Mike Lawson

Backchannel intel points Joe DeMarco in the direction of a possible double agent in the latest pulse-pounding thriller from Edgar and Barry Award finalist Mike Lawson starring his beloved Washington DC troubleshooter.In the middle of the night, on a winding road in a suburb outside of Washington D.C., a homeless veteran is killed in a hit-and-run--a tragedy that barely catches the attention of the media and police.Days later, John Mahoney, the former Speaker of the House, is confronted by Diane Lake, an ex-CIA agent turned political researcher with a knack for digging up unsavory intelligence on some of D.C.'s biggest players. Diane is there with a gift for Mahoney: the news that Lydia Chang, the wife of one of his biggest rivals, might be working undercover as a Chinese agent.Knowing it's too early to get the FBI involved, Mahoney does the only thing left to do. He calls in Joe DeMarco.DeMarco might not have the title of political researcher, but he's no stranger to digging up dirt either. As DeMarco starts his investigation, he soon learns there's a lot more going on than Mahoney suspected, and instead of answers, all he finds are more questions. Who's the mysterious man Lydia Chang has been meeting in the park? Does Diane Lake have an ulterior motive? And why does everything point back to a random hit-and-run?

The latest pulse-pounding thriller from Edgar and Barry Award finalist Mike Lawson starring his beloved Washington DC "troubleshooter" Joe DeMarco.Carson Newman doesn't think of himself as a gangster. He doesn't have a consigliere or operate out of the back room of a bar. No, Carson's a different sort of gangster, a billionaire Boston real estate developer, who only breaks the law when necessary--and he doesn't usually get his hands dirty.Joe DeMarco, on the other hand, is paid to get his hands dirty. So, when John Mahoney, the former Speaker of the House, calls, DeMarco knows it's time to get to work. Brian Lewis, an intern who worked for Mahoney, has been found dead, seemingly from a drug overdose. But Brian didn't seem like a drug user, and even more concerning, he seemed to be on the cusp of releasing a report that identified a group of politicians who had taken bribes.Brian's mom is convinced that Brian was murdered because of what he'd learned, and it doesn't take long for DeMarco to come to a similar conclusion. A conclusion that points to Carson Newman's empire.In a city full of shadowy agreements and duplicitous deals, DeMarco will soon learn that to get to the bottom of Brian's death, he'll have to look at people perched the very top of the world.

In the latest pulse-pounding thriller from Edgar and Barry Award finalist Mike Lawson, beloved Washington DC "troubleshooter" Joe DeMarco finds himself assigned an impossible case: help take down the President of the United States.Brandon Cartwright was a rich guy worth a couple billion bucks--inherited, of course--meaning he hadn't worked a day in his life. But he sure knew how to party, and the people he partied with were all sorts of rich and famous: politicians and movie stars and British royalty and Russian oligarchs. So, when Brendan Cartwright is executed in his own home, no one is surprised to learn he had enemies.But when John Mahoney, the former Speaker of the House, emerges from a clandestine meeting with evidence that suggests that the President of the United States somehow was involved with Cartwright's death, he needs someone who can investigate from the shadows. Naturally, he puts Joe DeMarco on the case.Joe DeMarco is no stranger to hunting down some of the very worst people Washington D.C. has to offer. In fact, he's made a career of it. But as evidence continues to point towards the President, DeMarco is faced with an impossible situation: investigating a man who is quite literally untouchable.

The latest pulse-pounding thriller from Edgar and Barry Award finalist Mike Lawson starring his beloved Washington DC "troubleshooter" Joe DeMarco.Carson Newman doesn't wear tracksuits. He doesn't have a consigliere or operate out of the back room of a restaurant. And as evidenced by his ever-growing Boston empire, he doesn't get his hands dirty. Usually.Joe DeMarco, on the other hand, is paid to get his hands dirty. So, when John Mahoney, the former Speaker of the House, calls, DeMarco knows it's time to get to work. Brian Lewis, an intern for Mahoney, has been found dead, seemingly from a drug overdose. But Brian didn't seem like a drug user, and even more concerning, he seemed to be on the cusp of releasing a report that identified a group of politicians who had taken bribes in helping dismantle a recent bill. Brian's mom is convinced that Brian was murdered because of what he'd learned, and it doesn't take long for DeMarco to come to a similar conclusion.In a city full of shadowy agreements and duplicitous deals, DeMarco will soon learn that to get to the bottom of Brian's death, he'll have to look at people perched the very top of the world.

