Enemy Within [Kindle Edition]

Robert K. Tanenbaum (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Lawyer and law professor Tanenbaum (Reckless Endangerment) brings back his husband-and-wife team of chief ADA Butch Karp and former gunslinger Marlene Ciampi to fight corruption while bringing up their "mutant offspring" in the whirlwind of IPO-era New York City. Opening with two shooting cases Karp suspects are being rammed through "the system" for purposes of political expediency (it being an election year for the DA), the bedraggled-but-upstanding Karp finds himself in a dire situation involving allegations of racism, police conspiracy and potentially misguided use of the newly reinstated death penalty. His spitfire Italian wife, Marlene from Queens, having hung up her guns for a quiet job with a corporate security firm, is swept away on a tide of newfound paper wealth when her company issues a sky-high IPO following a suspiciously well-timed VIP rescue in Kosovo. Meanwhile, their eldest, wayward genius Lucy (who can absorb languages like a sponge), has gotten herself involved in a dicey situation through her charitable work with the homeless when a serial killer begins targeting her charges. Tanenbaum weaves these three main plots (with several subplots attached to each) in a somewhat bewildering pattern of grotesque social inequalities and dirty city politics; while the problems of Karp and his daughter are clearly on a collision course, Marlene provides a form of comic relief via her demented trajectory of reckless spending and alcoholism. The overall story line is more than a bit far-fetched, but fans of Tanenbaum's characters, sharp dialogue and grasp of the intricacies of New York's legal system will not be disappointed.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Tanenbaum's new Butch Karp/Marlene Ciampi novel opens with a bang. Two NYPD cops on a stakeout spot a snitch at the wheel of a stolen SUV. After a high-speed chase with bullets flying, the snitch is dead, and the hero cop who did the shooting insists it was self-defense: the snitch tried to ram the police car. It's an election year, so everyone but Karp is inclined to accept that explanation. Politics colors other cases too: the trial of a young black street hustler for the murder of a Jewish diamond merchant, and the search for a murderer who's stalking homeless people. Karp and Ciampi's daughter, Lucy, is doing volunteer work with "the unhoused," and Karp is afraid she'll be caught at the wrong place at the wrong time. Meanwhile, Marlene is celebrating the money she's made on technology stocks. She's officially out of the security business until a plea for help from a female rock star drags her back. Vintage Tanenbaum, sure to appeal to fans and likely to increase their numbers. Mary Carroll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 741 KB
• Print Length: 544 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0743403436
• Publisher: Atria Books; 1st edition (August 2, 2002)
• Sold by: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000FC0NYG
• Text-to-Speech: Not enabled
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #130,860 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A sassy, streetwise and suspenseful thriller., August 19, 2001

By 

E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Enemy Within (Hardcover)

"Enemy Within" is Robert Tanenbaum's thirteenth novel in the Butch Carp-Marlene Ciampi series. Butch is now the Chief Assistant District Attorney for Manhattan. Marlene is working for a private security firm that is about to trade its stock publicly and she is happily contemplating the prospect of becoming enormously wealthy.

Butch, meanwhile, is knee-deep in an investigation of corruption in the police department that is also tainting the District Attorney's office. Butch's boss, Jack Keegan, is facing a tough election, and Keegan would prefer that Butch turn a blind eye to certain questionable cases that are passing through the system. However, being the white knight that he is, Butch feels compelled to investigate a police shooting that is not what it seems, as well as the murder of an unarmed homeless man by a woman who claims that she acted in self-defense.

Tanenbaum presents a large and colorful cast of characters, from a group of wretched and pathetic homeless men and women to Marlene Ciampi herself. Marlene goes beserk after she is involved in a shooting and, at the same time, she discovers that she has millions of dollars to spend. She becomes an alcoholic and a shopaholic and her behavior is both outrageous and terrifying. Butch and Marlene's daughter, Lucy, is now seventeen and she is as rebellious and unhappy as ever. She cuts school regularly to visit, feed and nurture the homeless and she is also suffering the pangs of her love for an "older man".

Tanenbaum wisely brings back characters from his previous novels for cameo appearances. Roland Hrcany, Guma, and V. T. Newbury (each a former or present colleague of Butch) add spice to the novel as they help to move the plot along. Tran, the former Vietcong who has helped the family in the past, coaxes Lucy out of her scholastic doldrums, and Father Dugan aids Butch in his investigation and participates in the final climactic chase scene.

The dialogue is witty, fast-paced and politically incorrect. "Enemy Within" is filled with insights about what really passes for justice in the political town known as New York City.

This novel does have several weaknesses. As usual, Tanenbaum likes coincidences and it just so happens that Lucy's homeless friends are involved in the very case that her father is investigating. In addition, Marlene's recovery from her addictions is abrupt and unrealistic. One does not "snap out" of alcoholism, which is a serious illness, not a phase. Finally, the ending is a little too pat, as Tanenbaum struggles to tie up the many loose ends which dangle at the end of the novel.

In spite of these quibbles, "Enemy Within" is an entertaining and engrossing legal thriller that will undoubtedly please the many fans of this long-running and successful series.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Always a good yarn..., October 29, 2001

By 

L. Quido "quidrock" (Tampa, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Enemy Within (Hardcover)

is what you will get with a Tanenbaum novel. Enemy Within captured my imagination and attention a little less than earlier books in the series.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still quite taken with the Karp daughter, Lucy, although the freedom she is granted to move about any and all dank corner of NYC, making friends of the homeless, is a little bit of a stretch. Some old friends from the series return, although their bits are far too small -- Hrcany, Guma, Newberry and one of Tanenbaum's best, Tran. Butch himself is
worrying his way through middle age, and is believable in his motivation and his frustration at the lack of normalcy in either his work or family life. (Oh, if only he realized that this is true of everyone in their 40's!)

The sour note is the author's decision to drive Marlene to drink. And spend. And drink. And spend. And drink. And, having tried to fit this zany, opinionated Italian lady into that mold, Tanenbaum does not do the reader any favors by asking us to believe that she can then shake herself out of it without professional help, simply because she is motivated to take down some bad guys and stop ignoring her daughter and help resolve the murders she is involved in.

Marlene takes the book from 4 stars to 3. Is it time for a change in the series? Perhaps so, the DA's office has been thoroughly dismembered in the series, perhaps Butch needs a judgeship. Perhaps Marlene needs to have at least one child learning disabled, so she can devote her considerable skills to something that matters.

Still, the series that best showcases all the slices of life that are NYC, continues to appeal, even when exploring the wildly rumored underground terrors that haunt the city and maintain the myth.

Perhaps best purchased used or borrowed from the library!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than a lot of others, October 26, 2001

By 

Roger Paulding "author, The Pickled Dog Caper" (Stafford, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Enemy Within (Hardcover)

This may not be the Butch and Marlene story that Tanenbaum has written, but mediocre Tanenbaum is better than the best of John Grisham. Marlene goes on a tangent that is one of the best parts of this book when she gets filthy rich and cannot get enough shopping or enough vintage wine. Lucy is her mother's daughter all the way. Butch is really left more confused than usual, but manages to cope. If you are not yet a Butch and Marlene fan, start with the first and read them in order. Wouldn't you love to see Cher play Marlene in a movie!