The Second Perimeter
Joe DeMarco returns for a second adventure after last year's excellent debut,The Inside Ring. This time out  DeMarco, an unofficial operative for the Speaker of the House, is asked to casually look into a security company that may be price gouging the government for its services at a U.S. naval base. However, DeMarco's innocent investigation quickly becomes a deadly matter of national security, involving stolen top secret information, murder and a ruthless Chinese agent out for revenge. Poe does an excellent job reading this complex thriller, providing just the right pace to keep the thrill quality of the material high, yet pulls back when needed in order to present the more human and less melodramatic aspects. He is especially adept in bringing out the humor laced lightly through the book. Poe gives DeMarco a ruffled, slightly put-upon but ultimately heroic persona, a solid, multileveled characterization. Karen DiMattia's abridgment should also be noted, as her judicious cutting manages to keep the story moving at a ready clip but never sacrifices coherency or character.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.