Critical Mass [School & Library Binding]

Steve Martini (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1999

Jocelyn Cole is a burned-out public defender opting for a quiet life in the San Juan islands. Her only significant group of clients are fishermen suffering from a strange illness, which Joss believes has an industrial cause. But two nuclear devices have gone missing from the former Soviet Union.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When a handsome stranger walks into Joss Cole's one-woman law office on a sleepy island in Puget Sound and slaps down a hefty retainer to incorporate a fledgling electronics business, the burned-out ex-public defender has a hunch things aren't exactly as they seem. And when Dean Belden, this strange new client, comes back a few days later with a federal grand jury subpoena he swears he can't explain, she still doesn't tie it into the bizarre illness suffered by her other major clients, a group of commercial fishermen. Then Belden skips out on the feds and dies before her eyes in the fiery explosion of his float plane. Or does he? Within hours there are two attempts on Joss's life--clearly someone thinks she knows more than she's telling. Later, a nuclear fission expert shows up on the island tracking two missing tactical nuclear devices stolen from a Siberian storage facility, and the Geiger counter starts ticking. When Joss's fishermen start dying of what is clearly radioactive poisoning, the outlines of Belden's shadowy past get filled out in a tense thriller as topical as today's headlines. Steve Martini ties it all together with a fast-paced, well-plotted story of homegrown militia groups set up by America's enemies. He tosses in a hint of romance--just enough to show off Joss's vulnerable side without slowing down the action. Martini fans will swallow this one whole, while those who haven't discovered him yet can catch up with his several other thrillers on the paperback backlist, including Compelling Evidence, Prime Witness, and The Judge. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

A militia group in the Pacific Northwest becomes the world's newest nuclear power in this by-the-numbers thriller by the author of The List and The Judge. Lawyer Jocelyn "Joss" Cole sees a big retainer when she's hired by Dean Belden to handle his company's incorporation filings. But after Belden gets a federal subpoena, Joss sees him die in a fiery seaplane explosion. Now she's the only visible link to Belden's company (which was on the receiving end of two decaying nuclear weapons smuggled into the U.S. out of Russia), and that brings her to the attention of arms inspector Gideon van Ry, of the Institute Against Mass Destruction. After the feds determine that the militia has possession of the weapons, Gideon and Joss join the race to try to avert nuclear disaster. Of course, there are complications: the militia group is being fronted by a foreign power in order to circumvent U.S. nuclear retaliation policy, and the President is in CYA (cover-your-ass) overdrive because his party accepted a campaign contribution from the chief Russian culprit. But even with a SEAL assault on the militia stronghold, double crosses galore and an ingenious ending, the book offers too few surprises, too little suspense and too little emotional involvement. The characters have no inner life, and the plotting is sketchy from the start, when it's explained that dummies were used to cover up for the two missing nukes?dummies that conveniently drop off the weapons count while there's still time to foil the bad guys. The few crucial coincidences stick out like red flags because Martini makes more of them than he makes of the people around them.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• School & Library Binding
• Publisher: San Val (December 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0613213866
• ISBN-13: 978-0613213868
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,265,323 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Steve Martini was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area. An honors graduate of the University of California at Santa Cruz, he holds a law degree from the University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law.

Martini's first career was in journalism. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Los Angeles and as a correspondent at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, specializing in legal issues. In 1974 he entered private law practice in California, where he appeared in both state and federal courts. During his legal career, he worked as a legislative representative for the State Bar of California, served as special counsel to the California Victims of Violent Crimes Program, and was an administrative law judge and supervising hearing officer.

In 1984 Martini turned his talents to fiction, quickly earning positions on bestseller lists. All but his first book spent time on the New York Times Bestsellers list. To date, he has authored twelve novels, including eight featuring his popular lawyer alter ego, Paul Madriani.
In 1996 Undue Influence aired as a four-hour miniseries on CBS, followed by The Judge on NBC in 2001.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A new direction -- well done., April 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Critical Mass (Hardcover)

Martini was beginning to stretch his courtroom characters a little too thin in The Judge; I'm glad he went off in a new direction in this book. It's as full of unexpected turns as all his previous whodunits, but this time with domestic and international terrorists. Its basic plot is believable (even if there are a few too many miraculous escapes) and it'd make a great movie. Don't start this book at bedtime because you won't put it down. Martini is to be commended for having a strong woman as protagonist; I only regret she never got her "constitutional rights". In the end Martini kills off the wrong character, the character I had really bonded to and wanted to see in future books. (Or, did he really die? In this book you're never sure!) A great trash read for a beach day, an airplane flight, or a lazy Saturday.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WITHOUT A DOUBT, THE BEST!!!, October 17, 1999

By 

H. L. Wasden "bwasden" (Albany, Georgia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Critical Mass (Hardcover)

I've read every one of the Martini books and this tops them all. It was full of suspense, terror, intrigue, mystery, romance, and current events.

This seems to be a really well thought out plot and was put together perfectly. I read this in two sittings....

Thanks Steve!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars a technothriller that lacks the brain, July 19, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Critical Mass (Mass Market Paperback)

Critical Mass is my first Steve Martini book. I hope his other novels are better because... The story is full of cardboard characters who perform actions that made no sense. For example, any hospital noticing such serious cases of radiation among the fishermen will report the illnesses to the government. You would not have to wait until a local lawyer starts investigating the lawsuit potential! I guess such logical actions cannot take place because the story would end right on the first chapter. The more the story progresses, the more it feels like a story of how wrong things can go. Unfortunately, stories of how things can go wrong tend not to be fun to read.

If you want a superb story of terrorists taking the world hostage, try Devil's Alternative by Frederick Forsyth, and skip this one.