Customer Reviews

The Rule of Nine (Paul Madriani Series, No. 11)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Still feeling the effects from a near nuclear explosion he helped thwart a few months back, defense attorney--and now apparently a spytracker--Paul Madriani goes after an extremist who is bound and determined to cause a major catastrophic event in an attempt to amputate one of the arms of the government.
Normally I know Steve Martini to be a legal thriller writer. Now he seems to be venturing into the spy thriller. I blame myself mostly for being disappointed in this latest Madriani novel. The reason would be that I didn't read the previous 'Guardian of Lies' thriller and it seems to tie in with this one quite a bit. This left me in the dark on quite a few of the topics. This is not a good stand alone thriller. I'm still not sure this one would of pulled me in whether I read the first or not. Maybe it was the overall mediocre pace of the story.
I know Martini to be a very talented author from his courtroom dramas but this latest didn't stand at all by itself.

Steve Martini has successfully built on his previous Paul Madriani novel. This is a lose sleep novel because the reader just can't put it down. Madriani and his family are still dealing with the fallout of a case which led Madriani and his investigator right into the middle of a failed nuclear attack. The FBI suddenly wants no more to do with him, his daughter, investigator and partner are all in mortal danger from Liquida, a murderer who escaped the FBI at the time of the earlier crime. And then Madriani's daughter's friend is killed and the urgency to hide from Liquida intensifies. Throw in a Supreme Court Justice and a long time Congressman and the mystery of who is doing what to whom becomes ever more complex. The characters are drawn with true empathy and they story tightly written. Another can't put it down from Martini.

An extremist desires to change the direction that the United States is going by wiping out the Supreme Court.

The realistic story could have been taken from the latest news exposing politicians in Washington.

Washington is in debt and wants to generate revenue so decides to tax overseas accounts. Senator Josh Root is both embarrassed and concerned with how he and a number of political friends will explain the wealth they have accumulated in foreign banks. This wealth he derived from bribes and kick-backs. In addition, someone is blackmailing the senator for actions he took during Vietnam when he was a member of an underground movement and his actions resulted in the death of a security guard.

The story follows the action of the author's "Garden of Lies". In fact, parts of the novel follow the events in the first novel so closely that it assumes that the reader has read that novel prior to "The Rule of Nine".

In this story, the antagonist goes by the name Thorn and the FBI agent running the investigation is named Thorpe. The similarity
of names was unfortunate and I had to pause a number of times to make sure I had my characters correct.

Thorn uses a Mexican killer who is referred to as Liquida. He bears a hatred for Madriani and Madriani's investigator, Herman Diggs. This hatred is so strong that it governs Liquida's actions and the cause of it is only glossed over. I think more detail would have helped.

Madriani is an interesting character. He believes in the United States and in justice. But it does seem improbable that a defense attorney would feel compelled to stop his practice in order to chase terrorists.

There was good suspense and the plot progresses at breakneck speed which builds rapidly as the novel concluded. The final pages felt like they could be in an episode of TVs "24."

For the reader looking for a light read, this would do the trick.

Is there a story there somewhere??? Shadowy figures, nasty people, national security, FBI, terror and treachery in high places... the problem is that it does not jell. The author keeps on flitting from one angle to another with dark hints and darker deeds, and at some point you just lose interest. Apparently worse is to come since the ending calls for yet another sequel.
Will the real Steve Martini please come back? He is sorely missed.

A very disappointing book from Martini. Not a legal thriller, no courtroom antics, no mysterious client, no interplay with Harry or Herman. It is a thriller of sorts, about corruption in government, secret plots, 9/11-like schemes, FBI ineptitude - in short, fairly typical for such thrillers. The problem here is that Martini takes far too much time pontificating about what's wrong with the world at this moment and these pages and pages of opinion slow things down. First rule of thrillers is to keep things moving, primarily so the reader doesn't have a chance to think about whether the story bears any relation to reality. Martini doesn't do that. He also provides sooooo much detail about the scheme that the pace failed here, too. As a result, I found myself skimming great swathes of the book to get to key scenes.

By the way, there is almost no effort to make the characters three-dimensional. Even Madriani feels flat, and the seductive woman recites lines that never ring true. General sloppiness is indicated by naming characters Thorn and Thorpe. Aren't there enough names out there that he didn't have to use such similar ones?

Anne M has said that she heard Martini interviewed and he said he won't be returning Madriani to the courtroom. Too bad, since if he continues in this thriller vein he will be, justifiably, losing many more fans.

