35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Terrific, June 24, 2009
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Paul Madriani was the defense counsel in some earlier, excellent legal-thrillers. This book is more of an action-thriller involving a really, really ugly scheme by some really, really bad people. But it's still excellent.
The story begins with Emerson Pike pulling some strings to sneak Katia Solaz into San Diego from Costa Rica. Why did he do that? Well, Katia is drop-dead gorgeous, and even though Emerson is old enough to be her grandfather, he's still a man. Maybe that's it. On the other hand, Katia has a somewhat mysterious family background, and Emerson used to work for the CIA. Maybe that's it. In any case, when Emerson brings Katia to San Diego, he also brings some photos that Katia's mom had taken during a recent trip to Columbia, and he spends a lot of time studying them. Hmm.
Katia soon gets tired of the old geezer and begins planning her escape back to Costa Rica. She finally sneaks away one night, while Emerson is in the shower; but a couple of days later, on her way to the airport, the local authorities arrest her and charge her with not one but two murders. That brings defense attorney Paul Madriani into the picture.
There is some legal work at this point, which is very interesting, especially after federal authorities start butting in. It seems the feds are also interested -- for national security reasons, of course -- in the case; and their interest may hinder both the state prosecutor and Madriani in presenting their respective sides of the case. The legal skirmishing and gamesmanship between the feds, the state prosecutor, and Madriani are pretty amusing -- sometimes it's hard to tell who the prosecutor's main enemy is, the feds or Madriani -- but the plot quickly spins off into an all-out action-thriller, and most of the action takes place outside the courtroom.
Besides the characters described above, there's also: a legendary Mexican hit-man, the "Mexicutioner;" jihadist escapees from the U.S. detention facility at Gitmo; Fidel Castro -- yes, THE Fidel Castro; and some Columbian revolutionaries. And don't forget Katia's mysterious family background. It's possible that that has some relevance too!
Martini does a great job creating a very plausible story that gives each one of the rich cast of characters a turn in the spotlight. One particularly interesting aspect of the story is the way that a really, really ugly scheme by some really, really bad people can be jeopardized by such a seemingly trivial event: Katia's mom taking some pictures during vacation.
Terrific plot, terrific characters, terrific writing. Can't wait for the next one.
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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not a Typical Paul Madriani Novel, July 4, 2009
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Steve Martini is a very solid writer of courtroom thrillers, and I've enjoyed most of his novels featuring defense attorney Paul Madriani. One thing I've noticed about Martini's more recent novels (SHADOW OF POWER; DOUBLE TAP) is that the plots have become less realistic and more over-the-top. GUARDIAN OF LIES continues this trend.
GUARDIAN OF LIES is unusual for a Madriani novel because there are few scenes in the courtroom. This is not a true legal thriller. Instead, the plot is more action-oriented, with lawyer Madriani trotting the globe and trying to foil a terrorist plot to detonate a nuclear weapon in the United States.
The result is just okay. There are a lot of big-scale action scenes in GUARDIAN OF LIES, but they aren't strung together in a way that builds any sense of momentum. The characterization is mostly flat. The novel drags in places, and is probably about 100 pages too long. I found this novel engaging enough to finish, but I wasn't kept on the edge of my seat.
GUARDIAN OF LIES is smartly written and serves as a decent entertainment. My hope, however, is that Martini returns to the courtroom for his next book, and comes up wih a more down-to-earth plot than what I found here.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Many strengths but lacked punch, July 9, 2009
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Although I enjoyed much of the writing and especially the dialogue in this novel, I never got swept up in the plot. Considering it involved a terrorist attack of catastrophic proportions, it should have been an exciting page turner but was not for me. I think much of the problem was believability: too many aspects of the premise and the characters (not Paul or Harry) seemed unreal. Also, the way the scenes were structured and information came out was too slow-paced, repetitive and drawn out. Parts sang and were very well crafted, witty, or admirable, but the whole just lacked punch. The characters of Paul and Harry were still great, however, and the book had many compelling scenes. 3.5 stars.
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