Critical Mass

by Steve Martini

Book Overview

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 fisherman suffering from a strange and serious illness, a condition that doctors cannot diagnose, and 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...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0515126489
• ISBN13: 9780515126488
• Release Date: December 1999
• Publisher: Berkley Books
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.0" x 6.1"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Fascinating thriller!

Wow! What a wonderful book to read. When I finished reading this book (in one 4-hour setting), I put it down feeling completely mentally refreshed - it was that good! The first 6 chapters or so develop the plot while introducing the characters. Many books just dump the characters in your lap, but Martini weaves their introductions into the development of the plot, possibly better than any other book I've read. Our heroine, a lawyer who recently set up shop in Washington, gets pulled into the middle of a national security crisis when she gets retained by an arm's smuggler who has been hired to smuggle a nuclear bomb into the U.S. and blow up a city. But where is the bomb, who is the smuggler, and what city is targeted? Just when you think you're on to the plot and you know what is going to happen, the plot twists, and you are left in amazement. This is one of Martini's strongest books, and it was a pleasure to read.

So good, I've recommended it to friends

The story is gripping. Many twists and a surprise ending. Unlike Grisham, who writes complex stories with too many characters for me to keep track of, Martini keeps down on the number of characters and still makes the story compelling to read. Although the main character is a woman, it's the kind of book men would like as well. In fact, I mailed it to my brother -- and I've never given him a book to read before. I know he'll absolutely enjoy it. I'm also recommending Critical Mass to female friends. Get a copy.

WITHOUT A DOUBT, THE BEST!!!

I've read every one of the Martini books and this tops them all. It was full of suspense, terror, intrigue, mystery, romance, and current events.This seems to be a really well thought out plot and was put together perfectly. I read this in two sittings....Thanks Steve!

So compelling you will want to read this in one sitting!

"Page-turner" was redefined when steve Martini came out with Critical Mass. Definitely able to captivate the reader enough finish the book in one sitting. Unfortunately, I had to do it in two.I had never heard of the author before, but I will DEFINITELY be reading anything else he writes or has written.

A new direction -- well done.

Martini was beginning to stretch his courtroom characters a little too thin in The Judge; I'm glad he went off in a new direction in this book. It's as full of unexpected turns as all his previous whodunits, but this time with domestic and international terrorists. Its basic plot is believable (even if there are a few too many miraculous escapes) and it'd make a great movie. Don't start this book at bedtime because you won't put it down. Martini is to be commended for having a strong woman as protagonist; I only regret she never got her "constitutional rights". In the end Martini kills off the wrong character, the character I had really bonded to and wanted to see in future books. (Or, did he really die? In this book you're never sure!) A great trash read for a beach day, an airplane flight, or a lazy Saturday.