Joe DeMarco likes to call himself a troubleshooter. It sounds better than "bagman" or "fixer." With more than a decade of troubleshooting under his belt on behalf of John Mahoney, the Speaker of the House, DeMarco has seen his fair share of dangerous situations.When Andie Moore, a 23-year-old working in the DOJ's Inspector General's Office, is murdered in cold blood in Florida's Everglades, it falls on DeMarco to get to the bottom of things. Paired with Emma, an enigmatic, retired ex-spy with seemingly endless connections in the military and intelligence communities, they venture south to the scene of Andie's murder: Alligator Alley.DeMarco and Emma waste no time in identifying a two suspects--a pair of crooked, near-retirement FBI agents named McIntyre and McGruder. But as they keep digging, it becomes clear that these FBI agents weren't acting alone, and that this goes much deeper than just the murder of an innocent 23-year old woman.

Joe DeMarco likes to call himself a troubleshooter. It sounds better than "bagman" or "fixer." With more than a decade of troubleshooting under his belt on behalf of John Mahoney, the Speaker of the House, DeMarco has seen his fair share of dangerous situations.When Andie Moore, a 23-year-old working in the DOJ's Inspector General's Office, is murdered in cold blood in Florida's Everglades, it falls on DeMarco to get to the bottom of things. Paired with Emma, an enigmatic, retired ex-spy with seemingly endless connections in the military and intelligence communities, they venture south to the scene of Andie's murder: Alligator Alley.DeMarco and Emma waste no time in identifying a two suspects--a pair of crooked, near-retirement FBI agents named McIntyre and McGruder. But as they keep digging, it becomes clear that these FBI agents weren't acting alone, and that this goes much deeper than just the murder of an innocent 23-year old woman.

When someone close to him is shot dead in a roadside motel in a small-town in Wyoming, DeMarco shirks his responsibilities as the Speaker of the House's fixer to make sure the authorities are doing everything that can be done to catch the killer. He soon realizes that the rural area is dominated by Hiram Bunt, a wealthy rancher with an obstructionist streak who is willing to take on the federal government at gunpoint and seems to have a number of politicians under his thumb. But Bunt is not the only one in the way. DeMarco also learns that his friend--a woman he was once in love with--had unearthed a number of explosive secrets during her time in the backwoods, and that the deputy in charge of the investigation may be ignoring several leads to preserve a secret of his own. Surrounded by people willing to kill to maintain the status quo, DeMarco launches his own investigation into a growing list of intertwining suspects. And being DeMarco, he concludes that breaking the law to uncover the truth is the best way to ensure that justice is done. Gripping and genuinely unpredictable to the very end.

"An amazing story of resilience and survival in the face of seemingly impossible odds." - Neal Stephenson, #1 New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award winning author In this stunning memoir, Mike Lawson shares the gruesome details of his dysfunctional childhood, along with the residual emotional baggage from his traumatic life. Born in central Massachusetts, Mike found himself caught in the crossfire of violent alcoholism for as long as he can remember. Living a life of perpetual turmoil and constant upheaval, he had to navigate the challenge of growing up amidst conditions of poverty, neglect and instability. The accumulation of trauma creates a ticking time-bomb within Mike as he matures into an adult, which had the potential for dangerously destructive outcomes. Following service in the Army, Mike realized that his wounds were deeper than ever, and had to make a choice to confront his demons or be consumed by them. His incredible experiences are extreme, yet still relatable, and he masterfully ties the thread between telling his story and providing priceless lessons for the reader. This story serves as a powerful catalyst for learning and growth, fueled by the first-hand account of Mike as he illuminates the importance of mindset and faith in the recovery process. This book was created for one purpose: to help the readers face their own emotional wounds and start the process of overcoming them. "Thousands of people have awakened before dawn to gather around the bright light that is Sgt. Mike Lawson and not only train, but build a community. In this book, Lawson tells the story of the hard internal work he did in his own life to overcome dysfunction and hardship and create a loving, joyful and healthy life. Those lessons are their own kind of coaching; in love, forgiveness and gratitude." - Nicole Brodeur, former columnist for The Seattle Times "The powerful, honest story of a man who with resilience, perseverance, and yes, grace, breaks the abuse cycle and PTSD of his origins and becomes a positive force and model for his family and community." - Dr. John Bokan, Psychiatrist

