Rating: 
Summary: Good thriller with just the right comedic touch
Review: "Mortal Allies" tells the story of an Army lawyer assigned to defend an American soldier in South Korea accused of murder. But there is layer upon layer of complications that make this an extremely interesting read. First, the accused is gay. The victim is male lover of the accused. The victim is also the son of the Minister of Defense of South Korea. Finally, the case is airtight, with conviction virtually a certainty. All of the above would have made it a decent thriller, but there's more. We get to look into the fragile alliance our country has with South Korea. If not for the American presence, the Korean War would likely resume after half a century. But there have been so many accounts of misbehaving U.S. soldiers that the Koreans are ready to toss them out anyway. The danger that North Korea poses, both in the novel and in today's headlines make it better. But what puts it over the top is the relationship between the defense lawyers on the case. The narrator is a fairly conservative Army lifer who was second in his class. By one point. To a female. A very liberal female. They were at each other's throats in college, and he finds himself with her on the defense team. There has not been such good sparring since Bruce Willis took it up with Cybil Shepard, and this makes for great reading. The book executes a perfect balance between the serious and the humorous. The murder plot gets more and more complicated, reaching to high levels of government More people die, and we see the pain experienced from this very clearly. I was hoping for more information on that most mysterious country, North Korea, and was not disappointed in that area either. But the humor does balance out at the right times, as the lead character has to work with his old nemesis, her very gay team, and the issue of military gays in general. The plot takes several twists, and quite a few secrets are revealed as we go along. I will make note of one of the secrets, but only to point out a hint. Like the movie "The Sixth Sense", all the clues are there if you just look for them. If you read the book, look for the term "blue eyes", and it will give you a connection for one of the books big surprises. Now go out and get the book.
Rating:
Summary: Good thriller with just the right comedic touch
Review: "Mortal Allies" tells the story of an Army lawyer assigned to defend an American soldier in South Korea accused of murder. But there is layer upon layer of complications that make this an extremely interesting read. First, the accused is gay. The victim is male lover of the accused. The victim is also the son of the Minister of Defense of South Korea. Finally, the case is airtight, with conviction virtually a certainty. All of the above would have made it a decent thriller, but there's more. We get to look into the fragile alliance our country has with South Korea. If not for the American presence, the Korean War would likely resume after half a century. But there have been so many accounts of misbehaving U.S. soldiers that the Koreans are ready to toss them out anyway. The danger that North Korea poses, both in the novel and in today's headlines make it better. But what puts it over the top is the relationship between the defense lawyers on the case. The narrator is a fairly conservative Army lifer who was second in his class. By one point. To a female. A very liberal female. They were at each other's throats in college, and he finds himself with her on the defense team. There has not been such good sparring since Bruce Willis took it up with Cybil Shepard, and this makes for great reading. The book executes a perfect balance between the serious and the humorous. The murder plot gets more and more complicated, reaching to high levels of government More people die, and we see the pain experienced from this very clearly. I was hoping for more information on that most mysterious country, North Korea, and was not disappointed in that area either. But the humor does balance out at the right times, as the lead character has to work with his old nemesis, her very gay team, and the issue of military gays in general. The plot takes several twists, and quite a few secrets are revealed as we go along. I will make note of one of the secrets, but only to point out a hint. Like the movie "The Sixth Sense", all the clues are there if you just look for them. If you read the book, look for the term "blue eyes", and it will give you a connection for one of the books big surprises. Now go out and get the book.
Rating: 
Summary: The Very Definition of a Page-Turner
Review: A driving, smart-alecky first person narration, complete confidence in representing a background and setting, and a compelling plot that becomes more and more twisted......... This is what Brian Haig brings to his military-legal series about Major Sean Drummond, and it makes for a compelling page-turner. This time, Sean's in Korea, reluectant co-counsel in a gay murder-rape case, defended by a hot-shot female attorney who was his law school rival. Now Sean is the "baddest dude you'll ever see; Airborne Range with a CIB," and the girl lawyer is a specialist in gay military legal defense, so sparks are supposed to fly. But they don't. Sean Drummond is a great character, and he is pretty fully realized -- even after two books, it is easy to see that there are still plenty of unplumbed depths here. But the other characters are stick-figures. Haig's idea of character development is to have somebody be black, or female, or gay, or tall, or "typical Army". For a real stretch, he may have a character be tall and gay. The plot keeps you turning the pages. Drummond can't just defend a guy on a murder charge, or course; he has to end up saving the entire political-military situation in Northeast Asia with one hand legalistically tied behind his back. As with his previous outing, SECRET SANCTION, it eveually strains our credibility -- an open-and-shut murder case, with all evidence pointing to the accused, suddenly solved by making the assumption, "but what if they were ALL in on framing the suspect?" But Haig plays fair enough. Even if he isn't always in the realm of the "probable", it is always "plausible". Pretty wild and unlikely, but it could happen, and no trotting out of ESP, killer robots, or any other make-believe plot devices we've seen in some recent thrillers. With the compelling first-person narration, I look forward to his next book.
