Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Arraignment by Steve Martini ISBN: 0-515-13595-X Publisher: Jove Pubns Pub. Date: 26 August, 2003 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.88 (34 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: More sleuth than lawyer
Comment: Paul Madriani and Harry Hinds come together in quasi-legal thriller. This book doesn't have the charm and tightness found in THE JURY. Much of the first third to half of the book is setup and a number of false clues.
The story starts out with Mandriani's friend Nick Rush getting gunned down in a drive by shooting. For the longest time you think it has something to do with drugs, but that's really just a side issue.
Then there is the problem of Nick's two wives and the life insurance. Margaret is an embittered shrew and Dana a blue eyed bimbo. Either one of them could have reason to kill Nick.
There is Adam Tolt, who was Nick's boss and seems to have an endless supply of money and influence. While all these things are factors in the book, you don't start getting into the meat of the stoy until about page 300 and the trip to Mexico.
It seemed like Mr. Martini changed his mind half way through the book as to what he wanted to accomplish. While the plot is looser than his better work, the keen eye for detail and great writing is still there. His way of describing things and Harry's character have always charmed me.
An enjoyable, if rocky read.
Rating: 4
Summary: The Series Continues: The Arraingment by Steve Martini
Comment: Those familiar with the character Paul Madriani from earlier novels know that he has one iron clad rule regarding the cases he takes. He never, ever takes cases with drug defendants. As a widower with a daughter, Sarah who is now fifteen, it simply isn't worth it to him. The complications and the greed involved in such cases could easily get a lawyer killed.
That is one of his first thoughts about a client that his old friend Nick Rush wants Paul to meet. Nick claims that he can't take the case because of a conflict of interest involving himself, the client, and Nick's law firm of Rocker, Dusha and Dewine. Nick has his hands full with the after effects of a divorce, a marriage to a trophy wife who wants it all, and interoffice politics at the law firm. Things aren't working out and Nick really needs Paul's help.
But when Paul meets the client, Gerald Metz, who is the target of a federal grand jury, things don't ring true. Metz is a general contractor and claims that he was working on a deal with two sons of a powerful Mexico businessman to bring heavy equipment down from San Diego to Southern Mexico to build a resort. This does not make sense to Paul considering the economics involved and the story gets worse as Metz explains that the deal never went through but he was paid incredible amounts of money in consulting fees. Fees paid far in excess of what would be normal and were not handled in the proper manner. To Paul, it looks like a case of money laundering and most likely necessary because it has something to do with the drug trade.
Paul refuses the case and his suspicions seem correct a short time later as Nick and Metz are gunned down on the steps of the courthouse in a drive by. Nick feels responsible in the death of his friend because he did not take the case. Driven by guilt he begins to investigate and eventually the trail leads to Mexico and a violent confrontation at the top of what is left of an ancient Mayan Temple Pyramid.
Overall, this is an enjoyable novel that is amazing slow to get going. The latest in the series featuring Paul Mandraini does not shed any new light on the character. Sarah is non-existent in this novel, mentioned only in passing, as are several other characters from earlier novels. Additionally, this novel is written in a more distant, objective style that the earlier ones in this series which may also relate to the much slower than normal start to the work.
Those that stick with this novel which could be read independent of the series, will find this 400 page novel well worth the effort. The last 100 pages, which lead to the violent confrontation at the top of a Mayan Pyramid Temple, are full of twists and turns and plenty of action. Those last 100 pages alone make this novel well worth reading and very hard to put down.
Rating: 2
Summary: Not the best one
Comment: Don't you hate mystery books when about 100 pages from the end you figure out whodunit? That's exactly how it is with Steve Martini's "The Arraignment". This isn't a legal thriller, but rather a investigative Hardy Boys tale with many, many twists in the tale and generally, some weird, weird stuff popping up that, while making sense, requires the complete suspension of disbelief was almost too much to take.
Martini an anvil-dropping author, which can slowly make you go crazy. He's so fond of writing something and then telling the reader what it means. For example, Martini will write an exchange very similar to the following:
"It is raining," Harry tells me. He's talking about the weather.
Read 300 pages of that and the reader will feel condescended to.
Tto make his thrillers more literary in value, he adds tons and tons of metaphors and similes that distract from his first person/present tense perspective.
Add on top of that, in this installment, Paul Madriani is so self-righteous, intelligent, and smug that he becomes absolutely insufferable. And oh yes, while Paul is traipsing around the jungles of Mexico, daughter Sarah is a complete afterthought, except for one misplaced paragraph towards the end. It's never a good sign when the reader is rooting for the hero of the novel to be dropped off the edge of a Mayan pyramid.
I've enjoyed Martini's books in the past, so this was quite the disappointment. "Compelling Evidence" and "Undue Influence" remain the most tightly plotted and well-paced of his novels.
 |
Title: Reversible Errors by Scott Turow ISBN: 0446612626 Publisher: Warner Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
 |
Title: The King of Torts by John Grisham ISBN: 0385508042 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 04 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
 |
Title: Compelling Evidence by Steven Paul Martini, Steve Martini ISBN: 0515110396 Publisher: Jove Pubns Pub. Date: January, 1993 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
 |
Title: The First Law by John T. Lescroart ISBN: 0525947051 Publisher: E P Dutton Pub. Date: 27 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
 |
Title: Split Second by David Baldacci ISBN: 0446530891 Publisher: Warner Books Pub. Date: 30 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