When someone close to him is shot dead in a roadside motel in a small town in Wyoming, DeMarco shirks his responsibilities as the Speaker of the House's fixer to make sure the authorities are doing everything that can be done to catch the killer. He soon realizes that the rural area is dominated by Hiram Bunt, a wealthy rancher with an obstructionist streak who is willing to take on the federal government at gunpoint and seems to have a number of politicians under his thumb.But Bunt is not the only one in the way. DeMarco also learns that his friend--a woman he was once in love with--had unearthed a number of explosive secrets during her time in the backwoods and that the deputy in charge of the investigation may be ignoring several leads to preserve a secret of his own.Surrounded by people willing to kill to maintain the status quo, DeMarco launches his own investigation into a growing list of intertwining suspects. And being DeMarco, he concludes that breaking the law to uncover the truth is the best way to ensure that justice is done.This thriller is gripping and genuinely unpredictable to the very end.

In House Privilege, the fourteenth novel in the DeMarco series, Mike Lawson sends his likeable protagonist on a journey that begins in Boston and ends up in a country beyond the reach of the law. Fifteen-year-old Cassie Russell, the only daughter of a mega-rich Boston couple, is the sole survivor of a plane crash that killed her parents. She's also the goddaughter of the newly elected Speaker of the House, John Mahoney, and after the crash Mahoney becomes her legal guardian. Normally, Mahoney would send his kind-hearted wife to deal with his new ward, but she's unavailable so he dispatches his fixer, Joe DeMarco, to make sure the girl's okay. DeMarco's job is only to put things into a holding pattern until Mrs. Mahoney is able to step in and take charge--but DeMarco unintentionally flips over a rock and out from under it crawls a lawyer, the one managing Cassie's vast estate. DeMarco learns the lawyer has been embezzling from the estate and may have killed Cassie's parents. What should have been a simple assignment unleashes murderous plots involving a Boston mob boss and his Irish thugs, and things quickly escalate from there. DeMarco ends up chasing the scheming lawyer halfway around the world to save Cassie and ensure that justice is done. And, this being DeMarco, the legal niceties are mostly ignored. House Privilege is one of the best instalments yet in Edgar Award-nominee Mike Lawson's long-running series.

In House Privilege, the fourteenth novel in the DeMarco series, Mike Lawson sends his likeable protagonist on a journey that begins in Boston and ends up in a country beyond the reach of the law.Fifteen-year-old Cassie Russell, the only daughter of a mega-rich Boston couple, is the sole survivor of a plane crash that killed her parents. She's also the goddaughter of the newly elected Speaker of the House, John Mahoney, and after the crash Mahoney becomes her legal guardian. Normally, Mahoney would send his kind-hearted wife to deal with his new ward, but she's unavailable so he dispatches his fixer, Joe DeMarco, to make sure the girl's okay. DeMarco's job is only to put things into a holding pattern until Mrs. Mahoney is able to step in and take charge--but DeMarco unintentionally flips over a rock and out from under it crawls a lawyer, the one managing Cassie's vast estate. DeMarco learns the lawyer has been embezzling from the estate and may have killed Cassie's parents. What should have been a simple assignment unleashes murderous plots involving a Boston mob boss and his Irish thugs, and things quickly escalate from there. DeMarco ends up chasing the scheming lawyer halfway around the world to save Cassie and ensure that justice is done. And, this being DeMarco, the legal niceties are mostly ignored.House Privilege is one of the best instalments yet in Edgar Award-nominee Mike Lawson's long-running series.

