Rating: 
Summary: Madriani in Mexico - Not His best
Review: The title implies another Paul Madriani courtroom novel. The title is grossly misleading. In fact after reading the book one wonders why it was named as it was because it has so little to do with the plot or action in the book. Madriani becomes some kind of private detective in this book after a friend of his dies in a hail of bullets while talking to a client outside the courthouse before the client is to be arraigned. That's as close as this book ever gets to a courtroom. The rest of it entails Madriani trying to find out what his friend was involved with and why he was killed, which nearly gets Madriani killed. The answer is not particularly interesting and how it is revealed is less so. There really is little to recommend this book....and I don't.
Rating: 
Summary: A Paul Madriani adventure
Review: This book is different than the others in the Madriani series - which probably annoys most Madriani fans. It concentrates less on legal strategy, and more on adventure. I was not enjoying it much, until he went to Mexico to uncover the truth about a shady operation that involved his murdered friend. The action in Mexico in the last half of the book was excellent, bring the book up from a 2 to a 4 star rating in my opinion.
Rating:
Summary: Boring
Review: This book was highly recommended but I was totally disappointed. It started out okay but then got boring. There was no character in the book that I cared about or frankly, how the story ended. It went 100 pages way to long. It was dragged out, to wordy. Not sure I would read his books again. After reading just a few pages, I would fall asleep. Found this book to be a great cure for insomnia.
I have read better murder mysteries.
Rating:
Summary: Plodding, Boring, Low Tension "Thriller"
Review: This is not one of Martini's better efforts - very plodding plot, and pretty [weak] most of the way. I often put the book down for days on end, with little desire to get back to it! That is very atypical of me when I am reading a well-crafted thriller. This is a legal hackpiece that is hardly worth the effort.
Rating: 
Summary: Shabby Martini: good first 3rd of book goes nowhere after
Review: This is our fifth and last Steve Martini. Propelled by his first novel, "Simeon Chamber", which we enjoyed, we've tried four others with only lackluster results, including this, one of his several defense attorney Paul Madriani series. Our author just can't seem to get it all right at one time in one book. Either his premise is weak and generates little interest; his plot suffers from inactivity; or we just don't care about the characters anymore by the time we drag to the end from a weakly crafted story line.In this one, a "key man" lawyer is killed and Madriani had a tangential role in his friend being where he was when he got shot. With little more than that as incentive, Paul fights for both the man's ex-wife and new "trophy" wife to get their insurance millions, then proceeds to track down the killers. Much of the story is set in Mexico and involves henchmen and so forth clearly out of Madriani's league -- so the latter two-thirds of the novel stretch beyond believability. The only thing getting us to three stars is the somewhat amusing beginning when the insurnce fight takes place, and the somewhat surprising ending in which a key character we never suspected turns out bad. But one must endure an awful lot in the middle that makes the pages turn sluggishly and the eyelids droop. We've said before Martini just can't seem to get it right -- Turow, Grisham, and Scottoline are much better bets !
Rating:
Summary: The Series Continues: The Arraignment by Steve Martini
Review: 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:
Summary: Uneven
Review: With Steve Martini's The Arraignment, I found a very uneven mystery. The characters seem flat and shallow, although maybe you have to read from the beginning of the Paul Madriani series to get more background on recurring characters. The writing seems rather bland and dry. Some parts were very predictable and I figured out the villan halfway through the book (something I don't usually do). The first half of the book showed great promise, and then proceeded to sink with each successive page. The plot was very convoluted, and even at the end when things were somewhat explained, it still seemed totally unbelievable. Too many questions were left unanswered and the entire plot didn't make sense. As someone who reads dozens and dozens of mysteries every year, I wasn't impressed with Mr. Martini.
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