The Rule of Nine is the 11th novel that Steve Martini has written in the Paul Mandriani series. It is a sequel novel to the Guardian of Lies. The first nine novels were legal thrillers that centered on Mandriani as a defense attorney in the California legal system. In the last novel, Guardian of Lies and this one he has moved into the spy thriller genre. I don't think that the plot and writing are near as strong in the last two books as in the earlier ones. Rule of Nine follows on the attempted nuclear attack in San Diego that was the core plot item in Guardian of Lies. One of the perpetrators of that attack stalks Mandriani, his daughter and other good guys. Another terrorist is planning attacks in NYC and Washington DC, with the US Supremem court as the ultimate target. The author introduces a love interest for Mandriani, Jocelyn Cole an NGO executive devoted to eliminating WMDs. As is usual with Martini's books the characters are well drawn and developed enough that you care what happens to them. The plot progresses in a very straightforward way with few surprises. Mandriani and other good guys work to foil the attack but a number of loose ends are left for the inevitable follow-up in the 12th novel in this series.
While this was a good thriller read (I finished it in a little more than a day), I don't think that Steve Martini fans will enjoy this book as well as some of his earlier ones. If you are looking for the terrorist/spy thrillers Vince Flynn and Brad Thor are better at it than Martini, if you are looking for legal thrillers try some of the earlier Martini books like The Judge, The Attorney, Prime Witness.

San Diego attorney Paul Madriani apparently tangled with international terrorists in Steve Martini's previous book (I didn't read it). The hit man he encountered then is back to seek his revenge. Coincidentally and simultaneously, another terrorist has set his sights on destroying the Supreme Court and Madriani and his cohorts must outsmart both the hit man and the terrorists to save the day.

I have read other Steve Martini books and enjoyed them, and I am a fan of legal suspense in general. This book was disappointing in large part because it was not what I was expecting. The Rule of Nine isn't legal suspense - it's political/conspiracy/terrorism suspense. If you are interested in books about potential mass destruction or political conspiracy, you might pick this up and give it a read.

However, even then, I think it's a stretch. There are some really weak plot lines here that were frustrating and the twist near the end borders on ridiculous. I think I'll add Martini to the list of authors I don't need pick up anymore (also on the list: James Patterson, Patricia Cornwell; hanging by a thread: Jody Picoult, David Baldacci, Linda Fairstein). Now that I think about it, I have the exact same issue with Baldacci - I liked his legal thrillers, but when he introduced the Camel Club he went downhill fast.

Bottom line - if you liked Martini's legal books, give this one a pass. If you are new to Martini and were attracted by the plot summary, you'll probably like it a lot more than I did.

It is so incredibly frustrating to enjoy an author's novel, only to find out that the story hasn't ended, it's just continuing into the next book.

I no longer read Stephen Coonts and Tami Hoag due to this annoying trait. I beg of you, Mr. Martini, stop this annoying laziness and attempt to goad readers into buying your next book This tactic has the totally opposite effect on me.

FINISH a story line within one novel, or you've lost a faithful reader.

As with most reviewers, I have been a fan and have read all of this author's novels. When Paul Madriani was practicing law and trying difficult and interesting cases, these were excellent legal thriller/mystery novels. Now, for the second straight effort, Martini has written a straight thriller novel. Madriani could have any occupation and you would hardly have to change a word of the book.

Now, if Martini was as good at this genre as he was with his legal efforts, that would be fine. Unfortunately, I found this one to be a bit of a slog, as was Guardian of Lies.

Madriani and his two side kicks in this story are trying to prevent an attack on the US by terrorists as well as avoid being killed themselves with precious little help from the authorities who are sceptical of their concerns. It simply seemed quite far fetched in the manner it was described and I wish that Martini would return to what he knows best and let Vince Flynn, Tom Clancy and Brad Thor write the thrillers.

I've read all of Steve Martini's books, following the saga of Paul Madriani and his family. In his latest work, Madriani and Co. are still dealing with the aftermath of his last case, which involved a failed nuclear attack, a horrifying assassin, a beautiful woman unjustly accused, and his usual cast of characters. In that book, Martini was already starting to stray from the legal thrillers I have come to love.

Now Madriani (and Herman and Harry) are still dealing with repercussions of the last case. La Liquida, the aforementioned horrifying assassin, is hot on his trail, and the FBI has cut Madriani and Co. loose. Added to the mix are a Supreme Court Justice and a Congressman and enough lies and twists to make you want to start a spreadsheet to follow the antics.

But they're not legal thriller antics. They are the antics of espionage and spies and international intrigue. Madriani isn't the clever lawyer with the snappy observations. He seems to have joined the secret agent club. And while this might be a great spy vs. spy novel, it's not what I look for in a Martini book, or in a book that I like to read.

It's turned into another genre and I'm turning to other authors to keep me on the edge of my seat turning pages.