Rating: 
Summary: Suspensful, entertaining beach read.
Review: Steve Martini's The List has great characters, fast-paced action, and gives an interesting view of the marketing of a bestselling novel. Abby Chandlis, a lawyer-turned writer has written a hot commercial book. Afraid that her looks won't help the marketing effort for this book, she hires a mysterious, good-looking man, Jack Jermain, to front for her with the publisher and the media. The chemistry between Jack and Abby is delightful, and many of the scenes are laugh-out-loud funny. The book really keeps you turning the pages and the last 100 pages are non-stop action and suspense.
Rating:
Summary: The List.....exhilorating!
Review: This is the first Steve Martini book I've ever read. Are all his books this good? I found myself intrigued by the storyline. Abby Chandlis is sick of her job, has been writing a book in her spare time, and decides to try her luck in getting it published. In a twisted and sorted way, she decides to hire a man to pose as the "writer" while she plays his lawyer. In walks Jack Jermaine. In the many twists and turns throughout the story, I found alot of mystery, humor, and yes! even romance, but not too much. This story was exhilorating, to say the least. If you're ready to try your hand at "whodunnit" and to go deep inside the literary world, hold on tight to your copy of "The List" and enjoy the ride! Three cheers for Martini on this well-written and highly entertaining book.
Rating:
Summary: Can't wait to read more Martini
Review: The List was an excellent novel. By keeping the characters simple to understand, he was able to maintain a fast pace throughout the book. I am new to reading this author, but this particular book was a joy to read. The backdrop, the publishing industry, is not a common theme. I was blown away by what it would actually take for a good story to make it to the top. If I ever finish my first novel, I hope I don't have to follow Abby's path to stardom.
Rating:
Summary: STEVE MEETS SIDNEY
Review: It's somewhat hard to believe that the man who has written the outstanding Paul Madriani series is the same guy who pens this spiffy little "potboiler". It reminds me a lot of Sidney Sheldon's forays, but Martini's brisk pace and innate sense of plot and characterization propel this novel into higher ground. The plot revolves around an author/lawyer who after several misfires in writing finds she's written a hit---a big, money-making bestseller. Only problem is, she's an over-40 woman, not incredibly beautiful, and she knows her past flops will prevent any publisher from wanting the book no matter how good it is. She creates a pseudonymn, Gable Cooper, as the author and then sets out to find a handsome hunk to "play the role." In steps incredibly gorgeous hunk Jack Jermayne, a perfect fit to play the role. But, what have we here: murders of author's friend, ex-husband and her friends' vicious ex-husband start to point evidence that Jack may not be what he seems?? Hmm..in typical cinematic fashion, the author flees for her life to seek help from her long-time friend, Spencer.
The climax is appropriately suspenseful and the little "twist" at the end satisfying.
A fun, involving tour de force for Mr. Martini.
Rating: 
Summary: Stick With Martini's Other Novels
Review: I'm afraid I don't agree with the other reviewers. This is not the Martini I've come to respect. If you're about to read your first Martini, start with another book.
Rating: 
Summary: Alex's Awesome Alphabet
Review: The List, by Steve Martini is a very exciting and thrilling book. It has murders and mysteries, and also goes into a detail on other subjects. For instance, the main idea is that an unknown author writes a book that has the potential to become a best seller. The author, being older, thought it would be better to write the book under a pen name. She tells only her closest friends, but when one of them is murdered she begins to worry. She now has to trust the man that she thinks killed her friend. This book is very good, with an ending to die for; I never would have guessed what had happened. I would suggest this book to many people, because it was a great read.
Rating:
Summary: Alex's Awesome Alphabet
Review: The List, by Steve Martini is a very exciting and thrilling book. It has murders and mysteries, and also goes into a detail on other subjects. For instance, the main idea is that an unkown author writes a book that has the potential to become a best seller. The author, being older, thought it would be better to write the book under a pen name. She tells only her closest friends, but when one of them is murdered she begins to worry. She now has to trust the man that she thinks killed her friend. This book is very good, with an ending to die for; I never would have guessed what had happened. I would suggest this book to many people, because it was a great read.
Rating:
Summary: Bestselling Author, Anyone?
Review: This fun, smart, murder adventure story had me hooked from the beginning. Its conceit is to play with the idea that to become a bestselling author, it helps quite a lot to be a charming, sexy man who's not too old, not too fat, not too controversial and whose teeth are perfect. Unfortunately, after having one poor little novel come out (to almost no attention), I can easily understand the protagonist's plight: she has written a good book, but she's not "good" enough to sell it. The truth is that the publishing industry is a difficult business. Before my own book came out, I assumed the hard part was the writing. Instead, the hard part is marketing, the slow work it takes to develop an audience. Martini has fun playing around with the publishing industry here, but I also felt he was trying to inspire beginning novelists by showing that even though the business of book-selling is ruthless, hope is not lost--it just might be buried a little bit. (I'm awfully glad I have good teeth.)
Rating: 
Summary: Non-courtroom Martini a little "dry" despite "twist" at end!
Review: We have yet to try Martini's acclaimed defense attorney Paul Madriani series; like his first book, The Simeon Chamber, this one is a thriller with the lead character a lawyer, but little or no lawyering goes on. Instead, a prologue sets the stage for the danger-laced tale of Abby Chandlis, a published but obscure part-time author/lawyer, who somehow writes what she knows might be a best seller. Most of the book is about her earning millions for her "first" novel and related movie rights and sequel intentions, all confused because she hires a "beefcake"-type guy to pose as the winning author under the {awful} pseudonym of Grable Cooper. Her stand-in, Jack Jermaine, wows and charms all, including Abby; yet Abby's long-time friend and personal attorney, Morgan Spencer, who is handling the copyrights and stand-in contracts, is concerned enough to spend most of the book digging up dirt on Jermaine. Added to this complex tale are the murders of Abby's girl-friend ostensibly by her half-crazy abusive husband; then his murder by persons unknown; then Abby's ex-husband, probably by Jermaine. By the end of the book, the pace is hectic, our brains are swimming with clues, and Abby dodges death several times over, leading to a very neat ending that we suspect will catch most readers quite by surprise.Our only gripe is that this story is a bit like an Indy 500 run mostly under a yellow flag. It's slow to accelerate and toddles along in low gear for 2/3 the tale. The book publishing information was somewhat interesting but didn't really add to the pace of the mystery. Judging by the fact that it took us two weeks to finish what would normally take a couple of afternoons, just be ready for a watched pot that takes an awfully long time to come to a boil. We suspect Martini's fan club is right in "Listing" this one lower than most.
Rating:
Summary: Martini with a twist
Review: Steve Martini is the master of the thriller with the last minute plot twist. He weaves together a fascinating, yet believable tale of struggling authors, with seemingly unrelated events happening (death of friend, sinking of boat, etc.). Just as he traps you into thinking you know who the bad guy is - as you are trying to tell the hero's/heroine's to watch out - he throws a wicked curve ball into the plot that leaves your head spinning. And after you see it, you say, "wow, I should have seen that coming, but I got trapped just like the author intended." I found myself going back, re-reading sections where Martini left those clues I had skipped over. You beat me again, Mr Martini, touche'.
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