SHADOW OF POWER by Steve Martini
Steve Martini’s SHADOW OF POWER is the latest novel to feature the adventures of Paul Madriani., attorney at law. He and his partner Harry Hinds have been the focal point of a variety of books involving crime and its prosecution. Some of these books by Martini have been good and others not so good. SHADOW OF POWER falls somewhere in the middle.
In this new novel from Martini, Madriani is called upon to defend the son of a friend who is accused of cold-blooded murder. He was known to have been at the scene of the crime and he fled from it. He also had been heard to say the victim deserved to die. It seems Madriani has his work cut out for him.
The best part of the book is the courtroom scenes, but they don’t start until the second third of the story. Up till that point Martini talks about and describes the plot over and over. It gets boring and difficult to read. This is unusual because Martini is usually one of the most gifted of writers in moving the story along.
Once the case moves to court the Martini magic exerts itself and all is right with the world and the novel. But then the court recesses and so does the entertainment value of the book. The reader has to force himself to keep reading.
That is the way the book progresses. There are bright spots brought on by the courtroom scenes, and dull ones brought on by being outside the courtroom. When the final revelations about the “mysteries” created in the plot occur they are ho-hum events. It makes a little bit of sense but it is not an ending that provides thorough satisfaction.
Steve Martini has a great following of fans who anticipate his novels. They know when the new book arrives it will deliver hours of reading pleasure. But not this time. This is Martini by the numbers. He hits all the right spots of writing but he doesn’t deliver the Martini magic.
SHADOW OF POWER is a book that is intermittently interesting, and I guess I would have to say that overall the good outweighs the bad. Still this is not the caliber of book I expected from Martini. That expectation is all his fault as he has been so good in the past.
SHADOW OF POWER is published by William Morrow. It contains 391 pages and sells for $26.95.