William Diehl brings back Chicago lawyer Martin Vail, point-man from
Show of Evil and Primal Fear. Primal
Fear was made into a fairly successful movie starring Richard
Gere, and it looks like Diehl is trying to score another screenplay
deal with Reign in Hell. The plot, however, may prove too
complicated, and the cast of significant characters too sprawling, for
a strict book-to-screen conversion. That's not to say that the story
isn't interesting, for this novel touches on pertinent issues -- militia
groups, the conservative far right, and the U.S. government's apparent
inability to use its collective common sense in dealing with such groups.
Once a hotshot defense attorney, Martin Vail has made a national
name for himself as a hard-nosed state prosecutor. With the media's
attention on him for his handling of a case against a trinity of large
corporations, Vail catches the eye of the United States Attorney General
and of the President himself. What the federal government wants from
Vail is his startling prowess in putting together a successful RICO
prosecution. The Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations act
is what the government intends to use to bring down an hyper-conservative
militia that officials believe is behind the hijacking of a shipment
of U.S. military weapons. That impeccably planned highway robbery leaves
several soldiers dead and the President justifiably angry. Vail's
unswerving respect for the law of the land and a personal request from
the President of the United States prove irresistible, and he agrees to
pursue a RICO case against the right-wing group responsible -- the
Sanctuary.
Leading the Sanctuary is a retired soldier named Engstrom, a contemporary
of the war-hero President. Unlike the President, however, Engstrom served
in deep black ops in the military, so his record is top secret, his
contribution to U.S. military actions unheralded. Understandably embittered,
Engstrom bears a personal grudge as well as his metaphorical banner of
moral and religious rectitude. Engstrom genuinely believes that the
coming millenium will usher in the Armageddon, and that his followers will
rise up to wreak God's vengeance on the corrupt government. Engstrom's
mouthpiece is the charismatic and mysterious Brother Transgressor, a
shadowy charlatan with his own malign agenda.
Gathering around him his acclaimed Wild Bunch of aggressive young lawyers,
Vail begins to build a case against the Sanctuary. The President has
given Vail a mere eighteen months to bring Engstrom's group down, a scant
year and a half to construct one of the most difficult legal cases to
build. Engstrom's group responds to the pressure by escalating maneuvers
and training, and that Vail will ultimately have far less than eighteen
months to make a successful RICO case becomes quickly apparent. As the
stakes grow ever higher, Vail's task becomes a deadly race against time,
egos, and thoughtless betrayal. In trying to avoid another Waco or
Ruby Ridge, the government leaders may well bring about the very
disaster they most fear.
Reign in Hell reads much like a screenplay; the exposition
and description are pared down nearly to spare stage-directions. The
complex storyline is paced well for a sense of action, but the characters
never flesh out beyond the second dimension. So little of Vail's backstory
is given that those who haven't read at least one other Martin Vail novel
will have difficulty developing real sympathy for the man, much less
discovering anything beyond what his vague declarations reveal of his
character. Reign in Hell delivers on intrigue, legal
procedurals and political and governmental games. If you're not concerned
with full characterization or meaningful character change, what it delivers should be
enough.