Rating: 
Summary: Adequate Political Thriller
Review: In 1975, in a MASH unit in Korea, a medical procedure is performed in secret. 24 years later, the men who were privy to this secret begin dying. The premise of this book sounded intriguing, so I accepted a copy of the book from the publisher with the promise to review it. This was an adequately written story. The pace was a little inconsistent at times. I never did warm to the main character, Owen MacDara, but I'm not sure why. There was some fairly graphic sex scenes included which didn't seem necessary to the plot. This wasn't one of my favorites, but if you like complex political thrillers, you will probably like this one.
Rating:
Summary: Adequate Political Thriller
Review: In 1975, in a MASH unit in Korea, a medical procedure is performed in secret. 24 years later, the men who were privy to this secret begin dying. The premise of this book sounded intriguing, so I accepted a copy of the book from the publisher with the promise to review it. This was an adequately written story. The pace was a little inconsistent at times. I never did warm to the main character, Owen MacDara, but I'm not sure why. There was some fairly graphic sex scenes included which didn't seem necessary to the plot. This wasn't one of my favorites, but if you like complex political thrillers, you will probably like this one.
Rating: 
Summary: terse political thriller
Review: In 1975, MASH unit Commanding Officer Major Whiteside directs medic Owen MacDara and a few others on an unusual operation in which they remove some odd looking rubbery cartilage-like objects from the rectum of a colonel. Upon removal, the colonel dresses and leaves without a word. Whiteside informed his men that silence and confidentiality are critical.Almost twenty-five years later, Owen is a millionaire running Global Management Associates that he formed with two colleagues. GMA is the international leading consultant firm on the global financial marketplace. However, that bizarre surgery in Korea comes back to haunt Owen. Someone is killing those who witnessed the removal of the weird items from the officer, who is now a highly regarded Four-Star General. The treachery goes high and even the president is in jeopardy. Owen combines his military and civilian skills to try to stay alive, keep his girlfriend (the murdered Whiteside's daughter) safe, and unravel a conspiracy that is the greatest threat to the American governmental tradition since the Civil War. THE CIRCLE OF SODOM is a terse political thriller that never lets up until the final confrontation occurs. The story line is fast-paced and loaded with action, but also enables the audience to understand the motives of each of the key players as Pat Mullan constantly switches third person perspective so the reader receives a complete picture of an incident. It is this difficult to deliver the technique of the changing point of view that can easily lead to spectator confusion, but Mr. Mullan displays his skills as fans will easily follow along this one sitting thriller. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Exciting and timely
Review: It seemed like one of those random murders--a friend of Owen MacDara killed while he visited a strip club. But Owen's suspicions are raised when another friend vanishes. The connection, they, along with Owen, were on duty during a strange late-night operation in a military hospital in Korea. It doesn't seem possible that someone would be killing the witnesses now, but no other explanation seems possible either. As Owen begins to investigate, he finds clues of a huge right-wing conspiracy to overthrow the government and put their own man in office. With the help of a General and the President's authorization, Owen pursues the clues--and puts himself in danger. The conservatives have moles everywhere and it doesn't take them long to discover that Owen is after them, or to do their best to turn the tables. Worse, if the President goes public with the plot, he'll be accused of being paranoid--insane. The right would get their coup without even having to fight. Author Pat Mullan writes an exciting and fast-moving tale. From almost the first page, Owen finds himself in danger and confronting men who believe that God has called on them to bring about the end times. The use of computer warfare and cyberterrorism to undermine the economy, discussions of antiterrorism tactics, and the modern militia movement all are well researched and seamlessly incorporated into the adventure. For my tastes, Mullan relies a bit much on coincidence and stupidity on the part of the enemy (the botched kidnapping of Kate, in particular, seems incredibly poorly handled). But Mullan's strong story-telling overcomes the few narrative flaws and occasionally awkward language to provide a completely enjoyable reading experience. With today's increasing split between the right and left in America, THE CIRCLE OF SODOM is a timely read.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, excellent, excellent !
