HOAX by Robert K Tanenbaum
Robert K. Tanenbaum continues the saga of New York District Attorney Butch Karp in his new novel HOAX. Once again Butch, his wife Marlene, and their children - Lucy, Zak and Giancarlo - are caught up in a maelstrom of mayhem as Butch goes about fighting corruption in New York City. The fascination with these characters, that captured readers' imaginations several books ago, continues unabated.
When this book opens Butch has been temporarily placed in the position of District Attorney and is contemplating making a run for the office. His wife Marlene and daughter Lucy are in New Mexico seeking rejuvenation both physically and mentally, not to mention spiritually. Butch is taking care of the twin boys, one of whom was rendered blind in an incident in a past novel.
While in New Mexico Marlene and Lucy stumble upon a serial killer and this knowledge places their lives in danger. Luckily they also befriend the local sheriff, a man named John Jojala, who gives them some semblance of protection. Eventually the crimes in New Mexico are connected to some evil doings in New York.
In New York Butch has his hands full with a gang motivated shooting of a rap star. It looks like an open and shut case as the limousine driver has fingered the killer, but Butch has some doubts about it all. As he investigates, the web of evil and deceit gets wider and wider. Eventually it reaches into the New York Police Department and the Catholic Church hierarchy in New York.
Tanenbaum is a master at juggling several plots at one time and then tying them all together by the finale. The reader is led thorough one exciting ride after another and then each element is securely tied up with all "i's" dotted and all "t's" crossed.
The one negative about Tanenbaum's writing style is his over-description of plot background. He gives details about Karp's job, the city, the Church, etc. that go on for pages and pages. This wouldn't be such a negative except the plot is so intense that the reader tends to want to just skip this stuff and get back to the basics of the story.
Still that is a small quibble when the story is as good as it is in HOAX. Tanenbaum is at the top of his form and delivers a sure fire enjoyable story to his readers. I may not understand why he chose his title but I do appreciate his talent. I am already anticipating the next installment of the Karp saga. Bring it on!
HOAX is published by Simon and Schuster. It contains 490 pages and sells for $25.95.