Customer Reviews

Resolved: A Novel

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"Resolved" is the fifteenth installment in Robert Tanenbaum's series of legal thrillers featuring Butch Karp and his impulsive and volatile wife, Marlene Ciampi. Butch is New York City's Chief Assistant District Attorney. Marlene, a lawyer as well, has given up her practice and she is separated from Butch. Marlene is suffering from depression and guilt over a series of violent actions that she committed in the past. She is living apart from her family while she sorts out her feelings.

"Resolved" has a large cast of villains, including the sadistic and brutal Felix Tighe, a convicted felon with a grudge against the Karp family. Joining Felix is a bunch of radical fundamentalists with explosives, lots of cash, and violent plans. In other subplots, Butch helps prosecute two cops who may have killed an innocent man in cold blood, and Marlene tries to help out an old friend who is in serious legal trouble. As he has done in the past, Tanenbaum expertly explores the moral dilemmas and political machinations that plague New York City's criminal justice system.

Tanenbaum's strengths have always been his witty and amusing dialogue, his marvelously colorful characters, and his insider's knowledge of New York City's criminal courts. Readers who have read all of the installments in this series have seen the Karp marriage evolve throughout the years, and they have also seen the Karp children grow up. Lucy Karp, Butch and Marlene's fascinating and brilliant daughter, has a key role in this novel.

The story in "Resolved" is compelling, timely, and fast-paced. Although the ending is not quite as strong as the rest of the book, "Resolved" is still an engrossing thriller that Tanenbaum fans will find as entertaining as its predecessors.

Robert K. Tanenbaum's latest novel RESOLVED is the fifteenth book in his popular Karp/Ciampi series. It comes on the heels of the very successful ABSOLUTE RAGE (2002), when Butch was called to West Virginia to work a case and the family was torn apart by the violence they suffered during that summer. The aftershocks of that assignment have left Giancarlo blind, Marlene Ciampi a victim of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, and Butch Karp torn between his job, his children, his wife, his damaged marriage and his constant state of ennui. Lucy is still a virgin who speaks to saints and who makes a valiant attempt to keep the household together; she is currently on leave from college. And the twins, Giancarlo and Zak, are now 11 years old and roam their neighborhood, finding ways to get into their own kinds of mischief.

These familiar characters play new and powerful roles in RESOLVED --- Butch is now a candidate for the office of District Attorney of New York City; his wife Marlene, a former vigilante, runs an attack dog school on Long Island; Lucy helps out at a soup kitchen, travels the tunnels under the city to help the "mole-people" who live there, and has no idea that she is soon to become the obsession of a madman; and the boys balance the craziness with their humor and energy.

Felix Tighe is a psychopathic killer who Karp prosecuted and sent to Auburn Prison in New York State. While he serves his time, he nurtures his hatred for everyone who put him away, especially Karp. His psychopathology makes him a perfect "cut-out" for the nefarious plans of a prisoner named Feisal Abdul Ridwan, an Islamic fundamentalist. He recruits Tighe to join the murderous brigade he controls on the outside. Ridwan works in the prison infirmary and devises a plan to help Felix escape from Auburn as a "dead man"  spirited out of jail in a coffin.

The plan works perfectly and Tighe is delivered to a three-story house in Astoria, Queens where he meets the main man Rashid and the muscle, Carlos and Felipe --- all accomplished killers and terrorists. Felix says he will do anything for money; after all, he is a dead man, which makes him "invisible." The terrorists will use him to place bombs at sites all around the city, to cause death, destruction and fear. Felix's personal targets are the entire Karp/Ciampi family, but he moonlights and sets bombs to kill other people in the justice system out of sheer hatred.

Robert K. Tanenbaum is a very gifted writer. His prose is clean and sharp. He plots his stories with so much care that they come off in perfect form. While his legions of fans have come to know the Karp/Ciampi duo well, they also know that each new book will bring new adventures. One of the most fulfilling aspects of his body of work is how he shapes and reshapes his main characters. He allows them to change and mature in a logical progression and offers readers a fresh vision of them as "individuals." Tanenbaum can also be relied upon to create a supporting cast of always-believable bad guys/gals and good guys/gals. All of his characters do and say exactly what the reader would expect them to do and say, with a few explosive surprises to enliven the story.

