Capture [Hardcover]

Robert K. Tanenbaum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2, 2009

When a rising starlet dies from a gunshot wound in the fashionable downtown penthouse of an eccentric Broadway producer, New York District Attorney Roger “Butch” Karp and his hard-charging wife, Marlene Ciampi, smell drama. With the help of a fearful witness, Karp wages a relentless battle for justice against a notorious defendant, a legion of experts, and a barrage of hostile threats. Meanwhile, a shadowy international power group kidnaps Karp’s daughter, Lucy. As Karp races to decode a baffling series of riddles, a beautiful but deadly Russian assassin hunts him. He must infiltrate the kidnappers before their scheme for world dominion succeeds. Little does he know, the clock is ticking down on New York City as an invisible force prepares to unleash Armageddon.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

New York County DA Roger Butch Karp, his wife, Marlene Ciampi, and daughter, Lucy, go up against a cartoonish crop of new and old villains in the over-the-top 21st thriller from bestseller Tanenbaum (after Escape). Their antagonists include Karp's chief nemesis, sociopath Andrew Kane, whose face transplant has failed and left him, well, without a face; David Grale, who may or may not be a foe, but who commands from his lair deep in the city's subway tunnels an army of stinking, filthy homeless men and women; the nefarious Sons of Man, a group that's been plotting against America for hundreds of years; and terrorists bent on striking a blow that will topple the U.S. government. While battling these madmen, Butch is also prosecuting a famous perverted Broadway producer who's killed a beautiful young actress in his apartment. Despite or because of the overkill, Tanenbaum's many fans are sure to be satisfied. (June)
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From Booklist

Butch Karp has a lot on his plate, and the reader has a lot to follow. A noted Broadway producer is accused of murder; a hung jury results in a mistrial, but Karp, the New York City D.A., wants to retry him. Meanwhile Karp is faced with an imminent terrorist attack, and he must decipher a series of coded clues if he wants to stop the attack and save his daughter, Lucy, who’s apparently been kidnapped. This novel, the twenty-first Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi thriller, follows on the heels of Escape (2008), and fans of that novel will enjoy this one. On the other hand, readers who have difficulty accepting the premise that a New York district attorney is also waging a top-secret war against terrorism will not find this book any easier to digest. Tanenbaum hasn’t lost his ability to write solid characters, but his stories seem to be getting a bit far-fetched. It may soon be time for him to decide whether Butch is the hero of legal thrillers or high-concept terrorist suspense novels. --David Pitt

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Gallery Books; 1St Edition edition (June 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439148600
• ISBN-13: 978-1439148600
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #752,998 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert K. Tanenbaum is one of the country's most successful trial lawyers -- he has never lost a felony case. He has been homicide bureau chief for the New York District Attorney's Office and deputy chief counsel to the congressional committee investigations into the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Most recently, he has taught Advanced Criminal Procedure atthe University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law. His previous works include the novels Escape, Malice, Fury, Hoax, Resolved, Enemy Within, and Absolute Rage and two true-crime books, The Piano Teacher: The True Story of a Psychotic Killer and Badge of the Assassin.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A BIG Disappointment, August 27, 2009

By 

Raven Ren (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Capture (Hardcover)

I've long loved the Karp/Ciampi clan adventures. Somewhere a few books back (some say it was "after Gruber")the books in this series went from being well written thought provoking thrillers to farcical parodies of the earlier successes. "Resolved" was pretty good. "Hoax" had its moments and I thought perhaps Tanenbaum would get his mojo back. But alas, "Capture" is pretty awful...even laughable. I will not be finishing it, nor buying the next in this series unless Tanenbaum gets a better editor and "scrivener".

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars disappointing and dull, July 6, 2009

By 

K. Suzanne Johnson (High Plains, Colorado) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Capture (Hardcover)

I was disappointed in Tanenbaum's latest book. The plot(s) move very slowly and Tanenbaum;s writing seems much more subdued in pace and tone than in earlier books. I had no problem putting the book aside to continue another day. All of the gang are back: Butch, Marlene (in almost a cameo role), Lucy, the twins, Ned, Espey, Tran, John, David, the priest, V.T., and even Guma in a small (but funny) role. Lucy has joined Espey's group (what happened to her language skills?), as has Ned. Ned has become a potential sniper in a SWAT-team-like situation, which I find impossible to believe. Perhaps the best part of the book is the trial dialog for the case being tried for which Butch has assumed the lead as the DA, when the assistant DA originally assigned to the case is found dead. At times, reading this, I almost got the impression that this will be the last book about the Karps. All of the loose ends seem to be tied up and all of the characters (except perhaps Lucy and David) are in the places and situations where I expect them to be at the end of the series. Recommended only for the diehard Karp and Tanenbaum fans.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Why spoil a successfful style?, August 4, 2009

By 

Brian Torsney "bbt1118" (Palm Desert, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Capture (Hardcover)

I cannot understand why an author will use a succesful formula for several books, and then try something prepostorous. Butch Carp may be a fine prosecutor, but Tanenbaum is no Frederick Forsythe. Tanenbaum fails badly when he ventures into a realm he knows nothing about. The plodding novel becomes merely boring when the author tries to blend international intrigue with a crime/prosecution main plot. In short it is a poor and futile attempt at literary diversity.