Double Tap [Paperback]

Steve Martini (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: SIMON & SCHUSTER @ TRADE (1980)
• ASIN: B000N79V3C
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)

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

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Steve Martini keeps getting better and better, August 7, 2005

By 

Roy E. Perry "amateur philosopher" (Nolensville, Tennessee) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Double Tap (Hardcover)

Om Steve Martini's latest mystery, retired staff sergeant Emiliano Ruiz is in trouble. Deep trouble.

Ruiz is indicted for the murder of Madelyn Chapman, the extremely wealthy CEO of Isotenics, Inc. (situated in the hills above La Jolla, Calif.), a corporation specializing in software programs for the Pentagon's Defense Department.

The defendant's fate looks bleak, as circumstantial evidence against him mounts overwhelmingly.

San Diego defense attorney Paul Madriani and his partner/sidekick Harry Hinds have the daunting task of clearing Ruiz in this capital case involving a high-profile victim.

With the defendant stonewalling concerning a seven-year gap in his military history, and the Pentagon poised to quash evidence concerning clandestine activities at Isotenics, the deck is stacked against them. Their best hope may not be acquittal, but a mistrial.

The media have dubbed Ruiz "the Double Tap Killer," a reference to the fact that Chapman was killed with two shots to the head--less than an inch apart. A "double tap" is a technique for firing two shots in quick succession into a single target, a feat accomplished by expert military marksmen.

It doesn't help that Ruiz, a former security guard for Chapman, won awards for expert marksmanship while in the military; that Ruiz's gun (the murder weapon) is found at the crime scene, and that Ruiz, so charges diminutive prosecuting attorney Larry Templeton (aka "Tom Thumb), had been stalking Chapman shortly before her murder because she had him fired for indecent sexual advances.

Double Tap is much more than a potboiler murder mystery. It is both a work of existential depth, as Modriani poignantly describes flashbacks of his Uncle Evo's catatonic states and muses on the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde potential in each of us, and a cautionary warning about the political implications of government intrusion into personal privacy--all done, of course, in the name of "national security."

In his Farewell Address to the Nation (Jan. 17, 1961), Dwight D. Eisenhower said, "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence . . . by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."

Eisenhower's warning is especially relevant in our post-9/11, post-Patriot Act world. Steve Martini's Double Tap reveals, in fictional form, the chilling prospects of a government run amuck. Imagine the power of a dictator possessing unlimited access to a virtually omniscient spyware that tracks our personal affairs and transactions.

Here's a sample of Martini's prose: "Skulk around Washington too long and you'll find the bones of Diogenes--frustrated in his lamp-lit quest for the last honest man in the American Athens--piled up somewhere in the Senate cloakroom. . . . Learning that politicians are prone to engage in shady deals when feathering their own nests has all the jarring revelation of informing us that the ancient Greeks spoke Greek."

Double Tap is Martini's eighth book featuring Paul Madriani. Previous books in this series are: Compelling Evidence, Prime Witness, Undue Influence, The Judge, The Attorney, The Jury, and The Arraignment.

Written with crystal clarity, and featuring a fast-moving plot, brilliant courtroom cross-examinations, and sobering political commentary, Double Tap is a page-turner.

Martini keeps getting better and better.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting case but a little dry, October 12, 2006

By 

Hugh Mannfield (Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Double Tap (Hardcover)

Paul Madriani is a lawyer facing one of the toughest cases he has had for a while. A case that has already been walked away from by a high profile lawyer for undisclosed reasons. His client, Emiliano Ruiz, is accused of killing the head of a large software company, Madelyn Chapman, in an unusual style used by Special Forces called double tap. Given his military background, the placement of two shots in rapid succession into the target's head is something that Ruiz knows how to do. Add to that the fact that he served as Ms. Chapman's bodyguard, had an affair with her, and his gun was used in the killing, and the net of circumstantial evidence around Ruiz is pretty tight.

Paul and his partner set out to gather evidence that can either clear Ruiz or at least cast enough doubt on his guilt to save his life. The way the two of them go about their task reminded me a bit of Joe Friday and his partner Bill from the old Dragnet series. Their investigation keeps hitting roadblocks whenever they look into a seven year gap in Ruiz's records or try to find out about a shadowy general who was working with Madelyn on a secret software contract. The trial begins with Paul in possession of little evidence to help his client. Someone, it seems, wants to keep a lid on things and the lengths they are willing to go to keep their secrets may be the only hope Paul has of saving Ruiz.

I found the story engaging and the plot very plausible, but the book didn't always flow smoothly. At times it seemed like Steve Martini left off without finishing some thoughts and I couldn't tell whether it was his writing style or laziness. I also had to go back over the dialog in several places to understand just who was speaking. The inclusion of some historical perspective in the glimpses into the life of Paul's uncle Evo added depth to the book. Still, if he weren't an established author, I wonder if Mr. Martini could catch the eye of an editor with this offering.

If a book doesn't keep my interest I will drop it in the middle and I don't review books that I don't finish. The fact that I post a review means that the book is pretty good. I'm not a fan of lawyer stories (I don't think I've ever stayed awake through an episode of Perry Mason) but I finished and enjoyed Double Tap. If you like courtroom drama and a good mystery, I recommend reading this book.

[...].

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars for Double Tap!!!, September 1, 2005

By 

John R. Linnell (New Gloucester, ME United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Double Tap (Hardcover)

Once again, Paul Madriani is back in court with his faithful sidekick, Harry Hinds. They are called upon to defend a highly decorated Army sergeant Emiliano Ruiz, who is charged with murdering the CEO of a firm that he has formerly been in charge of providing security for. There is evidence of an affair of some kind between the two and that Ruiz stalked the victim after his security detail was discharged by her. The gun used to kill her was issued to Ruiz while he was in the service and the type of shooting that killed her was known as a "double tap", a type of killing method that Ruiz was expert at.

Harry sums up their situation quite neatly as the trial nears: "Wonderful," says Harry. "We have a client who won't tell us where he was or what he was doing for seven years, who is caught on video in the buff doing push ups on the victim on her office couch. We have an exhibition of fine shooting that, in the absence of a critical piece of evidence or Annie Oakley, could only have been done by that same client. And if that wasn't enough," he says,"now we have to try the case against the 'Death Dwarf.'"

The "Death Dwarf" is Paul Templeton, a diminutive but highly effective prosecutor who presence in the case makes the trial aspect of the case indeed difficult for Madriani and Hinds and highly entertaining for the reader.

How Madriani goes about defending this case as well as the mystery of who did kill Madelyn Chapman is Steve Martini at his best. I have read all of his books and was somewhat dissapointed with the previous effort, The Arraignment. However, in Double Tap he is back in form and at the top of his game. The writing of this book took some time, but in this case, it was worth the wait.