Escape [Hardcover]

Robert K. Tanenbaum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 29, 2008

Escape is a classic encounter between the forces of good and evil in human form that asks, and answers, questions of how to deal with supposedly “God-inspired” acts of murder and mayhem. In a riveting trial of garish courtroom confrontations, newly elected New York District Attorney Karp battles the “insanity of the insanity defense,” as he tries to make Jessica Campbell, a rabble-rousing political science professor at NYU, pay for the murder of her three children. While Campbell claims that God told her to “send her three children to Him,” it is up to Karp to prove that she was fully aware of the nature and consequences of her actions. Meanwhile, an Islamic terrorist, The Sheik, and his homegrown suicidal “jihadis” hatch a plan, a spectacular outrage to occur in Manhattan’s heartland, that if successful could destroy the economy of the United States and the world. Standing between the terrorist Sheik and his diabolical scheme are Butch’s wife, Marlene Ciampi, a private detective focused on protecting women from abusers; the couple’s daughter, Lucy, who has joined a secretive anti-terrorist organization; and a wonderfully eccentric-but effective-group of crime fighters as has ever graced the pages of a book.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In bestseller Tanenbaum's improbable 20th Butch Karp legal thriller (after Malice), Karp, the New York County District Attorney, is as usual juggling multiple challenges--including the prosecution of Jessica Campbell, a politician's wife who murdered their three children, allegedly in response to a divine command, and yet another Islamic terrorist plot aimed at the Big Apple. While the sheer horror of Campbell's crimes, along with a psychological defense based on post-partum depression, could have been the basis for a thoughtful legal debate, Tanenbaum stacks the deck by saddling the defense with hack expert witnesses and makes a heavy-handed effort to parallel the defense theory with the suicidal jihadists, who also claim to act in the name of their god. The ability of Karp's family members to wander into apocalyptic terror plots and emerge not only unscathed but with a quip on their lips will be off-putting to many readers.
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Review

"Escape is yet another riveting crime story and courtroom drama by the inimitable Robert K. Tanenbaum. The former top Homicide Prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney Office shines a penetrating light on one of the most controversial topics in our justice system - the insanity defense. The result is a fast paced, provocative legal thriller that Tanenbaum almost has a copyright on." -- Vincent Bugliosi, former Los Angeles District Attorney and bestselling author of Helter Skelter

"Another chilling courtroom thriller by Robert K. Tanenbaum. Roger "Butch" Karp and his cast of characters are as exhilarating and compelling as ever. Brilliantly executed and entertaining thrill-a-minute action - Tanenbaum is a true pro and it shows." -- David Morrell, New York Times bestselling author of Scavenger

"It is a rare novel that both thrills and cuts you to the bone. Robert K. Tanenbaum's latest thriller, ESCAPE, slices even deeper, chilling down to the marrow with a story as topical and real as the pages in your hand. As challenging as it is riveting, here is a story that delves into the root of evil and leaves one questioning where morality ends and insanity begins. It will leave you breathless." -- James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author of The Judas Strain

Tanenbaum is at his very best in ESCAPE -- a brilliantly complex thriller that races the reader from the courtroom to the killing fields -- with clever twists, smart dialogue, and a story that grabs you by the throat at the outset and keeps you turning pages till late into the night. Tanenbaum's tour de force -- a stunning read." -- Linda Fairstein, New York Times bestselling author of Bad Blood

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 520 pages
• Publisher: Vanguard Press (April 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593154747
• ISBN-13: 978-1593154745
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,066,639 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

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars but better, June 21, 2008

By 

Julia M. Walker (NY Finger Lakes) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Escape (Hardcover)

Ok, this isn't wonderful, but it's certainly better than the last four (2004 Hoax, 2005 Fury, 2006 Counterplay, 2007 Malice.) The first 15 Karp/Ciampi novels - ghost-written by Michael Gruber - are among my favorite reads. If you haven't had the pleasure, run right out and start at the beginning. It was gruesome to see the series change when Tanenbaum got a new ghost. The errors alone were staggering - Butch forgot where his children were born; the dog changed breeds; Lucy became stupid.

This, as I said, is better. The plotting is much better (it had reached a subterranean nadir in Malice) and the settings are more carefully drawn. Here we get a lot of preaching, but the number of coincidences is down to a manageable level and Lucy is of average intellect. Sadly, everyone sounds the same, sort of mid-Atlantic bland. Gruber had a gift for languages that the new ghost has noted, but can't emulate. Butch says "Guck!" something Gruber's Butch would never have said; VT sounds the same as Guma except for vocab; and Father Jim is now being called by his last name. But there is some interesting play with Arabic and Swahili, and the stuff on Muslim saints is good. The minor characters once again have charm - Moishe and Goldie, especially, also Miriam.

But for all the book's bloated length, we don't get to dwell in people's lives; we just hear about them. We hear that Marlene cooks, but we don't see it. We hear that Lucy is spiritual, but it's like being told she's left-handed. I miss the immediacy and the detail of the early books, but at least these characters are on the same page.

So if you share my fantasy that Marlene and Butch and the kids are really out there somewhere, cut off from us by new narrators, this is a much less painful way to keep up with the dear folks. It's a good beach read.

Here's hoping for more next time.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed in Maryland, May 8, 2008

By 

Richard E. Kaye - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Escape (Hardcover)

After reading all of Robert Tanenbaums books I was waiting for Escape in anticipation of another great story , however am very disappointed. Although the attempt was to write a book with up to date real world situations there was way too much time and importance wasted on the Islamic world and culture so the reader was lost in the suicidal "jihadi" followers. Not much of Butch and Marlene and family. The book was way too long and the story line hard to follow.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Escapist, June 5, 2008

By 

G. Ware Cornell Jr. "anotherlawyer" (Weston FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Escape (Hardcover)

Tanenbaum has created the perfect summer thriller. A shadowy WASPish group, together with an even more shadowy Islamic terrorist cell conspire to change the world as we know it. Aided by former Harlem gangsters and a Chechen amazon warrior the plan cannot fail.

Of course on the othe rside we have the courageous District Attorney Butch Karp, and his private eye wife Marlene and their twins, his daughter Lucy, an undercover translator, his memory-impaired father-in-law and a baker who survived the Nazi death camps to produce the "finest cherry cheese coffee cake in the five boroughs." If that weren't enough they are aided by a couple of saints-one Christian and the other Muslim.

In spite of the fact it sounds a bit like Mom and Dad Save the World, and the outcome is never in doubt, it is cleverly plotted and thoroughly entertaining.