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Paul Madriani #13
The Enemy Inside
Defending an innocent young man, defense attorney Paul Madriani uncovers a morass of corruption and greed that leads to the highest levels of political power in this electrifying tale of suspense from New York Times bestselling author Steve Martini.One of the most successful lawyers in the country, Olinda Serna is a master at managing money as well as her influential clients. After years of fierce combat in the political trenches, Serna knows all the dirty secrets, where the bodies are buried, and how deeply they are stacked. When she’s killed in a roadside crash in the high desert of Southern California, powerful heads in Washington begin to panic, worried that their secrets may not be safe anymore.
Alex Ives, a friend of Paul Madriani’s daughter, is accused of vehicular manslaughter in Serna’s death. Ives claims he had only one drink on the night of the accident, yet he can’t remember anything between the time he left for a party north of San Diego and the moment he woke up in a hospital the next morning. He’s still dazed and a little bruised, but also obviously very afraid. After all, a woman is dead, and he’s sure he didn’t kill her.
To save an innocent young man’s life, the brilliant defense attorney must uncover everything he can about Serna and her clients—no matter how unsavory—a search that will lead him into a vortex of corruption, and at its center, a devious killer poised to strike again.
374 pages, Hardcover
First published May 12, 2015
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About the author
Steve Martini
94 books694 followersSteven Paul "Steve" Martini is an American writer of legal novels.
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February 17, 2022
Steve Martini is well known for his popular legal thrillers. In this 13th book in the 'Paul Madriani' series he veers off that genre, and the lawyer characters act more like detectives than attorneys. Thus this is more a conventional thriller than a legal thriller.
The book can be read as a standalone.
*****
The story: Alex Ives, a journalist for an online news site, is investigating a Washington, D.C. lawyer named Olinda Serna for a tell-all exposé he's writing.
After a beautiful stranger inveigles Alex into attending a high-class party at a California mansion.....
.....the reporter is involved in a deadly crash that kills attorney Serna.
Alex ends up in the hospital, charged with drunk driving and manslaughter. The thing is, Alex remembers nothing beyond arriving at the party and having one drink.
Alex's DUI case seems like small beans, but attorney Paul Madriani takes the case at the behest of his daughter, who knows the defendant.
Madriani - working with his partner Harry Hines and investigator Herman Diggs - learns that Alex was drugged and the crash was staged.
Knowing this isn't enough however. To get Alex exonerated, Madriani will have to find out why the accident was arranged, how it was pulled off, and who did it.
Unfortunately, there are several people who are determined to keep the truth from being revealed. These include: Cletus Proffitt - the managing partner at Serna's law firm;
'The Eagle' - a mysterious, older gentleman who walks with a cane;
and General Cheng - a government official in China.
Moreover, a powerful U.S. Senator named Maya Grimes - whose wrongdoing has put her into the clutches of a power-hungry manipulator - also has a stake in the case.
To top things off, a brilliant female mercenary - who designed the device that caused the cars to crash - is hanging around.....trying to get her hardware back.
For much of the book, each of these people has his/her own storyline, which is a LOT to keep track of.
In many ways this is more like a spy novel than a legal thriller. All the antagonists seem to have top notch espionage devices - regular microphones, hyperbolic microphones, hidden cameras, phone taps, GPS devices (in short, all manner of surveillance equipment) - most of it aimed at Madriani and company.
Thus, every move the lawyers make is closely scrutinized.....and people they interview tend to end up dead. I thought the lawyers were a bit naïve about this - going on their merry way without realizing they had a trail of followers.....until they finally caught on.
In any case, Madriani realizes that Ives' life is in danger, and the reporter is spirited off to a safe house in Mexico.
For their part, Madriani and Hines travel to the Caribbean and Europe to 'follow the money' that's at the heart of the trouble. The surveillers stay on their tails, though, and all kinds of mayhem ensues.
Steve Martini injects some of his political opinions into the story, and - if U.S. politicos are as venal, greedy, and corrupt as he suggests - we're in a sorry state for sure. (Sadly, I don't think he's totally wrong.) In some ways the book is very relevant to current affairs, with foreign countries allegedly sticking their fingers into U.S elections and so on.
The basic plot of the story is intriguing but there's too much going on - and it gets a little tedious. Moreover, the scoundrels are more like comic book supervillains than real people. They can see and hear everything that's going on everywhere, follow people without being detected, line up thugs as tough as Navy Seals at the drop of a hat, and so on. Even the good guys get hold of some nifty devices. It's just not credible - and some parts of the book seem more like science fiction than mystery thriller.
Martini is a good writer, but this isn't one of his best books - and I can't wholeheartedly recommend it. Still, the story has lots of action and some nifty tech devices - so readers who like that type of thing might enjoy the story.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....
May 19, 2015
Needed a drink to get through this Martini
I read one other book by Steve Martini entitled ‘The Jury.’ It was, in my opinion, mediocre at best. Not good, not bad. Just meh. I decided to give this author one more novel to ‘wow’ me.
I just finished “The Enemy Inside” and will not be giving him a third chance.
There are several things I look for in a book, things that, to me, make it enjoyable. The Enemy Inside lacked in all areas.
Character Development: I like to be able to identify with the protagonist on some level. Probably about 80-85% of the novels I read have recurring characters. After reading 2 books with Paul Madriani as the lead I can honestly state I know NOTHING about this man. What hobbies does he have? What does he do in his spare time? What kind of food does he like? Is he into sports at all? What’s his sense of humor like? Does he listen to music? Things that make him him. What kind of women is he attracted to? I have no idea. All I know is his wife died and he has a daughter.
I feel Paul Madriani has to be the most boring, most cardboard protagonist in literature today.
Other characters in this novel have traits, albeit one dimensional.
His partner Harry is cynical. His investigator Herman is sarcastic. In this novel there’s a stripper who is well-educated, a crooked politician who is paranoid, a CEO who is psychotic, a young kid who is wimpy, a German who likes to drink. And then we have Paul Madriani who is…well, I don’t know.
I cant help but feel that when Paul, Harry and Herman aren’t working on a case, they have no life. They simply vanish into the ether at 5pm and reappear the next morning.
