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.
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