What do you think?
Rate this book
Butch Karp #10
Reckless Endangerment
Deputy D.A. Butch Karp knows why people kill. For revenge ... profit ... survival ... pleasure. But for some, murder is beyond reason ...
An elderly shopkeeper is found brutally slain in Manhattan.
An undercover cop is shot to death while off duty.
A third victim is spotted floating in the Hudson River, his skull pumped with five .22 caliber slugs.
Three crimes linked by a single cryptic message. Three crimes that will plunge an entire city into an explosive urban nightmare. Three crimes whose far-reaching consequences will touch Butch Karp and his family in the most intimate, unexpected, and terrifying ways imaginable.
An elderly shopkeeper is found brutally slain in Manhattan.
An undercover cop is shot to death while off duty.
A third victim is spotted floating in the Hudson River, his skull pumped with five .22 caliber slugs.
Three crimes linked by a single cryptic message. Three crimes that will plunge an entire city into an explosive urban nightmare. Three crimes whose far-reaching consequences will touch Butch Karp and his family in the most intimate, unexpected, and terrifying ways imaginable.
438 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1998
159 people are currently reading
455 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
September 27, 2022
Robert Tanenbaum - Many of his “read” counts appear low due to Goodreads creation 2006 but should be higher, this book published 1996.
I feel he is like Grisham & Baldacci.
Characters are Butch Karp NYC District Attorney (DA) & Marlene Ciampi, Assistant District Attorney (ADA & wife) - NY “lawyer” stories
Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi are legal thriller characters.
In this investigation, they find a murdered elderly Jewish couple & Arab girl (16 runaway) mystery to solve. You follow the “Pimp” and the Arab runaway to murders. Does “Butch” assist in the last murder or is the Arab girl great in self-defense?
FYI - Asst. DA Roger “Butch” Karp, Criminal Courts Bureau & Marlene Ciampi Assistant DA - husband/wife.
Married in #3, Immoral Certainty, Lucy is their daughter. Series started in 1970s, story is in NY Manhattan.
I feel he is like Grisham & Baldacci.
Characters are Butch Karp NYC District Attorney (DA) & Marlene Ciampi, Assistant District Attorney (ADA & wife) - NY “lawyer” stories
Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi are legal thriller characters.
In this investigation, they find a murdered elderly Jewish couple & Arab girl (16 runaway) mystery to solve. You follow the “Pimp” and the Arab runaway to murders. Does “Butch” assist in the last murder or is the Arab girl great in self-defense?
FYI - Asst. DA Roger “Butch” Karp, Criminal Courts Bureau & Marlene Ciampi Assistant DA - husband/wife.
Married in #3, Immoral Certainty, Lucy is their daughter. Series started in 1970s, story is in NY Manhattan.
June 17, 2014
Once you read the first two chapters, the book's theme becomes repetitive. Political insider enriches self at expense of public with aid of Congress, never pays penalty. The history of the subprime mortgage origin is interesting, with emphasis on how racial and class envy politics leads to bad policy.
May 10, 2018
Best one in the series so far!
August 14, 2011
I ended up with this book because I was trying to put a hold on the financial book with the same title. When I saw it was a mystery set in NYC, I figured I would read it anyway. The saddest part of this book are the comments about terrorism and the number of officers killed in the line of duty. This book was published in the late 1990's with 9/11 just around the corner.
February 20, 2015
The story turned out to be suspense of disbelief, murder, terrorism, cops and everything else. Mostly series have similar story and same characters.
July 14, 2017
Looking for something new and different to read I picked this book up by whim at the library. I did not realize until I had finished that it was part of a series based upon the main character, Butch Karp. That would explain my sense that there was not a lot of character development - it had already been accomplished in the previous 9 volumes, I assume.
Written in the 1990s, this book is based upon the growing reality of tension between Jews and Muslims in New York City, while also throwing in interests of a Mexican drug cartel. Reading the book post 9/11 makes one realize that the book was likely an accurate reflection of growing tensions in the city in that era which made it a plausible read at the time. A small sect of Islamic terrorists is planning an attack on a gathering of Jewish women. Through some twists and turns through other deaths and their circumstances, the real target only becomes clear well into the book.
This was an okay read. Compared to other crime/action stories this one is probably pretty average. Again, I did not know the characters well, and so perhaps missed some of the interactions that more veteran readers may have picked up. Ultimately, a good book to pass some leisurely reading time. But I can't say I am inspired to read others in the series.
