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books_n_critters's review
1.0
I didn't like this book. It jumped around between too many different characters, and was virtually no legal drama, which is what I want from these books. Paul Madriani is not James Bond.
gbdill's review against another edition
2.0
Though the premise of the story is fascinating, it is a bit too long, drawn out, and convoluted. Didn't seem to flow well. Lost interest after 150 pages. Moving on.
hawkeyegough's review
4.0
This seemed almost like a classic James Bond story to me and I think it was well done. Just the right amount of twist and turn without making the story totally unbelievable.
malagajames's review
2.0
I was disappointed in this book. I usually enjoy the Paul Madriani books but this one was drawn out and boringly complicated. Madriani needs to head back to the courtroom with his partner Harry Hinds.
ncrabb's review
4.0
I’ve read and mostly enjoyed the other nine books in this series; it seems a bit uneven to me up to now, but this 10th book is an edge-of-the-chair must-read. Guess what else! If you aren’t a fan of long courtroom scenes, you’ll really love this book, because there isn’t a single one in it. There’s plenty of trial, but not the type that occurs in front of a robed judge.
First, a quick word about Paul Madriani for those who haven’t read the first nine books or who haven’t read my previous reviews of them. He’s a widower, and his college-aged daughter is away at school. Madriani moved to the San Diego area years before this book occurs. He is at a grocery store one day when he meets her. The woman is attention-grabbing beautiful, and she is roughly the age of his daughter. They share a conversation, and in a subsequent meeting, a drink, but nothing more. She has escaped from a nasty situation in which she has been retained in the U.S. against her will. Of Costa Rican descent, Katia simply wants to go back home. But her captor, a former intelligence operative, knows things about her family tree that make her highly valuable—not in and of herself, but because of some pictures she has—pictures that show the partially concealed image of an old man in a shirt that has a special patch sewn onto it. It is that patch that sets him apart and that makes her valuable to the American former operative.
But Katia eventually escapes, fleeing just moments before the American is grotesquely murdered. Soon she is charged with the murder of her former captor, and before long, Madriani is charged as a co-conspirator. Worse still, the old man in Katia’s mysterious photo is connected to a nuclear plot that, if carried out, could destroy much of southern California.
I’ve done a lousy job of conveying the nail-biting excitement that permeates this book, and I’ve not explained well the connection between Katia and the old man and a ‘60s-era nuclear device. But it will all make abundant sense if you read this.
You don’t have to have read any of the series before this book if you don’t want to. The author fills in any gaps. You are left with the reality that there must be a sequel to this, and indeed there is. But if you’re not into committing yourself to reading an entire series, you can enjoy this.
First, a quick word about Paul Madriani for those who haven’t read the first nine books or who haven’t read my previous reviews of them. He’s a widower, and his college-aged daughter is away at school. Madriani moved to the San Diego area years before this book occurs. He is at a grocery store one day when he meets her. The woman is attention-grabbing beautiful, and she is roughly the age of his daughter. They share a conversation, and in a subsequent meeting, a drink, but nothing more. She has escaped from a nasty situation in which she has been retained in the U.S. against her will. Of Costa Rican descent, Katia simply wants to go back home. But her captor, a former intelligence operative, knows things about her family tree that make her highly valuable—not in and of herself, but because of some pictures she has—pictures that show the partially concealed image of an old man in a shirt that has a special patch sewn onto it. It is that patch that sets him apart and that makes her valuable to the American former operative.
But Katia eventually escapes, fleeing just moments before the American is grotesquely murdered. Soon she is charged with the murder of her former captor, and before long, Madriani is charged as a co-conspirator. Worse still, the old man in Katia’s mysterious photo is connected to a nuclear plot that, if carried out, could destroy much of southern California.
I’ve done a lousy job of conveying the nail-biting excitement that permeates this book, and I’ve not explained well the connection between Katia and the old man and a ‘60s-era nuclear device. But it will all make abundant sense if you read this.
You don’t have to have read any of the series before this book if you don’t want to. The author fills in any gaps. You are left with the reality that there must be a sequel to this, and indeed there is. But if you’re not into committing yourself to reading an entire series, you can enjoy this.
lastaines's review
1.0
I did not care for this book, but stuck it out anyways. The author has 2 or 3 story lines going and I did not understand 2 of them, and as it turned out, I didn't really need all that technical information anyways.
The author also refers to 3 of the characters by either their first name or their last name or a nickname. This confused me because in the beginning I thought these were all different people. He should really just pick a name and stick with it!
The author also refers to 3 of the characters by either their first name or their last name or a nickname. This confused me because in the beginning I thought these were all different people. He should really just pick a name and stick with it!
dlperin's review against another edition
2.0
I was very disappointed in this book. Paul Madriani makes a few appearances, but this is not Martini's usual skillful legal thriller. Instead, it felt like Martini used a bare-bones legal plot to hook in his fans, but then he detoured into an unwieldy political story with far too many shifts in perspective and too many characters that weren't worth caring about. It felt like a bait and switch, frankly. I
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