Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner
Critical Mass
Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Steven Paul Martini
Class/Genre: Mystery Legal Setting
Putnam, Sep 1998, $25.95, 436 pp.
Joss Cole is happy to have left the rat race as a Los Angeles public defender for the serene Puget Sound area. Her cases are no brainers until a group of local fishermen come down with a strange illness that Joss feels is industrial related.
However, Joss' new found tranquillity is abruptly disrupted when Dean Belden provides her a ton of cash to help him incorporate an electronics business. The next time Joss sees Dean he arrives at her office holding a federal subpoena. Before Joss can learn what happened to her client, he dies in an explosion. Within a few hours of Dean's death, unknown assailants try to kill Joss. Later on, a nuclear expert comes to the island searching for two missing nuclear devices, which Joss concludes is what led to the ailment of the fishermen. Now all she has to do is find the devices before they are used against America.
CRICIAL MASS is Steve Martini at his most exciting best. The novel is a taut chiller that should please anyone who enjoys a non-stop, action-packed thriller. Readers of this novel will have the impetus of perusing Mr. Martini's previous tales (see THE LIST and UNDUE INFLUENCE, etc.) because all of this writer's novels will be judged as compelling evidence on how great of an author Mr. Martini truly is.
Harriet Klausner
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner
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