PRIME WITNESS [Unknown Binding]

Product Details

• Unknown Binding
• Publisher: PUTNAM; 1ST edition (1993)
• ASIN: B001UBY0Y0
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 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

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Prime Witness is Prime Entertainment, October 12, 2000

By 

Jeff Edwards "RadioJeff" (Twin Falls, Idaho) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Prime Witness (A Paul Madriani Novel) (Paperback)

I am a bit puzzled at the negative reviews of this book. This is the one that started me on the path to becoming a Steve Martini fan. Granted this isn't his best courtroom thriller, but it is STILL above just about anything written by the incredibly over-rated John Grisham. But let's not judge this book based on other authors. The storyline is well-plotted, and very engrossing. The forensics used to trace the evidence to the so-called perp's is not only interesting, but very entertaining and informative as well. It has been many years since I picked up this novel, and I STILL have very fond memories of how much I enjoyed it. I think one of the best things about this book is how it kept you in the dark as to whether or not the 3rd murder was a copycat or not. Give it a shot, it's not literature, but it IS a fun read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too much information, April 28, 2006

By 

Beverley Strong (Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prime Witness (A Paul Madriani Novel) (Paperback)

Reading this book is like being stuck at a table with a number of lawyers at a social event...they're alright on their own but, get them in a group, talking shop, and they're the most boring people possible to anyone outside that legal circle. A serial killer is loose in a university town, killing couples in a vile, ritualistic fashion, when the bodies of yet another couple are found, supposedly killed in the same way. Paul Madriani is working as the town's temporary Chief Prosecutor when Andre Iganovich, a Russian immigrant, working as a security guard at the University, is arrested and charged with the murders. The details of the investigation and eventual solving of the crime is, no doubt, absolutely right, but to anyone who doesn't work in criminal law, the legal minutiae is not only beyond the comprehension of the untrained mind, but is deadly dull into the bargain.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great book up until the end, August 21, 2001

By 

Robert Von Gerds "robgerds" (Cincinnati, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prime Witness (A Paul Madriani Novel) (Paperback)

Prime Witness kept me glued to my seat for several evenings. For about 380 of the 400 pages, it is a real page turner. In the second book in the Paul Madriani series, our hero ends up being the District Attorney of Davenport county, a small rural county in which several serial murders have been committed. When the killer is caught, Madriani feels there is another murderer, probably a copycat at work. From there the book keeps a steady pace and the pages begin to turn themselves until about page 380. Then, all of a sudden Steve Martini must have either run out of steam, or maybe he just wanted to get the book over with. The end seems unbelievable and just comes too quickly. Still worth reading though.