There's nothing quite as relaxing and entertaining as a good fictional who-done-it. I was recently introduced to Brian Haig, author of several legal thrillers. Brian's main character, Sean Drummond, is an ace lawyer in the Army's JAG unit. JAG, for Judge Advocate General, is the oldest legal firm in the US, established in 1775 by George Washington as the legal arm of the Army.
Drummond has a secret past in Army Special Operations, one of those invisible units that do the dirty work behind enemy lines. Now he's a JAG lawyer, with a flair for getting assigned to clients (that's how the Army does it) that don't seem to have a prayer of acquittal for charges of nasty things like murder, rape, and espionage.
Drummond also has a flair for digging deeply, persistently, and obnoxiously until he solves the conspiracy/frame up/murder and wins the case. He's an A-1 lawyer, investigator, detective, and wise-guy.
But there are lots of legal and detective thrillers in the fiction market. What caught my undivided attention and readership is that Haig's Sean Drummond is funny; not just heh-heh, or giggle-funny, but out and out laugh-until-you-cry funny.
Brian Haig knows the inner workings of the Army. A West Point graduate and career strategist, he was a special assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the inner circle of military planning. Politics and the military are in his blood. He's the son of Alexander Haig, former Secretary of State.
He now has six books published, his latest being Man in the Middle, published in 2007. His next book is targeted for early 2009. I can't wait!