Customer Reviews

Sudden Death (Andy Carpenter)

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Wisecracking but lovable Andy Carpenter is at it again in David Rosenfelt's fourth book, Sudden Death, featuring this lawyer and sometime detective.Along with a group of friends who haev helped him before Andy is up to some of his old tricks when called upon to defend a would be murderer. And while its been three months since his last high profile case, Andy is once again up to the occassion not only employing all of his skills but his wonderful sense of humor and take on life. But Andy really needs to be tournament tough for this trial as it may be his hardest one yet.

In the home of Kenny Schilling, a quarterback for the Giants, police find a missing and very dead quarterback from the Jets. While Kevin

Schilling maintains he is innocent, things may not be that way at all. And as if Andy doesn't have his hands full with his canine rescue partner Willie, his somewhat interesting lawassociate and his not too hardworking and crossword puzzle secretary, Andy's long standing girlfriend and private investigator is thinking of leaving New Jersey and taking a job in the hometown where she grew up.

In the tradition of characters like Myron Bolitar from the

Harlan Coben series and Patrick Gennaro from Dennis Lehane's

series, David Rosenfelt takes his rightful place next to

these men in the fast paced world of suspense sprinkled with

both humor and pathos.

David Rosenfelt's "Sudden Death" features Andy Carpenter, a wisecracking defense attorney who has taken on a high profile case. Kenny Schilling, a star running back for the New York Giants, has barricaded himself in his house with the dead body of another football player, Troy Preston. Kenny claims that someone else killed Troy and left him to take the rap. After arranging for Kenny's surrender, Andy agrees to defend him, and the battle is straight uphill.

Andy is the first person narrator and he is a sweet and funny guy, similar to Ben Kincaid in the early William Bernhardt books. Unlike Ben, Andy is a multimillionaire who doesn't need to work for a living. Andy's lover, Laurie, is also his investigator, but she is seriously thinking about returning to the small Wisconsin town where she grew up. Andy loves his home in Paterson, New Jersey, and moving to Wisconsin is not an option for him. He spends much of the book worrying that he will lose Laurie.

"Sudden Death" features nasty mobsters, courtroom wrangling, media hype, and, on every page, Andy's one-liners. Rosenfelt has a gift for spare writing and deft characterization. Marcus, Andy's fierce bodyguard, who grunts rather than speaks, can frighten the most hardened criminal with his stony stare. Tara, Andy's beloved golden retriever, would be the one true love of his life were it not for Laurie. Edna, Andy's secretary, sidles in to work when she feels like it; her true passion is crossword puzzles. "Edna is to crossword puzzles what Gretzky was to hockey."

As the case against Kenny becomes more watertight, Andy digs into his bag of tricks to cast suspicion on some nasty New Jersey gangland types. This would be a brilliant idea, except for the fact that Andy is quickly targeted for death. Rosenfelt's ending is both far-fetched and predictable, but "Sudden Death" is so entertaining that it scarcely matters. David Rosenfelt's easygoing and amusing writing style makes this novel a pleasure to read.

I have always enjoyed David Rosenfelt's books. His lead character, Andy Carpenter, is emmensely entertaining. Though much of the material throughout the book feels like it has been said or done before, Rosenfelt has a way of making it still very enjoyable.

This latest novel, Rosenfelt's fourth of the Andy Carpenter series, follows Carpenter as he is defending a star athlete, fictional Kenny Schilling of the NY Giants, from a murder charge. It appears that a man that the defendent got in a heated argument with was murdered. It doesn't look good for Schilling as he was found with the murder weapon, blood on his clothes, the victim in his house closet all the while Schilling is holding police at bay with a pistol. Now Carpenter has got to figure out how to make Schilling look innocent as well as actually be innocent. On top of that, Carpenter has to deal with the possibility that the love his life, his girlfriend and private investigator Laurie, will move back to her hometown and leave him along in Jersey.

The book has its usual twists and turns. The biggest reason that I have liked Rosenfelt's books, besides the humor element, is how he is willing to take chances with his characters. Rosenfelt is willing to sacrifice a character (whether it be through death, or some other means) to further a story or heighten the stakes. It is effective and has proved jarring. This book was entertaining and became thrilling and I will look forward to the next one.

When a mystery writer creates an engaging character with ample opportunity for enticing cases, a series is born and readers await with anticipation each new installment of crime solving. SUDDEN DEATH, by David Rosenfelt, is the fourth mystery that features Andy Carpenter as a crime-solving criminal defense attorney. Both Carpenter and Rosenfelt appear on the way to long and successful careers in the mystery business.

Andy Carpenter has a luxury that most lawyers would love to possess. He inherited $22 million from his father, and that bankroll allows him the opportunity to pick not only his clients but his cases as well. In one of his earlier novels he successfully represented Willie Miller, wrongfully convicted of murder. Miller's release and subsequent civil suit continue to make everyone around Andy financially secure. That group includes Miller, Andy's secretary Edna, his associate Kevin Randall, and Laurie Collins, who serves as Carpenter's private investigator and love interest.

As the novel opens, Carpenter and Miller are on their way to California to meet with movie producers to discuss a possible film surrounding Willie and his vindication. Prior to becoming an author, Rosenfelt had a career in Hollywood, and the opening scenes of SUDDEN DEATH are an entertaining and humorous look at the West Coast lifestyle. Soon after arrival the wining and dining commences, and within a day Andy and Willie are on a flight back to New Jersey speculating in their minds as to who will portray them in the movie that will chronicle their achievements.

