Double Tap (A Paul Madriani Novel)

This 400 page book hooked me in right at the beginning and kept my attention until the very last page - not the usual quick read. The story centers around a murder investigation involving the death of Madelyn Chapman, a provocative, successful, software magnate. For those who love courtroom drama, the author takes the reader into a trial scenario that is both riveting and clever; complete with a vast array of unpredictable characters. It is a savvy murder-mystery tale that synthesizes government controversy, military scandals and contentious corporate decisions.

"Double Tap" was my first exposure to Steve Martini and his defense-attorney protagonist Paul Madriani. I enjoyed this story immensely, both for its tight, realistic plot line and the high quality of the writing. Martini's work, it seems, has found the sweet spot in the legal thriller genre, midway between Grisham's breezy, over-the-top scenarios and Turow's high-density realism. The story itself revolves around the murder of a high-flying female CEO, Madelyn Chapman, and Madriani's defense of the victim's former bodyguard, Emiliano Ruiz. All of the evidence, almost too neatly, points in Ruiz's direction, suggesting a classic frame-up. Complicating matters for Madriani are Ruiz's secretive demeanor, a brilliant prosecutor who takes every advantage of his diminutive physical stature in court, and difficulty penetrating the proprietary goings-on at Madelyn's company (a software vendor to the Department of Defense). Unlike many thrillers, where actual trial time is a scarce commodity, the bulk of this novel describes the clever courtroom jousting between Madriani and the prosecutor. As a lawyer, I appreciated the accuracy of the legal procedures and points of law. And as a thriller lover, I appreciated the page-flipping suspense as well as the political angle involving Government intrusions on citizens' privacy. A final plot twist, after a suitable climax had been realized, struck me a bit contrived and superfluous, although these devices have come to be almost required in the genre these days. As a whole, this was many notches above the typical courtroom thriller, leaving me echoing the sentiment expressed by one of the characters at the end of the book: "If I ever get in trouble, I want [Madriani] for a lawyer."

In Steve Martini's eighth Paul Madriani novel, the talented author takes as prying look into just how far the government MIGHT go in invading the privacy of its citizens. The murder victim is Madolyn Chapman, a high power executive officer of a computer company whose main client is the US Government. The accused is Emiliano Ruiz, a former Army sharpshooter, who was allegedly having an affair with the woman and killed her because he was spurned. His special order gun which was kept in the house is the murder weapon and the special circumstances involved in the murder indicates only a shooting genius could pull off the "double tap" murder. Madriani and his loyal assistant Harry take on the case and face a formidable opponent in the dwarf-sized Larry Templeton, a showy prosecutor with an amazing ability to win over juries. DOUBLE TAP is not a fast paced novel, but Martini keeps the reader enthralled with his immense legal knowledge and sharp characterizations. The identity of the real murderer may come as a surprise, with a different motivation. Martini has made Madriani one of the kings of the legal novel, and DOUBLE TAP adds to this illustrious collection.

A CEO of a Fortune 500 company is shot in her beach front home in La Jolla, California. Her former personal executive security guard (Ruiz) is arrested, charged with the murder and is facing the death penalty. Attorney Paul Madriani is retained to represent Ruiz by a foundation established to assist veterans with legal woes. Madriani has his work cut out. Ruiz has spent his adult life in the employ of the U.S. military. He has a seven year gap in his resume and his is not willing to explain it to his attorney. The CEO ran a company that has as a major customer, the US government. The deputy district attorney assigned to prosecute Ruiz is a charismatic vertically challenged man, with a prefect record in capital cases. The story moves fast. It has twists and turns that are logical on reflection - thus not annoying . . . and it is timely, fresh from the real world. Five stars.

Om Steve Martini's latest mystery, retired staff sergeant Emiliano Ruiz is in trouble. Deep trouble. Ruiz is indicted for the murder of Madelyn Chapman, the extremely wealthy CEO of Isotenics, Inc. (situated in the hills above La Jolla, Calif.), a corporation specializing in software programs for the Pentagon's Defense Department. The defendant's fate looks bleak, as circumstantial evidence against him mounts overwhelmingly. San Diego defense attorney Paul Madriani and his partner/sidekick Harry Hinds have the daunting task of clearing Ruiz in this capital case involving a high-profile victim. With the defendant stonewalling concerning a seven-year gap in his military history, and the Pentagon poised to quash evidence concerning clandestine activities at Isotenics, the deck is stacked against them. Their best hope may not be acquittal, but a mistrial. The media have dubbed Ruiz "the Double Tap Killer," a reference to the fact that Chapman was killed with two shots to the head--less than an inch apart. A "double tap" is a technique for firing two shots in quick succession into a single target, a feat accomplished by expert military marksmen. It doesn't help that Ruiz, a former security guard for Chapman, won awards for expert marksmanship while in the military; that Ruiz's gun (the murder weapon) is found at the crime scene, and that Ruiz, so charges diminutive prosecuting attorney Larry Templeton (aka "Tom Thumb), had been stalking Chapman shortly before her murder because she had him fired for indecent sexual advances. Double Tap is much more than a potboiler murder mystery. It is both a work of existential depth, as Modriani poignantly describes flashbacks of his Uncle Evo's catatonic states and muses on the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde potential in each of us, and a cautionary warning about the political implications of government intrusion into personal privacy--all done, of course, in the name of "national security." In his Farewell Address to the Nation (Jan. 17, 1961), Dwight D. Eisenhower said, "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence . . . by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist." Eisenhower's warning is especially relevant in our post-9/11, post-Patriot Act world. Steve Martini's Double Tap reveals, in fictional form, the chilling prospects of a government run amuck. Imagine the power of a dictator possessing unlimited access to a virtually omniscient spyware that tracks our personal affairs and transactions. Here's a sample of Martini's prose: "Skulk around Washington too long and you'll find the bones of Diogenes--frustrated in his lamp-lit quest for the last honest man in the American Athens--piled up somewhere in the Senate cloakroom. . . . Learning that politicians are prone to engage in shady deals when feathering their own nests has all the jarring revelation of informing us that the ancient Greeks s