District Attorney Butch Karp and his pistol-packing wife Marlene Ciampi, the liveliest crime-fighting couple in New York, are back in True Justice. The first set of infanticides happen on Butch's watch: a wave of gruesome incidents in which newborns are killed or abandoned by their indigent teenage mothers. The second, Marlene's case, is straight out of the headlines: a middle-class college girl and her boyfriend are indicted for first-degree murder in the death of their baby after a concealed pregnancy.

The most interesting story belongs to Lucy, Butch and Marlene's teenage daughter, an incisively brilliant and complex young woman who deserves her own novel. Lucy's best friend's parents seem to have been murdered by an African furniture restorer of whose guilt Lucy is unconvinced. The real solution to the mystery of who killed the Maxwells is telegraphed well in advance, but all the crimes give Butch, Marlene, their colleagues in criminal justice, and even Lucy a chance to weigh in on the law's fault lines and the ironies implicit in what passes for justice in America. But it's Lucy's spiritual quest that provokes the book's most unusual and involving drama. Lucy's devout Catholic faith, like her prodigious talent for language (she can speak 14, but give her five days in a foreign country and that'll be 15, thank you), is a mystery to Butch, a lapsed Jew, and Marlene, who has trouble squaring her own faith with the violence that attends her job. When a Jesuit priest tries to explain it in the following passage, Butch is nonplused:

"Lucy takes her spiritual responsibilities very seriously. And of course, in the current age, when people think there's no such thing as spiritual responsibility, she has nothing to compare herself to, and so she may get herself painted into a corner."

"I'm not sure I follow," said Karp.

"Oh, I mean, two or three hundred years ago, a girl with her talents and predilections would have been in an order, with hourly guidance and a rule to follow. Think of Mickey Mantle being born in, say, Romania in 1830. The talent's there, but there's no cultural space for it."

This is a keenly intelligent book, many cuts above the usual courtroom procedural. The most interesting things happen outside the courtroom--the moral dilemmas, the political choices, the bonds between parents and daughter. The pacing is as swift as the dialogue, the characters are piercingly illuminated, and the philosophical jousting is worth a room full of Jesuits. This reader is heading straight for Tanenbaum's backlist and eagerly anticipating another novel with Lucy as the star. --Jane Adams


From Publishers Weekly
A rash of baby killings positions a pair of married lawyers on opposite sides of the moral and legal fence in the latest multifaceted installment of this legal-thriller series (after Act of Revenge). Tanenbaum brings back assistant district attorney Butch Karp and feisty spouse Marlene Ciampi when three infanticides involving young unwed mothers are discovered in New York City. City politics and legal circumstances force Karp to prosecute a young Hispanic girl who appears to be the most culpable of the three. While Karp is embroiled in his case, lawyer Ciampi is busy with her own challengeAprotecting battered women from violent ex-husbands. When she is forced to shoot a man after he guns down his wife and then aims the weapon at his own daughter, Ciampi realizes she has had enough and decides to retire. Shortly afterward, however, a lawyer friend convinces her to represent a young woman in Delaware who is accused of killing her newborn baby. Contrived though the plot may be, it provides an apt vehicle for Tanenbaum to dissect the legal and moral mechanisms of the two cases, while exploring their effects on his protagonists' professional and personal lives. An intriguing subplot involves the couple's deeply religious daughter, Lucy, a linguistic prodigy. When the parents of her wealthy friend Caitlin are killed in cold blood, Lucy's instincts help identify the murderer. The resolution of Ciampi's case seems a bit na?ve and optimistic, but Tanenbaum rises above the inherent manipulation in the story lines with his usual combination of intelligent, wry dialogue, a well-designed maze of political and moral traps, and the charming and incendiary chemistry between Karp and Ciampi. For those who prefer their legal thrillers with plenty of spice and a high IQ, Tanenbaum remains an essential addiction. (Aug.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-New York chief assistant district attorney Butch Karp finds that an epidemic of infanticide seems to be erupting in his city. Three cases of the seemingly callous casting off of newborns send the press and public into an uproar. Karp is forced to proceed with the prosecution of one 15-year-old Hispanic teen who disposed of her baby, the child of rape, out the window of a "salsa joint," minutes after its birth. Meanwhile, his wife, Marlene Ciampi, a protector and bodyguard for abused women and children, has decided to go back to her previous career as an attorney. Her first case lands her in Delaware, defending a teen accused of murdering her baby shortly after its birth in a motel room. Lucy, Butch and Marlene's teenage daughter, is present when her friend Caitlin finds her parents brutally murdered. Now her life appears to be at risk as well. Teens will find the actions, worries, and mistakes of the many young adults in this mystery/thriller easy to relate to or at least attention grabbing. The machinations of justice are illuminating and educational as well.-Carol DeAngelo, Kings Park Library, Burke, VACopyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Calling the latest work from Tanenbaum (Act of Revenge) a "legal thriller" would be misleading; it is better described as a well-written novel that happens to center on the law. Early on, the novel's protagonists, New York County's assistant district attorney, Butch Karp, and his wife, defense lawyer Marlene Ciampi, become involved in separate cases involving the prosecution of women who may have murdered their newborn children. While Butch feels that the defendant's lawyer is less interested in representing her client than using the trial as a political forum, Marlene, whose case is easily the more intriguing of the two, confronts a young woman who must deal not only with what she has done but the impact it has had on those around her. Butch, Marlene, and their daughter, Lucy, are well-developed characters, although Marlene's exploits occasionally seem unrealistic. As usual, Tanenbaum's writing style is intelligent and engaging, and it's a credit to his ability that, despite the sensitive topic, the novel never devolves into a sermon. This should be a popular addition to public library collections.-DCraig L. Shufelt, Gladwin Cty. Lib., MI Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
In JUSTICE, husband and wife team Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi are back in court. While D.A. Karp prosecutes a fifteen-year-old murder, Ciampi defends a mother accused of killing her newborn and disposing the infant's body in a dumpster. Nick Sullivan gives a solid, no-frills performance. He portrays the pair in a down-to-earth manner, making them and their repartee fully believable. And when Marlene unloads on an unprincipled adversary, the listener wants to cheer her--and Sullivan for his characterization of her. A.L.H. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
"Write what you know," creative-writing workshop instructors preach; prolific attorney-author Tanenbaum always obeys. News junkies who spotted him a few years back as defense attorney for a Mid-Atlantic college coed charged with infanticide will not be surprised to find a similar case in this latest Marlene Ciampi^-Butch Karp tale. Burned out by the tension and bloodshed of her security work protecting women, Marlene returns to the courtroom here, defending a middle-class Delaware teen on a highly politicized infanticide charge. Back in New York City, Karp (now second in command in the DA's office) copes with the Big Apple's own infanticide mess and prosecution of other mayhem and murder, plus his career-shifting wife, maturing teenage daughter, rambunctious seven-year-old twin sons, and missing nanny. This is vintage Tanenbaum: each of the deftly drawn characters wrestles with the moral dilemmas raised by the intertwined plots in a believable way, and readers will close True Justice's final page satisfied they've wrestled with those dilemmas a bit themselves. Mary Carroll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
Los Angeles Times Book Review Karp and Ciampi are smart, honest, and aggressive.


Book Description
For Butch Karp, chief assistant district attorney for New York County, the nightmare begins when a shocking act of negligence results in the death of a newborn. Goaded by the media and the public's scream for blood, Karp's boss, D.A. Jack Keegan, orders the prosecution of the baby's fifteen-year-old Hispanic mother. Butch's wife, Marlene Ciampi, is taking on an equally unspeakable tragedy following her recent return to law. With Butch and Marlene squaring off on opposite sides of an incendiary national debate, things couldn't get more tense...until an astonishing turn of events puts their daughter, Lucy, at the center of a horrifying crime. Drawn into a maelstrom of big-city politics and small-town values, Karp must struggle to salvage his self-respect, his career...even his life.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

For Butch Karp, chief assistant district attorney for New York County, the nightmare begins with the discovery of a newborn baby, apparently murdered, then casually discarded with the city's refuse. Goaded by the media's sensational publicity, the public is screaming for blood, and Karp's boss, D.A. Jack Keegan, is listening. He has ordered the prosecution of the baby's fifteen-year-old mother for murder, intent on making a very public example of the girl. A Hispanic from a poor neighborhood, she's an easy mark for big-city bureaucracy and bigotry. It is Butch Karp's unpleasant job to see that the prosecution gives the public what it wants: a quick and thorough administration of hard-line justice.

Complicating matters further is Butch's wife, Marlene Ciampi, a private investigator who has decided to return to practicing law. Her first case takes her a few hundred miles south to a small Delaware town, where another baby has been found, its lifeless body placed in a motel dumpster by two scared kids. Marlene is representing the mother, a doe-eyed middle-class suburban teen who claims the baby was stillborn.

Under pressure from the D.A.—a politically ambitious local prosecutor who is pressing to make it a case of capital murder—the infant's father is singing a different song, placing all the blame on the girl.

With Butch and Marlene squaring off on opposite sides of an increasingly incendiary national debate, things couldn't get any more tense￯﾿ﾽuntil a shocking turn of events puts their teenage daughter Lucy at the center of a horrifying crime. Suddenly, everything they believe in is challenged, and they are drawn into a maelstrom of big-city politics and small-town values, where justice is sacrificed to the twin gods of public perception and expediency—and Karp must struggle to salvage his self-respect, his career, and his life.

SYNOPSIS

Bestselling author Robert Tanenbaum has another hit on his hands with True Justice a morally complex and suspenseful thriller featuring his popular character, prosecutor, Butch Karp.

FROM THE CRITICS

People

[A] richly plotted, tough and funny crime series.

Publishers Weekly

A rash of baby killings positions a pair of married lawyers on opposite sides of the moral and legal fence in the latest multi-faceted installment of this legal-thriller series (after Act of Revenge)~ ~Tanenbaurn brings back assistant district attorney Butch Karp and feisty spouse Marlene Ciampi when three infanticides involving young unwed mothers arc dis￯﾿ﾽcovered in New York City. City politics and legal circumstances force Karp to prosecute a young Hispanic girl who ap￯﾿ﾽpears to he the most culpable of the three While Karp is embroiled in his case, lawyer Ciampi is busy with her own chaIlenge - protecting battered women from violent ex-husbands. When she is forced to shoot a man after he guns down his wife and then aims the weapon at his own daughter, Ciampi realizes she has had enough and decides to retire. Shortly afterward, however, a lawyer friend convinces her to represent a young wornan in Delaware who is accused of killing her newborn baby. Contrived thought the plot may be it provides an apt vehicle for Tanenbaum to dissect the le￯﾿ﾽgal and moral mechanisms of the two cases, while exploring their effects on his protagonists' professional and personal lives. An intriguing subplot involves the couple's deeply religious daughter, Lucy, a linguistic prodigv. When the parents of her wealthy ~ friend Caitlin are killed in cold blood Lucy's instincts help identify the murderer. The resolution Ciampi's case seems a bit naive and optimistic, . but Tanenbaum rises above the inherent ma￯﾿ﾽnipulation in the storv lines with his usu￯﾿ﾽal combination of intelligent dialogue, a well-designed maze of political and moral traps, and the charming and incendiary chemistry between Karp and Ciampi. For those who prefer their legal thrillers with plenty of spice and a high IQ, Tanenbaum remains an essential addiction.

Chicago Tribune

Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi are the most interesting pair of characters in the suspense genre today.

Washington Times

Mr. Tanenbaum's plots are never low on suspense or interest.

New York Post

One hell of a writer. Read all 12 "From The Critics" >

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Tanenbaum knows how to plot and pace, he writes dialogue that snaps, creates stories that need to be told. What more can you ask from a thriller?  — Jonathan Kellerman