Defense attorney Paul Madriani is back, in Steve Martini's The Attorney.   Like all of the books featuring this lawyer, we are introduced to a client, whom we believe is innocent, and we watch as Paul does his magic in the courtroom.  Meanwhile, evidence walks away, witnesses go missing, judges get ornery, and Paul's case gets away from him.

In this case, the client is Jonah Hale, a kindly old man, who retains custody of his young granddaughter, Amanda.  Amanda's mother Jessica is not what one could call a "fit" mother, addicted to drugs, with a rap sheet a mile long.  But when Jonah's lucky enough to win a big lottery jackpot, Jessica comes back and demands money, money that Jonah knows will go right into Jessica's arm.  When he refuses, Jessica makes some threats about him losing Amanda.  And a short while later, Amanda and Jessica are gone. 

So now Jonah is pleading his case to Paul.  He wants Paul to find Amanda and bring her home, before something bad happens to her, in Jessica's care.  Further complicating matters, it seems that Jessica had help disappearing - Zolanda Suade, a fanatical feminist and self-proclaimed child advocate seems to be in the mix.  Then there's the matter of Paul's girlfriend, Susan.  She works for the county's child protection services.  She might know a thing or two about Zolanda, but the organization's confidentiality policy prevents her from helping Paul as much as he'd like.  When Zolanda's body is found, and Jonah is suspect number one, Paul's case gets even more complicated.

So now Paul is busy trying to find Amanda, trying to keep his client out of jail, trying to figure out what Susan knows, and trying to figure out who's been following him, and why.  The story is just "OK".  I wouldn't say it's the most exciting story in the world.  And, in fact, it meanders quite slowly throughout most of the book.  There are a lot of pages, but a whole lot of nothing happens, in most of them. 

The court scenes are particularly annoying.  With a lot of minute details repeated several times with different witnesses.  And most annoying of all was Susan's testimony.  The woman can not answer a question directly to save her life.  I think the author was trying so hard to make the point that she was a hostile witness for the prosecution, that he ended up making her totally annoying, instead of sympathetic.  I found myself really hating this woman, with her constant responses of "I don't recall" and "I might have said that" when all along we know she's lying.  We understand that sometimes people are called by the other side to testify, but you still have to answer the questions honestly.  The way she tap-danced, Susan should have been held in contempt. 

And Paul's parenting skills are questionable in this book, too.  I don't think Paul does enough to protect his daughter, Sarah.  When Paul finds out he's being followed, for reasons that aren't entirely clear, he decides he has to "hide" Sarah.  Fair enough.  But somehow, hiding her in your girlfriend's house, just isn't really hidden enough, as far as I'm concerned.  Especially when you're spending most of your nights in that same house.  How, exactly, is that protecting Sarah?

Susan has two little girls, too.  By putting Sarah into that household, and staying there himself, it seems to me that those girls are now in potential danger, too.  But Paul doesn't seem to care about them - especially since never once in the entire book does he interact with those girls.  They aren't even given names!   Some "love of his life"!

So, the story is just "OK" and the characters are more than a bit annoying.  I will say that the ending was exciting, if a little rushed.  I would definitely try other Paul Madriani books, but this one can be skipped.



Also by Steve Martini:
Compelling Evidence
Critical Mass
The Jury

Recommended: No