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Title: The Attorney by Steve Martini ISBN: 0515130044 Publisher: Jove Pubns Pub. Date: 02 January, 2001 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.56
Rating: 3
Summary: Decent plot- entertaining reading
Comment: Steve Martini has written several entertaining courtroom dramas- and he serves himself best when he stays within this genre. The three Paul Madriani novels that I've read have been page-turning entertainment, better than his two forays outside the genre- "The List" and "Critical Mass".
I'd give this book three and a half stars if I could. This is not great literature, but Martini writes a good courtroom drama with a crisp pace, fairly sharp dialogue, and a healthy dose of discussion of somewhat arcane legal issues that may educate the non-lawyers amongst his readers. Case-in-point: does the character Jonah's status as a California lottery winner make him a "public figure", and hence fair game for certain types of public comment that might constitute slander if made regarding private, or "non-public" figures.
This is not great literature, and it is not Martini's best (my favorite was "Undue Influence"). It is entertaining, fairly well-written, and of better quality (in my opinion) of most of the paperback novels than one will find in the bookstore of your nearest airport. If you like Martini's other work, and legal thrillers in general, you will probably enjoy this.
Rating: 3
Summary: slow to get going, long wait til surprise ending; fair drama
Comment: This is our third Martini -- er, the author's books that is. We enjoyed "Simeon Chamber" (his first outing), but felt the "List" was too dry and set too sluggish a pace for our taste. We tried the "Attorney" to see if the defense attorney Paul Madriani series, which now has some half dozen entries, might be more entertaining. Alas, a rather mundane plot gets us off to a lackluster start -- Jonah Hale's granddaughter Amanda, of whom he has legal custody, is kidnapped by her recent ex-con natural mother, with the help of a feminist activist, Zolanda Suade, who specializes in skirting the law and resisting the Establishment. Hale hires Madriani (instead of an private eye?), but little more happens until some 100 pages later, when Suade is discovered murdered. Hale is arrested on a fairly extensive list of evidence that points to him, coupled with his incentive, motive, and opportunity. At that point, Paul switches into the true mode of defending his client, with some helpers (and some inside scoop from his lady friend, director of Child Protective Services). Some reasonably interesting courtroom scenes follow as first the accused is arraigned without bail and then actually tried for the murder.
Near the end, in what we thought was a somewhat unfair plot development, Hale suffers a heart attack, suspending the trial. While he's hospitalized, a new Mexican drug-runner-type villain surfaces, who has been hunted half-heartedly through the book, and sheds enough doubt on the case that for all practical purposes the prosecution is motivated to declare a mistrial and not bother with a second go-round. A twist at the end tells us readers who the perp actually was.
This novel is sort of like a car running a 300-mile car race in first gear for 100 miles, second gear for 280 miles, and then a mad dash to the finish line without realizing one is 50 laps behind -- hardly a compelling run. Such is the nature of this book; while Madriani is a nice enough guy, the plot lacked zest and suspense, nor could the court scenes seize the moment "Perry Mason"-style. In fact, we're thinking maybe a third martini cocktail might be more fun!
Rating: 3
Summary: Nice Entry
Comment: The author is a careful storyteller, and this one will hold the interest of most readers. This story involves the hero-attorney
getting involved in what looks like a child-custody case, but
which quickly escalates into a kidnapping by a zealot who is more interested in self-aggrandisement than helping either women
or children. But the mother of the kidnapped child is a drug
addict, with connections--in more than one way--to a Mexican drug lord, who also runs with thieves and burglars, so the attorney, and the child's grandparents, mount a full-blown
search.
Unhappily, the zealot gets killed, and the missing child's grandfather is charged and put on trial, so the attorney has
to go to work in the field he knows best, a criminal trial.
The concept is very interesting, and one played out rather
occasionally in real life, so it's conclusion is wanted by every
reader.
There are a couple of nice twists to its conclusion, as the attorney, his pragmatic partner, and his love interest encounter
multiple obstacles, both in court and on the street. A shoot-out, in the midst of an ether fire, in a Mexican bar bring a
lot of danger, along with a few answers.
Unhappily, the book bogs down significantly in the middle
with chapters that read like a trial transcript. The concept
may sound interesting to someone who has never struggled with
an actual trial transcript, but, in fact, such transcripts,
of even the most interesting trial, are filled with numbing detail and repetition, and the author sticks too closely to the
genuine article. It doesn't make for very interesting reading,
and the progress of the story really slows down in those parts.
But it is an interesting story with a nice, thought-provoking
conclusion.
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Title: Compelling Evidence by Steven Paul Martini, Steve Martini ISBN: 0515110396 Publisher: Jove Pubns Pub. Date: January, 1993 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The Judge by Steven Paul Martini, Steve Martini ISBN: 0515119644 Publisher: Jove Pubns Pub. Date: November, 1996 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Undue Influence by Steven Paul Martini, Steve Martini ISBN: 051511605X Publisher: Jove Pubns Pub. Date: July, 1995 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Prime Witness by Steven Paul Martini, Steve Martini ISBN: 051511264X Publisher: Jove Pubns Pub. Date: February, 1994 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The List by Steven Paul Martini, Steve Martini ISBN: 0515121495 Publisher: Jove Pubns Pub. Date: December, 1997 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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