In House Witness, the twelfth novel in the Joe DeMarco series, Mike Lawson puts his likable protagonist on the trail of a different kind of fixer--one whose job is to influence, and sometimes disappear, witnesses in seemingly airtight criminal cases. Minority Leader of the House and DeMarco's long-time employer John Mahoney has kept more than one secret from his wife over the years, but none so explosive as this: He has a son, and that son has just been shot dead in a bar in Manhattan. Mahoney immediately dispatches DeMarco to New York to assist prosecutor Justine Porter, but with five bystanders willing to testify against the killer--rich-boy Toby Rosenthal--the case seems like a slam-dunk. That is, until Porter begins to suspect that someone is interfering with those witnesses, and that this may be connected to a pattern of cases across the country. Is there someone who is getting witnesses out of the way when the fate of a wealthy defendant is on the line? With the help of Porter's intern, as outrageously smart as she is young, DeMarco becomes determined to follow that question through to its violent resolution in what turns out to be this series' most unexpected plot yet.

In the thirteenth book in Mike Lawson's celebrated series, Joe DeMarco finds himself on the wrong side of an investigation-in the wake of a political assassination, he's been framed as the killer.As the fixer for Congressman John Mahoney in Washington, DC, Joe DeMarco has had to bend and break the law more than a few times. But when Representative Lyle Canton, House Majority Whip, is found shot dead in his office in the US Capitol and DeMarco is arrested for the murder, DeMarco knows he's been framed. Locked up in the Alexandria Jail awaiting trial, he calls on his enigmatic friend Emma, an ex-DIA agent, to search for the true killer. Emma's investigation leads her to Sebastian Spear, the ruthless and competitive CEO of the multi-billion-dollar Spear Industries. Spear had a motive for killing Lyle Canton: Canton's wife, Jean, had once been Spear's high school sweetheart and the one true love of his life-until Canton won her over. Now Jean was dead, killed in a car crash while driving drunk, and Spear blamed Canton for the accident. But the case the FBI has built against DeMarco is airtight, and not a single piece of evidence points to the grieving CEO. Using her cunning and her DC connections, Emma sets out to prove that Spear has been using fixers of his own. Featuring crimes of passion, corporate corruption, and partisan feuds, House Arrest is a gripping, timely political thriller, and one of Lawson's best books yet.

In the thirteenth book in Mike Lawson's celebrated series, Joe DeMarco finds himself on the wrong side of an investigation-in the wake of a political assassination, he's been framed as the killer.As the fixer for Congressman John Mahoney in Washington, DC, Joe DeMarco has had to bend and break the law more than a few times. But when Representative Lyle Canton, House Majority Whip, is found shot dead in his office in the US Capitol and DeMarco is arrested for the murder, DeMarco knows he's been framed. Locked up in the Alexandria Jail awaiting trial, he calls on his enigmatic friend Emma, an ex-DIA agent, to search for the true killer. Emma's investigation leads her to Sebastian Spear, the ruthless and competitive CEO of the multi-billion-dollar Spear Industries. Spear had a motive for killing Lyle Canton: Canton's wife, Jean, had once been Spear's high school sweetheart and the one true love of his life-until Canton won her over. Now Jean was dead, killed in a car crash while driving drunk, and Spear blamed Canton for the accident. But the case the FBI has built against DeMarco is airtight, and not a single piece of evidence points to the grieving CEO. Using her cunning and her DC connections, Emma sets out to prove that Spear has been using fixers of his own. Featuring crimes of passion, corporate corruption, and partisan feuds, House Arrest is a gripping, timely political thriller, and one of Lawson's best books yet.

·A complete look at fly-fishing creeks and tailwaters utilizing a lifetime of on-the-stream experience through 315 brilliant photographs and 86 illustrations. ·First-hand knowledge of waters the author has fished throughout the United States and around the world. ·The most effective patterns to imitate mayflies, caddis flies, midge, crane flies, and terrestrials based upon personal observation and tying experience and the best ways to fish them. ·Packed with solid information for fishing spring creeks from Mike Lawson's years of fly-fishing experience. Important chapters cover mayflies, caddis, midges, terrestrials, and aquatic insects. Plus, practical and proven advice on locating, stalking, playing, and landing trout and tactics for fishing dry flies, streamers, wet flies, and nymphs, from one of the best fly fishermen in the business.

