A former sergeant in the Army, Ruiz denies killing her. While in the Army, he was a sharpshooter, and his gun was the murder weapon. Moreover, he had been working for the company providing security for both Madelyn and her company, and she and Ruiz had had an affair, one incident captured on videotape. The security contract had been terminated, but Ruiz had been seen following Madelyn afterwards. He claims that she was frightened about something and asked him to provide security secretly.

Isotenic’s major client is the U.S. government, particularly the Pentagon. Besides other products, Madelyn’s company is developing IFS, a computer program that can be used as spyware. She was the lead on the project. A retired general Satz is one of her major contacts, and she had had a loud argument by phone with Satz one day not long before she was killed.

Paul and his associate Harry try to track down Satz in order to ask him about his dealings with Madelyn and her company, but they are unsuccessful. All their attempts to get information from the government are rebuffed on the grounds of national security. Paul locates an engineer who claims that Madelyn and the government stole his computer program which is the basis for IFS, but his lawsuit could not proceed without information the government was not willing to provide.

Paul’s and Harry’s investigation into Ruiz’s past is also proving to be a problem. There is a large gap in his resume, and Ruiz will not explain what he was doing during that time. How can Paul defend his client when no one is talking and so many questions remain unanswered?

As the expression goes, Double Tap could be a “story ripped from the headlines” except fiction came first. This legal thriller took on heightened relevance – I read it the same week that it was revealed that President Bush had authorized eavesdropping on Americans’ communications without first obtaining court warrants. The scenario laid out in Double Tap is not as far-fetched as many might believe ...or want to believe.

This is the author’s eighth Paul Madriani novel, but it stands very well on its own. There are brief mentions of his wife’s death from cancer and that he has a teenaged daughter but little else not directly related to this plot. Most of the action concerns the investigation into the circumstances behind the crime and – for those of us who love that sort of thing –courtroom drama. Paul is the first-person narrator for much of the story, and his impressions give added insight into the characters and the action.

Readers who have not read previous books by Steve Martini will find Double Tap a good one with which to start. It’s likely they’ll soon be seeking out other books by this popular author. This one comes with a strong recommendation.

--Lesley Dunlap