Rating:
Summary: Superior legal/political thriller
Review: Brian Haig creates memorable characters in Mortal Allies while providing an education in the military justice system and in the politics of the Korean peninsula. A mixture of John Grisham, Scott Turow and a bit of Jack Higgins. Haig belongs in this elite company. The lead character, Sean Drummond, is a JAG officer with a near impossible case to defend. Everybody wants his client's head on a platter--the Korean government, the U.S. government, the U.S. military and the religious right. Haig mixes up this disparate brew and comes up with a fast-paced, complex,engrossing tale. MA was my first Haig book and his second; I today ordered his two books I haven't read.
Rating:
Summary: A lawyer who definitely is NOT a wimp
Review: Brian Haig has brought back his irreverant and appealing hero - Sean Drummond. Haig is an excellent story-teller, and again brings his hero into an interesting entanglement with another equally clever and tough female co-counsel. Haig's narrative is quick, his characters' interesting, and he is very good at deftly combining humor and high suspense. In this new book, he combines the intricacies of international politics, sexual scandal, and military justice. Drummond is definitely as interesting as Clancy's Jack Ryan. I look forward to Haig's books being made into movies.
Rating: 
Summary: this one is not as good as the first one
Review: haig was way over his head to write the 2nd drummond series. way too long and dragged too long about 100 pages to 150 pages. drummond in this one looked and read like a comedian and a complete jerk. the korean stage setting was good, but the whole process was a complete failure. you know what? a good beef stew should be still with some chunky beef in it, but if you cook it too long, all the chunks are gone and simply become a soggy, sticky, thicky pool. this 2nd one was read just like that. haig spent too much time to make drummond like a clown. lost about 80% of his original smartness and coolness as what we've seen in the first one. the story dragged on to 300 pages, but i still failed to see any progress. if it's movie, i'd have already walked out and hopped into the next theatre to change the venue. haig has to be aware that trying every sentence or page to be funny is actually very tiresome for a serious reader to become part of it.
endless wisecrackings are not fun at all when come in bundles, sentence after sentence, page after page. i didn't know if the editor(s) had noticed such problem, but a good editor should have reminded haig about this overdone and overkilled drag-on. the good end simply failed to justify the process of this novel. drummond and imelda both looked completely differently from the 1st one that haig has successfully created. this was a very bad decision that haig had spoiled himself after his first success. i'm gonna check out his 3rd and 4th ones, if this unbearable yammerings are the typical type of haig's writing, i might just drop it sooner than i could predict. good readers should not spoil a potentially good author, and should keep reminding him not to walk off the main road and wander into wildness.
Rating: 
Summary: No character
Review: I agree with lawyerboy1533, too much talk.
The main character, Sean Drumond, just rubbed
me the wrong way. I ditched the book after
reading 30 pages. This is one book for which
I'd gladly accept a refund.
Rating:
Summary: Mr. Haig has done it again!
Review: I have to say, I was really looking forward to reading this book when I spotted it at the book store. I had enjoyed Mr.Haig's other book, and I was hoping that this one would not disappoint.
Well, it didn't! I ignored my housework for two days,and read, read, read. Major Drummond, in his return, is just as entertaining and exciting as in his first outing, although I was glad to see he had some "personal growth" in this outing. So, if you like legal thrillers, or just a good, fun, fastpaced story, read this and enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Brian Haig, Write Faster!
Review: I loved this book. Let me say that again, I LOVED this book. Sean Drummond is so sexy and sarcastic, I wish he were real so that I could jump the man! Alas, I have to make do with him on mere pages. The characters are well balanced and what makes them more important, human. Sean isn't just a macho guy, he's every macho, dorky, arrogant, cocky, insufferable infantry guy that I've ever met. (from someone who is currently residing in Fayetteville, NC Fort Bragg, Home of the 82nd Airborne and Special Operations Forces, you can't take two steps without tripping over one) Brian Haig has him down pat. The secondary characters are wonderfull too. I love how he gives women their due in the Armed Forces and allows Sean Drummond to be a real man and concede victory to women, now and then. None of this Alpha-male-crap-gotta-win-all-the-time-junk. I've always thought the mark of a good writer was whether or not I re-read the book after I was finished with it. Kind of like going over your favorite scenes in a movie. Call me boring, obsessive, what you will, I've read both books twice now, and I can't wait until the 3rd one comes out in Jan. Brian Haig, write faster!
Rating: 
Summary: Too much talk
Review: I read Haig's first book and liked--and still enjoy--the narrator/protagonist Drummond's DeMille-like sense of humor. But that book, Secret Sanction, ran out of steam and this one continues the trend. Funny, ... commentary but endless cliched dialogue and a plot pacing that drags. Too much talking, not enough honed description and action. A long version of JAG, except R-rated.
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