Wouldn't recommend it. Wasn't remotely interesting until the end. The plot was poorly described. Could have been so much better..... ( )

Wouldn't recommend it. Wasn't remotely interesting until the end. The plot was poorly described. Could have been so much better..... ( )

An engrossing thriller with an unsatisfactory ending. San Diego attorney Paul Madriani gets caught up in a terrorist plot to blow up the Supreme Courthouse with all the justices inside it. It was a little difficult to differentiate between several of the characters. The protagonist Paul Madriani has two associates, one named Herman and the other named Harry. It was too easy to confuse the two. Similarly, the head of the FBI investigating team is named Thorpe, while the field-leader of the terrorist team is named Thorn.

Also, I didn’t know this until I finished the book, but this book is part of a series, which means that many confusing things where probably explained in a previous book, and the lose ends at the end will have to be resolved in a subsequent book. For instance, Madriani is drawn into this case because a Mexican hit-man has a grudge against him unrelated to this book. That grudge is not fully explained and must have been developed in an earlier book. Then at the end, after all the bad guys are stopped, the Mexican hit-man remains at large, presumably nursing the grudge.

Overall, I would not recommend this book. ( )

I enjoyed listening to this Martini’s book “The Rule of Nine”, on CD, but it is not one of my favorites. I just finished reading Reece Hirsch’s first novel “The Insider” and felt it was much more of a legal thriller. Martini’s book was not a courtroom drama, but rather a chase across the country with the bad guys close behind. The Insider was a much better match with the international suspense novel genre.

Lawyer Paul Madriani is the main character in this novel with several other primaries, including his daughter and a Supreme Court judge named Root whoplays an important part of the underlying evil in this story. The book begins its story line when a young and inexperienced congressional aide/worker breaks the rules and allows a nice visiting tourist to view and, unknown to him, take pictures of an unauthorized area in the governmental offices.

What follows includes flight and fight and the bribes and perks given to high officials. The story also revolves around the Supreme Court and the durations of their seated positions. I didn’t like the introduction of “The Mexicutioner” as a character, but understood the need for the assassin concept to be introduced to the story.

Several questions are advanced in this novel that made me ask myself about issues such as should there be term limits for Supreme Court Judges and what do we really know or need to know about national security. All in all, it was an enjoyable book and those who follow Martini’s novel will find the on-going stories about Madriani as involving as always. ( )

Pretty standard Martini novel except the ending...very weak. ( )