I have always loved Martini's books - and his character, Madriani - so I was eagerly awaiting this new one. Have I been missing something? In the hiatus between Martini's published works I've been reading Elizabeth George, Michael Connelly, Scott Turow, Ruth Rendell, Elizabeth Peters . . . and wow, does Martini come off as shallow and gender-biased by comparison (well, not with Peters, but thats all tongue-in-cheek anyway!) Why does every woman of worth have to be perfectly cotoured, tall, slender, muscle-bound,...? Why does the hero have to be SO very stereotypical? I felt like I was reading the script for a B-grade TV movie! All I can be thankful for is that I did not buy this book, but checked it out of the library!