In RESOLVED the author captures the angst that haunts New Yorkers and the rest of the world, as we all try to come to terms with our national/international vulnerabilities since 9/11. A bomb in this novel is a metaphor for the explosive rage in the world at large but is centered in the minds of the few who carry their inhumanity to the most heinous ends. This "in-your-face" approach tends to reinforce the individual's inescapable knowledge that "the center does not hold." But RESOLVED is not a preachy, whiny or angry book. Rather, it tries to confront the brutality that readers have come to know in real life.

9/11 is fodder for novels, coffee table books, feature films, TV movies, talk radio and news discussions --- and will remain a central theme in our lives forever. The aftermath of that day is constant in our thoughts whether we are conscious of it or not, and we cannot deny that this horrendous event has changed the way we live and perceive the world. Nevertheless, a sense of optimism and hopefulness is threaded through the fabric of this novel. In the talented hands of Robert K. Tanenbaum, readers can take heart because he approaches this painful topic with dignity and respect that is steeped in grace.

RESOLVED is worthy of a serious read. In this case, art reflects life and in fiction the writer can give us clues to a safe resolution of the issues. Don't miss this one --- it's a keeper!

--- Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum from Bookreporter.com

His mother and his brother were Satan worshipping pediophiles but Felix Tighe was just a run-of-the-mill psychopath who tortured his wife and tormented before killing a young woman and her child. He was arrested charged with second-degree murder and sentenced to twenty-five years to life in prison. While at New York's Auburn prison a fight breaks out and he gets injured but not before killing a guard. Now he's looking at the death penalty but the chief trustee at the infirmary known as the Arab manages to fake his death and sends him to his Arab brethren.

Rashid is using Felix to go where Arabs would be looked on in suspicion (following the events of Sept 11 in Manhattan) and to plant bombs on vehicles used by people who were responsible for sending The Arab to prison. The terrorists' ultimate goal is to free the Arab using Felix as their mule. Both the Arab and Felix want to kill the entire Karp family because the Chief Assistant District Attorney was the prosecutor responsible for sending them both to prison.

This is the fifteenth episode in Robert K. Tanenbaum's long running series and it is just as fresh and compelling as the first entry. The story is told from the viewpoint of Karp, his wife, their daughter and Felix so reader know what is going on at all times in the minds of the primary characters. RESOLVED is an exciting legal thriller that the audience will keep on reading until the final page is turned.

Harriet Klausner

I have read some, but not nearly all of this authors previous efforts which is my loss. This story draws the reader along as surely as though teathered to a strong rope attached to a tireless horse. The characters are clear, the plot is ingenious and the tension is palpable. Do yourself a favor and join in the continuing story which promises more to come, yet delivers all one could want.

One of my customers encouraged me to read the Tannenbaum books, telling me a few of the highlights I would find intriguing but just enough to grab my interest. I have just finished reading all fifteen of the books, each one more exciting than the last and can't thank that customer enough for insisting that I read them.

RESOLVED held my interest from first page to last. I was on the edge of my chair while I was reading the final four or five pages. I wanted to get to the conclusion and, at the same time, I didn't want the book to end. The ending had just the right amount of "push" to make it more than satisfying.

Roger (Butch) Karp progresses from a green ADA in the first book, tutored in the morals of the law and respectability of the office of the District Attorney by Garrahy, his idol, to the firm, upstanding, ethical chief assistant district attorney of New York County and, finally, to the District Attorney position, although temporary in nature.

It has been a hoot watching Marlene Ciampi (Mrs. Butch Karp) perform her felonious activities, knowing that she was doing illegal deeds (and getting away with them with just the right tweak of the law) while the bad guys got what they deserved. Did I mention her awesome dogs? Unbelievable critters.

Is there really a child prodigy out there like Lucy? The majority of Americans barely speak English let alone a foreign language. It is hard to imagine some one who speaks forty or fifty. I have enjoyed watching her grow into a young woman, admiring the author's dare to keep her a virgin during the tempting years of puberty. And then there is her devotion to the family, putting her life on hold, keeping the family together while her mother is off "crying in her beer", feeling sorry for herself. It is rare in this day and age of selfishness usually displayed by the younger generation.

I think that there is a long way to go with the twins and am patiently waiting to see what the author does with them. There is definitely a story there and hopefully many more books to come.

Will Butch Karp be able to put the morals of Garrahy back into the DAs office? I sure hope so. The newspapers today tell us of the corruption of mankind on a daily basis. How fresh it would be to think that this one man can make a difference. (Yeah, I know this is fiction but I can dream, can't I?) Or will he become a political pawn. It remains to be seen.

HOAX, the next in the series, has now been released in hardcover. I never buy hardcovers but I will this one. I can't wait a year for the paperback to be released. Now I sound like half of my customers who are immersed in a series.

I haven't accomplished a darn thing since I started reading this series and my store shows it. What's a little more slacking off in the grand scheme of things while I sit down and enjoy the next segment.

If you like a fast-paced, exciting, sometimes unbelievable book, pick this one up. You won't be disappointed. However, I highly recommend that you read them all, first book through to RESOLVED and then HOAX. You too can enjoy watching Butch's law career evolve, Marlene become the (legal) felon of all time, Lucy grow into a wonderful young lady and the twins become whatever the future holds for them. ENJOY!! I sure did.

Such excitement - storyline about new terrorist possibilities mixed with faith and family love as a counterpoint to violence and derangement. Makes a good mix. I had to look up five new words, which is good for my mind: satrap, obeisance, fulsome, trop and apothegm.

This is the second Karp book I have read and if it's not up to the first (the first of the series) it is still good, entertaining reading. As with his first installment in the series the author keeps your interest up through a lot of plot twists and turns. I like books that push the edge (intricate serial killers, semi-super private eyes etc) without quite going over. This book does that. A pedantic terrorist, a crazed/possessed serial killer, a courtroom giant, they all all here. I liked the plot and the characters, except for Karp's wife. She can go sell crazy somewhere else, I got tired of her. I'll keep enjoying the series.

If you're familiar with previous books by this author, I don't have to tell you that Butch Karp (chief Assistant District Attorney), his wife Marlene Ciampi (attorney and security dog trainer), and their three kids, Lucy (20 and a linguistics whiz), Zak and Giancarlo (11 year old twins), are not the typical all-American family. This story has several subplots, all involving a family member, but you're never lost.

Felix Tighe has escaped from prison, thanks to the help of some terrorists, and law enforcement officials are lead to believe he is dead. Years ago, Butch had prosecuted him and sent him to prison. Now working for terrorists on the outside, Felix has to get some information from Lucy for the bad guys. And he wants to kill Butch for putting him in prison, but only after he makes Butch see his family suffer.

Meanwhile, Butch is trying a sensitive racial case. Marlene has returned to the family loft in New York City and gets involved in two cases of her own. One is to help a detective figure out who the Manbomber is since the sketchy description of the guy fits Felix's profile and because the current string of bombings has targeted others involved in Felix's arrest and trial. Assorted people put two and two together and realize Felix is alive, well, and raising hell as usual.

The terrorists are after Felix because he didn't deliver the info they wanted and he knows too much; Lucy gets in a bind; Giancarlo and Zak run into danger; Marlene is her usual depressed, `loose cannon' self; and Butch tries to keep the family together and the office running smoothly. The story has some twists and turns to keep you interested all the way to the end...and looking forward to the next Karp adventure.

There are two significant problems with this novel. The first is our villain's bizarrely elaborate plot. Throughout the novel, the leaders of the organization behind a series of bombings advise their underlings (and the reader) that what doesn't appear to make sense now, will become clear when the plan is fully executed. The elaborate plot could work if all the pieces were to come together at the end, at least a little, but this is where the author really lets the reader down. In the end, the story just doesn't make any sense.

The second significant problem with this novel is pacing. The novel features a mini climax with about 50 or 60 pages until the end of the novel. Then the novel shifts ahead in time a few months and all the suspense that had been generated completely evaporates for the next 40 pages when almost nothing happens (bored snowbound prosecutors and media types get drunk waiting for a delayed press conference to occur) and we wait for the final part of the plan to be executed. The big plan is a let-down and generates no tension whatsoever. The big moment, the final realization of this wildly convoluted plan, is resolved as quickly as it starts, in about 10 pages.

That said; I enjoyed much of this novel. The characters didn't necessarily feel `real' to me, but I appreciated the fact that the Karp family are a far cry from the sweet perfection of the Cross family. The plot, while far-fetched, is suspenseful, fast paced and fun - that is, until the final fifty pages or so. The weak ending spoiled what was a decent thriller. 2 ½ stars

This is a fast-paced well-written Butch Karp story that "resolves" a long-standing issue. Good dialogue. Fans of these stories will enjoy it.