• Guardian of Lies

  • A Paul Madriani Novel
  • By: Steve Martini
  • Narrated by: George Guidall
  • Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (264 ratings)

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Guardian of Lies  By  cover art

Guardian of Lies

By: Steve Martini
Narrated by: George Guidall
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Editorial reviews

Defense Attorney Paul Madriani finds himself accused of involvement in the murder of a rare coin dealer. While representing a Costa Rican woman, also accused of the crime, he uncovers a decades-old conspiracy involving a Russian soldier, nuclear weapons, and a ruthless assassin. George Guidall effortlessly portrays a variety of characters and delivers Spanish and Russian accents as he weaves together the threads of the story. His calm tone and measured pace help build tension, and he delivers the dramatic and emotional passages equally well. Listeners will find it difficult to turn this off once they start.

Publisher's summary

Defense attorney Paul Madriani gets caught in a web of deceit and murder involving Cold War secrets, a rare coin dealer who once worked for the CIA, and a furious assassin in one of the most entertaining novels yet in this New York Times best-selling series.

Together with his partner, Harry Hinds, Madriani must piece together the threads of a decades-old conspiracy involving priceless gold coins, an aging American spy, a disaffected Russian soldier, and a forgotten weapon from the days of JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis. As the separate strands of the story come together, Madriani finds information that will ultimately lead him to the one person who holds the key to it all: a man some call "The Guardian of Lies".

Paul Madriani faces his most challenging - and most urgent - case yet, a breathless story that combines fact and fiction and will hold listeners captive until its final, explosive conclusion.

Crack another case Paul Madriani.
©2009 Paul Madriani, Inc. (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about Guardian of Lies

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Whoa! What a ride!

This book was really exciting. It kept me up late reading to see what would happen next. George Guidall always does such a good job of narrating that he improves the author's work.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Clutzy lawyer as international intrigue hero- not

What did you like best about Guardian of Lies? What did you like least?

Not much

What was most disappointing about Steve Martini’s story?

Appears to have been written as a movie idea. Too preposturous of a plot for a serious mystery or whatever this pretends to be.

Which character – as performed by George Guidall – was your favorite?

Guidall is an excellent performer.

Did Guardian of Lies inspire you to do anything?

Not read anything else by Martini

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

An Easy Listen

I enjoyed the story. It was fast paced. Did not take a lot of thought. A good book on a trip.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Guardian of Lies

Love Madriani in the courtroom, but not as much when he is on the run chasing after the bad guys. This book grabs your attention and, although its obvious what will happen at the end of the book, it is a good read. But Martini can do better, and with all the excellent reviews, I was somewhat disappointed.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Guardian of Lies

Steve Martini is one of my favorite authors & this story was as great as the other legal thrillers he writes. I love the curmudgeony Harry & the little omissions Hinds & Madriani use to solve their cases. This one had more action than a three ring circus & for a little while, had me believing that this would be the one that Hinds & Madriani finally lost. I didn't like the narrator as much as the one who read the earlier books but in the end, I enjoyed the book immensely even though the scenario was a little unlikely. A good listen with lots of action!!

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic book

From beginning to end, Martini does an outstanding job of coming up with the unexpected. His best book -- did not want it to end.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Way too Long

Great story line. It could have been about 4 hours shorter if all the unnecessary excruciating minutiae wasn't included.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Good, but not Martini's Best!

As a fan of Martini, this book has too much action that is not feasible. The Judge and Compelling Evidence are so believeable. Not so in Guardian of Lies. Martini is at his best game with courtroom drama!

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

ok if you can suspend disbelief, but not the best

Any additional comments?

Far from the best Madriani novel. This one would benefit from more Harry, less crazy, disconnected plotting and random characters.

The female characters were particularly one-dimensional and not believable. And switching the intriguing woman from the daughter to the mother was ... odd.

I also didn't care for the strong implications of extreme violence and torture, and the promise of more when the tale continues in another book. I won't be reading the next episode.

The author has a talent that has been enjoyable in his books to date. However, this book is not why I enjoy Madriani novels.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

excellent book ...best one so far by the Author

absolutely best book!!! loved everything about it. the author is fantastic. couldn't get enough

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