From Publishers Weekly
In veteran Martini's exciting eighth legal thriller starring Paul Madriani (after 2003's
The Arraignment), the San Diego defense attorney takes on yet another especially difficult case. When Madelyn Chapman, the owner of a computer software company that sells a controversial security program to the U.S. government, is found shot twice in the head in her La Jolla home, the closeness of the bullet wounds indicates a "double tap," a feat typical of a highly skilled military marksman. Army Sgt. Emiliano Ruiz, a 20-year vet who served in Panama and the first Gulf War and who freelanced as a security guard (and occasional sex partner) for Chapman, is arrested for the killing. After the flashy defense lawyer originally in charge of the case quits, apparently under pressure, the more compassionate and less publicity-minded Madriani and his partner take it on. Ruiz turns out to have a seven-year gap in his résumé: was he in fact doing dirty work for Special Ops? And can Madriani find out his secrets in time to keep the sympathetic soldier from life in prison? The compelling plot builds to a conclusion that should surprise even longtime fans.
BOMC main selection; Doubleday, Literary Guild and Mystery Guild alternates.
(July 26) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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From Booklist
The "double tap" of the title refers both to ballistics evidence--two shots, only an inch apart, to the victim's head--and to the way wars have of reaching out to veterans, spattering past trauma into the present. Martini's latest legal thriller starring California defense attorney Paul Madriani weaves the theme of the past infiltrating the present throughout a daunting case. The body of an extremely wealthy businesswoman, CEO of a corporation specializing in defense, is found with two tightly grouped bullet wounds to the head, suggesting the work of an expert marksman. Enter the most likely suspect: a career soldier who was on the victim's security detail and with whom she was having an affair. As Madriani attempts to defend the uncooperative soldier, he discovers that the victim's company was involved in a potentially devastating antiterrorist program. The plot progresses in a satisfyingly logical way, from first interview with the suspect through legal machinations and on to a tense, utterly believable courtroom battle. Plot and legal knowledge are Martini's strength. Dialogue, however, is his weakness. Characters continually deliver off-the-cuff, incredibly detailed descriptions of scenes that seem much more writerly than conversational. And Martini is often guilty of overdescription--three pages of the businesswoman handing her keys to a valet parking attendant. Still, in this case, the plot carries the prose.
Connie FletcherCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--Ce texte provient d'une édition qui n'est plus publiée ou qui est non diponible.