Review: Just finished reading THE CIRCLE OF SODOM twice through ....I think it is magnificent, absolutely wonderful! I can't even express my admiration for this achievement. It is well up there, definitely film material. Excellent, excellent, excellent !
Rating:
Summary: An excellent read!
Review: Pat Mullen was born in Ireland, but has lived in the United States for many years. Six years ago he retired from his "day"job in finance and returned to live in Connemara, Ireland. There he published his first work, CHILDHOOD HILLS, a collection of poems and essays. Thriller novels have always been his favorite genre, so he wrote THE CIRCLE OF SODOM.. His style is unusual in that he writes longhand and types his writing into his computer. BLOOD RED SQUARE, his next thriller, is in the works. In this political thriller, Owen MacDara is a self-made millionaire with a high-powered consulting company. But there is something in his past life as a medical intern who served in Korea which is killing his old friends he served with in that conflict. A secret from the past involves a bizarre medical procedure performed on a high-ranking general threatens those who have a vested interest in his squeaky-clean record. These individuals' plot would murder MacDara and all witnesses to the procedure, kidnap and murder his new-found love, and unseat a president. It is up to MacDara to make sense of the series of murders and stop the conspiracy. Little does he know that his newfound love is right in the middle of the maelstrom: "'My father was murdered, wasn't he?'
'Yes, I believe he was. We have no body and no proof, but he had stumbled into something evil when he was researching his memoirs. The attach on your mother proves that. They were trying to find out what he knew.'
'They? Who are THEY, Owen? Is General Walker one of them?'
'I don't know who THEY are and I don't know WHAT they are...'" With rapid-fire pacing and well-drawn characters, Mr. Mullan takes the reader on a magic carpet ride all over the United States, England, Belgium, Switzerland and Hong Kong to weave a tale most evil and scary. The plot involves the very presidency, and the group plotting against our democracy is made up of very determined right-winged fanatics. Pat Mullen is a mature and knowledgeable writer who puts together a thriller with the best of them. The Circle of Sodom is an outstanding first effort from an author who can continue to capture his audience as long as he cares to try. An excellent read! Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer
Rating:
Summary: "Definitely movie material!"
Review: Plot's great. Characters are very good. Dialogue is really quite good. As to the possibility of tranforming it into a movie --- yes, definitely !
Rating:
Summary: Spellbinding
Review: Started reading this book on Friday evening. Could NOT put it down, and finished it on Sunday afternoon. Thought it was excellent!! Well written, suspenseful, and thought provoking.
Rating:
Summary: "an exciting novel, tight and tense, with a stunning climax"
Review: The quality of the physical book, as well as the stunning effect of the cover art, makes it one that any reader of thrillers should pick off the shelf. Combining elements from the Korean War, fundamentalist fanaticism, modern terrorism, political intrigue, and an attempt to seize control of the U.S. by coup, this is an exciting and gripping novel. The writing is clean, tight, and tense, and the characters, even the walk-ons, are very real and believable. The protagonist is both tough and likeable, and the villains are credible in their motivations and their private agendas. The structure of the book is effective, using short segments from many viewpoints. These are carefully assembled to give an overall sense of the chronology of the story and the varied motivations of the different characters. The climax is stunning.
************** ARDATH MAYHAR, Writer's Digest 10th Annual International Book Awards --------------------------------------------------------------- ARDATH MAYHAR is the author of sixty novels, She began her career in the early eighties with science fiction novels from Doubleday. Atheneum published a number of her young adult and children's novels. Changing focus, she wrote westerns (as Frank Cannon) and mountain man novels (as John Killdeer). Four prehistoric Indian books under her own name came out from Berkley.
Rating:
Summary: "The stuff of blockbusters! On the page and on the screen!",
Review: This is most compelling...it sizzles with underlying suspense ..the reader is 'there', hearing, smelling, seeing, tasting! That's it. This is the stuff of blockbusters ...on the page and on the screen!
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