Helpful Score: 2
Don't miss this one!! If you enjoy Steve Martini, this is a must read. If you've never read anything by him, this will make you a fan. Couldn't put it down.
Jocelyn "Joss" Cole, a burned-out public defender from L.A., has opted for a quieter life in the San Juan Islands of Washington state. Joss has no significant clients other than a group of commercial fishermen suffering from a strange and serious illness, a condition doctors cannot diagnose, which Joss believes has an industrial cause. Then into her office comes Dean Belden, a well-heeled client in search of a lawyer to help him set up a business in the islands. Within days Belden is subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury. Before he can testify, and before Joss can discover what happened in the secrecy of the grand jury room, Belden dies in the fiery explosion of his floatplane on Seattle's Lake Union.
Gideon Van Ry is a nuclear fission expert and a scholar in residence at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California. One of his duties is to update the Center's database, an extensive catalogue of fissionable materials and weapons of mass destruction. Gideon is troubled by the apparent failure in accounting for two small tactical nuclear deviced missing from a storage facility in the former Soviet Union. The weapons were last seen in packing crates awaiting shipment to an American company, Belden Electonics. Gideon has been unable to locate this firm, and now he is left with only one possible lead, the lawyer who incorporated the company--Jocelyn Cole.
Gideon Van Ry is a nuclear fission expert and a scholar in residence at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California. One of his duties is to update the Center's database, an extensive catalogue of fissionable materials and weapons of mass destruction. Gideon is troubled by the apparent failure in accounting for two small tactical nuclear deviced missing from a storage facility in the former Soviet Union. The weapons were last seen in packing crates awaiting shipment to an American company, Belden Electonics. Gideon has been unable to locate this firm, and now he is left with only one possible lead, the lawyer who incorporated the company--Jocelyn Cole.
A gripping story.
Nice for travel if you have an older car that still has an audio tape player.
Not his best by a longshot!
I was vacationing on our sailboat in the San Juans when I picked up this book to read and was pleasantly surprised to find the setting of the book is in the San Juan Islands. This was my first Martini and I thoroughly enjoyed his writing style and the intrigue of the story. Subsequently, I read several other Martini's which I didn't care for. So, if you're trying Martini for the first time - this is the one to read!
I didn't really get into it. Not my kind of story.
Steve Martini at his best!! Joselyn Cole, a lawyer, becomes involved with a client she has been hired by to set up his company, file the necessary paperwork, etc. What she becomes involved in is a plot to detonate a nuclear device somewhere in the United States. This book is a departure from several of Martini's other books in that, while he has the lawyer mix included in the plot, it's not the main focus. It's more along the lines of Tom Clancy in that it involves home-grown terrorists, a weapon of mass destruction and people on both sides trying to accomplish their objective. Guaranteed to keep you turning the pages into the early morning hours.
Excellent reading...Another classic by Steve Martini!
Billy T.
Billy T.
Lots of twists, very real. Be ready to read because this book grabs you!
A burned-out public defender fro L.A., Joselyn Cole has opted for a quieter life in the San Juan Island of Washington State. Barely making ends meet, she is pleasantly surprised when entrepreneur Dean Belden shows up in her office-tempting her with a large retainer to help him set up a business in the islands.
Martini always has great paced books and interesting twists of the plot.
Fast paced and very interesting.
L.A., public defender Joselyn Cole becomes enmeshed in a business deal that tourns out to involve stolen nuclear technology, murder, and possible terrorism. 367 pages and well worth it.
Very good book...didn't want to put it down...gave up sleep to finish it.
"Powerful...So realistic it scares you." The Daily Sun (GA)
A great read..very tense suspense. I am a big fan of Steve Martini books and this is one of his better ones.
good political thriller
A militia group in the Pacific Northwest becomes the world's newest nuclear power in this by-the-numbers thriller by the author of The List and The Judge.
Lawyer Jocelyn "Joss" Cole sees a big retainer when she's hired by Dean Belden to handle his company's incorporation filings. But after Belden gets a federal subpoena, Joss sees him die in a fiery seaplane explosion. Now she's the only visible link to Belden's company (which was on the receiving end of two decaying nuclear weapons smuggled into the U.S. out of Russia), and that brings her to the attention of arms inspector Gideon van Ry, of the Institute Against Mass Destruction.
After the feds determine that the militia has possession of the weapons, Gideon and Joss join the race to try to avert nuclear disaster.
Of course, there are complications: the militia group is being fronted by a foreign power in order to circumvent U.S. nuclear retaliation policy, and the President is in CYA (cover-your-ass) overdrive because his party accepted a campaign contribution from the chief Russian culprit.
Lawyer Jocelyn "Joss" Cole sees a big retainer when she's hired by Dean Belden to handle his company's incorporation filings. But after Belden gets a federal subpoena, Joss sees him die in a fiery seaplane explosion. Now she's the only visible link to Belden's company (which was on the receiving end of two decaying nuclear weapons smuggled into the U.S. out of Russia), and that brings her to the attention of arms inspector Gideon van Ry, of the Institute Against Mass Destruction.
After the feds determine that the militia has possession of the weapons, Gideon and Joss join the race to try to avert nuclear disaster.
Of course, there are complications: the militia group is being fronted by a foreign power in order to circumvent U.S. nuclear retaliation policy, and the President is in CYA (cover-your-ass) overdrive because his party accepted a campaign contribution from the chief Russian culprit.
WOW - a great,read, with gripping realism! A story based on
today's fears and tomorrow's headlines. A superb thriller with
strong characters.
today's fears and tomorrow's headlines. A superb thriller with
strong characters.
Not interesting to me - didn't even get through it.
A burned-out publec defender from L.A., Joselyn cole has opted for a quieter life in the San Juan Islands of Washington State. Barely making ends meet, she is pleasantly surprised when entrepreneur Dean Belden shows up in her office--tempting her with a large retainer to help him set up a business in the islands. But when Belden is subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury--and is blown up in his plane before he can testify--Joselyn becomes the government's target. Two nuclear deviced, stolen from the former Soviet Union, were bound for her client's company. Now they have disappeared--with potentially devastating consequences for the entire world.
Another great Martini story! Worth reading twice.
