Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

The Supreme Court is one of our most sacred—and secretive—public institutions. But sometimes secrets can lead to cover-ups with very deadly consequences.

Terry Scarborough is a legal scholar and provocateur who craves headline-making celebrity, but with his latest book he may have gone too far. In it he resurrects forgotten language in the U.S. Constitution—and hints at a missing letter of Thomas Jefferson's—that threatens to divide the nation.

Then, during a publicity tour, Scarborough is brutally murdered in a San Diego hotel room, and a young man with dark connections is charged. What looks like an open-and-shut case to most people doesn't to defense attorney Paul Madriani. He believes that there is much more to the case and that the defendant is a pawn caught in the middle, being scapegoated by circumstance.

As the trial spirals toward its conclusion, Madriani and his partner, Harry Hinds, race to find the missing Jefferson letter—and the secrets it holds about slavery and scandal at the time of our nation's founding and the very reason Scarborough was killed. Madriani's chase takes him from the tension-filled courtroom in California to the trail of a high court justice now suddenly in hiding and lays bare the soaring political stakes for a seat on the highest court, in a country divided, and under the shadow of power.

Average Customer Rating:

Entertaining

Customer Rating:

This book was my introduction to Steve Martini. While the underlying premise is not plausible--that certain language in the Constitution about slavery could cause national unrest a couple of hundred years later when all kinds of remedial legislation has been enacted--the novel still presents an interesting murder mystery. At times it is true that Martini sometimes sounds like a professor in a trial advocacy course as he explains the technicalities involved in admitting evidence and general trial strategy. However, these discussions do not significantly slow down the action. I don't feel that this novel is on the same level as John Grisham novels, but I still found it to be an entertaining read. Martini writes well, and the story progresses at a good pace as the reader tries to discover who killed the person who wrote the book about the Constitution that is causing such turmoil.

One of the Best Reads for Me...

Customer Rating:

My eyes don't take to reading too well and I have to leave a book for a while and come back later. In the case of Shadow of Power I kept feeling drawn back somehow and wanted to resume reading ASAP. For the most part the pace kept moving and the subject matter stayed interesting -- one could even say engrossing, enough so that I would give it 4 ½ stars, but since that is not doable I will round it up to 5. Other reviewers have had a problem with the basic premise and said it was common knowledge. But unless one has studied constitutional law, I doubt it. I hope to not spoil the book for those who have not read it yet, but suffice it to say that I had a private-school education, am now 65 and reasonably well read, and have never heard about this part of the Constitution until now. So, I would imagine that if someone published a book like our fictional character in Shadow of Power who sought to milk race tensions for profit, that it could just maybe touch off some race riots, I guess. Perhaps. The book is educational in other ways as well. The ins and outs of the criminal "justice" system, the bull-headed arrogance and ambition and pride that keep people from rendering true justice to the accused, as well as a couple of examples of the level of corruption to which our government has sunk in this day and age. The author does more than entertain; he uses his work to educate as well. Now I know that some readers have a problem with that and call it being preachy. These are likely to be the individuals in our society who only tolerate peer pressure of the negative bent, and resent anyone who resists evil and corruption and hopes to leave this place a better world than he found it. My guess is that Martini had to sweat some to get his message in print and that's because it's a worthy message indeed. He exercised his civic duty to expose government corruption in the medium to which he has access and I applaud him for the constructive use of his First Amendment right. Actually it's more than a right to speak out when government runs off the track. It's also the obligation of any good citizen worthy of the name. For, make no mistake, if the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America isn't about crying out and exposing governmental waste, governmental corruption, governmental fraud, governmental abuse of power and the eroding of our civil liberties, then it isn't about anything at all. But no, he doesn't preach, he merely educates his readers while he entertains them. And he certainly isn't preachy in a religious sense, or I would be here panning the book instead of giving it five stars. :-)) A well-written mystery indeed.

Paul Madriani strikes again

Customer Rating:

I've read all the Paul Madriani novels, and this latest one does not disappoint. Madriani is still a legal wizard and displays the ability to represent his clinic while serving justice. I could not put this book down until it was finished. I agree with another reviewer about the haziness of the involvement of an obscure portion of the Constitution. But despite that, the book captures your attention and delivers a great ending.

A good story, but a tremendously flawed premise

Customer Rating:

I almost put it down once I started reading. I have enjoyed this author's work in the past, and once I got into the murder mystery and courtroom portion, it was typical Martini - good legal analysis and strategy (I am a former prosecutor myself). However, the novel's premise is utterly unbelievable, and the reader has to force himself to accept it and ignore reality. I won't spoil it for future readers, and I would tepidly recommend the book because the legal thriller part outweighs the premise, but you should pick up the book knowing that its premise is fatally flawed, and be willing to overlook it; otherwise, the book will disappoint you.

great suspense good book	Customer Rating:
it has in all the expectations of a book that was very well writen by a master writer.crafty