PRIVATE SECTOR

Brian Haig, usually a master of the mystery novel, stumbles with his execution of this rambling story. A young Army JAG officer is sent to a prestigious Washington, D.C, law firm to broaden his horizons from criminal law to corporate law. His first day on the job convinces him that lazy civilians have little to offer him. When a colleague is murdered, he sets out to find the killer--against the wishes of almost everyone. Reader John Rubenstein does the best he can with the one-dimensional characters he attempts to bring to life but ends up disappointing readers almost as much as the story's flat, abrupt ending. Only Michael Emerson's voicing of the thoughts of the killer is eerily engaging, but it's too little too late. J.L.C.
(c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 04]