Monday, September 02, 2024

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The Enemy Inside by Steve Martini


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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