To further backup my claim of there being nothing personal in Mr. Madriani: In this novel, they are handed a case. Madriani’s daughter, Sarah, has a good friend who is arrested and asks her dad to defend her friend. He agrees. Ok, that’s nice. Yet, at no time in the 371 pages is there a conversation between father and daughter about how the case is progressing. Wouldn’t you think that, just as a courtesy, there’d be some communication between them?
I’m not even sure how old he’s supposed to be. I thought Madriani was in his 50’s since he has a daughter (who is either in college or graduated) and there’s remarks about his gray hair. However, in one scene, someone else who is in his 50’s is talking to Madriani about J. Edgar Hoover and says ‘You’re probably too young to remember him.” Well, if Madriani IS in his 50’s, then of course he’d remember Hoover.
I actually found some of the ‘heroes’ in this book not very heroic. Paul and Harry are tailed for months, through San Diego, through Lucerne, Switzerland. Yet, they never realize it. The investigator, Herman, is also followed around for weeks and yet never knows he’s being tailed either. Hmm…
Twists and Turns: This novel had none. It was very predictable. It started out okay. The first few chapters, maybe as much as 40 pages or so, were interesting. Then the book went in another direction and to me became mundane. I like to be thrown for a loop when I’m reading. Startled by a revelation I didn’t see coming. This novel had no ‘Oh wow’ moments.
Style: Granted, this is just opinion. We all have different views on what we deem a good writing style. I enjoy a book that flows, that moves along quickly at a steady pace. This novel, to me, kept being herky-jerky, stops and starts.
Throughout this book I feel like the author, Mr. Martini, injected himself into the novel to espouse his views or beliefs or opinions. This novel at times turned into an OP-ED piece. This fiction book became an editorial.
Throughout the novel, perhaps every 40 pages or so, the novel stopped advancing so the author could give us his views and vent about different topics. Some things he needed to gripe about included: the younger generation, the decline of America as a world power, crooked politicians, Congressman and elected officials who travel too much, the negative effect technology has on us. I felt that if something pissed off Mr. Martini that morning, he was going to find a way to gripe about it in his story. It completely stunted the novel and brought the pace to a crawl.
In one chapter, about 6-7 pages, there’s a Chinese General, Cheng, sitting in his apt in Beijing. For this entire chapter, we now read how China is surpassing the US as a world power.
There’s also another chapter toward the latter part of the book that is dedicated to the history of China, Hong Kong and Britain. Now, granted, I enjoy learning things when I read. That’s one of my favorite things about reading. But honestly, if I wanted to learn about the history between China, Hong Kong and Britain, (something I was marginally familiar with) I would have read a history book. Or at least the author could have educated us in a page or two. Dedicating an entire chapter about this is useless. At this point this novel which jumped back and forth between being a novel and an OP-ED piece was now transformed into a history book.
Another example of writing style which slowed down the pace.
Somewhat early on Madriani goes to a Strip Club. A female dancer, Ben, works there and is a witness to a crime. An important scene, right? Martini describes the topless bar. Okay, fine. As he sits in the corner waiting for the stripper to start her act, he makes mention of a group of rowdy, obnoxious, drunk 20-somethings. Okay, that’s realistic. But then, there goes Mr. Martini. He spends a page and a half lambasting 20-somethings.
Moments later, the stripper appears. She enters through a curtain and is dancing in a cloud of smoke. For some reason, Mr. Martini feels a need to spend 2 paragraphs explaining how a smoke machine works.
Why??? It has nothing to do with the novel, the plot and only slows things down.
Think of it this way. Imagine if you were reading a book. After shooting at the President, the assassin carjacks a little old lady coming out of the store. He knocks her down, jumps behind the wheel and speeds away. The hero suddenly gets into another car, slams the gear into D and floors the gas pedal in hot pursuit of the assassin, squealing and burning rubber through downtown Washington DC. If this was Martini writing it, he’d slow down the action by explaining the workings of a combustion engine.
There was one other scene maybe a little beyond the halfway point. Madriani is talking to someone on the phone. A conversation. Most authors, probably 99.999999% of authors would write this exactly as that: a conversation with quotes. Not in this case. This novel is written in first person and for some reason, rather than writing dialogue, Mr. Martini does a back and forth. I told him A B C D and E. He told me 1 2 3 4 and 5. The word “told” appeared 7 times in a page a half.
LINGO: Granted, in real life, Mr. Martini, like Paul Madriani, is an attorney. No matter what kind of job we all have there are certain words—lingo, jargon, expressions—that people in a different field may not be familiar with. (For example, I worked with personal loans. The expression DOC means one thing to me whereas most people would take DOC to mean doctor.) It made no sense how at times Martini, though Madriani, would use unfamiliar words to non-attorneys like myself, yet explain other expressions for no reason.
Example: In one scene, Paul and Harry are talking about something court related and one of them says, ‘He’s wet reckless.’ Huh? I don’t know what that means. And the author never explains it. Yet, earlier in the novel, a character goes to pick-up someone at the airport. The person is told the ETA of the flight is in 45 minutes. Mr. Martini then points out to the reader what ETA stands for. HUH??? He explains ETA, a common term everyone is familiar with, but doesn’t explain ‘wet reckless.’
In another scene Harry says to Paul “I’m going to the Del.’ Well, I don’t live in San Diego where the story takes place. What is ‘The Del’? Is it a bar, a restaurant, a section of town? We don’t know and the author doesn’t tell us. I live in a city where people refer to ‘the spaghetti bowl.’ Many of you would think ‘the spaghetti bowl’ is probably a restaurant. Perhaps even slang for Little Italy. But no, the spaghetti bowl is actually a juncture where two highways merge.
In another scene, someone turns on the air conditioner. Now, to me, most people and most authors would refer to it as ‘turning on the air conditioner’ or ‘turning on the A/C.’ Mr. Martini uses the expression ‘Air Con.’ (The air con’s not working.) Have you EVER heard anyone refer to it as air con? I sure never have.
This book really deserves a one star but I’m giving it two. My own personal belief is that I only give 1 star to a book I cant finish. Any book I DO finish, even if it’s bad, gets 2. Keeping that in mind, the last 80 or so pages I just skimmed.
