Trader of Secrets (original 2011; edition 2011)

I am not so narrow that I don't think writers can cross all sorts of genre barriers. This one didn't work for me. I sort of liked Martini's legal thrillers. And I mean sort of in the I-don't-have-anything-appealing-to-read-so-this'll-do way.

There are hundreds of reviews out there that explain just what's wrong with this story, with lawyers as spy novel protagonists, etc. I'll leave that to them.

All I have to say is that from the start I was rooting for the bad guy - and that's not a good thing. ( )

An easy read and although I didn't read the first two in the series it was easy enough to pick up the plot -- although you were dumped into the action rather abruptly. The idea though that two average Joe's would go chasing around the world in pursuit of a professional killer was rather ludicrous. ( )

One of his best books! Could not wait to finish ( )

This is book three of a trilogy involving attorney Paul Madriani and the man who is out to kill him, a Mexican contract killer named Liquida. (I did not read the first two, which is actually pretty much a given, because I never would have followed up on the series!) Much of the plot of this suspense/thriller has Liquida chasing Paul and everyone else he can identify in Paul’s life: his law firm partner, his girlfriend, his investigator, his daughter, and his daughter's dog - while at the same time trying to do a “regular” contract killing of two NASA employees who defected to an Evil Oil-Producing Country in the Middle East.

You may be asking, why, why, why did I read this? Well, here is the quick answer: it was in my TBR pile, and I was looking for something mindless after having been devastated by reading the award-winning book about the Vietnam War, The Things They Carried.

Unfortunately, “mindless,” in this case, would best describe the writer rather than the reader. The book is overloaded with characters, most of whom are either stupid or venal (or sometimes both). Madriani and his groupies hop on planes and fly from locale to locale around the world as if 9/11 never happened and money were no object. (Their goal? To learn what the NASA secrets are, and then get Liquida before he gets them! Um, right.) Sarah, Madriani’s clueless daughter, always insists on going along, and moreover, on taking her dog with her - and the others let her! And the secret weapons system subcontracted out from NASA that they’re all chasing? Even without considering the utter lack of feasibility of such a weapon, think about Congress actually agreeing on the huge amount of funding necessary for non-contract government agencies to develop a pie-in-the-sky weapon system that violates a bunch of international treaties and has no oversight whatsoever.

Now there are improbable stories out there that are STILL GOOD. Take the movie "Independence Day." AS IF the President is going to take his toddler down to an air-purified laboratory to see the aliens of Area 51. And then there’s Bill Pullman’s impromptu knockout speech (without either speechwriter or notes) right before he takes off in a fighter jet which he probably hasn’t flown in twenty years, to LEAD the other jets in the crusade against the aliens. One could go on and on. AND YET, who doesn’t LOVE that movie? I cry buckets every time I watch it, which is probably at least every year on July 4.

But THIS book? Skip the book, and rent "Independence Day." ( )

I hadn't read any of Steve Martini's earlier novels, but it wasn't necessary to be familiar with his lead characters or to their previous escapades to fully immerse myself in his latest work, Trader of Secrets.

Trader of Secrets opens deep into the action. Madriani's private investigator and "muscle" has been attacked and is in critical care. His daughter is in hiding on a doberman training farm and Hinds is assigned to watch over her for her protection. When Sarah is attacked, the lawyers become even more invested in finding the deadly killer Liquida. Though amateurs - Madriani, Jocelyn Cole, and Henry Hinds - through skill, perseverance, and luck followed the notorious killer Liquida. Madriani dive into dangerous situations knowing that they lose whether they chase after Liquida or not. Their law practice has stopped and their clients are likely to report them for having abandoned their cases. Madriani and his partners are waiting for Liquida to be captured or to find them, and each day causes further damage to their old lives, their professional lives.

Deeply motivated and unusually skilled - Madriani and his friends take on one of the most dangerous and skilled killers. If you are partial to the old fashioned spy novels with trade craft, you're likely to particularly enjoy Trader of Secrets.

ISBN-10: 0061930237 - Hardcover
Publisher: William Morrow (May 31, 2011), 400 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher. ( )