FROM OUR EDITORS

Paul Madriani, the star of Steve Martini's biggest legal-thriller successes (The Judge, Undue Influence, Prime Witness), returns to the hot seat in The Attorney, a gripping drama about a druggie mother, her distraught parents, and an innocent child locked in the crossfire. When the shocking allegations fly, the blood begins to spill.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Having moved to San Diego to be closer to the woman in his life, Madriani takes on the case of Jonah Hale, an elderly man in dire straits. Because of the longtime drug addiction of their only child, Jessica, Jonah and his wife have been raising their eight-year-old grand-daughter, Amanda. After Jonah wins a multi-million-dollar state lottery, Jessica revives her interest in mothering. When Jonah won't deal - maternal rights for a megabucks pay-off - Jessica pulls out all the stops." "Enter Zo Strade, a flamboyant feminist activist with a talent for making children and their "victimized" mothers disappear. When the next moves turns deadly, Madriani finds himself drawn into a web of deceit and high-stakes action, in and out of the courtroom.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The tireless Paul Madriani, Martini's popular lawyer/sleuth (The Judge; Compelling Evidence), barely has a chance to hang a shingle in San Diego--where he has moved to be closer to his lover, child advocate Susan McKay--before he is sucked into another engrossing court battle. When Madriani takes on elderly Jonah Hale's case, it seems at first he is dealing with a simple kidnapping. Hale's granddaughter, eight-year-old Amanda, under Hale's custody, has been whisked away by Zolanda Suade, who runs Vanishing Victims, an organization that purports to rescue kids from abusive situations. Now Suade is falsely accusing Hale of molestation to justify returning the girl to her mother--Hale's drug-addled, ex-con daughter, Jessica, who's never shown any interest in raising her child. Suade apparently has an ulterior motive: keeping Amanda in hiding until she can extort a hefty ransom from Hale, who recently won $87 million in the state lottery. Before Madriani, with Susan's expert assistance, can get far in his investigations, Suade is found shot to death, and Hale, who had plenty of motive to kill him, is arrested. Madriani is increasingly overmatched by a dogged prosecutor. Worse, those assisting Madriani in Hale's defense keep getting murdered, and Madriani may be next in line. Except for the occasional cliche (bodies lined up "like cordwood," minds "like steel traps"), Martini's prose shows marked improvement. Crisp dialogue and tart observations about legal maneuvering distinguish his courtroom scenes, and the new setting, San Diego, is colorfully rendered. It's a shame that the otherwise cleverly conceived plot falters in the homestretch with a poorly concealed twist that most readers will see coming well ahead of time. Mystery Guild main selection, Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club selections. (Jan.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Lottery winner Jonah Hale's drug-addicted daughter demands a big payoff when he won't relinquish the granddaughter she left in his care, then accuses him of sexual abuse when he refuses to deliver. A famed feminist activist helps spirit away mother and daughter and then gets bumped off. Sounds like another complicated case for Paul Madriani. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

AudioFile