Given the Crime [Mass Market Paperback]

Margaret Barrett (Author), Charles Dennis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1998

In the midst of a headline-making case, a Mob hit strikes close to home--and Susan Givens comes face-to-face with a corpse. Suddenly, her every adversary seems out to get her. There's her insanely jealous colleague--a woman with the brains of a bimbo but the guts of a kamikaze. There's Susan's almost ex-spouse, a psychiatrist who's casing her better than the CIA. And there's the Mob, who have her on their "Most Wanted" list.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Meet Susan Given, single mother and head of the Manhattan District Attorney's Asset Forfeiture Unit. Her job: to seize criminals' assets. Her current assignment: to bust the Mafia garbage cartel's stranglehold on the New York cartage business. Her problems: some vile mob thugs; a petty, jealous boss; and a wacko husband who refuses to give her a divorce. Her fate: ah, therein lies the tale. Written in tandem by a novelist and an actual DA, this thriller is reminiscent of the hard-boiled novels of Raymond Chandler and Cornell Woolrich where atmosphere takes precedence over plot and clever repartee replaces character development. But it's a thoroughly enjoyable read with a satisfying ending, and Susan Given would be welcome to make another appearance?if the authors can reduce the constant stream of one-liners so that she doesn't sound like "Kinsey Millhone at the Improv." Recommended.
-?Rebecca House Stankowski, Purdue Univ. Calumet Lib., Hammond, Ind.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Immensely amusing debut suspenser by Rudman, an assistant district attorney in the New York District Attorney's office, who teams up with old-hand screenwriter/novelist Dennis (Somebody Just Grabbed Annie, 1975, etc.) to give readers the lowdown on Manhattan's Assets and Forfeiture Division, for which Rudman works. Assets and Forfeiture picks up property owned by criminals and reinvests it into policing the city. Attorney Susan Given's catch phrase is ``Crime Never Sleeps'' as she goes about relieving criminals of their goods. Along the way, Susan is trying to divorce her stupefyingly blinkered psychiatrist husband, Hugh Carver, with whom she shares custody of her two daughters, 14-year-old Salvadoran-born adopted Polly and 10-year-old Ivy, a vaudeville team of wisemouths about parents and parenting. Susan's biggest case at the moment is an attempt to bring charges against Nick Tesla and his son Junior, who have sewn up the garbage-carting business in Manhattan for the past 40 years. When an Oklahoma carting company tries to move into town and undercut Tesla's vastly overcharging group of thugs and legbreakers, Junior Tesla batters the brains out of a trucker. Manolo, a Cuban accompanying him at the time, chooses to run off rather than be involved in the murder. In a very funny scene, Susan captures him in a hotel bedroom and has him secreted away in a witness protection program--except that Manolo has fallen in love with Susan and leaves the program to chase after her. Meanwhile, Michael--novelist, actor, and her lover from Los Angeles--shows up, woos Polly and Ivy, and helps Susan with her undercover work against the Teslas, who continue devising ways to destroy their nemesis, although by now bodybuilder Junior has himself fallen for her. This kickoff in a series barrels along on a gift for witty dialogue that already sounds like a top tv crime show. Great entertainment. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 295 pages
• Publisher: Pocket (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671001523
• ISBN-13: 978-0671001520
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,938,645 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great debut in what I hope is a new crime series, November 10, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Given the Crime (Hardcover)

Garbage disposal is a multi-million dollar a year business in the Big Apple. The natural assumption to be drawn from this profit making venture is that there must be many indepedent entrepeneurs carving out a piece of the action. The Yellow Pages substantiate that theory. However, every listed company works under the umbrella of the Gotham Waste Removal Association (GWRA), a front for the Mafia, who believe in maintaining a monopoly by any means at their disposal.

Susan Givens, the head of the Manhattan District Attorney's Asset Forfeiture Unit, has enough on her plate without trying to clean up the mob. Her personal life is in shambles. The man she loves disappeared over eight months ago. Her spouse, who she has tried to throw out of her life, is spying on her. Even though her case load is full, her boss wants her to prove that the GWRA has committed criminal activities. While being taken hostage by a john who killed a prostitute, Susan learns that he has information to sweep the mob out of the refuse business. She manages to get the man placed into the Witness Protection Program, leaving her to think that it is over. However, the danger to Susan has just begun.

The female protagonist of GIVEN THE CRIME is a spunky person, who bravely copes with a difficult job, a crazy husband, and raising two daughters. At times the story line is satirical, allowing the audience to accept coincidences and circumstances that, if taken as serious, would be considered far fetched. Because of this refreshing tongue-in-cheek approach, Rudman and Dennis make a welcome addition to the legal procedural sub-genre.

Harriet Klausner

2.0 out of 5 stars Given the Time Again, I'd Choose a More Interesting Book, June 24, 2004

By 

James N Simpson (Gold Coast, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Given the Crime (Hardcover)

This book varies in quality throughout its pages. At times it is pretty interesting and you want to read the next chapter to know what will happen next and at others, well most of the book to be honest you're getting quite bored. The chapters with Junior or undercover cops are pretty interesting but Susan could have been made a bit less complicated and a lot more interesting.

The story is basically about Susan who is a New York District Attorney who specialised in repossessing proceeds of crime. New players in New York's garbage removal industry are having their dogs' heads cut off or drivers' heads smashed in. The Mafia doesn't want new players and the hot headed, low IQ'd Junior, son of mob boss Tesla is addicted to violence. Susan is also having domestic problems in the mist of accidentally getting involved in this garbage war. Can she gather enough evidence to prosecute before it is too late?

4.0 out of 5 stars Given Got a Nifty Crime, May 31, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Given the Crime (Hardcover)

It was a clever idea to team up a lawyer with a script writer. Mrs. Barrett should be congratulated on apparently seeing her limitations.The result is a "new" kind of crime, written up with refreshing humor.This book is interesting and a good summer read for those who look for more than a 500-word vocabulary.