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Summary: Military legal thriller
Review: Brian Haig is the sond of the former Secretary of State. This is his first book (though I read Mortal Allies a while back) and it's a good book, a complex thriller involving international politics and military operations.Major Sean Drummund, the main character, is an army lawyer assigned to investigate what appears to be a massacre of Serbian soldiers. The army is running a semi-covert operation inside Bosnia, with Green Beret teams advising Albanians in nearby Kosovo in the fine art of guerilla warfare so they can fight off their Serbian oppressors. One of the Green Beret teams discovers that the Albanians they were training have all been killed, and they ambush a vehicle convoy in retaliation and kill 35 Serbian soldiers. The difficulty is that almost all of the Serbians have been shot once in the head, just to make sure. This could constitute a war crime. When Drummond is first assigned to the case, he gets a lot of on-the-record covering from his superiors, and a lot of behind the scenes pressure to make sure the whole problem goes away. However, he's a stubborn character, pretty much born into the military, and he insists on taking his own path and finding the truth. When a reporter shows up to try and follow the case, and is almost immediately killed, things get complicated even more. And naturally there's a girl, and Drummond can't decide if she's on his side or not. This is a good first effort, and while it's not going to win any awards, if you like this kind of book you could find many worse things to spend your weekend with.
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Summary: Ouch - next time read the Manual for Courts-Martial first
Review: Brian Haig's mistakes in depicting the military justice system ranged from the picayune (disrespect by "apportment" - how about "deportment") to the gross (since I'm limited to 1000 words, I won't even get started on investigation procedures), and I couldn't wait to turn the page and see what topic was the next victim in his massacre of military law. But I still found it a good read and look forward to Sean Drummond's next appearance...
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Summary: Good reading - poor moral message
Review: Enjoyable reading but very turned off by conclusion that it is ok for a soldier to commit atrocities under the guise of punishing the bad guys. I like Haig's books but am very disappointed in his moral message.
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Summary: A chilling thriller
Review: Every military officer knows that some assignments almost always lead to retirement such as the critical but deadly role of garrison commander. That is how Major Sean Drummond of the Judge Advocate General's Corps feels as he stops at Fort Bragg to catch a flight to Bosnia where his next case awaits him. In Bosnia, someone executed thirty-five Serbs gangland-style. The bodies were all found containing bullets in the brains. The international media quickly jumps on the Serbian claim that an American Special Forces team of nine people committed mass murder. Sean will prosecute the case against the accused American soldiers in a military court of law. However, as he gathers information and realizes that at least one of his two aids is a "spy," Sean knows that there is more to this mass execution then the brass will tell him. Several of the higher ranking officers advise Sean on the record (tape recording on) before warning him about going too far and destroying his career (tape recording off). Can Sean truly prosecute a case that his superior officers want him to lose? SECRET SANCTION is a powerfully fresh military legal thriller that provides sub-genre fans with insight into a different form of justice as well as a close up look at Bosnia. The invigorating story line centers on military justice and wondering if Sean, who believes in the Army values including justice and honor (while higher ranked officials use the values as a convenient facade) can fairly prosecute the case? Brian Haig shows insider information of the working of the US Army in a peacekeeping scenario. This adds spice to a well-written, issue-raising thriller. Harriet Klausner
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Summary: Humour,Suspense and Satisfying!
Review: Fast moving , well written, extremely enjoyable. I have just completed his second book and Brien Haig is an articulate and accomplished author with an upside to rival Coyle and Clancy.. A must read!
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Summary: wonderfully done!
Review: good english, wonderful writing style, i mean, plain english. three dimensional very likable characters, good plot, settings, scenario, twists....you name it. read along like walking on a path paved with silk. haig indeed comes with a good gene for writing. a fantastic most talented author in this military genre. keep writing and creating, sir.
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Summary: What a great book!
Review: Had a few feelings at the beginning of the story but as it progressed the plot rounded and became a great and believable story. I will read more of his books as he comes along and I am sure that I will enjoy them.
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Summary: Pathetic
Review: Haig has rather blatantly imitated Nelson DeMille's style, and has also ripped off plot elements from two DeMille books, "Word of Honor" and "The General's Daughter". The plot of "Secret Sanction" is completely unbelievable and the characters are cardboard cutouts. Don't waste your time with this pathetic imitation, go for the original--both of the two DeMille books named above are excellent. Haig's book is junk.
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Summary: Five stars in any Man's Army!
Review: Haig writes from the foxholes. His clear cut attention to detail with regards to military tradition and ceremony weaves seamlessly with courtroom drama and Special Forces codes of honor. Haig takes us on a ride from Serb controled Bosnia to the inner circles of the White House with a master story-tellers keen eye for the unexpected. A summertime "must read" that you will be placing under Christmas trees as well!
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Summary: Glaring lack of factual accuracy on the Army and JAG Corps
Review: I am an active duty Army JAG Officer and I can tell you first hand that this book is greatly lacking in factual accuracy. And I’m not talking about nickel-and-dime stuff. There are times I think the author literally made things up about the Army and the JAG Corps. For example, Imelda's rank, Specialist Seven, hasn't existed in the Army for ages. Anyone remotely familiar with the modern Army should know that. Moreover, no JAG would head up such an investigation in the first place; it would be a regular officer doing either what’s called a 15-6 investigation or an Article 32 hearing. (At one point, Drummond does say he is the Article 32 officer. If that were so, he was inappropriately collecting evidence outside the setting of the actual hearing and thus invalidating his own investigation). There are no "career" prosecutors or defense attorneys like Delbert and Morrow, respectively; every JAG officer does rotations through various positions: prosecution, defense, administrative law, civil law, environmental law, etc. I could go on and on, but my point is that Haig's sole source of research on the JAG Corps seems to be the TV show "JAG" and the movie "A Few Good Men." Needless to say, both are rife with their own Hollywood-inspired concoctions and inaccuracies. What's so odd is that people think this is a semi-genuine portrayal of the way military justice works! Check out the comments here at Amazon.com and on the book’s cover. Some have compared him to Tom Clancy, which is absurd, considering that the hallmark of Clancy’s writing is its technical accuracy. As mysteries/thrillers go, this book isn’t bad, but the frequent mistakes and outright misrepresentations of the Army were too distracting for me.
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