Shadow of Power-Steve Martini

Shadow of Power
Steve Martini
Morrow, Jun 2008, $26.95
ISBN 9780061230882

San Diego, California legal partners Paul Madriani and Harry Hinds reluctantly agree to represent Carl Arnsberg on a first degree murder charge that if convicted would most likely result in capital punishment. Arnsberg, a known racist, is accused of using a hammer to murder nonfiction author Terry Scarborough, whose bestseller Perpetual Slaves led to rioting.

Scarborough exposed the section of the Constitution written by the revered Founding Fathers that still remains part of the land of the law having never been repealed in spite of the Bill of Rights and the Civil War Amendments. The document claims that Negroes be counted as three-fifths human. His publisher says that Scarborough’s next exposé would be based on a letter written by one of the Holy Fathers Thomas Jefferson that would make his first book look like a kindergarten primer. The letter considered key to the defense by the legal team vanished when the author was killed.

Although the twists and the underlying foundation require the reader to ignore probability, fans will appreciate the latest Madriani legal thriller due to the compelling courtroom trial that affirms the theory that the American judical system is a contact sport. Madriani is at his best as he defends a client he dislikes against evidence that could fill up Death Valley. Plausibilty may be doubtful, but entertainment is definite.

Harriet Klausner