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Title: The Attorney by Steven Paul Martini, Chris Meloni, Steve Martini ISBN: 0743500067 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio Pub. Date: January, 2000 Format: Audio CD Volumes: 5 List Price(USD): $32.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.57
Rating: 3
Summary: A little too long, with big plot holes at the end.
Comment: Martini was wise to go back to his "bread and butter" protagonist, Paul Madriani. I always enjoyed this character and I was dismayed at such books as Martini's "Critical Mass," in which Martini discarded both Madriani and the legal thriller genre. Much of "The Attorney" is exciting and compelling. Paul Madriani, the hero of the title, tries to help Jonah Hale, an older man who has made a great deal of money in a lottery. Hale's granddaughter is missing, along with her drug-addicted mother. Along the way, Madriani encounters complications relating to his lover, Susan, who works with abused children, and Paul is nearly killed by a Mexican drug lord. Eventually, a key characters is murdered and Paul is the defendant's attorney at trial. As always, Martini is very good at writing courtroom sequences. As compelling as some of these courtroom scenes are, the book drags on for over 400 pages. The most problematic element of the book, however, is the tacked-on ending. Martini loves surprise endings. He delivers the surprise at the very end of the book and it simply does not hold water. There are plot holes at the end that are enormous and the author never plugs up the holes. I still enjoyed much of the book, but Martini should be more careful in making the plot more coherent. Surprise endings work only when they make sense.
Rating: 5
Summary: Courtroom Drama, Surprise Ending
Comment: Steve Martini has been around a few courtrooms in his day and it shows. Martini's California lawyer Paul Madriani decides to leave his hometown of Sacramento to get away from memories of his wife's untimely death. He has been courting Susan McKay, the director of Child Protective Services in San Diego. He decides its time to relocate to that city.
In San Diego he is approached by former client Jonah Hale. In the early days of Madriani's practice, he won a hard fought battle to secure a railroad pension for Hale. An $87 million lottery jackpot has since made this victory irrelevant, but Hale respects Madriani's abilities.
Hale hires Madriani to help him find his granddaughter. Hale believes the child has been kidnapped from his custody by his ex-con daughter assisted by a bitter manhating ideologue who is singularly lacking in common sense.
The outspoken Hale makes no bones about his hatred for the suspected kidnapper, especially when she threatens to expose him [falsely we assume] as a child molester. Some of his unconsidered remarks might even be construed as threats. And indeed they are taken as threats when the kidnapper is found shot to death.
Soon his client is on trial for murder and Madriani is facing trials of his own. People are trying to kill him and a key witness turns up dead. Susan McKay is called as a witness in the case and is not helpful to the defense.
There are some questionable twists in the parts of the plot. Would the police really be so unconcerned about the kidnapping? Hale did have legal custody. But, the courtroom scenes are riveting and, with the exception of the unlikely event of McKay as a witness, realistic. Martini conveys the despair Madriani feels about what is turning into a losing battle for his client's future.
The ending is dramatic. True to Martini's style no one is above suspicion.
Rating: 4
Summary: wonderful legal thriller
Comment: I hadn't read many of his books and was really pleased when I read this one. Mandriani is an attorney and one of his clients, who he had defended before with good results, comes to him again. Jonah Hale, who has since won one of the biggest lotteries, wants Mandriani to find his grand-daughter who has been kidnapped by his daughter, a drug user and released felon. The woman who he feels helped his daughter with the kidnapping ends up murdered and he is accused of the murder. Mandriani has his hands full trying to keep up with all the different angles and suspects. The ending may surprise you. I enjoyed the book and I think you will too. I am looking forward to reading another of his books.
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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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