10/09/08

Between the Covers

Constitutional questions add to novel's intrigue

by Mary Burns

Shadow of Power

by Steve Martini

($26.95, William Morrow)

“Shadow of Power” features defense attorney Paul Madriani in this latest book by Steve Martini, agreeing to defend Carl Arnsberg, a supposed neo-Nazi, in a trial. He is accused of murdering Terry Scarborough, the author of a book that is causing race riots across the nation because of its accusation that the U.S. Constitution still has aspects of slavery approval.

Before his death, the author Scarborough said this was the price to pay for social progress and past injustice. The intriguing plot slowly builds with oblique references to a contemporary manipulation of power.

Thomas Jefferson, the author and a signer of the Constitution, had slaves while he claimed to be opposed to slavery, and the question of the book-within-the-book is how this affected the framing of the Constitution.

A large part of the book involves the juried trial. The reader learns how the attorneys consider their questions and the order of the witnesses, along with what can go wrong when they miscalculate. If you think SODDI evidence (“Some Other Dude Did It”) is standard, you’ll wish you were in the jury when Herman testifies. They couldn’t stop him from telling the truth, and I couldn’t keep from laughing.

You’ll want to have your copy of the Constitution on hand when you bite into this juicy novel.

And don’t put me on a jury anytime soon. I know too much.