Book Review: The Capital Game

By Sandy Amazeen Sep 16, 2010, 4:11 GMT

New York Times bestselling author Brian Haig returns with a riveting new thriller about a man caught between the politics of big government and the corruption of big business.The Capitol GameIt was the deal of the decade, if not the century. A small, insignificant company on the edge of bankruptcy had discovered an alchemist\'s dream; a miraculous polymer, that when coated on any vehicle, was the equivalent of 30 ...more

Haig’s newest thriller opens as an American solder serving in Iraq is killed by an IED while traveling in an unarmored vehicle setting the tone for the importance of a new polymer product under development by Arvan Chemicals, a small, struggling company. When applied to a vehicle, this amazing polymer has the strength of thirty inches of steel making it the hottest military product in years. Enter Jack Wiley, partner and corporate takeover specialist at the Capital Group, an elite equity firm on the hunt for the next big market opportunity. Jack implements a hostile takeover of Arvan and proceeds to pull out all the stops to push the polymer product through the military procurement process.

Special military agent Mia Jensen begins investigating the legality of the ongoing deal and discovers red flags that point her toward the senior executives of the Capital Group. As corruption and self-interest at the expense of the American taxpayers is revealed, readers are given reason to wonder if Jack is friend or foe in this taut if implausible mystery.

This action tale requires a suspension of belief if you are familiar with the realities of corporate America as Haig appears to have some misconceptions regarding the power of COE’s in publicly traded companies. There is also the interpretation of product failure at issue; for the purposes of the story, the coating was seen as a failure because its efficacy wore off in a few months. In reality, equipment would simply be scheduled for regular reapplications thus ensuring the supplier and military a long-term contract, a win-win situation for both parties. Still, if one overlooks these finer points this is a suspenseful tale of corruption, greed and money.