But before the casting call can begin, a new client needs Andy's services. Kenny Schilling is a star running back for the New York Giants. Andy meets his new client while he is barricaded in his home surrounded by police officers. Also inside the home is the corpse of Tony Preston, wide receiver for the New York Jets. The evidence appears overwhelming, but Carpenter finds other facts indicating that Schilling was framed. Of course the reader knows that Andy will establish his client's innocence, but how he accomplishes that task makes SUDDEN DEATH great mystery reading.

Rosenfelt has two wonderful writing talents that serve him well in the mystery milieu. In addition to Andy Carpenter, a cast of quirky and interesting characters --- some previously introduced in the series, and some who make appearances only in this saga --- are portrayed. All of them are interesting individuals who add to the story and plot development. In SUDDEN DEATH Andy's girlfriend Laurie must decide whether she should return to her hometown to resume her law enforcement career. As both Andy and Laurie wrestle with that dilemma, so does the reader. Caring about characters is what distinguishes good mysteries from mediocre efforts. This series creates characters who readers genuinely care about.

Rosenfelt's other ability comes in his creation of courtroom scenes. Many legal-related novels fall apart when they enter the courtroom. For a non-lawyer, Rosenfelt has a wonderful ability to capture what transpires before a judge and jury. Sometimes Andy does get away with a few strategies that real-life attorneys would not attempt, but after all this is fiction, not real life, and plot sometimes trumps life. A future Andy Carpenter novel may find him toiling for even longer periods of time in the courtroom. It would not make Rosenfelt's effort any less readable or enjoyable.

What is the best recommendation that one can give a mystery such as SUDDEN DEATH? Perhaps there are two. The first is to observe that each new episode of the series continues to maintain the quality of previous installments. The characters and style are by now comfortable to readers. You can enjoy this book, go back to previous Carpenter adventures and get up to speed without a problem. The second recommendation is perhaps even stronger. This reader anxiously awaits Andy Carpenter's next case. There is no doubt that it will be another enticing courtroom adventure.

--- Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman

The ending to this one sure was a surprise! I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, with football playing a large role in it. But the characters were as fun as always and the plot was more of a shock than usual. While I am looking forward to the next two books, the formula of the frame-up defense is wearing a little bit thin... I guess these books aren't really meant to be read back-to-back like this.

A good fun book but not as good as some of the author's prior efforts. Kenny Schilling, a football player in an "O.J." type standoff with the cops is accused of murdering another player. He wants Andy Carpenter to defend him. Kenny has no recollection of what happened while the murder took place, just like one of Andy's prior clients (remember "Open and Shut"). Andy takes on the case and seems to change his theory as to what transpired almost every 50 pages of the book. Hidden in the background of the story is his relationship with Laurie, who has an irresistible offer that would involve breaking up with Andy. You need to wait till almost the end of the book to find out the outcome (unless you already had a sneak peak into the author's next book).

Though the book is better than a lot of courtroom thrillers out there it is slow the first 150-200 pages (the book is only about 300 pages) and Andy seems to not be as sharp witted and interesting as he was in the author's prior works. Also, the author tries to fake out the reader twice with resolutions but both times there are still a lot of pages to go and so unresolved fine details (reminiscent of the movie "Taking Lives") that the reader is far from fooled.

This book should be read but you should start with the author's first book ("Open and Shut") before getting to it.

Sudden Death is the 4th book with Andy Carpenter. Andy is a lawyer, but he doesn't have to work because his father left him millions. Andy defends the star running back of the New York Giants, Kenny Schilling, for murder. The victim is Tony Preston a wide receiver for the New York Jets. You will find yourself laughing out loud. There are some sad moments in the book also.

David Rosenfelt writes very witty books, and the Andy Carpenter books are the most enjoyable and entertaining books I have read in a long time.

"Sudden Death" is the second Andy Carpenter book that I've read(I was introduced to the series last year when I read 'Bury the Lead'). As with the previou book, the charaters are inteesting, well-developed and quirky without being too annoying.

The plot is the biggest problem with 'Sudden Death'. There's a lot of build-up, but very little payoff. This won't stop me from reading other entries in this series, but Rosenfelt needs to tweak things a bit. Some of the similarities to Robert B. Parker and the 'Spenser' cast are rather obvious here. Maybe Rosenfelt needs to work on finding his own 'voice' and motivation for these characters, rather than simply emulating what others have done before.

Rosenfelt succesfully follows up his first three novels, Open And Shut, First Degree and Bury The Lead, with Sudden Death. Rosenfelt continues to grow as one of the freshest voices among today's mystery writers due to his ability to provide interesting plots, credible courtroom drama, plenty of surprises, lots of humor and well-developed major and minor characters. Andy Carpenter, the main character who is a wise-cracking suburban New Jersey defense attorney, is one that stays in your mind even after you finish the book and is one that I'm looking forward to 'hang out' with in his future legal adventures. Plus, his dog, Tara, is one I wish I had. I highly recommend Sudden Death when you're in the mood for a fast-paced, easy read. However, you might want to first consider reading the other books in the series which I think will further your appreciation of Sudden Death.

Rosenfelt's first three books in the Andy Carpenter series were tightly written capers with lots of humor sprinkled in, and a minimum of overtly obvious suspects and plot twists. I can't say the same for Sudden Death. The red herrings are obvious, as are the suspected culprits. This would have been okay if Mr. Rosenfelt had kept the book as tightly written as the others, but the narrative went on for too long as Carpenter repeatedly went through a litany of thoughts regarding the possiblility of his significant other moving away from him, and his fears of being killed by a noted drug dealer. The humor that was so abundant in the other books in this series is also not as evident, and the text could have used more to compensate for the psychobabble.

Enjoyable, but not as much as the others.