Tragic (Butch Karp Series #25)

by Robert K. Tanenbaum

Overview

New York Times bestselling author Robert K. Tanenbaum ’s hero , District Attorney Butch Karp , goes up against a ruthless union leader with too much power , too many secrets , and too many enemies to silence . . . or kill .

Prizefighter tough. Street-hustler smart. Pit-bull vicious. Longshoremen’s union boss Charlie Vitteli clawed his way to the top—and no one’s going to take him down now. Not if they value their lives. Like Vince Carlotta. He accused Vitteli of embezzlement and election rigging. Now Carlotta is just another corpse on the waterfront—allegedly gunned down by an armed robber. Connecting Vitteli to the murder could be the death of anyone who tries . . . unless District Attorney Butch Karp can uncover the one tragic flaw that could bring down the curtain on the cold-blooded villain once and for all. Packed with ingenious twists, diabolical turns, and shocking revelations, Tragic is Robert K. Tanenbaum at his page-turning best.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781451635607
Publisher:	Gallery Books
Publication date:	08/13/2013
Series:	Butch Karp Series , #25
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	43,841
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Robert K. Tanenbaum is one of the country’s most respected and successful trial lawyers and has never lost a felony case. He has held such prestigious positions as Bureau Chief of the New York Criminal Courts and Homicide Bureau in the District Attorney’s Office. He was also Deputy Chief Counsel to the Congressional Committee investigations into the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King. He taught for several years Advanced Criminal Procedure at his alma mater, the University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law. His previous works include the novels Tragic, Bad Faith, Outrage, Betrayed, and the true crime book Echoes of My Soul.

Editorial Reviews

The 25th volume (after Bad Faith) in Tanenbaum's series of legal thrillers chronicling the lives and careers of Butch Karp and his wife, Marlene Ciampi, opens at a performance of Macbeth in New York's Central Park, setting the stage for the crime drama that is about to unfold. A mob hit on labor union leader Vince Carlotta, though plotted by corrupt union members, is carried out by a gang of young thugs hired for the task, some of whom quickly find themselves—like Macbeth—haunted by guilt. It is the broad range of characters Tanenbaum presents to his readers that will draw them into the tale while Karp and Ciampi's tenacity in solving the case and bringing the true culprits to justice maintains its momentum. Many will also enjoy the various Shakespearean allusions—including a modern-day trio of witches—that arise throughout. VERDICT Not to be missed by Tanenbaum fans; recommend to readers of true crime and crime fiction alike.—Nancy McNicol, Hamden P.L., CT

Library Journal

Roger “Butch” Karp takes on organized crime masquerading as union politics in bestseller Tanenbaum’s overly ambitious 25th thriller featuring the New York County DA (after 2012’s Bad Faith). Recently deceased union leader Leo Corcione left two prospective heirs: ruthless Charlie Vitteli and upstanding Vince Carlotta. Vitteli’s thugs, led by brutal Joey Barros, set out to prove that the nice guy finishes last—by putting a bullet through Carlotta’s head. Karp works to pin Vitteli to the crime, but when Karp’s wife, ADA Marlene Campi, provides crucial testimony, the personal connection threatens to discredit both them and the case. Tanenbaum, himself a criminal lawyer, supplies fluid, authentic dialogue, but overlong courtroom cross-examinations drag down narrative momentum. On the plus side, the expansive cast of characters includes intriguing portrayals of the petty lowlifes who are both agents and victims of Vitteli’s machinations. Constant allusions to Macbeth freight the book with grandiose expectations that are never met. Agent: Mike Hamilburg, Mike Hamilburg Agency. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

Tanenbaum (Bad Faith, 2012, etc.) goes on the waterfront in his latest in his crime series featuring Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi. Charlie Vitteli runs the New York City–based North American Brotherhood of Stevedores. That's bad for its members. Vitelli wants to hold onto power and continue to take bribes for avoiding safety regulations while also dipping into embezzled pension fund money. Using Joey Barros, his razor-toting enforcer, as go-between, Vitteli contracts with a Russian mob wannabe for the assassination of a union reformer. The murder's done, but the ugly punk from St. Petersburg is soon caught, along with two local mopes. That's when Roger "Butch" Karp, district attorney for New York County, steps in. One of the trio turns state's witness. The three are convicted. The Russian wannabe is quickly eliminated in a prison murder engineered by the Brighton Beach–based Malchek bratka. That convinces the other mope to turn state's witness, and Vitteli is indicted and convicted. With killers and motives laid out, this is no page-turning whodunit. Instead, Karp flexes his Jack McCoy muscles, giving courtroom-theater fans something to do when television is bereft of Law and Order re-runs. While Marlene Ciampi is a minor player, the narrative is bloated, with some contradictions and "that can't happen" moments. Most characters are clichés, but two or three break out: Jackie Corcione, weakling son of the union founder who is kept in line by the threat of outing his homosexuality; "Dirty Warren," Tourette's-afflicted, street-wise newsstand operator; and Ivgeny Karchovski, retired USSR colonel and boss of a not-so-bad Russian gang, thugs who are willing to deal in illegal immigration, false papers and black markets but draw the line at drugs, guns and prostitution. Conveniently, Ivgeny is Butch's cousin and part of an underworld pipeline. Tanenbaum tosses in quotes and references to Macbeth--"I have murdered sleep" being handy shorthand for a beleaguered conscience--but that's an elaborate blueprint for a small structure. No action thriller this--it's all courtroom drama.

Kirkus Reviews