Customer Reviews

Double Tap

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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.

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.

[...].

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.

This is one of the most boring and poorly constructed books I have ever read and a good reason NOT to buy hardbacks and to wait for the paperback version! This aspires to be a lawyer-winning-a-hopeless-case novel replete with tired and hackneyed characters: a female sex-bomb computer analyst and tycoon vs. the evil U.S. government, it's evil Army General who plots to track info on every US citizen with his supercomputer, and finally the scapegoat, a member of the supposedly non-existent Delta Force, wrongly accused of the tycoon's murder. I'll spare you the storyline for others have laid it out in their reviews; suffice it to say that few books have characters who are more clichéd! But wait...add to this mix a feisty, arrogant, bombastic, opposing People's council who just happens to be a dwarf who rants and raves to the court from a board placed over milk crates to form a plank and sits in a booster-seat! This story wanders around all over the place for far, far too long but never goes anywhere and our surly defendant's attorney and protagonist, Paul Madriani and his sidekick, Harry made me root for the dwarf. Martini's editor must have said: "Wrap this stinker up somehow!" on the 50th rewrite because everything grinds to a screeching and predictable halt and in the last 10 pages we are led by the hand like helpless kindergarteners to an already wretchedly obvious explanation of the previous 380 pages we have gnashed our teeth through! Don't be prejudiced against the legal thriller genre because of this book - read the masters like John Lescroart, Scott Turow and the prolific but still great John Grisham.

In Steve Martini's eighth Paul Madriani novel, the talented author takes as prying look into just how far the government MIGHT go in invading the privacy of its citizens. The murder victim is Madolyn Chapman, a high power executive officer of a computer company whose main client is the US Government. The accused is Emiliano Ruiz, a former Army sharpshooter, who was allegedly having an affair with the woman and killed her because he was spurned. His special order gun which was kept in the house is the murder weapon and the special circumstances involved in the murder indicates only a shooting genius could pull off the "double tap" murder. Madriani and his loyal assistant Harry take on the case and face a formidable opponent in the dwarf-sized Larry Templeton, a showy prosecutor with an amazing ability to win over juries.

DOUBLE TAP is not a fast paced novel, but Martini keeps the reader enthralled with his immense legal knowledge and sharp characterizations. The identity of the real murderer may come as a surprise, with a different motivation.

Martini has made Madriani one of the kings of the legal novel, and DOUBLE TAP adds to this illustrious collection.

A CEO of a Fortune 500 company is shot in her beach front home in La Jolla, California. Her former personal executive security guard (Ruiz) is arrested, charged with the murder and is facing the death penalty. Attorney Paul Madriani is retained to represent Ruiz by a foundation established to assist veterans with legal woes.

Madriani has his work cut out.

Ruiz has spent his adult life in the employ of the U.S. military. He has a seven year gap in his resume and his is not willing to explain it to his attorney.

The CEO ran a company that has as a major customer, the US government.

The deputy district attorney assigned to prosecute Ruiz is a charismatic vertically challenged man, with a prefect record in capital cases.

The story moves fast. It has twists and turns that are logical on reflection - thus not annoying . . . and it is timely, fresh from the real world.

Five stars.

This 400 page book hooked me in right at the beginning and kept my attention until the very last page - not the usual quick read. The story centers around a murder investigation involving the death of Madelyn Chapman, a provocative, successful, software magnate. For those who love courtroom drama, the author takes the reader into a trial scenario that is both riveting and clever; complete with a vast array of unpredictable characters. It is a savvy murder-mystery tale that synthesizes government controversy, military scandals and contentious corporate decisions.

"Double Tap" was my first exposure to Steve Martini and his defense-attorney protagonist Paul Madriani. I enjoyed this story immensely, both for its tight, realistic plot line and the high quality of the writing. Martini's work, it seems, has found the sweet spot in the legal thriller genre, midway between Grisham's breezy, over-the-top scenarios and Turow's high-density realism.

The story itself revolves around the murder of a high-flying female CEO, Madelyn Chapman, and Madriani's defense of the victim's former bodyguard, Emiliano Ruiz. All of the evidence, almost too neatly, points in Ruiz's direction, suggesting a classic frame-up. Complicating matters for Madriani are Ruiz's secretive demeanor, a brilliant prosecutor who takes every advantage of his diminutive physical stature in court, and difficulty penetrating the proprietary goings-on at Madelyn's company (a software vendor to the Department of Defense).

Unlike many thrillers, where actual trial time is a scarce commodity, the bulk of this novel describes the clever courtroom jousting between Madriani and the prosecutor. As a lawyer, I appreciated the accuracy of the legal procedures and points of law. And as a thriller lover, I appreciated the page-flipping suspense as well as the political angle involving Government intrusions on citizens' privacy. A final plot twist, after a suitable climax had been realized, struck me a bit contrived and superfluous, although these devices have come to be almost required in the genre these days. As a whole, this was many notches above the typical courtroom thriller, leaving me echoing the sentiment expressed by one of the characters at the end of the book: "If I ever get in trouble, I want [Madriani] for a lawyer."

While I am a huge Steve Martini fan, I was a little concerned when I read the dust jacket blurb about this book. I'm not a big fan of military thriller style books, and from the description, it appeared that he had moved closer to that genre than to the legal mystery category. However, judging books by their covers can be very deceptive, and this proved true with this book.

This is a wonderful legal mystery with numerous twists and turns. Steve Martini provides just enough peripheral characers as to make it difficult to really figure out who did it, and why. He also keeps you hanging until the end trying to figure out how the trial will end and whether his client will go free or fry.

The characters created by Mr. Martini are fantastic, with enough detail to make them interesting and little enough detail to know them too well. I particularly liked the prosecutor, whom Mr. Martini gave the nickname of the "Death Dwarf".

Finally, his characterizations of Harry Hinds and Paul Madriani are great. Unlike many writers of legal mysteries, his attorneys do not speak as if they came from a "silk stocking" law firm, but rather from the real world they would occupy. Harry is his usual smart mouthed self, while Mr. Madriani continues to be the calmer, and smarter of the two.

I highly recommend this book, along with the others written by Mr. Martini. I am now looking forward to my next chance to catch up with Harry, Paul and the others in his next book.

Really a terrific story. I have enjoyed the Madriani books that I have read, and this one is very good. My only complaint is that near the end of my book, several pages were mixed up. I thought that the pages had been left out, but they were a couple of pages later. Happened at least four times in the last 40 pages. Really slowed down the action when you have to hunt for the next page. Anyone else have that problem? Still a good read, and I will look forward to the next one.