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Guardian of Lies CD (Paul Madriani Novels) [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Steve Martini (Author), George Guidall (Reader)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (90 customer reviews)


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Book Description

July 14, 2009 Paul Madriani Novels

Defense attorney Paul Madriani gets caught in a web of deceit and murder involving Cold War secrets, a rare coin dealer who once worked for the CIA, and a furious assassin in one of the most entertaining novels yet in this New York Times bestselling series.

A woman pauses in the hallway of a darkened San Diego beach house at night—listening for just the right moment when she can flee before her companion notices that she's gone.

A man outside watches the same mansion, waiting for a sign that he can enter on his mission of blood and carnage.

So begins this riveting new tale about Paul Madriani and his latest case—that of Katia, a woman accused of an unlikely crime—a trial that will unravel a careful but horrifying conspiracy. Madriani soon realizes that he's signed onto something much more sinister than a botched heist. As he searches for the truth that will clear Katia's name, he finds himself on a path that takes him from Southern California to Costa Rica, and, ultimately, to a secret buried since Castro's rise to power.

Together with his partner, Harry Hinds, Madriani must piece together the threads of a decades-old conspiracy involving priceless gold coins, an aging American spy, a disaffected Russian soldier, and a forgotten weapon from the days of JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis. As the separate strands of the story come together, Madriani finds information that will ultimately lead him to the one person who holds the key to it all: a man some call "The Guardian of Lies."

In this fascinating thriller from New York Times bestselling author Steve Martini, Paul Madriani faces his most challenging—and most urgent—case yet, a breathless story that combines fact and fiction and will hold readers captive until its final, explosive conclusion.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Paul Madriani's chance encounter with 26-year-old Katia Solaz, a Costa Rican beauty, leads to a desperate race to avoid not only personal disaster but also a national one in Martini's sprawling 10th thriller to feature the Southern California defense attorney (after Shadow of Power). Katia, who's living with creepy Emerson Pike, a man old enough to be her grandfather, in a dilapidated estate surrounded by an expensive security fence, decides to return home to Costa Rica. In her flight, she just misses running into the legendary assassin known as the Mexecutioner, who sneaks into Pike's house. The naïve Katia and well-meaning Madriani, who meet in a grocery store, provide a welcome human element amid the busy action involving escaped Guantánamo prisoners, a Colombian rebel base, a Mexican drug cartel and a plot to bring the war home to the Great Satan via a nuclear device. Tidbits like how the FBI can use cellphones as remote bugging devices add to the fun. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Steve Martini is the author of numerous New York Times bestsellers, including The Rule of Nine, Guardian of Lies, Shadow of Power, and others featuring defense attorney Paul Madriani. Martini has practiced law in California in both state and federal courts, and has served as an administrative law judge and supervising hearing officer. He lives in the Pacific Northwest.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

  • Audio CD
  • Publisher: HarperAudio; Unabridged edition (July 14, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0060727586
  • ISBN-13: 978-0060727581
  • Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 5.3 x 1.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (90 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #998,481 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

90 Reviews
5 star:
 (33)
4 star:
 (23)
3 star:
 (16)
2 star:
 (12)
1 star:
 (6)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (90 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific, June 24, 2009
This review is from: Guardian of Lies (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
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
This review is from: Guardian of Lies (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
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
This review is from: Guardian of Lies (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
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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