I read one other book by Steve Martini entitled ‘The Jury.’ It was, in my opinion, mediocre at best. Not good, not bad. Just meh. I decided to give this author one more novel to ‘wow’ me.
I just finished “The Enemy Inside” and will not be giving him a third chance.
There are several things I look for in a book, things that, to me, make it enjoyable. The Enemy Inside lacked in all areas.
Character Development: I like to be able to identify with the protagonist on some level. Probably about 80-85% of the novels I read have recurring characters. After reading 2 books with Paul Madriani as the lead I can honestly state I know NOTHING about this man. What hobbies does he have? What does he do in his spare time? What kind of food does he like? Is he into sports at all? What’s his sense of humor like? Does he listen to music? Things that make him him. What kind of women is he attracted to? I have no idea. All I know is his wife died and he has a daughter.
I feel Paul Madriani has to be the most boring, most cardboard protagonist in literature today.
Other characters in this novel have traits, albeit one dimensional.
His partner Harry is cynical. His investigator Herman is sarcastic. In this novel there’s a stripper who is well-educated, a crooked politician who is paranoid, a CEO who is psychotic, a young kid who is wimpy, a German who likes to drink. And then we have Paul Madriani who is…well, I don’t know.
I cant help but feel that when Paul, Harry and Herman aren’t working on a case, they have no life. They simply vanish into the ether at 5pm and reappear the next morning.
To further backup my claim of there being nothing personal in Mr. Madriani: In this novel, they are handed a case. Madriani’s daughter, Sarah, has a good friend who is arrested and asks her dad to defend her friend. He agrees. Ok, that’s nice. Yet, at no time in the 371 pages is there a conversation between father and daughter about how the case is progressing. Wouldn’t you think that, just as a courtesy, there’d be some communication between them?
I’m not even sure how old he’s supposed to be. I thought Madriani was in his 50’s since he has a daughter (who is either in college or graduated) and there’s remarks about his gray hair. However, in one scene, someone else who is in his 50’s is talking to Madriani about J. Edgar Hoover and says ‘You’re probably too young to remember him.” Well, if Madriani IS in his 50’s, then of course he’d remember Hoover.
I actually found some of the ‘heroes’ in this book not very heroic. Paul and Harry are tailed for months, through San Diego, through Lucerne, Switzerland. Yet, they never realize it. The investigator, Herman, is also followed around for weeks and yet never knows he’s being tailed either. Hmm…
Twists and Turns: This novel had none. It was very predictable. It started out okay. The first few chapters, maybe as much as 40 pages or so, were interesting. Then the book went in another direction and to me became mundane. I like to be thrown for a loop when I’m reading. Startled by a revelation I didn’t see coming. This novel had no ‘Oh wow’ moments.
Style: Granted, this is just opinion. We all have different views on what we deem a good writing style. I enjoy a book that flows, that moves along quickly at a steady pace. This novel, to me, kept being herky-jerky, stops and starts.
Throughout this book I feel like the author, Mr. Martini, injected himself into the novel to espouse his views or beliefs or opinions. This novel at times turned into an OP-ED piece. This fiction book became an editorial.
Throughout the novel, perhaps every 40 pages or so, the novel stopped advancing so the author could give us his views and vent about different topics. Some things he needed to gripe about included: the younger generation, the decline of America as a world power, crooked politicians, Congressman and elected officials who travel too much, the negative effect technology has on us. I felt that if something pissed off Mr. Martini that morning, he was going to find a way to gripe about it in his story. It completely stunted the novel and brought the pace to a crawl.
In one chapter, about 6-7 pages, there’s a Chinese General, Cheng, sitting in his apt in Beijing. For this entire chapter, we now read how China is surpassing the US as a world power.
There’s also another chapter toward the latter part of the book that is dedicated to the history of China, Hong Kong and Britain. Now, granted, I enjoy learning things when I read. That’s one of my favorite things about reading. But honestly, if I wanted to learn about the history between China, Hong Kong and Britain, (something I was marginally familiar with) I would have read a history book. Or at least the author could have educated us in a page or two. Dedicating an entire chapter about this is useless. At this point this novel which jumped back and forth between being a novel and an OP-ED piece was now transformed into a history book.
Another example of writing style which slowed down the pace.
Somewhat early on Madriani goes to a Strip Club. A female dancer, Ben, works there and is a witness to a crime. An important scene, right? Martini describes the topless bar. Okay, fine. As he sits in the corner waiting for the stripper to start her act, he makes mention of a group of rowdy, obnoxious, drunk 20-somethings. Okay, that’s realistic. But then, there goes Mr. Martini. He spends a page and a half lambasting 20-somethings.
Moments later, the stripper appears. She enters through a curtain and is dancing in a cloud of smoke. For some reason, Mr. Martini feels a need to spend 2 paragraphs explaining how a smoke machine works.
Why??? It has nothing to do with the novel, the plot and only slows things down.
Think of it this way. Imagine if you were reading a book. After shooting at the President, the assassin carjacks a little old lady coming out of the store. He knocks her down, jumps behind the wheel and speeds away. The hero suddenly gets into another car, slams the gear into D and floors the gas pedal in hot pursuit of the assassin, squealing and burning rubber through downtown Washington DC. If this was Martini writing it, he’d slow down the action by explaining the workings of a combustion engine.
There was one other scene maybe a little beyond the halfway point. Madriani is talking to someone on the phone. A conversation. Most authors, probably 99.999999% of authors would write this exactly as that: a conversation with quotes. Not in this case. This novel is written in first person and for some reason, rather than writing dialogue, Mr. Martini does a back and forth. I told him A B C D and E. He told me 1 2 3 4 and 5. The word “told” appeared 7 times in a page a half.
LINGO: Granted, in real life, Mr. Martini, like Paul Madriani, is an attorney. No matter what kind of job we all have there are certain words—lingo, jargon, expressions—that people in a different field may not be familiar with. (For example, I worked with personal loans. The expression DOC means one thing to me whereas most people would take DOC to mean doctor.) It made no sense how at times Martini, though Madriani, would use unfamiliar words to non-attorneys like myself, yet explain other expressions for no reason.
