Infamy by Robert K. Tanenbaum

The legal thriller continues to be a favorite among readers and Grisham and Turow are two of our favorites on Mystery Playground. Kerry Hammond is here today to tell us about a new legal thriller by author Robert K.Tanenbaum.

Infamy by Robert K. Tanenbaum is the 28^th book in the Butch Karp-Marlene Ciampi Thriller series. It releases in Hardcover on September 20^th by Gallery Books, Simon & Schuster. I have to admit that this was my first book by Tanenbaum and it was a little intimidating to jump into a series at book 28. Since I love a good courtroom battle—and I’m always up for a challenge—I decided to jump right in. I have to say, I’m really glad I did.

Roger “Butch” Karp is the New York District Attorney. He’s used to trying difficult and highly sensitive cases and the latest is no different. He has to prosecute an army veteran who shot a Colonel in cold blood in front of several witnesses. The shooter is claiming temporary insanity, but Karp knows there is more to the story than meets the eye. It involves a top-secret government operation, a rich businessman, and corruption on every level up the chain. With the help of his highly trained and competent legal team, his investigators, and investigative reporter Ariadne Stupennagel, Karp needs to break down the defense in order to expose the truth. When more bodies turn up and his own family is threatened, he realizes just how high the stakes are and how important it is that he win the case.

I really enjoyed not only the characters and the storyline but Tanenbaum’s writing. It’s fast-paced and hard to put down. The action moves along at just the right speed to keep the reader following along, but not so fast that it loses you in the details. Karp and his team are great characters. I could tell that they had quite a history together, but at no time did I feel left out or confused. The author is able to tell this story as an individual installment without too many spoilers from previous books or vague references that leave the reader realizing that “you had to be there.’”

There was a bit of political intrigue and references to the issues in the Middle East, but they were included in such a way that it didn’t turn into a tedious political novel where knowledge of current events is mandatory. Rather, the author used actual events to craft a fictional side story that could have happened in the current political climate.

Since each book takes on a different plot, it tends to be the characters that keep readers coming back to such a long running series. I can see why these characters would have readers returning for more. Karp has a strong sense of justice and a burning need to put the bad guys away. Marlene has a small part in this story, but you could tell what a strong character she is and how her fearlessness would complement Karp. I plan to search out earlier books in the series and start from the beginning.

This book was provided to Mystery Playground by the publisher. The review was fair and completely independent.