The Enemy Inside: A Paul Madriani Novel

Defending an innocent young man, defense attorney Paul Madriani uncovers a morass of corruption and greed that leads to the highest levels of political power in this electrifying tale of suspense from New York Times bestselling author Steve Martini.

One of the most successful lawyers in the country, Olinda Serna is a master at managing money as well as her influential clients. After years of fierce combat in the political trenches, Serna knows all the dirty secrets, where the bodies are buried, and how deeply they are stacked. When she’s killed in a roadside crash in the high desert of Southern California, powerful heads in Washington begin to panic, worried that their secrets may not be safe anymore.

Alex Ives, a friend of Paul Madriani’s daughter, is accused of vehicular manslaughter in Serna’s death. Ives claims he had only one drink on the night of the accident, yet he can’t remember anything between the time he left for a party north of San Diego and the moment he woke up in a hospital the next morning. He’s still dazed and a little bruised, but also obviously very afraid. After all, a woman is dead, and he’s sure he didn’t kill her.

To save an innocent young man’s life, the brilliant defense attorney must uncover everything he can about Serna and her clients—no matter how unsavory—a search that will lead him into a vortex of corruption, and at its center, a devious killer poised to strike again.

When Alex Ives is implicated in a deadly motor collision, Paul Madriani joins a case as tangled as any he's ever taken. Alex wakes up in the hospital in police custody, charged with drunk driving and manslaughter. When Paul discovers that Alex knew the deceased, a connected, hard-charging Washington, D.C. lawyer named Olinda Serna, Madriani realizes the potential penalties for his client could include a death sentence.

In Washington, D.C., attorney Cletus Profitt learns that his law firm nemesis, Ms. Serna, has died. Profitt knows that Serna protected dangerous secrets involving players moving in the highest reaches of national politics, and he will go to any lengths to ensure that that knowledge has died with her. Senator Maya Grimes also hears of the fatal crash, and begins crafting her own web of deceit to suffocate anything that might come back to bite her. In the meantime, a vicious, highly effective mercenary begins to panic when she gets word of Serna's death. Now the only way to save a young man from imprisonment is for Madriani to uncover the corruption and dark deeds that surround Ms. Serna's friends and find her killer—before he or she can strike again.

“Martini’s plotting is expert, his characters vivid and alive. . . . Martini is a very fine writer, period.” - Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers

“Martini knows how to spin a tale.” - Washington Times

“Martini…will leave the reader’s fingertips blistered from turning pages.” - Jackson Clarion-Ledger

“An expert at good old-fashioned, gimmick-free storytelling.” - Steve Berry, author of The Jefferson Key

“Martini is a star.” - Asbury Park Press