Hoax

Butch Karp #16

by Robert K. Tanenbaum

Investigating the apparent gang-related murder of a rap star, prosecutor Butch Karp finds himself enmeshed in the shady side of New York City politics and finds the case complicated by would-be mayor Andrew Kane and a series of child assaults in New Mexico.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Legal, Legal Thriller, Audiobook

496 pages, Hardcover

First published August 3, 2004

About the author

Robert 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.

Reviews

[Mary JL · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 16th book of the Butch Karp/ Marlene Ciampi series. It gets three stars---not quite as good as some of the series.

Still Bruce and Marlene are always worth reading for me. The books is the usally fast paced thriller Tanenbaum writes. Drugs, violence, sex, gangsta rap, crooked cops and abusive priests---all put into one book!

I did like seeing Bruce and Marlene's twin teen aged boy--Isaac and Giancarlo (aka Zik and Zak) inovovled in this case. The relationship between the two twins in really well handeld---they look so alike and yet react so diffently at times---hoping to see them again.

A good entry in a long running mystery/thriller series--good dialogue; good characterizations; lots of humor sprinkled through it but still a serious legal thriller. Recommended for any fan of mysteries; trhillers; action and adventure over age 18. Imho, not recommended for under 16 due to quite a bit of violence.

Read before I joined Goodreads so date unknown.

[Tgordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again a short but engaging saga in Marleen and Butch world. These two amazing characters can go to the ends of the earth and still have their paths and dramas collide! So great things happen for the children also in this short book!

[Elaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

why do I keep reading this series?

[Marianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

First time with this author,and it probably wasn’t a good thing to start with the 16th book in the series. Several things that made it a 2 star read for me. The long, didactic issue driven discourses became so annoying that I skipped over them....something I rarely do, but I found them such a slog that I very nearly stopped reading this book altogether. They detracted from the narrative. I got whiplash from the switching around which chopped the flow up in pieces.
So many dastardly things happened to the main character’s family. I just could not believe it. Seemed implausible. The villains paid for their crimes! Really? Only happens in fiction. Maybe the only redeeming feature of this book were some fascinating characters.
To be fair to the author, I’m going to read the first book of this series. We shall see.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book and didn't realize it was part of a series but I read it anyway. I could tell I had missed a lot by not starting with book 1 in the series. It was like reading 3 stories in one book and I really liked that. I was liking all the things that were happening. I enjoyed it but I would say maybe you should read the first books in the series although I haven't and I still enjoyed this one. I think a new character has been introduced so I want to read the next book if there are any to follow.

[Teresa Dennis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this for a book club. Writing was okay, but it was just so darn dark. If you like that sort, dive in. For me, felt like I'd been swimming in a sewer and need to wash the images from my mind. Also, characters are over the top. Daughter speaks twenty languages? Aw-shucks cowboy is so daggone cute and he rescues his lady love with a rope trick. Bad guy Kane is SO bad you can imagine him twirling his mustache Snidely Whiplash-style.

Not for me.

[Pamela Seaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Butch & Marlene fail to disappoint

Another great Butch & Marlene suspense novel. Marlene's vulnerability was shown as she struggles with her demons but don't worry she still kicks a**! Lucy's character evolves with her love interest. Looking forward to reading next book in series to see where it goes.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat difficult to get through. I read this series just for the exploits of Marlene Ciampi. Marlene has little to do in this 600 + page monster. Too many tangents, too many characters to keep track of. Book did have it's colorful moments to keep me engaged throughout. But, it was just way too long. Must move onto next book in series and hope things work out.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read

[LDean · Rating 4 out of 5]

S, L

[James Hein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story with a mix of all characters

[Jan Norton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know why Butch keeps his job, since his family is always in danger.

[Sharon Bell tabbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

Loved the book & characters. On to the next one. I have read all up to now & they are great

[Willie Kirschner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy this series and will continue reading the rest of the books. The setting of this one is both New Mexico and New York, and it was exciting all the way through.

