The Attorney

Written by Steve Martini

Narrated by Erik Bergmann

Riveting . . . a suspenseful tale, right up to the satisfying climax, wrote Publishers Weekly in praise of The Judge. ""Legal thrillers don't get much better than this. ""Kirkus Reviews hailed Undue Influence as ""the courtroom novel of the year."" Now Martini delivers Paul Madriani's most challenging case yet: one pitting a drug-addicted mother against her daughter's newly rich grandfather in a contentious custody case that leads to criminal accusations and ultimately murder. Having moved to San Diego to be closer to the woman in his life, Madriani takes on the case of Jonah Hale, an elderly man in terrible straits. As a result of their only child Jessica's longtime drug addiction, Jonah and his wife have been raising their eight-year-old granddaughter, Amanda. On the heels of Jonah's multimillion-dollar state lottery win, Jessica revives her interest in mothering. When Jonah won't deal—maternal rights for a mega-bucks payoff—Jessica plays dirty: she accuses the old man of having sexually abused her as a child and similarly abusing Amanda now. Enter Zo Suade—a flamboyant, feminist activist with a penchant for making the objects of custody battles and their mother/plaintiffs ""disappear."" True to form, a week after Zo takes on Jessica's case, mother and daughter vanish. When Zo's body turns up, Jonah becomes the prime suspect. And Madriani is the man who can prove his innocence. Filled with action in and out of court, rich in characters with motives obvious and subtle, The Attorney marks the much-anticipated return of Paul Madriani.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Apr 29, 2014
• ISBN: 9780062340665

Steve Martini

Steve Martini is the author of numerous New York Times bestsellers, including The Enemy Inside, Trader of Secrets, The Rule of Nine, Guardian of Lies, Shadow of Power, Double Tap, and others featuring defense attorney Paul Madriani. Martini has practiced law in California in both state and federal courts and has served as an administrative law judge and supervising hearing officer. He lives in the Pacific Northwest.

Reviews for The Attorney

[vanessa_menez-453497 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is my first Paul Madriani book and I am definitely planning on reading the other books in this series.

The plot was filled with action and twists right from the start. I particularly enjoyed the courtroom scenes because they were so engrossing. The ending was definitely a surprise because it was so unexpected!

[susandennis-139327 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Attorney Paul Madriani has moved his practice to San Diego and soon finds one of his former clients has moved there, too and won the lottery - literally. But the newly rich client has lost his granddaughter and suspects she was kidnapped by a woman who specializes in doing whatever is needed to get women and children away from men. Madriani gets right in the middle. It's a good beach book.

[aliceanna-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not the best of his, but still pretty good. I did not see the ending coming though. Well done.

[moonshineandrosefire · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Attorney Paul Madriani moves to San Diego to be closer to child advocate Susan McKay. He's barely in town, when a man comes to him with a case; find his missing granddaughter. Paul will be dragged into a case that will shake his very foundations. I enjoyed the story, however it did drag in places I thought. I give the book a B+!

[lynngood · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lawyer Paul has plans - a new practice in San Diego, and if things work out, a future with Susan. But when Paul meets an old client, whose granddaughter has been abducted, he is drawn into a case which destroys everything he believes in.

[nepejwster_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Boring squabbling over trivia in the courtroom. Lot's of "gottcha's" that don't mean a thing. Skip to the last couple of chapters where the entire drama is finally played out in fast-motion.

[mramos_710291 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is another Paul Madriani story. It flows fast, I read it in one day. The story starts out with him taking on a Lottery winnig client who is trying to regained his kidnapped grandchild. The clint ends up needing his help to fight off a murder charge that seems to be connected to the kidnapping. The story is fun but has a couple of holes, still fun. You are given a couple of clues, but I do not think you will figure out the end of the book until you read it....