Guardian of Lies

by: Steve Martini

Published by: William Morrow

Reviewed by Shawn Remfrey
When Costa Rican Katia meets American Emerson Pike, she agrees to come to America with him for a visit. When repeated attempts to return home go unanswered, and Emerson keeps asking odd questions about her family, Katia decides something strange is going on and she must flee. The night she finally finds a way to escape, a hitman enters the home and murders Emerson.
Everything points to Katia as the murderer. It’s up to defense attorney Paul Madriani and his partner Harry Hinds to prove Katia’s innocence.

Steve Martini is one of the authors that I grew up hearing my mother rave about. Every reader that I know has at least heard of Martini, if not already a fan. Obviously I was looking forward to reading my first Martini novel. Sadly, I was greatly disappointed. I just didn’t see what everyone else saw. Perhaps it’s that I haven’t been around for all of the series, but started with the latest book. Perhaps my expectations were just too high. What I found was a mediocre mystery, with mediocre characters, and a mediocre plot.

Though the writing was well thought out and well planned, it was so monotonous that I had to struggle just to force myself to finish the book. At one point in the book, a character is listening to Fidel Castro talk and falls asleep. When I read that, it struck me that that was exactly how this book made me feel–as if Castro were rambling on and on all night long and I were being forced to listen.

The saving grace of this book is that Martini is well-known. Fans of both Martini and the character Madriani will most likely devour this book in anticipation of continuing the story. For those of us that are new to the scene, however, it was just okay.

Armchair Interviews says: If you are not already a fan, this book may disappoint.

Author’s Web site: http://www.SteveMartini.com