Elise Cooper for BLACKFIVE The Capitol Game by Brian Haig is a fast paced book that the reader will not want to put down. The plot is about a small, insignificant company on the edge of bankruptcy that has supposedly discovered a miraculous polymer that when coated on any vehicle, is the equivalent of 30 inches of steel. The Capitol Group, one of the country’s largest and most powerful corporations was enlisted to take over the smaller company that developed the polymer. After the Pentagon’s investigative service starts to ask questions the Capitol Group finds themselves embroiled in a tremendous scandal that involves insider trading, SEC violations, and profiteering. Brian Haig’s experience enables him to understand how the military procurement system works. He previously served in the military as Special Assistant to the Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations Command in Korea, and then for four years as Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mr. Haig gets his point across in a clear, concise, and humorous manner. The reader is able to see the tragedy of incompetence and profiteering through the characters. Haig told blackfive.net that “In life as well as literature to make a tragedy have an impact it must be done through people.” Captain Bill Forrest is a minor character that plays a major role in the book. He dies when his vehicle hits an IED in Iraq. Using that as a springboard Haig allows the reader to understand what the book is really about, how a corporation tries to make money off of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Haig commented that “what the book is really about is contractor profiteering. The bomb issue was a critical issue. How is it that we took 6 to 7 years to field combat vehicles that would have given our soldiers a much higher chance of survival against the principle battlefield weapon, IED’s.” The two heroes of the book are intentionally vague and are not fully developed, probably because this novel is definitely more of a plot driven story where there are many twists and turns. Everything comes to head in the last three chapters when the reader is able to see how the dots were connected. Brian Haig’s novel, The Capitol Game is an intelligent and captivating thriller. He is able to alert the reader in a very insightful way how a company is willing to put its own profits ahead of both the taxpayer and the American soldier. This book is an exciting read and very informative. Haig has hit a home run with this novel.
Read the complete post at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Blackfive/~3/Gv_gKswfwyk/book-review-capitol-game-by-brian-haig.html
Posted
Sep 01 2010, 09:49 AM
by
BLACKFIVE