[Lynne Block · Rating 1 out of 5]

Even loooonger

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book. I am looking forward to reading more in the series.

[Ileana Varnam · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this book. The book had so many racial slurs.

[Lopsided]

Book goes into the past.

[Pamela Allen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have read all of this series, but this book was too dark and something has been lost along the way. I think it was the ghost writer for Tanenbaum, and so I am done.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, I like this series, but hated this entry for a number of reasons. And in case you didn't notice, there are going to be a number of spoilers in this review...

1) The coincidences

Okay, Marlene just happens to run into the American Indian who hunted her Vietnamese friend during the Vietnam War... on top of that she stumbles across a conspiracy in New Mexico at about the same time that her husband stumbles into another part of it in New York. Out of the fifty-two states, she winds up in the place with the bad guy...

2) The Rehash

The author goes into great detail, reintroducing us to each character. This should have been done with a paragraph or two. I mean the comflict between Marlene and her husband, Butch, made for great dialogue and a great discussion of ethics and the law vs. Vigilante justice... but it did not make for a great rehash. It was as if every character got mutliple pages of re-introduction...

3) The recurring roles

David Grale, the leader of the homeless tunnel dwelling population is back.. ad nauseum... C'mon, how much can the author milk out of a character that is almost a rip off of the moleman villain from the old fantastic Four comic books... Or how about the guy with Tourette's syndrome who always has a trivia question or two for Butch... Interesting.. but EVERY NOVEL??


4) The ridiculousness...

Marlene and Lucy drive off a cliff, where their car is perched precariously on a tree. Marlene gets a hand out and Lucy's new beau, a cowboy, rides up on a horse, and throws a rope in the nick of time over Lucy's head and pulls her out as the car slides down into the gorge below. C'mon.

5) The early revelations

Let the reader actually wonder who the priest is.. but no, the author reveals the identity of the priest early on and so there is no mystery on the reader's part... no red herrings... We don't want to see the priest in action and know he's the bad guy-- we want to discover him.. so the author lets us know WAY EARLY in the book who the bad guys are. The only revelation is the leak from Butch's office.

What did I like about the book.. this time. not much of anything. While I love that each character his their own special gifts or flaws.. my favorite character, Lucy (need I pun that I love Lucy?) gets short shrift in this one.

Sorry-- but I don't want to read a 25 page recap of all the novels to date... and the author spent at least that many pages recapping...

This novel was way too long.. if the author had just given us a little more suspense and little more REAL detective work..

Sorry. this one was not for me.

[E Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know how a family could experience the multitude of
catastrophes that the Karps have without deciding to relocate to a quiet farm somewhere and think of another line of work. Now I realize I am reading one of a series (number 16) about Bruce Karp and his family. In order to fill 16 books lots of exciting stuff had to happen to them.

I really don't get Marlene. Her daughter was kidnapped and raped (in an earlier book). Her 11 year old twin sons are attacked and one left blind (again in an earlier book) and she takes off to find herself or rehabilitate herself because she killed someone (in an earlier book). Not any mother I know; but her family instead of being resentful, are just thrilled that she graces them with a short stay before she's off again to a retreat in New Mexico. Well, she does take daughter, Lucy, with her

There isn't much mystery here. We know who the bad guys are right from the start. It's just a question of who's going to get caught in the crossfire before good triumphs.


The author gives a great deal of background about each character. Sometimes more than I needed or wanted to know. My favorite character was the Indian sheriff.

I did enjoy this book. I might be dense, but I didn't get what the hoax was.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roger Karp, NYC head DA, wife Marlene Ciampi, Daughter Lucy and twin 11 year old boys lead an exciting and at times dangerous life. Roger is debating running for DA in the next Election, Marlene and Lucy are in New Mexico trying to recover from some traumatic events and the boys Zack an active boy and Giancarlo ( blind, due to a pellet left from a gun shot wound) are into some less than safe activities. When a Puerto Rican rapper and friend to the twins is arrested for the murder of a visiting gangsta rapper from the west coast Roger finds himself in a battle with a prominent lawyer (Kane) and mayoral candidate that takes on life threatening proportions. Also involved is the head of the Catholic Church and his secretary and a number of predatory priests and one killer. The action bounces from NYC to New Mexico as various members of Rogers family come up against different parts of the whole sinister plot by Kane to take city hall and install his own agenda. Plenty of action and interesting characters keep this one moving along.
ISBN - 0-7434-5289-5, Suspense, Pages - 613, Print Size - R, Rating - 4.75
All books reviewed are from the library or purchased by the reviewer.

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know where to go with this one.... The saving grace for it is that it took me so long to read it that I wasn't exposed to it for long periods of time. I felt the early part of the book dragged on too long with Marlene trying to find herself in New Mexico. With all the spiritualism going on in NM I thought I was reading a Craig Johnson book for awhile there. Marlene just happens to go where the NY bad guy went? C'mon! King of the Mole People in NY has a psychic connection with the bad guy? What a crock! Tran just happens to be the ghost Marlene's new buddy chased in Vietnam? Holy cow... There are too many crazy coincidences and happenings going on. However, ultimately is was a "good enough" adventurous highly fictionalized read for a distraction that I needed. Tanenbaum has done better.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first thing I noticed here was the absence of the usual tribute: "Again and yet again all praise belongs to Michael Gruber whose genius and scholarship flows throughout and is primarily responsible for the excellence of the manuscript. His contribution cannot be overstated. He is alter ego and truly lifetime partner."

Then I noticed several flaws that I don't believe Gruber would have allowed to stand. The bad guys were too purely evil, and there were so many of them! Some coincidences stretched credulity to the breaking point. Some misused words weren't caught by editors; Gruber would never have used them wrongly.

So I suspect Tanenbaum wrote this one without help, and it did not demonstrate the mastery of previous books in this, my favorite series. Still and all, it was a good, suspenseful read. I just hope Gruber will be back for the next one.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hoax is the first book that I have read by Tanenbaum, and I found that I did enjoy it. I have to admit that I was confused on what seemed to be separate stories progressing at the same time, but I enjoyed how Tanenbaum weaved all of these events together seamlessly to a satisfying conclusion. Since this book was chosen for my mystery book club, I expected a bit more mystery however it was definitely a satisfying thriller. Tanenbaum does a great job at developing all of his characters including giving his villains a reason for their actions even if twisted. The book is full of many twists and turns, and it was an enjoyable read.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great mystery involving about 6 main characters...and dealing w/drugs, rappers, Catholic church travesties in the pedophile issues we read about not so many years ago. The most fascinating thing of this book to me tho was...how an author, who is a lawyer, who has never lost a felony case, who is on every big-name committee imagineable in the lawyer world...could write so easily, so hugely, so simply, so voraciously. This is like his 16th book! You don't read this book...you live this book. He's an amazing author with his skill.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

#16 in the NYC ADA Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi series. First written by author Tanenbaum after the prior entries were ghostwritten by Michael Gruber.

NYC DA "Butch" Karp is concerned with the murder of a rap artist where the chief suspect is a friend of his sons. Marlene is attending an art school, for sufferers of PTSD, in Taos NM. She befriends the local chief of tribal police who is troubled by missing young Indian boys - clues lead to a rehab center where the NY diocese is sending priest pedophiles for treatment.

[Peter]

Well, I tried. The plot seemed to be pretty well stretched in the first chapter in a half, and by the time I'd got to that point, I realized that I was reading what was probably the second or third book in a series, and that to have a thorough understanding of the novel, I'd probably have to go back and start with the earlier works. Based on what I was reading in this novel, It didn't really seem to be worth it.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I had read this and not listened to it, I would have found it tedious, but listening to it was fine. It's not great writing and the plot is a bit cliched, but I found the twin boys cute, and I liked the relationship between the mom and daughter.

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel is needlessly too long. It plods through to a relatively interesting conclusion, but takes much too long to get there. This is definitely not one of my favorite Tanenbaum stories and rates 4 of 10 stars.