Example: In one scene, Paul and Harry are talking about something court related and one of them says, ‘He’s wet reckless.’ Huh? I don’t know what that means. And the author never explains it. Yet, earlier in the novel, a character goes to pick-up someone at the airport. The person is told the ETA of the flight is in 45 minutes. Mr. Martini then points out to the reader what ETA stands for. HUH??? He explains ETA, a common term everyone is familiar with, but doesn’t explain ‘wet reckless.’
In another scene Harry says to Paul “I’m going to the Del.’ Well, I don’t live in San Diego where the story takes place. What is ‘The Del’? Is it a bar, a restaurant, a section of town? We don’t know and the author doesn’t tell us. I live in a city where people refer to ‘the spaghetti bowl.’ Many of you would think ‘the spaghetti bowl’ is probably a restaurant. Perhaps even slang for Little Italy. But no, the spaghetti bowl is actually a juncture where two highways merge.
In another scene, someone turns on the air conditioner. Now, to me, most people and most authors would refer to it as ‘turning on the air conditioner’ or ‘turning on the A/C.’ Mr. Martini uses the expression ‘Air Con.’ (The air con’s not working.) Have you EVER heard anyone refer to it as air con? I sure never have.
This book really deserves a one star but I’m giving it two. My own personal belief is that I only give 1 star to a book I cant finish. Any book I DO finish, even if it’s bad, gets 2. Keeping that in mind, the last 80 or so pages I just skimmed.
June 20, 2015
The dialogue is crisp, the plot complex, the humor good but his writing into international and governmental theories drops this to a three or three and a half at best.
June 9, 2015
I really wish Martini would get back to writing court room thrillers instead of what have become international thrillers which have just a touch of attorney connection.
In this 13th book of the Paul Madriani series, Paul decides to honor his daughter's request to help out a friend who has been arrested for DUI and vehicular homicide. Yet the client was drunk and doesn't remember a thing. That is the end of any legal flavor to the story. Yes Paul and his partner Harry investigate to help the client but it then explodes to a case involving Washington DC politicians, Swiss bank accounts and the Chinese government. Come on.
There are also a few characters who play a big part in this story who we learn so little about. The first is Ana who is an international assassin. The second is General Cheng who appears to run the show in China. Both characters have big parts in the story yet have little character development by Martini.
Message to both Martini and Madriani: Get back to what made you good.
In this 13th book of the Paul Madriani series, Paul decides to honor his daughter's request to help out a friend who has been arrested for DUI and vehicular homicide. Yet the client was drunk and doesn't remember a thing. That is the end of any legal flavor to the story. Yes Paul and his partner Harry investigate to help the client but it then explodes to a case involving Washington DC politicians, Swiss bank accounts and the Chinese government. Come on.
There are also a few characters who play a big part in this story who we learn so little about. The first is Ana who is an international assassin. The second is General Cheng who appears to run the show in China. Both characters have big parts in the story yet have little character development by Martini.
Message to both Martini and Madriani: Get back to what made you good.
May 26, 2015
I have read Steve Martini’s Paul Madraini books off and on over the years. But it has been sometime since I last read one of his books.
In this book Madraini is defending a young man Alex Ives accused of vehicular manslaughter in the death of a successful attorney Orlinda Serna who is a master at managing money. When she is killed her clients become worried about their secret dealings. Martini tackles government corruption wrapped in an interesting story.
It is a complex book and the author uses many points of view, with multiple story lines. They twist and tangle together so much so I found I had to pay close attention or else I got confused. The book is fast paced and interesting, and the suspense kept me on the edge of my seat. I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The story may have been less confusing in print rather than audio. Dan Woren narrated the story.
In this book Madraini is defending a young man Alex Ives accused of vehicular manslaughter in the death of a successful attorney Orlinda Serna who is a master at managing money. When she is killed her clients become worried about their secret dealings. Martini tackles government corruption wrapped in an interesting story.
It is a complex book and the author uses many points of view, with multiple story lines. They twist and tangle together so much so I found I had to pay close attention or else I got confused. The book is fast paced and interesting, and the suspense kept me on the edge of my seat. I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The story may have been less confusing in print rather than audio. Dan Woren narrated the story.
October 17, 2015
I won a copy of The Enemy Inside during a Goodreads First Reads giveaway. I am usually a fan of the Paul Madriani series of books, but I really just could not get into this one. The courtroom drama, that I usually associate with Steve Martini, is largely absent in this book. The focus is more on government corruption and was a convoluted web of lies and deceit. The Enemy Inside was just not for me and I hope that Steve Martini will return to the courtroom soon.
May 21, 2015
The Enemy Inside
I have been reading Steve Martini for twenty years now and he never disappoints me. You always know what to expect and that is a good interesting story that is pretty much believable. I tried to take my time reading this but I didn't want to put it down. I hope he'll be writing for another twenty years.
I have been reading Steve Martini for twenty years now and he never disappoints me. You always know what to expect and that is a good interesting story that is pretty much believable. I tried to take my time reading this but I didn't want to put it down. I hope he'll be writing for another twenty years.
June 12, 2015
The Enemy Inside by Steve Martini is a 2015 William Morrow and Company publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
This is the thirteenth novel in the Paul Madriani legal thriller series. This is another one of those series I have followed off and on through out the years, which got me wondering when the first book in this series was published, which was the mid-nineties, and would explain Paul's daughter being all grown up now, which makes me feel old.
But, it has been a while since I last checked in with Paul and I was rather surprised and somewhat disappointed to see that he has moved away from the legal thriller format that made this series so good.
The book starts off like a good legal thriller should with a man involved in a car crash that resulted in a death. This man could be charged with murder or at the very least, manslaughter. When Paul's daughter asked him to help, he is in no position to refuse, since he is being blacklisted at the moment, and has no clients.
He never dreamed this case would lead him around the world dealing with Swiss Bank accounts, tax evasion, threats, bribery and corruption leading all the way to the white house.
One of my pet peeves is seeing a book listed as a “Legal Thriller”, but it has no courtroom scenes or any kind of legalese at all. This series is one I could count on in the past for courtroom drama, witness stands, judges, juries, a murder case, and all the rest. However, I would describe this book as an International Political Thriller featuring Paul Madriani.
The whole time I was reading this book, I kept thinking this was just the type of book my husband would like to read, but me? Not so much.
While I did get what was going on and understood the situation and all the implications of it, the plot was hard to follow sometimes and there were some things left open ended at the conclusion of the book- that, or I missed something somewhere.
I did think the set up was thought provoking and frankly I wouldn't doubt something like this could happen. (or has)
So, even though this story was not what I was expecting, there were some very interesting situations and of course a lot more action than usual as well.
I think, bottom line, if you know what to expect before you start this book you will probably like it better than I did. I admit to having preconceived notions, expecting a traditional legal thriller, so maybe my view is a little tainted by that. The author did go off script, so to speak, but if you like political thrillers with international elements then you might really enjoy this one.
Overall 2.5 round to 3
This is the thirteenth novel in the Paul Madriani legal thriller series. This is another one of those series I have followed off and on through out the years, which got me wondering when the first book in this series was published, which was the mid-nineties, and would explain Paul's daughter being all grown up now, which makes me feel old.
But, it has been a while since I last checked in with Paul and I was rather surprised and somewhat disappointed to see that he has moved away from the legal thriller format that made this series so good.
The book starts off like a good legal thriller should with a man involved in a car crash that resulted in a death. This man could be charged with murder or at the very least, manslaughter. When Paul's daughter asked him to help, he is in no position to refuse, since he is being blacklisted at the moment, and has no clients.
He never dreamed this case would lead him around the world dealing with Swiss Bank accounts, tax evasion, threats, bribery and corruption leading all the way to the white house.
One of my pet peeves is seeing a book listed as a “Legal Thriller”, but it has no courtroom scenes or any kind of legalese at all. This series is one I could count on in the past for courtroom drama, witness stands, judges, juries, a murder case, and all the rest. However, I would describe this book as an International Political Thriller featuring Paul Madriani.
The whole time I was reading this book, I kept thinking this was just the type of book my husband would like to read, but me? Not so much.
While I did get what was going on and understood the situation and all the implications of it, the plot was hard to follow sometimes and there were some things left open ended at the conclusion of the book- that, or I missed something somewhere.
I did think the set up was thought provoking and frankly I wouldn't doubt something like this could happen. (or has)
So, even though this story was not what I was expecting, there were some very interesting situations and of course a lot more action than usual as well.
I think, bottom line, if you know what to expect before you start this book you will probably like it better than I did. I admit to having preconceived notions, expecting a traditional legal thriller, so maybe my view is a little tainted by that. The author did go off script, so to speak, but if you like political thrillers with international elements then you might really enjoy this one.
Overall 2.5 round to 3
June 13, 2015
Oh boy. This novel was meticulously plotted and is filled with politics and a depressing view of the world today. The last few chapters moved well, and the climax and ending were well done. So, it was okay, and I did finish it. But it definitely was not a legal thriller because there were no courtroom scenes, no trial, and very little legal issues. It was about politics and about a paranoid and troublesome view of the world and particularly the USA. I feel the need to quote parts of the review of Rob1109 (whom I don't even know or follow):
Throughout this book I feel like the author, Mr. Martini, injected himself into the novel to espouse his views or beliefs or opinions. This novel at times turned into an OP-ED piece. This fiction book became an editorial.
"Throughout the novel, perhaps every 40 pages or so, the novel stopped advancing so the author could give us his views and vent about different topics. Some things he needed to gripe about included: the younger generation, the decline of America as a world power, crooked politicians, Congressman and elected officials who travel too much, the negative effect technology has on us. I felt that if something pissed off Mr. Martini that morning, he was going to find a way to gripe about it in his story. It completely stunted the novel and brought the pace to a crawl.
In one chapter, for about 6-7 pages, there’s a Chinese General, Cheng, sitting in his apt in Beijing. For this entire chapter, we now read how China is surpassing the US as a world power."
This kind of ting goes on and on, stopping the forward motion of the plot while the author lectures to the reader about history and politics as he sees them. It makes the story stop flowing again and again and annoys the reader.
I have read other Steve Martini novels and don't remember this as his style. I'm disappointed.
Throughout this book I feel like the author, Mr. Martini, injected himself into the novel to espouse his views or beliefs or opinions. This novel at times turned into an OP-ED piece. This fiction book became an editorial.
"Throughout the novel, perhaps every 40 pages or so, the novel stopped advancing so the author could give us his views and vent about different topics. Some things he needed to gripe about included: the younger generation, the decline of America as a world power, crooked politicians, Congressman and elected officials who travel too much, the negative effect technology has on us. I felt that if something pissed off Mr. Martini that morning, he was going to find a way to gripe about it in his story. It completely stunted the novel and brought the pace to a crawl.
In one chapter, for about 6-7 pages, there’s a Chinese General, Cheng, sitting in his apt in Beijing. For this entire chapter, we now read how China is surpassing the US as a world power."
This kind of ting goes on and on, stopping the forward motion of the plot while the author lectures to the reader about history and politics as he sees them. It makes the story stop flowing again and again and annoys the reader.
I have read other Steve Martini novels and don't remember this as his style. I'm disappointed.
November 22, 2015
Not having read the first few books of this series, I can only give you my humble opinion of 'The Enemy Inside' as a stand-alone. There is a central plot of course, but this story takes you in several different directions as you grip the myriad of character names with your eyeballs and attempt to hold on to and associate them with their various professions, and ultimate nefarious deeds as you trip happily along over many a dead body. For goodness sake, don't put this book down for a lengthy period unless you have a photographic memory for detail. This does not make for an uninteresting read, however. On the contrary.. I do enjoy flexing the muscle inside my skull in just this manner and I did fully find this book exciting, humorous, full of twists (some I saw coming), insights and intrigue that only the author's imagination coupled with politics and the American government could supply.
Thank you to Goodreads for this opportunity.....
Thank you to Goodreads for this opportunity.....
May 23, 2015
I have read most of Martini's books, from 15-20 years ago to the present. Although I very much enjoy his recurring characters, his pacing and plot structure, this is the first time that I became aware of his underlying, somewhat paranoid, political viewpoint. When these beliefs are at least couched in the context of a character's belief I can get beyond it, but in this book it just seemed very pointed and political.
January 24, 2016
Must have lost track of this series somewhere before #6 because I was looking forward to a tense courtroom drama, and find instead a kind of Bourne action thriller. It is not uninteresting, just different and unexpected.
Will need to re-calibrate with respect to the author's other relatively more recent works.
Will need to re-calibrate with respect to the author's other relatively more recent works.
July 1, 2024
Once again, Steve Martini captures a shady world of political deceit in THE ENEMY INSIDE. Take a horrific car crash, add a mysterious weapon that may or may not have been deployed to destroy the woman driving the car, throw in a conspiracy involving Senatorial complicity in money laundering, and stir in a high body count, and you have an entertaining suspense novel. Paul Madriani finds himself involved in all levels of the story, including representing a young man who survived the initial crash. A great read for the beach or for staying up late trying to figure out how Madriani is going to resolve the problems, if only he can stay alive.
January 21, 2016
What I liked most about this book was that the plot included some high-level political, financial and technological intrigue which ranged from Chinese leaders making obervations about the global position of United States, to American politicians laundering money through Swiss bank accounts, to independent assassins wielding cutting-edge tools against targets. I also thought the author did a good job of explaining any potentially complex aspects of the plot as well as forging all elements of the plot together.
At the same time, I thought the book fell somewhat short in terms of the level of anticipatory thrill/suspense, and in terms of the overall plausibility in the role of the law firm. Less of a legal thriller, I found this book more of an international police procedural, with the investigation being conducted on the defense (vs. law enforcement) side and little time spent in the courtroom. I felt interested (vs. compelled) to find out what happened next which I attributed to slower pacing in spots (e.g. one chapter was dedicated to an assassin tracking an individual on foot and another chapter dealt with an assassin following someone in a car). Regarding the role of the law firm, I found it somewhat of a stretch that a local, small, two-lawyer office would handle what quickly became an international, large, multi-person investigation with lives at risk. I would have found the story more plausible if either the international investigative work had been contracted out, or if the small, local law office were instead a larger, national or international law firm. Nonetheless, once deciding to accept that, I did appreciate that the author tried to create an intellectually interesting back-story behind what is typically a straightforward type of criminal charge.
At the same time, I thought the book fell somewhat short in terms of the level of anticipatory thrill/suspense, and in terms of the overall plausibility in the role of the law firm. Less of a legal thriller, I found this book more of an international police procedural, with the investigation being conducted on the defense (vs. law enforcement) side and little time spent in the courtroom. I felt interested (vs. compelled) to find out what happened next which I attributed to slower pacing in spots (e.g. one chapter was dedicated to an assassin tracking an individual on foot and another chapter dealt with an assassin following someone in a car). Regarding the role of the law firm, I found it somewhat of a stretch that a local, small, two-lawyer office would handle what quickly became an international, large, multi-person investigation with lives at risk. I would have found the story more plausible if either the international investigative work had been contracted out, or if the small, local law office were instead a larger, national or international law firm. Nonetheless, once deciding to accept that, I did appreciate that the author tried to create an intellectually interesting back-story behind what is typically a straightforward type of criminal charge.
May 25, 2015
Martini’s booklist approaches 20 in number, about two-thirds of which feature defense attorney Paul Madriani, as with “Enemy”. While one of these early novels, “Undue Influence”, is one of our all-time favorite books, most of these tales have problems that eventually leave us cold. Like the just prior 12th entry in the Madriani set, “Trader of Secrets”, #13 herein is really not a legal thriller at all – rather, we have Madriani and partner Harry Hines chasing all over the country and then Switzerland, pursuing money-hiding schemes by prominent politicians and their ilk. The hunt only bears tangentially on the premise of the whole book, which was that a reporter doing a story on a famous person winds up killing her in a car wreck in which he has no knowledge at all of the event. While that “hook” got our attention, most of the rest was so complicated, and so boring, that eventually all we cared about was getting to the lukewarm finale. Indeed, perhaps the most entertaining element of the novel was a Chinese general's thoughts about the decline of politics and government in the USA, which hit a little too close to the bone!
Last time we threatened to give up on Madriani, and this latest convinces us to do so. We might try another of Martini's standalone novels of suspense, but as far as we’re concerned, Madriani, who is supposed to be a lawyer, not an “action figure”, is toast.
Last time we threatened to give up on Madriani, and this latest convinces us to do so. We might try another of Martini's standalone novels of suspense, but as far as we’re concerned, Madriani, who is supposed to be a lawyer, not an “action figure”, is toast.
March 20, 2015
Laugh out loud funny in places, but the plot is not as good as some of his earlier books.
The writing is excellent; crisp and humorous. The political insights about American government (presented as those of a foreigner) were timely and very interesting. I have two specific complaints: (1) the plot as a whole was a little too far-fetched for me, and (2) we basically lose track of Alex and Herman about halfway through the book.
There are a lot of characters to keep straight, so this is a book you need to read in a short period of time. I started counting the number of murders in this book, but I lost count at five. I enjoyed the book and will pass it to a friend to read.
Disclosure: I was randomly selected from among numerous GoodReads readers to receive an advance copy of this book; I have read it and this is my honest evaluation. I have no connection with this author or publisher and have received nothing from anyone in consideration for publishing this review. [There are two typos on page 18 of the ARC (the "American's" and "held up to reticule")].
The writing is excellent; crisp and humorous. The political insights about American government (presented as those of a foreigner) were timely and very interesting. I have two specific complaints: (1) the plot as a whole was a little too far-fetched for me, and (2) we basically lose track of Alex and Herman about halfway through the book.
There are a lot of characters to keep straight, so this is a book you need to read in a short period of time. I started counting the number of murders in this book, but I lost count at five. I enjoyed the book and will pass it to a friend to read.
Disclosure: I was randomly selected from among numerous GoodReads readers to receive an advance copy of this book; I have read it and this is my honest evaluation. I have no connection with this author or publisher and have received nothing from anyone in consideration for publishing this review. [There are two typos on page 18 of the ARC (the "American's" and "held up to reticule")].
March 27, 2015
Thanks to the publisher and the author for making Martini's new novel available for review.
This is the first Steve Martini novel I have read, but I was impressed by past reviews of his other novels, so I gave this one a try. With that being said, this book was decent, but not great. It had twists, turns, mystery, political corruption, legalese, and some suspense. I felt that while everything came to a nicely packaged conclusion, there seemed to be some rush to tie up loose ends by the author. At times I got the feeling that the female assassin didn't fit into the story, but was thrown in to fit everything together, albeit by coincidence.
I really do appreciate the opportunity to review the advanced copy, and will try some of Martini's older novels, but this was well below par what past reviews have given the authors older novels.
This is the first Steve Martini novel I have read, but I was impressed by past reviews of his other novels, so I gave this one a try. With that being said, this book was decent, but not great. It had twists, turns, mystery, political corruption, legalese, and some suspense. I felt that while everything came to a nicely packaged conclusion, there seemed to be some rush to tie up loose ends by the author. At times I got the feeling that the female assassin didn't fit into the story, but was thrown in to fit everything together, albeit by coincidence.
I really do appreciate the opportunity to review the advanced copy, and will try some of Martini's older novels, but this was well below par what past reviews have given the authors older novels.
June 15, 2015
I guess I'm probably done with Paul Madriani, after barely hanging on the last 4 books in the series. For a series about a non-exceptional California lawyer, the series has gotten weirdly international in its scope. This book alone involves Swiss banks, Chinese government agents, many (many) corrupt U.S. senators and representatives, and a foreign assassin that (SPOILER) uses a bow and arrow as the weapon of choice in the final showdown with the Big Bad. The Madriani books used to be very tight, intriguing legal fiction. This book is barely legal fiction, even by the loosest definition of that term. I'm not sure how/why Martini decided to take him so far off the rails of credibility, but that decision has hurt his writing significantly - Martini has not written a non-Madriani book since 1998!
June 10, 2015
It's hard to find a better writer of courtroom drama than Steve Martini. Unfortunately, for his last couple of books Martini has steered away from his strength and into the world of the international thriller, with characters that just happen to be lawyers. So it is with The Enemy Inside, a tale of international tax cheating and oil finagling. The plot is about two notches too complicated for easy reading, although it all does come together in the end, and there's a lot of high tech gear making an appearance.Martini feels compelled to explain the gear and comment on the politics - which also interferes with flow of the story. He's written much better. Before I read him again I'll make sure he's back in the courtroom.
June 4, 2016
At the beginning of this book I thought Martini was going to abandon the global intrigue he has taken in his last few novels and go back to writing about legal cases with courtroom drama as he and Harry are hired to defend a young man accused of killing a prominent attorney when drunk. But when the attorney has connections to high profile politicians who wanted to keep her silent as well as his client they once again are involved in a global intrigue with political influence, overseas accounts and an assassin trying to kill the witness involved. If you like Martini’s last 2-3 books this is for you if you prefer his earlier novels you will probably just think it is okay.
June 12, 2015
I guess I don't get it. Paul Madriani is supposed to be a defense attorney but has somehow morphed into an international detective with all the right answers at just the right time to avoid getting into trouble.
After the previous 3 novels taking a left turn from the courtroom, I was hoping the 5 year wait for a new book would get us back to what the main character does best. It didn't happen.
This book was fast paced enough to be interesting. But the author needs to get away from all of the globe trotting and near death experiences for Madriani and get back to good law stories.
After the previous 3 novels taking a left turn from the courtroom, I was hoping the 5 year wait for a new book would get us back to what the main character does best. It didn't happen.
This book was fast paced enough to be interesting. But the author needs to get away from all of the globe trotting and near death experiences for Madriani and get back to good law stories.
July 24, 2015
Reallly more than three stars but not quite four. Interesting that the first big plot line focusses on cars controlled remotely and the same thing was an the national news that night. A thriller with lots of action I am only marking it down from four stars because the wrap up happened so quickly that I felt how parts of the complex story were resolved were unclear. The story has three groups of characters all converging to one point. Paul Madrani and his partner Harry Hinds come out on top again. A good read with lots of current events and historical references.
July 9, 2015
I did like the book, but it took all the way to the last few chapters before it became captivating enough to not want to put down. The ending was a let down, however. It was as if he simply ran out of steam and wanted it all to be over! At least he wrapped up all the loose ends and the story itself was horrifying in just how real it could be in today's world. The one thing i didn't like was the way the author jumped from first person format from the main character's point of view, to third person telling of the various other characters' viewpoints and back story. made it feel "choppy."
June 16, 2015
3.5. Was good but started to drag imho for the last fifth of the book. Still, the plot was good and parts of the book had me questioning our government's openness and honesty. Truth in fiction as 'they' say.
October 19, 2015
Fine time filler ... Tightly written. Starts slow but picks up speed in last 70 or so pages. Research is a bit sketchy and there are some real stretches but it is fun. No rocket science involved.
December 28, 2017
I loved Steve Martini's earlier books that focused on legal issues and courtroom drama. This book veered away from that, concentrating on government corruption, greed and conspiracy. Others might enjoy this type of story, which was complex but often convoluted. While the plot was not what I was hoping for, it was well written. None-the-less, I hope Steve Martini returns to writing stories with interesting legal twists and courtroom drama.
May 14, 2015
Steve Martini in his new book, “The Enemy Inside” Book Thirteen in the Paul Madriani series published by Harper gives us another adventure with Paul Madriani.
From the back cover: Defending an innocent young man, defense attorney Paul Madriani uncovers a morass of corruption and greed that leads to the highest levels of political power in this electrifying tale of suspense from New York Times bestselling author Steve Martini.
One of the most successful lawyers in the country, Olinda Serna is a master at managing money as well as her influential clients. After years of fierce combat in the political trenches, Serna knows all the dirty secrets, where the bodies are buried, and how deeply they are stacked. When she’s killed in a roadside crash in the high desert of Southern California, powerful heads in Washington begin to panic, worried that their secrets may not be safe anymore.
Alex Ives, a friend of Paul Madriani’s daughter, is accused of vehicular manslaughter in Serna’s death. Ives claims he had only one drink on the night of the accident, yet he can’t remember anything between the time he left for a party north of San Diego and the moment he woke up in a hospital the next morning. He’s still dazed and a little bruised, but also obviously very afraid. After all, a woman is dead, and he’s sure he didn’t kill her.
To save an innocent young man’s life, the brilliant defense attorney must uncover everything he can about Serna and her clients—no matter how unsavory—a search that will lead him into a vortex of corruption, and at its center, a devious killer poised to strike again.
Yay, Paul Madriani is taking a legal case again. For the past three books he has been acting like James Bond. So you figure that once he has a client he will be back to being a lawyer. Sigh, the answer is yes and no. “The Enemy Within” is actually a very good book. It is very exciting and quite complicated which makes it interesting. I just wish Madriani would focus primarily on lawyer activities. The theme of this book is government corruption. “The Enemy Within” is a fast-paced, exciting mystery thriller. There is a lot going on in this book so once you get started you are not going to want to stop until you finish so I recommend you start early.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Partners In Crime. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
From the back cover: Defending an innocent young man, defense attorney Paul Madriani uncovers a morass of corruption and greed that leads to the highest levels of political power in this electrifying tale of suspense from New York Times bestselling author Steve Martini.
One of the most successful lawyers in the country, Olinda Serna is a master at managing money as well as her influential clients. After years of fierce combat in the political trenches, Serna knows all the dirty secrets, where the bodies are buried, and how deeply they are stacked. When she’s killed in a roadside crash in the high desert of Southern California, powerful heads in Washington begin to panic, worried that their secrets may not be safe anymore.
Alex Ives, a friend of Paul Madriani’s daughter, is accused of vehicular manslaughter in Serna’s death. Ives claims he had only one drink on the night of the accident, yet he can’t remember anything between the time he left for a party north of San Diego and the moment he woke up in a hospital the next morning. He’s still dazed and a little bruised, but also obviously very afraid. After all, a woman is dead, and he’s sure he didn’t kill her.
To save an innocent young man’s life, the brilliant defense attorney must uncover everything he can about Serna and her clients—no matter how unsavory—a search that will lead him into a vortex of corruption, and at its center, a devious killer poised to strike again.
Yay, Paul Madriani is taking a legal case again. For the past three books he has been acting like James Bond. So you figure that once he has a client he will be back to being a lawyer. Sigh, the answer is yes and no. “The Enemy Within” is actually a very good book. It is very exciting and quite complicated which makes it interesting. I just wish Madriani would focus primarily on lawyer activities. The theme of this book is government corruption. “The Enemy Within” is a fast-paced, exciting mystery thriller. There is a lot going on in this book so once you get started you are not going to want to stop until you finish so I recommend you start early.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Partners In Crime. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
May 11, 2015
I’m really starting to like reading the works of Steve Martini. He uses his books to disturb your thoughts. He brings out ideas that have been hiding at the back of your brain, and makes you examine what you didn’t want to face. In The Enemy Inside, his theme is government corruption. He makes you wonder how extensive it is, and what are the long-term effects of it. How many politicians are owned by foreign interests? What will happen if they are exposed? Will our country be able to survive their exposure? Will the economy collapse once the world knows that our legislators are up for sale to the highest bidder? Mr. Martini asks these questions, but puts them all into a fast-paced, exciting mystery thriller. You stop to think about the fate of the world, but them are thrown right back into the heat of the action. Quite a lot of fun.
The Enemy Inside is a very complex book. The author uses many points of view, with multiple story lines. They twist and tangle together, and sometimes you have to stop reading, just so that you can take inventory and make sure that you understand everything that is going on. Some of the stories needed to be enlarged upon; they feel hurried, and not quite filled out, and maybe even just a sketch of a plot. Everything pretty much comes together at the end, but just barely.
I give The Enemy Inside 4 Stars out of 5. I’m really going to have to start paying attention to Steve Martini’s books. He has a lot to say, and I think we all need to listen.
I received a Digital Review Copy from the publisher.
The Enemy Inside is a very complex book. The author uses many points of view, with multiple story lines. They twist and tangle together, and sometimes you have to stop reading, just so that you can take inventory and make sure that you understand everything that is going on. Some of the stories needed to be enlarged upon; they feel hurried, and not quite filled out, and maybe even just a sketch of a plot. Everything pretty much comes together at the end, but just barely.
I give The Enemy Inside 4 Stars out of 5. I’m really going to have to start paying attention to Steve Martini’s books. He has a lot to say, and I think we all need to listen.
I received a Digital Review Copy from the publisher.
May 29, 2015
3.75 stars. I haven't read a legal thriller in several months, so I chose the newest Martini book featuring attorney Paul Madriani. This book wasn't the usual lawyer wheeling, dealing courtroom drama I expected. Madriani and his partner Harry Hinds and investigator Herman Diggs sign up to defend a young man with a possible DUI involving a death and the plot mushrooms from there.
The storyline involves international aspects including bank accounts in Switzerland that belong to high ranking US political figures. Oh, and there's an assassin in town who intends to get back something that belongs to her. This book was very complex with lots of plot twists. I thought some chapters were easier to read than others. I found myself reading slower because I had to pay close attention to follow these parts.
The storyline involves international aspects including bank accounts in Switzerland that belong to high ranking US political figures. Oh, and there's an assassin in town who intends to get back something that belongs to her. This book was very complex with lots of plot twists. I thought some chapters were easier to read than others. I found myself reading slower because I had to pay close attention to follow these parts.
September 29, 2015
Fans of the Paul Madriani series no doubt have noticed that the most recent novels in the series have been more concerned with dramatic action pieces that stretched incredulity than courtroom drama and mystery. This novel dials back the action just a tad, and has lots of jurisprudence maneuvering, but still doesn't actually get back into a courtroom. Readers will be introduced to an intriguing female assassin via one of the novels several interconnected subplots. I have enjoyed these later novels and this is no exception, but it is the early series that centered on law and courtroom dramatics that I liked the best. I hope future novels return to the courtroom. Without giving anything away, something occurs at the end of this novel that is a real game changer for Madriani & Hinds and I am eager to see where it leads.
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