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Butch Karp #14
Absolute Rage
New York Times bestselling author Robert K. Tanenbaum delivers his grittiest, most ethically challenging thriller yet, as New York chief assistant district attorney Butch Karp fights for his family in the wilds of West Virginia's coal mining country.
While New York City sizzles beneath a blanket of early summer humidity, the Karp family is happily taking refuge in their renovated farmhouse on Long Island's north shore. Karp's battles against the City's corrupt politicians are never-ending. His wife, Marlene, is training guard dogs on their picturesque acreage; Lucy is enjoying her summer break from Boston College and playing the part of the dutiful daughter, assisting with the running of the business and tending to her rambunctious twin brothers.
The tide quickly changes, however, when Marlene befriends her beachside neighbor, Rose Wickham-Heeney, a northeastern aristocrat turned wife of West Virginia coal mine union leader Ralph ³Red² Heeney. Soon after the fun-filled weeks of family barbecues and lazy afternoons with the Heeneys, the Karps discover that Rose, Red, and their daughter, Lizzie, have been brutally murdered back home in McCullensburg. Irresistible force meets immovable object when the West Virginia governor appoints Karp as special prosecutor to bring justice to the corrupt town, its union chieftain, and his band of merry thugs. Marlene joins Karp as he searches for the killers and works to save his own family from an evil that runs as deep as the mines that fuel it.
While New York City sizzles beneath a blanket of early summer humidity, the Karp family is happily taking refuge in their renovated farmhouse on Long Island's north shore. Karp's battles against the City's corrupt politicians are never-ending. His wife, Marlene, is training guard dogs on their picturesque acreage; Lucy is enjoying her summer break from Boston College and playing the part of the dutiful daughter, assisting with the running of the business and tending to her rambunctious twin brothers.
The tide quickly changes, however, when Marlene befriends her beachside neighbor, Rose Wickham-Heeney, a northeastern aristocrat turned wife of West Virginia coal mine union leader Ralph ³Red² Heeney. Soon after the fun-filled weeks of family barbecues and lazy afternoons with the Heeneys, the Karps discover that Rose, Red, and their daughter, Lizzie, have been brutally murdered back home in McCullensburg. Irresistible force meets immovable object when the West Virginia governor appoints Karp as special prosecutor to bring justice to the corrupt town, its union chieftain, and his band of merry thugs. Marlene joins Karp as he searches for the killers and works to save his own family from an evil that runs as deep as the mines that fuel it.
480 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 13, 2002
108 people are currently reading
1503 people want to read
About the author
Robert K. Tanenbaum
76 books280 followersRobert K. Tanenbaum is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty-five legal thrillers and has an accomplished legal career of his own. Before his first book was published, Tanenbaum had already been the Bureau Chief of the Criminal Courts, had run the Homicide Bureau, and had been in charge of the training program for the legal staff for the New York County District Attorney’s Office. He also served as Deputy Chief Counsel to the Congressional Committee investigations into the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. In his professional career, Tanenbaum has never lost a felony case. His courtroom experiences bring his books to life, especially in his bestselling series featuring prosecutor Roger “Butch” Karp and his wife, Marlene Ciampi.
Tanenbaum was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He attended the University of California at Berkeley on a basketball scholarship, and remained at Cal, where he earned his law degree from the prestigious Boalt Hall School of Law. After graduating from Berkeley Law, Tanenbaum moved back to New York to work as an assistant district attorney under the legendary New York County DA Frank Hogan. Tanenbaum then served as Deputy Chief Counsel in charge of the Congressional investigations into the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.
The blockbuster novel Corruption of Blood (1994), is a fictionalized account of his experience in Washington, D.C.
