattresses, because he's basically a bulldog and believes in truth, justice, and the American way. This might sound trite, but it's very entertaining and kind of heartwarming to have a basic good guy hero saving the day.

I surprised myself by giving thsi book a solid 4 stars :)

An Exciting and Captivating Book

SUMMARY
Joe DeMarco is a troubleshooter for the former Speaker of the House, John Mahoney. When Mahoney asks DeMarco to look into the death of his intern, Brian Lewis, DeMarco gets to work. It looks like Lewis died from a drug overdose, but DeMarco isn’t fooled, particularly after talking to his mother and girlfriend. Lewis didn’t do drugs.

Lewis had been researching the votes of twelve Representatives, known as the dirty dozen, on a particular bill and their connections to a particular lobbying firm when he died. He had supposedly written a report, but no one can find the report or his computer; with little evidence to go on, DeMarco needs to figure out what Lewis knew and who would have killed a young, innocent man, not even out of college.


REVIEW
KINGPIN is an exciting and captivating book that keeps you engaged till the end. The author, Mike Lawson, has once again crafted a cleverly written and seamlessly structured story that is highly entertaining. I have read all seventeen books in the Joe DeMarco series; each is better than the last.

All of the characters in the story are well-developed and have a distinctive personality. From DeMarco's charming character to the arrogant Carson Newman, a wealthy Boston developer, each character plays a significant role in this fast-paced tale. One of my favorite parts of the book was when DeMarco teamed up with the Capital Police. Each DeMarco book stands alone, and I recommend starting with any book in the series. You will not be disappointed.

I listened to the audio version of KINGPIN and thought the narrator, Joe Barrett, did a great job with the performance. Thanks to Netgalley for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher Dreamscape Media (Audio)
Published February 6, 2024
Narrator Joe Barrett
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this captivating eARC!


Excellent mystery - literally kept me on the edge of my seat, wondering what would happen next, It was so well-written, perfectly matched with a narrator who kept up with the different characters and the exciting, pulse-pounding action.

Perfect for anyone who enjoys kidnapping mysteries, where the odds are against the likeable characters (human and flawed individuals who have strong friendships and fingernail chewing tension as the book careens to its unpredictable ending.

Excellent writing by Mike Lawson, I cannot wait to read more by this excellent author!

This is the second book I’ve read from this author and it won’t be the last. I plan to go back and read his back list. If you like Carl Hiaasen you will love Mike Lawson. The main character, Joe DeMarco, is a fixer for a Congressman. It’s a cat and mouse thriller. Demarco is investigating the death of the congressman’s aide. You are on a ride till the end. I listened to this book and really enjoyed the narrator. He brought the characters to life. 4 1/2 stars for me.

If you are looking for corrupt politicians, white collar crime, and hitmen… this book is for you. I realized afterwards this book is part of a series, which makes sense as to why I wasn’t follow the storyline. So I am going to do my review over the way the book was written and the audio narration.
First, the book was written in third person and this is difficult to follow on an audiobook with one narrator. The narrator would have to really use different voices to distinguish between all the different characters. There were a lot of characters in this book and for my brain… I can only handle a max of 3 main characters.
Second, the narrator didn’t wow me and that is really important for audiobooks.
Further, I thought maybe this was going to be a sort of whodunnit, but with it being third person it became very obvious very quickly who did it. So that led me to wonder what the ending was even going to be. I think maybe if I would have known more about this series it would have made more sense… so that’s on me.

Overall, it was well written and because I didn’t read the other series the character development fell flat, but that’s my own fault. It gave my Jack Ryan vibes.

Thank you netgalley and dreamscape media for this AudioARC. The thought and opinions are my own.

#Kingpin #NetGalley

This is the first book that I have enjoyed by this author and I was not disappointed. Where I thought that the plot could have moved along in some places it still kept me interested in seeing what would happen next. I also did not really feel lost not reading the other books of the series especially since when I went to write this review I discovered that this was installment number 17 and was pleasantly surprised. Overall this was a good book that I enjoyed from start to finish and would recommend to others.

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!

Amazing and fast paced, This book will keep you on the edge of your seat. Politics can be murder and this story proves it. Hang on for the ride!

The Joe DeMarco series is a great blend of mystery, thriller, politics, and quirky characters. I’ve read the latest two books in this long-running series and I loved them both. I would enjoy going back and reading some of DeMarco’s older adventures, but these books stand alone and can be enjoyed without reading the series in order.

DeMarco is described as a fixer for the powerful former Speaker of the House, John Mahoney (he was Speaker before the most recent election), so he does a lot of different things, including some solid investigative work. As you might expect from a story involving a political fixer, much of the action takes place in and around Washington, DC, but in this case, some of the important action takes place in Massachusetts.

There’s a billionaire real estate developer in Boston who reminded me a bit of Donald Trump in his pre-presidential life. Lots of influence peddling, lots of accusations of bad business practices, and so on. He has other people do his dirty work.

When a hard-working Congressional intern who works in Mahoney’s office is found dead from what seems to be a drug overdose, his mother is convinced he was murdered. He was secretly working on a report about some Congressmen who he found out were taking bribes. DeMarco is dispatched to make sure his mother doesn’t go to the media with her accusations.

DeMarco is a fun character. He would much rather be playing golf than working for Mahoney. There’s a funny subplot about DeMarco’s air conditioning going on the fritz in the middle of a DC summer. A minor character, a young woman, Sydney, becomes important over the course of the book and I really enjoyed her story.

I bounced between the audiobook and the ebook for this title, which was very convenient, as it allowed me to continue with the story even when I wasn’t able to sit and read. The audiobook was well-narrated by Joe Barrett, who did a good job with a number of accents.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atlantic Monthly Press for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book and to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

This is a book that's clearly written by a man for a predominantly male audience, so it wasn't really my thing -- organized crime, an emphasis on violence and shows of strength rather than intricacies of the human condition, plenty of male gaze (multiple women referred to by hair color alone, and the physical appearance of the women is often a notable fact where it isn't for the men). It was definitely not a bad story, just not my vibe!

📚 Series or Standalone: series, can be read as a standalone
📚 Genre: thriller (mafia)
📚 Target Age Group: adult
📚 Cliffhanger: no

✨ Will I Reread: no
✨ Recommended For: fans of Hollywood Hustle, action movies

💕  Characters: 3/5
💕  Writing: 3/5
💕  Plot: 3/5
 Pacing: 3/5
 Unputdownability: 2/5
 Enjoyment: 3/5
 Book Cover: 3/5

Thanks, NetGalley and Atlantic Monthly Press, for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.