In the eleventh novel in Mike Lawson's bestselling series, Joe DeMarco helps an elderly woman threatened by a shady real estate developer, then seeks revenge.Joe DeMarco works for Congress. He's a lawyer with an office in the Capitol and the title of Counsel Pro Tem for Liaison Affairs. But the title is nonsense; DeMarco doesn't practice law, he's a fixer.In House Revenge, DeMarco's powerful boss, Congressman John Mahoney, dispatches him to his hometown of Boston. Mahoney wants DeMarco to help out an elderly woman named Elinore Dobbs who is holding out against a real estate developer intent on tearing down her apartment building for a massive new development. Elinore is all that stands in the way of about a million square feet of new office space, a hotel, retail shops, restaurants, and a new public park. Mahoney figures he can score some free publicity, get his constituent a nice buyout, and ease into his next reelection. That is, until Elinore refuses to budge and Sean Callahan, the developer, disrespects him. Even worse, Elinore suffers a horrible accident, possibly at the hands of two thugs on Callahan's payroll.Now Mahoney and DeMarco are out for revenge. DeMarco tries to dig up dirt through Callahan's friends and family, but it's only when he gets a tip on the source of Callahan's financing that things get deadly.A fast-paced adventure into the cutthroat world behind the wrecking ball, House Revenge is another gripping tale of collusion and corruption from a beloved political thriller writer.

In the new novel in Mike Lawson's critically acclaimed series, Joe DeMarco is dispatched to aid a young activist in North Dakota, and confronts an oil tycoon and a pair of fixers whose tactics are all-too-familiar.As a fixer for influential congressman John Mahoney in Washington, D.C., Joe DeMarco has found himself in plenty of unexpected and dangerous situations. In House Rivals, the tenth book in Mike Lawson's award-winning series, DeMarco is taken further out of his element than ever before, sent to North Dakota to protect a passionate but naive twenty-two-year-old blogger who has put herself in harm's way. The young woman is Sarah Johnson, whose grandfather saved Mahoney's life in Vietnam. For the past two years, Sarah has been on a relentless crusade against a billionaire oil tycoon who has profited handsomely from the natural gas boom in the Dakotas--and who she believes has been bribing small-time politicians and judges to keep things in his favor. Though she has no hard evidence against the man, Sarah has been assaulted and received death threats for her meddling. DeMarco, given his years of experience bending the rules in D.C., suspects that a middleman like himself is pulling strings for the tycoon. But as DeMarco tries to identify his adversaries, the situation turns unexpectedly violent, and DeMarco finds himself in a battle of wits against two ruthless problem solvers who will stop at nothing to win.Smartly written with Lawson's trademark smooth prose and subtle humor, House Rivals is an enthralling, timely thriller that readers won't want to miss.

"Odds favor a good time for the reader as DeMarco faces his eighth case: a looming insider trading scandal with potentially fatal consequences. . . . One of the most enjoyable in the series." --Kirkus ReviewsSpotted Owl Award for Best Mystery Novel by a Northwest AuthorWashington, D.C. fixer Joe DeMarco has been asked to handle a lot of difficult situations over the years for his boss, congressman John Mahoney. But nothing has ever been quite so politically sensitive, or has hit so close to home, as the task Mahoney hands DeMarco in House Odds.Mahoney's daughter has been arrested and charged with insider trading. An engineer with a high-flying technology firm, she allegedly placed a half-million dollar bet on one of the firm's clients. DeMarco's job is to clear her name and keep his boss clean. But how did she get her hands on so much money to invest in the first place? Before long, DeMarco uncovers far more about the case than meets the eye, and the risk to Mahoney is more than just a little political embarrassment.

The ninth installment in Mike Lawson's Washington, DC, political thriller series takes listeners back into Joe DeMarco's past--to the murder of his father, which was never investigated, let alone solved.DeMarco always knew that his father Gino had a shady job for a local mafioso, but he didn't understand that Gino had been a hit man until he was murdered. Now, nearly twenty years later, one of Gino's former mob associates is dying of lung cancer, and he wants to get something off his chest before retiring to his grave: the truth about Gino's killer. The shocking information and the powerful position the killer now occupies sends DeMarco on a mission of revenge with terrible consequences. Now that the secret has been kept for so long, DeMarco has to rush to do something about it because the killer is on the brink of taking a job in Washington, DC, that will leave him untouchable.With his job, his morals, and his very life on the line, DeMarco must ask himself: How far will he go for revenge?