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Mike Yeager #3
Broken Wing
Mike Yeager, an FBI agent with a gift for profiling, is no angel, yet somehow the Bureau has always found a way to forgive him his mistakes. Now, even though he’s in disgrace, there’s a job that only he can do. In New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, a couple was kidnapped; the husband---a spy---was tortured and killed, and now the wife is in danger.
Normally the Bureau might ask Yeager to lead a rescue mission, but this time, they want him to pose as a fallen agent---a broken wing---infiltrate the group responsible, and wait to see what he can learn. The kidnappers are thought to be working for Emelio Barca, one of the most powerful crime bosses in New Orleans, and the target of Mike’s past botched case.
Mike sees this opportunity as his last chance, even though it’s bound to wreck his renewed relationship with fellow agent Peggy Weaver, maybe for good. He’s gone undercover once before in his career, and that time his mistakes led to Barca’s escape and the maiming of Mike’s first partner. This time he vows Barca won’t get away. One way or another, Yeager’s career will come full circle in the Big Easy, the city where it all began.
Broken Wing is a breathtaking page-turner from a writer who seems to have mastered the genre in only three novels.
Normally the Bureau might ask Yeager to lead a rescue mission, but this time, they want him to pose as a fallen agent---a broken wing---infiltrate the group responsible, and wait to see what he can learn. The kidnappers are thought to be working for Emelio Barca, one of the most powerful crime bosses in New Orleans, and the target of Mike’s past botched case.
Mike sees this opportunity as his last chance, even though it’s bound to wreck his renewed relationship with fellow agent Peggy Weaver, maybe for good. He’s gone undercover once before in his career, and that time his mistakes led to Barca’s escape and the maiming of Mike’s first partner. This time he vows Barca won’t get away. One way or another, Yeager’s career will come full circle in the Big Easy, the city where it all began.
Broken Wing is a breathtaking page-turner from a writer who seems to have mastered the genre in only three novels.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published March 17, 2009
45 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Lakeman
4 books8 followersIt took me four years to research, write, and revise my first novel, The Shadow Catchers, and it would be another two years before the book was published by St. Martin's Press. The dream of being a writer has been with me for a considerably longer time.
By the time I was five years old, I'd mapped out exactly what I was going to do with my life: I would be (in no particular order) a Superhero, an Astronaut, and a Mad Scientist. Two years later, I'd added Actor and Cartoonist to the list. By the end of the fifth grade, I'd finally decided that I could accomplish all of these by telling stories for a living. The darker, the better.
I'm not exactly sure when my fascination with the shadow side began. Probably with that collection of Batman comics. When I was eight years old, I read George Orwell's Animal Farm, thinking it was a happy kiddie story like Charlotte's Web. To this day, whenever I see one of those movies about talking pigs who save the farm, I remember Napoleon the hog sending Boxer the horse to the butcher's in exchange for a barrel of whiskey. And I go make myself a nice ham sandwich with pork rinds.
I was born in Mobile, Alabama, on March 10, 1964, the youngest of six children. My parents made sure we all got an education. After high school I attended the University of the South, a liberal arts school owned by the Episcopal Church. Popularly known as Sewanee, the college allowed me to pursue all my interests, as well as helping to develop new ones. After earning my B.A. I studied Theatre in Great Britain and Ireland on a Thomas J. Watson fellowship, then received my M.F.A. in Playwriting from Carnegie-Mellon University.
My first real job was in the marketing department at Universal Pictures, where I got to do just about everything, from publicity to speechwriting and creative design. In 1994 I helped start Digital Planet, one of the first Internet design firms to specialize in entertainment marketing. My business partner and I had already created the first interactive movie press kit (for Sneakers) and were soon designing sites and DVDS for all the major studios, as well as corporate clients like Intel and the United States Postal Service. We also produced the Internet's first fully animated series, Madeleine's Mind. In 1998, Digital Planet was acquired by a corporate parent. I stayed on for two years as L.A. creative director, then took a brief stint at another company, DNA Studio. I left the business not long after the dotcom bust of 2000. I'm very happy I had my California adventure...and I'm not sorry it ended. I knew I had to move on if I was going to make my fiction career happen.
After four challenging and invigorating years teaching Literature and Creative Writing at the University of South Alabama, I decided to devote myself to writing full-time. Currently I'm living on the Alabama Gulf Coast, working on my fourth novel while preparing for the March 2009 publication of Broken Wing. My latest adventure has returned me to my early love of the theatre: next year I am honored to serve as the Tennessee Williams playwright-in-residence at my alma mater, Sewanee.
By the time I was five years old, I'd mapped out exactly what I was going to do with my life: I would be (in no particular order) a Superhero, an Astronaut, and a Mad Scientist. Two years later, I'd added Actor and Cartoonist to the list. By the end of the fifth grade, I'd finally decided that I could accomplish all of these by telling stories for a living. The darker, the better.
I'm not exactly sure when my fascination with the shadow side began. Probably with that collection of Batman comics. When I was eight years old, I read George Orwell's Animal Farm, thinking it was a happy kiddie story like Charlotte's Web. To this day, whenever I see one of those movies about talking pigs who save the farm, I remember Napoleon the hog sending Boxer the horse to the butcher's in exchange for a barrel of whiskey. And I go make myself a nice ham sandwich with pork rinds.
I was born in Mobile, Alabama, on March 10, 1964, the youngest of six children. My parents made sure we all got an education. After high school I attended the University of the South, a liberal arts school owned by the Episcopal Church. Popularly known as Sewanee, the college allowed me to pursue all my interests, as well as helping to develop new ones. After earning my B.A. I studied Theatre in Great Britain and Ireland on a Thomas J. Watson fellowship, then received my M.F.A. in Playwriting from Carnegie-Mellon University.
My first real job was in the marketing department at Universal Pictures, where I got to do just about everything, from publicity to speechwriting and creative design. In 1994 I helped start Digital Planet, one of the first Internet design firms to specialize in entertainment marketing. My business partner and I had already created the first interactive movie press kit (for Sneakers) and were soon designing sites and DVDS for all the major studios, as well as corporate clients like Intel and the United States Postal Service. We also produced the Internet's first fully animated series, Madeleine's Mind. In 1998, Digital Planet was acquired by a corporate parent. I stayed on for two years as L.A. creative director, then took a brief stint at another company, DNA Studio. I left the business not long after the dotcom bust of 2000. I'm very happy I had my California adventure...and I'm not sorry it ended. I knew I had to move on if I was going to make my fiction career happen.
After four challenging and invigorating years teaching Literature and Creative Writing at the University of South Alabama, I decided to devote myself to writing full-time. Currently I'm living on the Alabama Gulf Coast, working on my fourth novel while preparing for the March 2009 publication of Broken Wing. My latest adventure has returned me to my early love of the theatre: next year I am honored to serve as the Tennessee Williams playwright-in-residence at my alma mater, Sewanee.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 27, 2012
In the Broken Wing, it is Mike Yeager's turn in the rotation to be the focus of Lakeman's story. In the beginning of the book Yeager is offered the chance to get back into the FBI in an undercover role as an agent gone bad - known as a broken wing in FBI-speak. While deciding on the offer, Mike is once again able to throw his personal life into the dumper in his own unique manner. As a result, the decision is essentially made for him and he heads off to New Orleans to monitor the exchange of a kidnap victim, come to grips with an old girlfriend and at the same time manage to get enough on a mob boss to get him arrested. And he needs to do this all at the same time and somehow manage to keep from getting his old partner, his friends and himself killed, or worse, while infiltrating the mob. Oh, I forgot to mention, his FBI handler in New Orleans may just be working for the mob boss and that the mob boss knows that Yeager tried to get him arrested years ago.
In Broken Wing, we learn a little more about Yeager's past life and how it affects his approach to his FBI duties. The reader also comes to realize that Yeager may just be damaged goods. Lakeman's books that feature Mike Yeager are darker than the typical noir mystery or suspense novel. In fact, they can be downright depressing. But they feature taut suspense, believable plots and action, well crafted characters that are three dimensional and for that reason they are excellent reads. But be forewarned, if you weren't depressed before you start Broken Wing you will be by the last page.
In Broken Wing, we learn a little more about Yeager's past life and how it affects his approach to his FBI duties. The reader also comes to realize that Yeager may just be damaged goods. Lakeman's books that feature Mike Yeager are darker than the typical noir mystery or suspense novel. In fact, they can be downright depressing. But they feature taut suspense, believable plots and action, well crafted characters that are three dimensional and for that reason they are excellent reads. But be forewarned, if you weren't depressed before you start Broken Wing you will be by the last page.
January 22, 2014
BROKEN WING - FALL FROM GRACE SERIES
Mike Yeager, an FBI agent with a gift for profiling, is no angel, yet somehow the Bureau has always found a way to forgive him his mistakes. Now, even though he’s in disgrace, there’s a job that only he can do. In New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, a couple was kidnapped; the husband---a spy---was tortured and killed, and now the wife is in danger.
Normally the Bureau might ask Yeager to lead a rescue mission, but this time, they want him to pose as a fallen agent---a broken wing---infiltrate the group responsible, and wait to see what he can learn. The kidnappers are thought to be working for Emelio Barca, one of the most powerful crime bosses in New Orleans, and the target of Mike’s past botched case.
Mike sees this opportunity as his last chance, even though it’s bound to wreck his renewed relationship with fellow agent Peggy Weaver, maybe for good. He’s gone undercover once before in his career, and that time his mistakes led to Barca’s escape and the maiming of Mike’s first partner. This time he vows Barca won’t get away. One way or another, Yeager’s career will come full circle in the Big Easy, the city where it all began.
Broken Wing is a breathtaking page-turner from a writer who seems to have mastered the genre in only three novels.
Mike Yeager, an FBI agent with a gift for profiling, is no angel, yet somehow the Bureau has always found a way to forgive him his mistakes. Now, even though he’s in disgrace, there’s a job that only he can do. In New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, a couple was kidnapped; the husband---a spy---was tortured and killed, and now the wife is in danger.
Normally the Bureau might ask Yeager to lead a rescue mission, but this time, they want him to pose as a fallen agent---a broken wing---infiltrate the group responsible, and wait to see what he can learn. The kidnappers are thought to be working for Emelio Barca, one of the most powerful crime bosses in New Orleans, and the target of Mike’s past botched case.
Mike sees this opportunity as his last chance, even though it’s bound to wreck his renewed relationship with fellow agent Peggy Weaver, maybe for good. He’s gone undercover once before in his career, and that time his mistakes led to Barca’s escape and the maiming of Mike’s first partner. This time he vows Barca won’t get away. One way or another, Yeager’s career will come full circle in the Big Easy, the city where it all began.
Broken Wing is a breathtaking page-turner from a writer who seems to have mastered the genre in only three novels.
October 28, 2012
I've read three of Lakeman's novels, now, and as much as I enjoy the characters of Peggy Weaver and Mike Yeager, I found that this one sort of fell flat. Maybe it's just me, but I felt there was 'too much' going on here. Yeager dropped out of the FBI due to a past case, they called him back and asked him to infiltrate an organized crime family (one he was familiar with in the past), then the Family Boss is working with the FBI (or not), his director is crooked (or not), his old girlfriend (the Boss' daughter) is crooked (or not)...I just think it was all confusing. Again, maybe it was me, but I just didn't really enjoy this read very much. I DO enjoy Lakeman's books, and I hope he continues to feature Weaver, Yeager and their tech-guy, Yoshi...
February 17, 2015
Mike Yaeger is back in his third adventure. This time he plays a broken wing, an FBI agent pretending to be "disavowed" in order to infiltrate and take down a criminal from his past. There are double crosses and misunderstandings and Mike gets into more trouble trying to do the right thing when the right thing is really hard to figure out. Mike is flawed in so many ways - but ever hopeful that he will come out on the side of good. the supporitng characters bring New Orleans flavor and depth to the story and give it a richness that is often lost in the action scenes of a lesser writer. This is only Lakeman's third novel, but every one of them has been beyond awesome. He will be someone to watch as more of our favorite aging thriller authors go to the great adventureland in the sky.
March 9, 2009
This is the third book in the Michael Yeager series and was just great. The book takes place in New Orleans after the hurricane that caused so much damage.
My review is posted at www.armchairinterviews.com.
My review is posted at www.armchairinterviews.com.
October 27, 2009
First of this series that I've read, and I'm planning to go back and read the earlier ones. Nicely done FBI agent protagonist, mixed in with the rebuilding scenario that continues (ever so slowly) in New Orleans.
July 19, 2009
Great summer action read. Finished this book in two days. Interesting characters. New Orleans as a setting after Hurricane Katrina. Definitely fast paced and a quick page turner.
August 26, 2009
Very good whodunit by this author. I liked the story behind it about re-building New Orleans. Will have to read his first one.
October 7, 2012
Good story, except its hard to keep track of all the inter plots.
March 12, 2015
I found this book to very enjoyable reading. Highly redcommend to anyone who likes thrillers.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews