Capture

Robert K. Tanenbaum

Book 21 of Butch Karp

Language: English

Publisher: Pocket Books

Published: May 14, 2009

Pages: 435

Description:

When a rising starlet from Spanish Harlem dies from a gunshot wound in the fashionable downtown penthouse of an eccentric and famous Broadway producer, New York District Attorney Roger "Butch" Karp and his hard-charging, crime-fighting wife, Marlene Ciampi, smell drama. Karp is outraged at claims by the producer and his high-powered attorney that the "troubled" actress committed suicide. With the help of a fearful witness who Marlene convinces to speak out, Karp wages a relentless battle for justice against a notorious defendant, a legion of experts, and a barrage of hostile threats.

Meanwhile, a shadowy international power group called the Sons of Man kidnaps Karp's daughter, Lucy, as she attempts to thwart the latest terrorist threat against New York City. Karp races to decode a baffling series of riddles left behind by the group's mastermind, his longtime enemy, to uncover the terrorists' true target and save Lucy from certain death. The key may lie within the fevered mind of David Grale, a half-mad religious vigilante who has mysteriously retreated beneath the city.

Hunted by a beautiful but deadly Russian assassin, Karp and his eclectic band of accomplices must infiltrate the Sons of Man before the group's scheme for world dominion succeeds. But, little does Karp know: the clock is ticking down on New York City as an invisible force prepares to unleash Armageddon.

With more than twelve million copies of his books in print, Robert K. Tanenbaum is a true "master of the legal thriller" (Vincent Bugliosi) whose yanked-from-the-headlines adventures keep readers rapt until each breathtaking conclusion.

**

From Publishers Weekly

New York County DA Roger Butch Karp, his wife, Marlene Ciampi, and daughter, Lucy, go up against a cartoonish crop of new and old villains in the over-the-top 21st thriller from bestseller Tanenbaum (after Escape). Their antagonists include Karp's chief nemesis, sociopath Andrew Kane, whose face transplant has failed and left him, well, without a face; David Grale, who may or may not be a foe, but who commands from his lair deep in the city's subway tunnels an army of stinking, filthy homeless men and women; the nefarious Sons of Man, a group that's been plotting against America for hundreds of years; and terrorists bent on striking a blow that will topple the U.S. government. While battling these madmen, Butch is also prosecuting a famous perverted Broadway producer who's killed a beautiful young actress in his apartment. Despite or because of the overkill, Tanenbaum's many fans are sure to be satisfied. (June)
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From Booklist

Butch Karp has a lot on his plate, and the reader has a lot to follow. A noted Broadway producer is accused of murder; a hung jury results in a mistrial, but Karp, the New York City D.A., wants to retry him. Meanwhile Karp is faced with an imminent terrorist attack, and he must decipher a series of coded clues if he wants to stop the attack and save his daughter, Lucy, who’s apparently been kidnapped. This novel, the twenty-first Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi thriller, follows on the heels of Escape (2008), and fans of that novel will enjoy this one. On the other hand, readers who have difficulty accepting the premise that a New York district attorney is also waging a top-secret war against terrorism will not find this book any easier to digest. Tanenbaum hasn’t lost his ability to write solid characters, but his stories seem to be getting a bit far-fetched. It may soon be time for him to decide whether Butch is the hero of legal thrillers or high-concept terrorist suspense novels. --David Pitt