Tanenbaum returned to the West Coast and began to serve in public office. He was elected to the Beverly Hills City Council in 1986 and twice served as the mayor of Beverly Hills. It was during this time that Tanenbaum began his career as a novelist, drawing from the many fascinating stories of his time as a New York ADA. His successful debut novel, No Lesser Plea (1987), introduces Butch Karp, an assistant district attorney who is battling for justice, and Marlene Ciampi, his associate and love interest. Tanenbaum’s subsequent twenty-two novels portrayed Karp and his crime fighting family and eclectic colleagues facing off against drug lords, corrupt politicians, international assassins, the mafia, and hard-core violent felons.
He has had published eight recent novels as part of the series, as well as two nonfiction titles: The Piano Teacher (1987), exploring his investigation and prosecution of a recidivist psychosexual killer, and Badge of the Assassin (1979), about his prosecution of cop killers, which was made into a movie starring James Woods as Tanenbaum.
Tanenbaum and his wife of forty-three years have three children. He currently resides in California where he has taught Advanced Criminal Procedure at the Boalt Hall School of Law and maintains a private law practice.
Tanenbaum was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He attended the University of California at Berkeley on a basketball scholarship, and remained at Cal, where he earned his law degree from the prestigious Boalt Hall School of Law. After graduating from Berkeley Law, Tanenbaum moved back to New York to work as an assistant district attorney under the legendary New York County DA Frank Hogan. Tanenbaum then served as Deputy Chief Counsel in charge of the Congressional investigations into the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.
The blockbuster novel Corruption of Blood (1994), is a fictionalized account of his experience in Washington, D.C.
Tanenbaum returned to the West Coast and began to serve in public office. He was elected to the Beverly Hills City Council in 1986 and twice served as the mayor of Beverly Hills. It was during this time that Tanenbaum began his career as a novelist, drawing from the many fascinating stories of his time as a New York ADA. His successful debut novel, No Lesser Plea (1987), introduces Butch Karp, an assistant district attorney who is battling for justice, and Marlene Ciampi, his associate and love interest. Tanenbaum’s subsequent twenty-two novels portrayed Karp and his crime fighting family and eclectic colleagues facing off against drug lords, corrupt politicians, international assassins, the mafia, and hard-core violent felons.
He has had published eight recent novels as part of the series, as well as two nonfiction titles: The Piano Teacher (1987), exploring his investigation and prosecution of a recidivist psychosexual killer, and Badge of the Assassin (1979), about his prosecution of cop killers, which was made into a movie starring James Woods as Tanenbaum.
Tanenbaum and his wife of forty-three years have three children. He currently resides in California where he has taught Advanced Criminal Procedure at the Boalt Hall School of Law and maintains a private law practice.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
February 4, 2023
2/500+ for Rory Gilmore book challenge
In the story "Absolute Rage," the Karp family finds themselves unexpectedly involved in a case after learning that their neighbors Rose and Ralph "Red" Heeney had been brutally murdered at their small-town home in McCullensburg, West Virginia.
Since this was my first Tanenbaum book, I had no idea what the main characters' backstories were. I had the impression that there was a lot of history left out and unresolved. .
It took a while for anything to start happening. It took far too many chapters and a lot of time for me to become interested in the family who were ultimately killed. Eventually, though, things picked up and I became intrigued.
Anyway I love Marlene's reaction when she learned what had happened to her son, despite the fact that it might sound a little bad. She just chose to take the law into her own hands because the justice system is obviously flawed.
In the story "Absolute Rage," the Karp family finds themselves unexpectedly involved in a case after learning that their neighbors Rose and Ralph "Red" Heeney had been brutally murdered at their small-town home in McCullensburg, West Virginia.
Since this was my first Tanenbaum book, I had no idea what the main characters' backstories were. I had the impression that there was a lot of history left out and unresolved. .
It took a while for anything to start happening. It took far too many chapters and a lot of time for me to become interested in the family who were ultimately killed. Eventually, though, things picked up and I became intrigued.
Anyway I love Marlene's reaction when she learned what had happened to her son, despite the fact that it might sound a little bad. She just chose to take the law into her own hands because the justice system is obviously flawed.
October 27, 2022
I attribute Tanenbaum with Grisham & Baldacci author’s style.
Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi are legal thriller characters in this story.
Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi are legal thriller characters in this story.
October 26, 2016
I'm not sure how the title relates to the story, but it's what I felt by the time I finished reading this book...all 452 pages. It was nearly 100 annoying pages before the family was murdered. (Couldn't they have killed everyone and just called it a day?) Boring details about a West Virginia mining union. I kept thinking those details must figure prominently into the story...nope. Then there's D.A. Butch Karp and his annoying family. The eighteen year old daughter who speaks 48 languages. Twin ten year old boys who say and do things no ten year old would say or do. Crazy dialog that flows best when read with a Yoda accent. (No, really. I read a snippet to my husband, and he agreed.) A mysterious underworld post-war Vietnamese friend of the family. It was all too much, but I kept reading. Joke's on me I guess.
August 30, 2022
I just could not get into this book. The characters didn't grab me - matter of fact they bored me. I just don't know.
December 31, 2014
In this novel Marlene Ciampi gets sucked into a neighbor’s hard luck story about a family feud in West Virginia. Marlene packs up the entire family and brings them down to the coal town using her legal background. Her actions brings them into serious danger not just for her but for her family. As a result, she brings in a Vietnamese thug to take care of the bad guys.
I wasn’t buying into the story line in this novel. The feuding families idea felt flat to me. Marlene bringing her family into danger also seemed stupid. The characters were poorly drawn in this novel, with Marlene being at the top of the list. The writing was also subpar. There was very little that I liked about this novel. I would advise to skip it.
Carl Alves – author of Blood Street
I wasn’t buying into the story line in this novel. The feuding families idea felt flat to me. Marlene bringing her family into danger also seemed stupid. The characters were poorly drawn in this novel, with Marlene being at the top of the list. The writing was also subpar. There was very little that I liked about this novel. I would advise to skip it.
Carl Alves – author of Blood Street
November 30, 2018
Outstanding book, not only in the series, but also in the genre. Previous books have included more humor, poking fun at characters, places, etc., and have also generally mainly focused on two or three of Butch's family members. This one, however, involves every family member and several colleagues and friends, old and new, in a darker and much more somber story line.
Marlene has left her bodyguard work in NYC and has purchased a farm away from the city where she is breeding and training mastiffs as guard dogs. Butch is still the chief assistant district attorney for Manhattan and is quickly becoming "burned out" chasing corrupt politicians. Marlene becomes friendly with her neighbor and young daughter, and when these neighbors return to their home in West Virginia where her husband is involved in coal mining union politics and are subsequently murdered, Marlene receives a frantic phone call from one of the surviving sons begging her assistance in solving the tragedy. Butch is also sent there to resolve the massive corruption in the union. Eventually the whole family ends up in the hills of West VA, and one disaster follows another. By the end of the book, Butch's whole family is coming apart at the seams, and there is no guarantee that they will all survive to return to their old "normal" lives.
Marlene has left her bodyguard work in NYC and has purchased a farm away from the city where she is breeding and training mastiffs as guard dogs. Butch is still the chief assistant district attorney for Manhattan and is quickly becoming "burned out" chasing corrupt politicians. Marlene becomes friendly with her neighbor and young daughter, and when these neighbors return to their home in West Virginia where her husband is involved in coal mining union politics and are subsequently murdered, Marlene receives a frantic phone call from one of the surviving sons begging her assistance in solving the tragedy. Butch is also sent there to resolve the massive corruption in the union. Eventually the whole family ends up in the hills of West VA, and one disaster follows another. By the end of the book, Butch's whole family is coming apart at the seams, and there is no guarantee that they will all survive to return to their old "normal" lives.
August 30, 2017
It's been quite sometime since I encountered the Karp family and I'm happy to find them pretty much where I left off despite missing a few books between here and there. Naturally, there have been changes in their lives but Butch Karp is still the moral, law abiding DA, his wife Marlene is now running a dog training program and willing to cross the line to achieve her own form of moral justice. They're still struggling to balance this with the love they have for each other and family life. Their kids are older, I missed some growing up years there but no real regrets. Their circle of sketchy associates continues to be on tap for whatever needs doing. This is a fast paced read with improbable plot lines. Suspend belief and enjoy as the Karp family goes from an easy summer at the beach to the middle of a union related murder in mining country.
October 18, 2024
Took me too long to read so it didn't keep my interest. Just a fair rating from me
April 14, 2019
Great short book in this series. Marleen and Butch and family may face its most trying time yet. Of all places in the backwoods of West Virginia!
November 7, 2022
3.25 ⭐️
marlene carried this book
marlene carried this book
January 30, 2015
Every one of the books in this series are fun to read...Butch and Marlene are a very unusual pair...Butch, the highly moral and upstanding D.A. and Marlene, the very different woman who is awesomely good at bending, even breaking, the rules Butch lives by as well as the law.....the characters who fill the pages of this series are interesting and well-developed...I like how the series also includes a lot about the personal lives of all of the characters...every time you pick up the next book in the series, you feel right at home...these are well-written thrillers full of very unusual people, including the bad guys...I have, on my bookshelf, every one of his books and I have re-read all of them at least once as they are worthy of it...lots of action, some good laughs, some poignant and almost tear-inducing passages...looking for something to entertain you for a while? read this series...you won't be sorry you did
September 28, 2018
I'm giving this a 3 because I honestly don't know how I feel about the books. Maybe in a couple of days, I'll havemore coherent thoughts and I'll edit this. But, in the meantime, I liked the action and how the story unfolded. While I do feel that the book could be a little shorter, for the most part, I think it had really good pacing. I like Butch. He's a good, solid, dependable, ethical guy. I more or less like the twins, but sometimes GC is a bit much. I love Lucy. But, I hate Marlene with the heat of a thousand suns. Maybe, had I read the first 13 books I would have a better understanding of how she got to be this way. But, I just see her as almost evil.
February 16, 2010
My absolute favorite Butch Karp/Marleene Ciampi..."fair and square" Butch attacks the villians above the board, while "slightly bent" Marlene attacks the villians from below...the villians are behind the brutal slayings of family members the Karps befriend over the summer out on the island...the family is involved in unoin work in the coal mines of W.Virginai...many of the characters in the Karp circle emerge for a fun ride!!!
June 11, 2021
I guess I should have read one of the first 13 books before this one. An easy two day read. The majority of the book was interesting as I learned a little about the characters. But the characters became a little too much for me. I would read others in the series but not go out of my way to
March 15, 2024
As the city sizzelsunder the summer sun, NY Chief Assistant DA Butch Karp and his family are happily vacaioning on Long Island's North Shore. Their Reverie changes to horror when they learn the their beachfront neighbors, Rose and Ralph "Red" Heeney - a coal miners union leader have been brutally murdered back home in tiny McCullensburg, West Verginia. Irresistablr forces meet immovable object when the govenor appoints Karp Special Procescutor to bring justice to the corrupt,rural town, its ruthless boss and his band of violent henchmen. Now Karp finds himsellf not only searching for the killers, but fighting to protect his own family from an evil that runs as deep as the mines that fuel it.
May 8, 2023
This book was a pleasant surprise! Being a complete novice to the literary world of Tanenbaum I was hesitant upon venturing in and had anticipated being overwhelmed by the legal terminology involved.
How wrong I was. The beginning chapters are a little slow to get burning but once the bomb drops you'll be hooked. Marlene is a fire cracker character with an enigmatic presence throughout. She alone is a good enough reason to get this on your reading list! I was completely taken by the dialogue and chemistry between its characters and particularly taken by the micro moments of comic relief that are spattered throughout.
It has led me to place Tanenbaum's series on my reading list!
How wrong I was. The beginning chapters are a little slow to get burning but once the bomb drops you'll be hooked. Marlene is a fire cracker character with an enigmatic presence throughout. She alone is a good enough reason to get this on your reading list! I was completely taken by the dialogue and chemistry between its characters and particularly taken by the micro moments of comic relief that are spattered throughout.
It has led me to place Tanenbaum's series on my reading list!
May 21, 2024
I found this book on a plane while I was working, and decided to read it. It’s the 14th book in a series so I didn’t know anything about the characters, but it was an interesting thriller. Usually you don’t know WHO did the crime, but this one shows you more about HOW they were trying to catch the real perps, who we already knew. Not a lot on the family feuds as I would have liked, and I felt some of the sexual tension with Lucy and Dan was…weird? Also the random saint appearance was strange. All in all, not bad, not great, just a decent book.
December 12, 2025
Ehhhh I picked this up for a book challenge so I wasn’t already familiar with the characters despite this being #14 in the series. It wasn’t to my taste - too much language and the murder wasn’t even terribly interesting. I also listened to it on audio bc I couldn’t find a library that had a digital copy, and I struggle with following audiobooks sometimes. So overall, not for me.
#2 Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge
#2 Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge
May 24, 2017
Continuing character, DA Butch Karp, is getting older. His daughter is getting married and his twin sons are in high school. Karp gets involved in a case of a serial rapist/murderer when an innocent young man is accused. His wife, Marlene, helps uncover the real culprit. Descriptive crime scenes are quite bloody and disturbing.
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April 8, 2024I think this is the first book I have read in the Butch Karp series. Good characters, I could understand who they were and what their history was without too much trouble. Requires the suspension of disbelief, but enjoyable if you are able to put all of that on the back burner and just enjoy the action.
January 24, 2025
Brooooooo. This book is wild!!!! It’s unrealistic in parts, but I really loved the suspense and the characters. Marlene is hilarious but also awesome!!! It’s a standalone, but I loved the different characters and what they brought to the story. All the characters had a reason for being in the story which I really enjoyed!
June 18, 2017
Absolute Action!
This story starts out on a mysterious note and moves swiftly into action. A story for both sexes. Interesting to the last word. The characters are believable and relatable.
This story starts out on a mysterious note and moves swiftly into action. A story for both sexes. Interesting to the last word. The characters are believable and relatable.
April 4, 2020
I have been reading the Butch Karp & Marlene Ciampi series in order. However, the each one becomes more and more ridiculous. Absolute Rage was so ridiculous that is was unenjoyable reading. Not sure how long I will continue reading the series.
September 25, 2020
Tannenbaum's book carries a good story that keeps readers of this time of shorter and less complex novels. This book is unique in that the action is in West Virginia, hardly the glorious places of many current police novels. There's plenty of characters and, of course, a good ending.
March 8, 2022
This was one of the better Tannenbaum books for me. The tension builds throughout the book and the characters are generally believable. I found myself turning the pages to find out what would happen next. Overall, a good read for fans of the genre.
October 23, 2022
I felt that the beginning of the story really helped readers connect to the murdered family, despite some feeling that the first section was redundant. Great plot, and great pace. This book got me interested in mysteries, so it will always hold a special place in my heart.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 16, 2023
This Butch and Marlene book had a little bit of everything - the beach; the New York DA drama; mischiefy tween boys; biting dogs; a pious daughter and West Virginia coal mines … 0h … and Vietnamese vigilantes. No wonder I couldn’t put it down.
January 21, 2024
Exciting storyline involving lawyers, ex-mob-contacts, Viet Cong, murder, coal country hillbillies, the training of guard dogs, some romance here and there and ultimately, an enjoyable, suspenseful tale complete!
April 14, 2024
It just wasn’t my vibe. It got a bit more interesting at the end, but I wasn’t ever able to really get into it. I thought the plot was pretty cool, but the pacing was a bit slow for my liking. 3.25 stars.
August 11, 2017
Author just pushed too hard by adding more and more story lines.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews