Arraignment (Paperback)

That is one of his first thoughts about a client that his old friend Nick Rush wants Paul to meet. Nick claims that he can't take the case because of a conflict of interest involving himself, the client, and Nick's law firm of Rocker, Dusha and Dewine. Nick has his hands full with the after effects of a divorce, a marriage to a trophy wife who wants it all, and interoffice politics at the law firm. Things aren't working out and Nick really needs Paul's help.

But when Paul meets the client, Gerald Metz, who is the target of a federal grand jury, things don't ring true. Metz is a general contractor and claims that he was working on a deal with two sons of a powerful Mexico businessman to bring heavy equipment down from San Diego to Southern Mexico to build a resort. This does not make sense to Paul considering the economics involved and the story gets worse as Metz explains that the deal never went through but he was paid incredible amounts of money in consulting fees. Fees paid far in excess of what would be normal and were not handled in the proper manner. To Paul, it looks like a case of money laundering and most likely necessary because it has something to do with the drug trade.

Paul refuses the case and his suspicions seem correct a short time later as Nick and Metz are gunned down on the steps of the courthouse in a drive by. Nick feels responsible in the death of his friend because he did not take the case. Driven by guilt he begins to investigate and eventually the trail leads to Mexico and a violent confrontation at the top of what is left of an ancient Mayan Temple Pyramid.

Overall, this is an enjoyable novel that is amazing slow to get going. The latest in the series featuring Paul Mandraini does not shed any new light on the character. Sarah is non-existent in this novel, mentioned only in passing, as are several other characters from earlier novels. Additionally, this novel is written in a more distant, objective style that the earlier ones in this series which may also relate to the much slower than normal start to the work.

Those that stick with this novel which could be read independent of the series, will find this 400 page novel well worth the effort. The last 100 pages, which lead to the violent confrontation at the top of a Mayan Pyramid Temple, are full of twists and turns and plenty of action. Those last 100 pages alone make this novel well worth reading and very hard to put down.

Martini an anvil-dropping author, which can slowly make you go crazy. He's so fond of writing something and then telling the reader what it means. For example, Martini will write an exchange very similar to the following:

"It is raining," Harry tells me. He's talking about the weather.

Read 300 pages of that and the reader will feel condescended to.

Tto make his thrillers more literary in value, he adds tons and tons of metaphors and similes that distract from his first person/present tense perspective.

Add on top of that, in this installment, Paul Madriani is so self-righteous, intelligent, and smug that he becomes absolutely insufferable. And oh yes, while Paul is traipsing around the jungles of Mexico, daughter Sarah is a complete afterthought, except for one misplaced paragraph towards the end. It's never a good sign when the reader is rooting for the hero of the novel to be dropped off the edge of a Mayan pyramid.

I've enjoyed Martini's books in the past, so this was quite the disappointment. "Compelling Evidence" and "Undue Influence" remain the most tightly plotted and well-paced of his novels.

Author Steve Martini displays a thorough knowledge of laws and legal procedure, in addition to his lively imagination. As a result, he is able to craft a story that is quick-moving and compelling. Ultimately, however, the plot veers from simply unlikely to completely implausible.

The lawyer who is Martini's hero is almost too damned smart, smarter than an entire squad of New York City police detectives. Martini offers little motivation for the desperate need his hero is said to feel to solve the murder of a friend and, without motivation, the entire caper falls apart.

The hero also is far too willing to put himself at risk, especially for a character who is supposed to be the sole surviving parent of a teenage daughter. Toward the end of the mystery, the hero has a riff when he internally debates this same need with himself. This riff doesn't help make the plot more credible; instead, the reader actually can hear the author's editor saying that they must do better to provide rational motivation for the character.

The villain is predictable, the story is implausible and so is the hero, and the subplot about the murdered man's widow--hinted at throughout the novel--never is brought to any conclusion.

Other than these quibbles, THE ARRAIGNMENT is a swell read.