Shadow of Power by Steve Martini

Shadow of Power by Steve Martini
Mystery/Courtroom Drama

When a controversial author is found murdered in his hotel room, the police waste no time pointing the finger at Carl Arnsberg, an employee of the hotel that happened into the author's room. Paul Madriani is the defense for the case and quickly delves into the controversy that the author left behind. This includes a potential letter written by Jefferson that has the potential to shock the USA and set the country into a race war.

The book goes through the case laid out by the district attorney and shows how Madriani and his team counter the arguments. At the same time, they are frantically searching behind the scenes to find the letter and determine who the real killer could be. While the arguments that are presented are interesting, I was disappointed that once Madriani had the chance to present the most important evidence to the jury, the author doesn't even put it in the book. He skips over a couple days and goes straight to the jury being locked away making a decision. With all of that build up, I was expecting something more.

I haven't read many courtroom dramas, but overall I enjoyed this one. The dialog was interesting and the counter arguments brought up were ones I would never think of - maybe why I have no interest in being a lawyer!

First Line: "The sugar-white powder was so hot on their feet that they skipped and took long strides across the distance to the darker sand cooled by the surf."

Rating:

(4/5)