The Rule of Equity

Combining an economic war against the United States and a complex plot intended to provide justice for Native Americans is an interesting premise, but its execution is mixed in this fast-paced thriller. Neville's book opens with a bloody ritual at Thomas Jefferson's Indian Mound in Virginia, involving a man later identified as Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs Hyrum Cobb. The knife-wielding medicine man conducting the ceremony warns Cobb that all men to previously undergo the ordeal died without fulfilling their destiny. The action then flashes forward two years, as the author slowly teases out what that destiny is, beginning with the murders of two government officials in Washington, D.C. Unraveling the scheme falls to a somewhat clich%C3%A9d pair: Tom Madison, a successful businessman able to kick butt when needed, and his ex-wife, Magena Brown, who turns out to be Hyrum's niece. Although the resolution strains credulity, the pacing and clever plot twists will satisfy fans of the genre.