A long holiday
weekend is the perfect time to kick back with an absorbing legal thriller. I
found it in one of Steve Martini’s later books. Martini is a master of complex
plots and his ability to create deliciously byzantine problems shines in the 13th
book about criminal defense lawyer Paul Madriani, The Enemy Inside
(William Morrow, 2015). Madriani’s daughter asks him to defend a friend, Paul
Ives, who has been arrested for vehicular manslaughter.
Police
believe Ives was driving under the influence and broadsided a car driven by Olinda
Serna, Washington, DC, lawyer and lobbyist. Ives survived only because a
passing motorist dragged him to safety before both cars exploded into flames.
Ives told a bizarre story of being invited to a party in the hills above Los
Angeles by a beautiful young woman who promised to meet him there. She did not
appear and he has no memory of what happened after taking one drink. That part
of his story is supported by the medical tests that showed alcohol barely
registering in his system, meaning the DUI charge could not be upheld by the
evidence.
Unfortunately
no one believed Ives enough to test him for roofies and any sign of the date
rape drug would have disappeared within a day or so. His story is consistent
with having been drugged, but there’s no supporting evidence, and Madriani
began searching for the party site and anyone there who might have seen Ives
that evening.
Ives was an
investigative journalist working for a political scandal sheet and Madriani also
began asking questions about his current assignment, wondering why he should
have been so obviously set up. His inquiries took him across the country to
Washington, DC, and from there to Switzerland, where he learned all about
numbered bank accounts sheltering U.S. money from IRS scrutiny. Of particular
interest are those accounts owned by PEPs, Politically Exposed Persons, or
those individuals who are susceptible to bribery or corruption by virtue of
their position within the government. Serna had been a specialist in financial
and banking policy and Madriani began to see a pattern.
A convoluted tale
of greed, politics, paid killers, lethal technology, and international
intrigue, still relevant 10 years later. Parts of the story dealing with global
economics are eerily prescient. Highly recommended for fans of legal crime
fiction, financial thrillers, and geopolitical espionage.
· Publisher: William
Morrow; 1st edition (May 12, 2015)
· Language: English
· Hardcover: 384 pages
· ISBN-10: 006232893X
· ISBN-13: 978-0062328939
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3Z675nU
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2024
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
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