The Attorney

Rating:
Summary: wonderful legal thriller
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Motion to Dismiss
Review: I usually love a good mystery... unfortunately, this is not a good mystery.

Steve Martini's "The Attorney" starts out promising enough, with a murder victim so widely hated that the suspect list is long and the mystery deep. Fans of Mr. Martini's other novels will thrill at the return of his much-loved lawyer.

The plot concerns the murder of a much-maligned child protection advocate who "makes kids disappear" in hotly-debated child custody battles. The densely-plotted novel vears between America and Mexico as the fascinating story unfolds.

However, mystery fans will most likely figure out the murderer's identity half-way through the book, and some very untidy plot resolutions will leave the reader scratching his or her head and wondering what Mr. Martini was thinking. The key to a good mystery is a dense plot, characters that the reader cares about, a villain to hate, and a tidy, well-resolved ending. Unfortunately, the ending of this book leaves too many questions unanswered, and almost appears to be an after-thought.

Rating:
Summary: Welcome return of Paul Madriani
Review: Steve Martini has finally returned to his Paul Madriani series and not a moment too soon. Paul, and his law partner, Harry Hinds, are two of the most endearing characters in any legal thriller. While "The Attorney" does not measure up to previous Martini books like "Undue Influence", it is still a worthwhile read.

Paul and his daughter move to southern California to be closer to Paul's new girlfriend, and Harry follows to set up a new practice there. Paul is soon retained by Jonah Hale to help find Jonah's granddaughter who was snatched from his custody by Jonah's daughter. What seems to be a clear-cut, if not easily resolved case soon escalates to murder and Paul decides to represent Jonah in court.

There are excellent descriptions of Paul's southern California locale, right down to certain street names. This tediousness detracts from the action somewhat. But like some of the other reviews noted, the killer is quite obvious less than halfway through the book. It is a mystery (excuse the pun) why a writer as skilled as Martini would give a clue as to the killer's identity that all but reaches out and slaps the reader across the face. This aside, "The Attorney" is tightly paced thriller that is suspenseful despite knowing who the killer is early on in the book. Martini is a writer that is among the ranks of Scott Turow and Richard North Patterson, and it is good to finally see him returning to the legal thriller genre where he writes best.