8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Hilariously dreadful, April 6, 2008
This review is from: Malice (Paperback)
My dismay at the loss of an intelligent, witty mystery series has been tempered by the amusement that comes from how comically bad it has become.
"Malice" is filled with conspirators and mystic happenings. The bands of conspirators include powerful descendents of Celtic smugglers; the Russian Mafia; a band of liberty-loving Constitutionalists; Mole People; Chechen and Islamic terrorists; Basque separatists; a secret federal spy unit; amateur forensic experts; White Supremacists; and a corrupt collegiate athletic association. Where's the Mormon Tabernacle Choir?
Lucy's dreams and visions while under the influence of peyote drive the plot. A prophecy-quoting homeless guy appears on cue. Totemic owls lead to the victim.
There is enough mayhem and derring-do to stock an Austin Powers film. Attempted garroting, roof-stop struggles, a hijacked ferry-boat, ambushes, Mole People battling terrorists, speedboat interceptions, bombings and fiery death.
Yet despite the thrills, the entire clanking machinery rests on one wafer-thin premise - a minority senator's call for Congressional hearings causes a powerful secret society to fear it will be revealed.
That possibility spurs the conspirators to plan an assassination before millions of witnesses at the climax of the St. Patrick's Day parade.
It made me laugh out loud. Since when does a minority congressman's call for investigation get taken that seriously?
Talk about low stakes - it's like the false rape in "Fury" where the crook suborns perjury and allows herself to be sexually battered, all to get a Master's degree in English.
The foiling of the plot is equally thin. None of the sleuthing has revealed any new clues, so with only a poetic phrase and a symbol to guide her, Lucy simply intuits which parade marcher out of 150,000 to follow, and saves the day.
Karp, Marlene and VT have had their family histories re-written. The new authors get the story of Marlene's career wrong - she did NOT start a security service for celebrities, and think of protecting endangered women as a sideline, it was exactly the opposite. Isn't this key to this character's moral core?
The characters have become bizarre. To show Karp as a moral man, the author makes him a grumpy, hypercritical Luddite. Marlene's toughness is shown by having her threaten people with violence if they displease her. Marlene says she'll unman Ned if he doesn't keep a promise - Whoa, what kind of mother-in-law is she going to be? Lucy's sexual bantering is becoming creepily inappropriate. Are we really supposed to admire these people?
Mikey and Richie's visit to the Karp home is a hilarious scene of a dysfunctional family. Marlene belittles her husband in front of the guests when they arrive. She responds to a compliment with a threat to hurt someone. The Karp parents badmouth the twins, who fight in front of the guests. The hostess helpfully points out the discomforts of the guests' intended room. As the guests begin their story, Marlene asks whether it's true that people who live where they come from are racists. The next day while the guests are out, Lucy Karp returns home, upset her room is occupied, so Marlene, who's begun drinking early, has the guests share with the twins. She insists they stay, despite the smell of dirty sox. The children refuse to join the guests at dinner, and later the family learns a friend may be dead.
Wow. Talk about awkward.
The repartee between Tran and Jojola is like a bad buddy movie. The police stand around watching while the Good Guys battle, and meekly do as Lucy says when she tells them who her Daddy is. The Bad Guys don't just kill people, they have to converse with the victim. And, in true bad movie fashion, the end brings together all the Good Guys, no matter how unrelated, for a feel-good scene where they can smile fondly at one another. The plot of the sequel is already revealed. Tanenbaum should just title these things Hoax II, III, IV and V.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointment, December 29, 2007
Having read all of the Karp saga books with pleasure and looking forward to this latest one it is difficult for me to express my disgust and dismay with the trashy writing Malice offers an unsuspecting reader. Butch, Marlene, Lucy, Ned, Jojoba, Tran, VT, et al become shadow figures totally disinteresting and even unlikable. Just when I thought it could'nt get any worse or more trite it ended with that old Irish drinkers' prayer about "the road rising to meet you". The book is not even entitled to one star. Juvenile writing at best.
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