The Jury FROM OUR EDITORS
The case seems hopeless. Lawyer Paul Madriani's scientific researcher client has been tied tightly to the murder by forensic evidence. Moreover, Dr. David Crone had motive to kill his attractive, 26-year-old colleague: She had recently broken off their affair. But after a key prosecution witness dies, Madriani begins to rethink the crime. Another triumph for Martini's intense investigative lawyer.
ANNOTATION
The Attorney, which marked the return of Steve Martini's lawyer-sleuth Paul Madriani, was hailed for its "well-observed courtroom maneuverings" and "crisp dialogue and tart observations" . Now Martini delivers the most daunting capital case of Madriani's career.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Paul Madriani has ample reason to suspect that he's representing a guilty man. Dr. David Crone, a respected medical researcher and principal in mapping the human genome, is charged with the murder of a young colleague: twenty-six-year-old Kalista Jordan, an African American research physician whose dismembered body was found in a nearby bay. Forensic evidence links her murder with items discovered in Crone's garage. Madriani takes Crone's case, but his defense is hindered by the secrecy surrounding Crone's current research. As the trial unfolds, a scandal from Crone's past, involving his controversial use of genetic racial profiling, is revived. The murdered woman had filed charges of sexual harassment against Crone, and taken secret documents from his files. Paul is left to try to piece together a defense while Crone and his colleagues are hiding parts of the puzzle. When a key witness for the prosecution ends up dead, leaving an incriminating note behind, Crone's acquittal at trial is all but assured. Yet Paul is left with nagging questions concerning his client, doubts that are answered with a stunning revelation and a shattering climax.
SYNOPSIS
Lawyer Paul Madriani is called upon to defend a brilliant research physician-who just may be a killer-in this riveting new novel by the bestselling author of The Attorney.
The Attorney, which marked the return of Steve Martini's lawyer-sleuth Paul Madriani, was hailed for its "well-observed courtroom maneuverings" (The Christian Science Monitor) and "crisp dialogue and tart observations" (Publishers Weekly). Now Martini delivers the most daunting capital case of Madriani's career.
Paul Madriani has ample reason to suspect he's representing a guilty man. Dr. David Crone, a respected medical researcher and principal in mapping the human genome, is charged with the murder of a young colleague: twenty-six-year-old Kalista Jordan, an African-American research physician whose body washed up on a beach in San Diego Bay. Forensic evidence links her murder with material in Crone's garage. Crone had both opportunity and motive: Kalista had recently ended their affair, and may have been deserting him professionally as well, moving on to a rival genetic research facility. However, when a key witness for the prosecution dies unexpectedly, leaving an incriminating note behind, Crone's innocence seems confirmed-until Madriani hits upon a potentially damning loose end.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
The Jury is the sixth installment in Martini's popular legal thriller series featuring attorney Paul Madriani. This time Madriani is defending David Crone, whose colleague, the beautiful and manipulative research physician Kalista Jordan, he is accused of murdering. Although the story line is generally interesting, set in the highly competitive world of research medicine, there are flaws that will distract the listener from total enjoyment. Prominent among these is the irritating Crone, who is too stupid or na ve about the legal process to be believed. Also puzzling is the titular "jury," which is only superficially present during the courtroom scenes and has no role in any important plot point. The reading by TV and movie actor John Slattery is enjoyable and competent, but it's not enough to redeem this audiotape. Definitely not Martini at his best; not recommended. Kristen L. Smith, Loras Coll. Lib., Dubuque, IA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
AudioFile
Attorney Paul Madriani's defends a research scientist accused of murdering his assistant, who had charged him with sexual harassment. Since the doctor's research involved genetic profiling, it's a doubly sensational case. The suspense of the investigation makes for an engaging story, and John Slattery has an easy, likable voice and style that mesh well with the first-person narrative. Slattery uses regional accents to voice the characters, who are easily differentiated. His emotional pitch is on target throughout a story in which murder, guilt, and innocence are key factors. This legal thriller has a lot of surprises, and the production keeps one listening. M.A.M. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
The San Diego power shortage must be affecting Paul Madriani: his latest high-profile legal suspenser is his weakest yet. Who stopped African-American ex-model Kalista Jordan, a Stanford Ph.D. in molecular electronics, from assuming her natural place as empress of the universe, or at least head of Prof. David Crone's Genetic Research Project by strangling and dismembering her? Veteran prosecutor Evan Tannery is convinced Kalista's killer was Dr. Crone, rattled by the sexual harassment suit she'd filed against him and jealous of the meteoric ascent that marked her as his inevitable usurper. The prosecution has a device very much like the unusual weapon, complete with nylon bundling cords, in Crone's possession, along with evidence of mounting hostility between the decedent and the accused; the defense attorneys, Paul (The Attorney, 2000, etc.) and his partner Harry Hinds, have a client who won't even tell them what his lab was working on because it was so secret, and whose biggest concern throughout the booklength trial is whether the university will take him back. It gets worse, of course, when Kalista's mother turns up at the last minute to offer evidence of a powerful motive for murder that goes far beyond sexual harassment, and the word goes out that William Epperson, the nanorobotics expert who's been working with Crone and geneticist Aaron Tash at the lab, is prepared to back her up. But in the latest of many anticlimaxes—experts whose testimony doesn't matter, forensic debates that go nowhere, charges of politically explosive scientific research that never get off the ground—the case against Crone suddenly collapses, though Martini has been provident enough to savePaul his customary final surprise. The outline for a much better novel is here: glamorous victim, well-connected defendant, bulldog prosecutor, resourceful defender, weighty issues. What a shame that everything that would make it memorable has been left blank, right down to the jury.
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