Written in the 1990s, this book is based upon the growing reality of tension between Jews and Muslims in New York City, while also throwing in interests of a Mexican drug cartel. Reading the book post 9/11 makes one realize that the book was likely an accurate reflection of growing tensions in the city in that era which made it a plausible read at the time. A small sect of Islamic terrorists is planning an attack on a gathering of Jewish women. Through some twists and turns through other deaths and their circumstances, the real target only becomes clear well into the book.
This was an okay read. Compared to other crime/action stories this one is probably pretty average. Again, I did not know the characters well, and so perhaps missed some of the interactions that more veteran readers may have picked up. Ultimately, a good book to pass some leisurely reading time. But I can't say I am inspired to read others in the series.
August 1, 2019
As always with this series it always amazes me when Butchs life as a DA lawyer and Marleens life as a vigilante women’s rights advocate intertwine and creative a mayhem of great sorts!!! This family is amazing and lord I feel like at this point that they are real!! At least real to me! I have read this series so far out of order that I actually am happy now to read earlier books to get some clarity and background!!! This one again as always a huge hot button - Middle East Muslim vs Jews!!! No matter where you fall on these issues these books bring awareness that years after being written are relevant!!!
January 14, 2020
Robert Tanenbaum has created an interesting couple/family with the Karp series. While Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi, his lawyer/investigator wife are career successes. They are not your typical parents. In fact, they seem to put their children in harms way. This novel is the tenth and is better than the previous one. The story revolves around three crimes that are linked by a single cryptic message.
July 22, 2017
Another well written novel by this author. Tanenbaum's mysteries featuring Butch Karp always take you, the reader down many intricate paths. I especially enjoyed the daughter "Lucy" her edgy linguistic talents added much to the story. I would recommend this book to all...no offensive language, no really "blood and guts" murders, just good old fashioned mystery writing.
June 27, 2020
Another good read by Tanenbaum. Trans, Lucy, Posie, Marlene and Butch characters showed once again why we love them. Flawed human beings but a overwhelming determination to do justice irrespective of how it is accomplished. It took me a little longer to get into this book but it was well worth it in the last 4 chapters.
February 21, 2019
This is a great series. Lucy's language skills are coming along nicely.
July 6, 2019
a little overcomplicated, but very satisfying. (the title is completely random, isn't it?)
April 15, 2020
I found this book hard to follow. Too many characters, it was hard to keep track of their names. Not a bad story though.
February 28, 2021
Legal mystery
He is good about describing all the inter relationships and how they affect each. It is easy to follow the details.
He is good about describing all the inter relationships and how they affect each. It is easy to follow the details.
April 22, 2021
Another good tale starring Butch, Marlene, Lucy, and Tran.
January 22, 2024
Usual well written story - 9 books down..
February 26, 2024
First time I've read any of this author's books. Great story and characters. I loved his writing style.
October 4, 2009
Though written in 1998 and set in 1981, this story is as relevant as yesterday's latest terrorism news story.
The ongoing relationship of Butch Karp, his wife Marlene Ciampi and their family continues in this and subsequent novels. A fascinating group they are.
Tanenbaum and his co-author Michael Gruber have the ability to start a story with seemingly insignificant events that eventually all inter-relate and wind up coming together in the climax. This technique hooks the reader and forces him or her to pay attention to seemingly unrelated details because they are sure to become important later.
This particular story has Butch, in a staff role at the NYC DA's office, pursuing what looks to him like a possible terrorist plot but is ignored by all but a few of his colleagues and associates in law enforcement.
Marlene, spending much of her time helping out at an abused woman's shelter, uncovers a connection to what her husband is working on but neither of them know it. She is also constantly struggling with her personal demons that manifest themselves as her seeming inability or unwillingness to avoid serious trouble and violence.
The supporting cast of Tran, the Vietnamese bodyguard, ass't DA's, police investigators, Islamic terrorists, Mexican drug lords and an unbelievable Hispanic assassin all contribute to the fascinating story.
This is one of the better efforts of the Tanenbaum/Gruber collaboration.
The ongoing relationship of Butch Karp, his wife Marlene Ciampi and their family continues in this and subsequent novels. A fascinating group they are.
Tanenbaum and his co-author Michael Gruber have the ability to start a story with seemingly insignificant events that eventually all inter-relate and wind up coming together in the climax. This technique hooks the reader and forces him or her to pay attention to seemingly unrelated details because they are sure to become important later.
This particular story has Butch, in a staff role at the NYC DA's office, pursuing what looks to him like a possible terrorist plot but is ignored by all but a few of his colleagues and associates in law enforcement.
Marlene, spending much of her time helping out at an abused woman's shelter, uncovers a connection to what her husband is working on but neither of them know it. She is also constantly struggling with her personal demons that manifest themselves as her seeming inability or unwillingness to avoid serious trouble and violence.
The supporting cast of Tran, the Vietnamese bodyguard, ass't DA's, police investigators, Islamic terrorists, Mexican drug lords and an unbelievable Hispanic assassin all contribute to the fascinating story.
This is one of the better efforts of the Tanenbaum/Gruber collaboration.
March 4, 2009
There were fifteen of these before my fave guy Michael Gruber quit writing them, and I'm sorry to see that now there are only three left that I haven't read. This one was a real page-turner, but had a bit too high a body count for me--too much like a Die Hard or Jason Bourne movie for my taste. In fact there were times when it almost read like a screenplay for such a movie. The carefully complex plot centered on the interaction between Arab terrorists, Mexican drug runners, and Hasidic Jews fighting it out on the streets of NYC in 1981, all of them presented from law enforcement's point of view as pitiless, hateful troublemakers. The book was written several years before 9/11, so has a certain air of prescience about it. But it still has the usual cast of characters I've grown to know and admire over 12 books now, and some very endearing family moments. And the denouement is contrived with such perfect poetic justice that it almost makes you smile in spite of all the violence and mayhem.
December 25, 2013
This is my favorite Butch and Marlene story to date. I felt like in this book we got to spend more time with the other characters in the book instead of it being so much Butch and Marlene. I was able to follow how all the different plot lines wound together better in this tale as well. I appreciated that Marlene's crazy behavior was more tempered this go round. That said, we have a Mexican assassin and some Middle East terrorists to do all the crazy stuff for us. Parts of the novel read like a serious action/adventure screenplay, but what the heck it worked. Lots of Lucy and Tranh, which was nice but I wonder if they are going to over-shadow B&M in future novels.
February 12, 2012
Too much outrage and very "ranty", which made it hard for me to read. I tend not to trust books which have a very strong agenda and present only one side of things; maybe there really is only one side in this case, but I tend to doubt it. I think the book is based on a lot of detailed reporting but, at least to me, it didn't do a good job of presenting the big picture - Countrywide and Fannie Mae clearly had big problems but how much of the crisis was directly attributable to them? Seems like there were a lot of huge companies in bad shape and plenty of bad decisions to go around.
August 28, 2009
Once again I believe Tanenbaum brings in far to many players and most have names that I would not identify with and then sometimes the same person can have abreviations or nick names which makes it difficult to follow. Interesting plot once again.
July 30, 2009
Not too much character background maybe because the book is part of a series, and the author expects the reader to read them in order. (this is my first!)
Sufficient suspense and thrill to hold the reader's attention. A classic case of cops and robbers (or in this case terrorists).
Sufficient suspense and thrill to hold the reader's attention. A classic case of cops and robbers (or in this case terrorists).
September 21, 2013
Here the power faces a couple of out-of-town assassans -- some from the Middle East and another from Mexico -- who collide in an unlikely blow-out in Queens, killings scores, including police. And that's not even the denouement.
June 18, 2014
A good series; the continuing characters, with the exception of Karp, a little larger than life and the plot requires a suspension of disbelief. These are mere quibbles that keep me from awarding this one four stars. It's packed with action and good dialog.
March 23, 2015
Complicated plot; interesting characters...
I enjoyed this crazy romp. I couldn't wait to pick up my Kindle fire to continue the unpredictable adventure. Even though the bodies piled up, the ending was satisfying.
I enjoyed this crazy romp. I couldn't wait to pick up my Kindle fire to continue the unpredictable adventure. Even though the bodies piled up, the ending was satisfying.
August 4, 2016
The first 50 pages are so terrible. Every non-essential character is written as a stereotype. Once you get past that, the plot is exciting. But there are so many exciting books out there, don't waste your time with this one.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews