Double Tap (Paul Madriani Series #8) » (Reprint)

A former journalist and attorney, Steve Martini has combined both halves of his résumé into a successful franchise of legal thrillers, most of which star the attorney Paul Madriani. According to Vincent Bugliosi, We unquestionably have a new literary lion in the fictional crime genre."

"Attorney Paul Madriani defends a highly decorated soldier who is on trial for murder, and unwittingly steps into a maze of secrets and lies that the government - and even this client - would rather leave hidden and undisturbed." "Madriani is faced with arcane ballistics evidence, the so-called double tap - two bullet wounds tightly grouped to a victim's head, from shots that can have been made only by a crack marksman. Madriani's client is an enigma, a career soldier who refuses to talk about his past, though clearly he is a battle-tested pro. The victim was an alluring businesswoman and software tycoon whose empire catered to the military, and the most damning evidence is the weapon that killed her: a handgun used solely in special operations where the double tap is the trademark of the most skilled assassins." "Madriani begins to have new fears about his client, a man who would rather sit on a legal time bomb than talk about his past and get a chance at acquittal. And yet more troubling, Madriani discovers that the victim was involved in a controversial government contract to combat terrorism by combing through the private computer records of millions of American citizens." Madriani faces a wilderness of mirrors in a courtroom battle where every witness can hide behind "national security," where information is power and digital information is absolute power. It is a war in which the scales of justice are being tipped by evasion, deceit - and murder. Finding the unvarnished truth has never been so elusive - or so dangerous.

Publishers Weekly

In veteran Martini's exciting eighth legal thriller starring Paul Madriani (after 2003's The Arraignment), the San Diego defense attorney takes on yet another especially difficult case. When Madelyn Chapman, the owner of a computer software company that sells a controversial security program to the U.S. government, is found shot twice in the head in her La Jolla home, the closeness of the bullet wounds indicates a "double tap," a feat typical of a highly skilled military marksman. Army Sgt. Emiliano Ruiz, a 20-year vet who served in Panama and the first Gulf War and who freelanced as a security guard (and occasional sex partner) for Chapman, is arrested for the killing. After the flashy defense lawyer originally in charge of the case quits, apparently under pressure, the more compassionate and less publicity-minded Madriani and his partner take it on. Ruiz turns out to have a seven-year gap in his resume: was he in fact doing dirty work for Special Ops? And can Madriani find out his secrets in time to keep the sympathetic soldier from life in prison? The compelling plot builds to a conclusion that should surprise even longtime fans. Agent, Esther Newberg at ICM. BOMC main selection; Doubleday, Literary Guild and Mystery Guild alternates. (July 26) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.