Delta soldier is accused of murder and the trial that follows. Good plot twists as the federal intelligence agency and voter privacy become issues

A really good story, but the ending was not completely satisfying.

THIS SUMMARY/REVIEW WAS COPIED FROM OTHER SOURCES AND IS USED ONLY AS A REMINDER OF WHAT THE BOOK WAS ABOUT FOR MY PERSONAL INTEREST. ANY PERSONAL NOTATIONS ARE FOR MY RECOLLECTION ONLY


n interesting book in regards to some nice court room drama and government ethics. Steve Martini takes us into a case where a former Ranger member is accused of murdering a former client and lover. Sargent Ruiz is accused of putting to bullets into the head of Madelyn Chapmans head in her home. Paul Madriani and his partner Harry Hinds take the case pro bono after another attorney withdraws. As Paul and Harry dig into the case they have a seven year missing period in Ruiz's life in the military. Ruiz will not tell them anything in relation to this time period other than to say he was a trainer and that it has nothing to do with his case. As they look into the victims life as the CEO of a large government software developing company they realize the government is treading on some dangerous morale grounds. There is a former general who is now in possession of software that can control the flow of all information across the globe. The question is whether or not this is legal? There seems to be a very tight case around the neck of Sgt Ruiz. The question begs to who put it there? The crafty midget prosecuting attorney is crafting a very tight noose around Pauls client. Maybe to crafty for his own good. The government at all costs is trying to block all information from Isotrenics, Madelyns company. Some good courtroom back and forth with a pretty sharp twist near the end. I had an inkling near the end about who the killer was at the end. Martini had all the clues there for you but with a lot of misdirection. A good read

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This is a legal thriller that rolls along well and is set up nicely for a fantastic ending. A wealthy CEO of a tech company repsonsible for critical Dept. of Defense software is killed by a professional gun shot by someone who knew where to find the gun and who was trained in shooting twice in rapid succession to make sure the target went down (whence the "double tap"). The cops arrest and charge the natural suspect: a former member of the CEO's security group to whom the gun belonged, with whom the CEO had had a slightly beyond professional relationship, and who had recently been seen following her around.

Enter Paul Madriani, attorney extraordinaire, to investigate the situation and clean up the mess. What follows is good courtroom drama that I (as an attorney myself) appreciate. It's tough to do well. And though Martini at times tosses out information before forgetting that he has given you no basis for understanding what the information means, and then going back and trying to clean it up, for the most part the story flows smoothly along towards what is an eagerly-awaited climax.

Was so dang dragged out.. took forever to get anywhere. I read to page 60, then skipped ahead, read, skipped ahead about 20 pages each time…. Ugh

Utterly boring

This was a good book. The content was terrific. The author let quite a lot of the lawyer's inner emotions, strength, and soul peek through, which was really nice. Double Tap is a term used in the military regarding two shots placed very, very close together,the purpose being to make sure the target doesn't get up again. The "suspect" has been set up...and you can tell that. The trial is nail biting, but you know we have to come out the winner...but...what a surprise at the end! The guilty party is NOT who you thought all along!

This was my first Steve Martini novel, and he is a pretty prolific writer. So I am happy to find another solid author that I can go back to. This book was written in 2005.
The elements of the plot were quite appealing to me. The CEO (a woman) of a big software company gets killed by gun shots. She is quite the high roller, and has strong relationships with the federal government that are critical to her company's past and future success.
The narrator is Paul Madriani, a lawyer, who defends the CEO's personal security guard, who seems doomed by various pieces evidence, that are amibigous but have been weaved together by the prosecutor to build a strong case against him.
The plot is pretty complicated, and I gather from reading about the author that he is known for his late plot twists. This book certainly had one. I was not in love with how the outcome of this book kind of came out of the blue. I will read this author again to see if other plot twists he deploys are a little more credible.
Another good aspect, maybe the best part of the book, was the courtroom drama between the prosecution team and Paul Madriani.

This book is a legal thriller and is ny first book of the said genre. I did not expect to like it as much as I do and even though it took me quite long to finish because of the busy sched, I say I still enjoyed it a lot. It was very informative and I learned a lot about court hearings and lawyers and computer softwares that protect the privacy of the civillians.
It was slow-paced for me because there were filler chapters where the main character just talked about his uncle who became kind of mentally ill after the war. While I recognize some minor connection to the story, I don't really see how it was necessary. Most of the chapters weren't very captivating because it would cause me to put it down at times because I got a little bit bored. BUT there were chapters where I was really anticipating what will happen next and I am just amazed at how Paul Madriani carried himself throughout the case. The part where the killer was revealed was something that I didn't see coming. Though it felt like a bit of surprise and out of nowhere, the clues actually made sense and that intense scene after the revelation really had me thrilled.
To summarize, I liked this book and I think it's a good introduction to the legal thriller genre for me. Also, I thank my boyfriend for giving me this book as a gift.

Read for a second time
Engaging story line, well written and good legal content
Enjoy the twists at the end

This is a book I really wish I could give a 3.5. Good series, better than average writing and very entertaining. Not enough for a 4, but definitely above a 3.
As an aside, this book was written about 10 years ago. It was ahead of its time. I'd live to know what--if anything--Martini would change concerning right to privacy, electronic data collection, etc

Very interesting book that gives some insight into the potential for eavesdropping by the federal government without the public or courts knowing of it

This is a legal thriller that rolls along well and is set up nicely for a fantastic ending. A wealthy CEO of a tech company repsonsible for critical Dept. of Defense software is killed by a professional gun shot by someone who knew where to find the gun and who was trained in shooting twice in rapid succession to make sure the target went down (whence the "double tap"). The cops arrest and charge the natural suspect: a former member of the CEO's security group to whom the gun belonged, with whom the CEO had had a slightly beyond professional relationship, and who had recently been seen following her around.

Enter Paul Madriani, attorney extraordinaire, to investigate the situation and clean up the mess. What follows is good courtroom drama that I (as an attorney myself) appreciate. It's tough to do well. And though Martini at times tosses out information before forgetting that he has given you no basis for understanding what the information means, and then going back and trying to clean it up, for the most part the story flows smoothly along towards what is an eagerly-awaited climax.

The problem for me is the payoff. Now, I won't give anything away here, but I found the revelation of the CEO's killer to be a huge anticlimax and, infinitely worse, simply implausible on the information given to us during the buildup and even after the author's lame attempt to explain how everything ties in. I love a good thriller, but it comes with a risk: whether or not the ending will reward the reader for his ride through all of the buildup. Alas, despite the good courtroom drama, the ending of this one did not. Add to that some unanswered question and some guns left unfired on the mantle (see Chekhov), and you have yourself a two-star disappointment.