Book Review: Untouchable by Mike Lawson
An intelligent political thriller that unfolds like a cat-and-mouse chase in Washington D. C.
A wealthy man who has never worked in his life but only partied with the rich, famous, and influential is murdered just after he was indicted for supplying a minor girl to two of them. The suspicion naturally fell on the people with whom he hobnobbed. When the ex-speaker Mahoney gets unconfirmed information that someone who is at the pinnacle of the power structure may have ordered the murder, he instructs his fixer Joe DeMarco to investigate. DeMarco has hunted many corrupt and murderous politicians of D.C. But this time even he knows the impossibility of his job, as all the evidence leads to the 'untouchable' of American politics, the President of the United States.
‘Untouchable' is a political thriller written by Mike Lawson and is the latest entry in the series featuring Joe DeMarco, a troubleshooter who does the dirty work of John Mahoney. I read the previous novel in the series titled 'Kingpin,' which I felt was highly entertaining due to the intelligent wit and the tight plot. When I found that the ARC of this title was made available by its publisher Grove Atlantic in NetGalley, I immediately requested it. In 'Untouchable,' the author goes a few steps ahead of his previous work by increasing the stakes and providing the protagonist with a virtually impossible mission.
The narration of the novel closely follows the style of 'Kingpin'. The third-person narrative is like we readers are in an elevated position observing the events unfolding at multiple locations. This makes the plot very easy to follow by giving us a bird's-eye view of everything. It also makes the action more dynamic, as we get multiple perspectives. Most of the mysteries in the plot are also revealed to us in the early stages, and the action focuses mainly on what each character does with the pieces of information that are available to them.
The writer is able to add more to DeMarco by giving him a well-developed character arc in this novel. It has also added gravitas to the plot by adding a darker hue to him, which was absent in the previous book. But the thin strand of humor is still retained in this. Like the subplot of the air conditioner in 'Kingpin,' which gives insight into the mind of the protagonist, this time the author writes a subplot that gives us some moments where he remembers his father. As this subplot progresses, we find DeMarco remembering several aspects of his father's life, and finally, both of us, the reader and the character, realize that he is also not much different from him. This revelation in the plot elevates it in the climax and makes it convincing.
While the protagonist is written well, I think the other characters suffered a bit when compared to the previous book. While 'Kingpin' has an assortment of wild and exaggerated characters, and all of them are portrayed to be in a fight to safeguard their interests, this book doesn't try to make its characters as impressive. They are all well written but lack the multidimensional trait. Even the main antagonist isn't impressive due to his caricaturish recklessness and obvious shortsighted actions.
Even then, 'Untouchable' is highly entertaining as a cat-and-mouse chase in the American capital with sky-high stakes. It portrays the deep rooted corruption in the political system that never cares for normal humans whose loss of lives is written off as collateral damage. It possesses enough wit, intrigue, and shock factor to make it literally impossible to put down once begun.