Guardian of Lies (Paul Madriani Series #10)

Super Great Read

One of Martini's Best!!!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

The ebook at 9.99 costs more than the paperback at 8.99

The ebook should cost less than the paperback version.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Disappointed

As previous reviewers have noted, this is less legal thriller and more international spy novel. I missed the courtroom, but even more so, the Madriani and Hinds character development. In previous novels, Martini displayed a terrific ability in developing those characters. They grew and the reader came to know them better with each new book. But, that comes to a halt with "Guardian of Lies." It's as if they were extras in an otherwise ordinary book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

good

JUST OK

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

weak-too many characters-wild plot

It starts out with what could of been a good courtroom drama but from there it's get overly involved with too many characters & too many sub plots. Chapters actually break up so the sub plots can be tossed at you. By mid way through I was wondering why I was continuing to read & felt like it just needed to come to a conclusion. Sadly it drags on & on till your begging for the end but overall it's a weak effort...

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A great summer read that is sophisticated and plausible.

This legal thriller includes espionage in Costa Rica, Cuba and Mexico.
Martini has a strong legal background and his books are well-researched and legally sophisticated. There is enough truth in this book to make you wonder if it might really happen. It is also a wonderful summer read.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

SERIOUSLY DISAPPOINTING

If there were a cash for clunkers program for books, I'd be turning this one in right away. Clunky describes the plot, which takes us all over Southern California, Costa Rica, Columbia, and Northern Mexico. There is a collection of bad guys who in no reasonable world would have ever teamed up together. The main characters are so thinly drawn that one cannot root for a single one of them. What starts as a courtroom drama ends up on the high seas with a Russian leftover from the cold war holding the keys to a nuclear bomb. Somehow an Arab terrorist gets together with a Mexican hitman and various cartel members to get this bomb up to the US border. Trailing along in the back of a U-Haul is our lawyer from San Diego. It seems that the federal government is too inept to discover this plot, leaving a motley crew to save us all. Frankly, I would rather have been blown up than suffer through much more of this.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A winner

Twenty-six years old Costa Rican expatriate Katia Solaz lives with elderly disturbing Emerson Pike on an estate that is horrifically run down except for a high priced security fence. However, she has had enough of the States and decides to go home.-------

She leaves Pike's estate heading for the airport. Unbeknownst to her, just after she left, infamous assassin the Mexecutioner breaches Pike's security entering the house to kill any occupants. At about the same time Katia meets Southern California defense attorney Paul Madriani at a grocer. Soon all hell breaks loose as several outlawed groups plans to bring nukes into the United States.-----------

The latest Madriani thriller (see DOUBLE TAP and SHADOW OF POWER) is an over the top of Costa Rica's Mount Chirripo thriller that will still grip the reader even before the heroic attorney meets the Central American expatriate. The contrast between the couple is enlightening as he is a cynic seeing the evil people do while she is an innocent trusting those same people. Insight into the electronic age of wiretapping and surveillance enhances the action-packed story line as several groups and the Mexecutioner converge on Katia with Paul as her only protection.------------

Harriet Klausner

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Good

I enjoyed the story, though I found nothing more than a TV drama.

Gaping holes in plot

Ridiculously huge holes in plot ruin what would only have been an ok read, providing you got the book for free and were looking to kill time. Way too contrived and far-fetched to be plausible. Steve would be better off sticking to courtroom drama.

A little off track

Guardian of Lies is more thriller than legal thriller, but worth reading. I prefer Steve Martini's previous novels which showcase more trial/courtroom drama. This book is more like a spy novel.

Guardian of Lies by Steve Martini

I got this book as an e-book and enjoyed it very much. I have read most of Mr Martini's novels and this is the latest and the one I enjoyed most. He has written this novel in a well researched and a very believable fiction novel, based on a subject that took place during the 60's Cuban Crices.
I would highly recommend this novel for anyone that likes suspenseful novels.

Disappointing for the Paul Madriani charachter

This is not a bad read per se. But It's sort of a rehash of The Simeon Chamber, One of Mr. Martini's earliest books, with a different cast of charachters. Which is what I wish he had done this time.

Madriani and Harry Hinds are all about preparing and presenting courtroom drama. Not only does this story move away from that, but might make it hard to put them back in the courtroom again. That would be a shame.

Also, I felt that some of the situations came together a little too handily (is that a word?).

ONE OF HIS BEST

This is Steve Martini,a great fiction writer,
at his best. I've read all the Paul Madriani series
and enjoyed them but this was really a great novel,
probably his best. It is entertaining and believable
and will make you think about the past and the future.
Well worth the cost of a hard cover book.

Best in class as far as legal thrillers are concerned.

Martini is always a good read. His books are well written and interesting. I care about his characters. I'm always happy to pass one of Martini's books to my friends - and snap them up as soon as they hit the store. This story was a little slower a read for me than usual, but I liked it anyway.

Guardian of Lies was a let-down from Double Tap!

Martini writes the best courtroom dialogue in the business. He writes "thrillers" that are a bit too "global" for my tastes and which are simply ordinary. Guardian of Lies was a thriller; I was disappointed, because I was expecting and hoping for a courtroom drama.

guardial of lies

Very good story but the story twists and it is sometimes hard to just pick up and read with out reflecting back. I enjoy this writer and I thought the book was very enjoyable.

Not one of his best

I usually can't wait to read anything by Steve Martini. Not so much this time. I found the plot unbelievable and at times, plodding along.

Lost in Mediocrity

Mr Martini weans away Paul Madriani from his comfort zone in this novel and the much anticipated courtroom theatrics that his books are famous for are dearly missed, thereby making Paul a mere shadow of his self. The book would have made a greater impact on the reader had the details contained in the author's note been more intricately woven into the book itself.

Robert Ludlum You are Not

Martini attempts to write a terrorist thriller using Madriani as a Robert Ludlum character. Unfortuneatly the story is uninteresting and too detailed. I kept reading the book out of respect for Martini but after 350 pages when I saw that this book did not end in a trial i threw it in the garbage. Attention to detail is interesting in a legal thriller but boring in an action novel. Martini should stick to what he knows.