Fatal Conceit

A Novel

De: Robert K. Tanenbaum

Narrado por: Bob Walter

A CIA chief dies under suspicious circumstances before he can testify about a controversial government cover-up involving a terrorist attack on the US mission in Chechnya. Butch Karp is on the case in this exciting installment to Robert K. Tanenbaum’s bestselling series.

When the CIA director is murdered, Butch Karp finds himself battling a heavyweight opponent: the US government. The national presidential election campaign’s foreign policy mantra has been that the terrorists are on the run and Bin Laden is dead. There are rumors that the CIA chief was going to deviate from the administration version of events, and that the government may have had something to do with his death. Can Karp expose the cover-up and find the Chechnyan separatists who aided the Americans at the mission and who have firsthand knowledge of the terrorist attack? Karp must also find his missing daughter, who has been taken hostage by the terrorists.

After the New York grand jury indicts the national presidential campaign chairman and the NSA spymaster for the murder of the CIA chief, Karp engages in an unforgettable courtroom confrontation with the defendants who have the full weight of the US administration, a hostile judge, and a compliant media supporting them. These sinister forces will stop at nothing to prevent Karp from bringing out the truth, even if they have to resort to murder.

ANOTHER TREMENDOUS ADVENTURE FOR THE CARP FAMILY

What did you love best about Fatal Conceit?

the non-stop action all over the globe with national and international intrigue.

What other book might you compare Fatal Conceit to and why?

I've read other books by Robert Tanenbaum with the Carps involved in politics through the DA and private investigation through his wife. But now daughter Lucy has brought the family to the international scene with terror.

Have you listened to any of Bob Walter’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I don't believe I've heard Bob Walter before. He's quite good.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

An explosive story that involved national and international deceit and threats.

Another good tale of Buch Karp and company

What did you like best about Fatal Conceit? What did you like least?

What I liked best was Tannenbaum continuing his use of the same characters present since the beginning of the series and his use of real current events to enliven the story. What I like least is his consistent error in his references to St. Teresa of Avila. I find her apparitions to Lucy clever and amusing, but the credibility would be enhanced if he discontinued referring to St. Teresa as a martyr. She was a virgin (V); not a virgin/martyr (VM). I also think he could have shaved off a couple of hours by cutting back on a lot of unnecessary and frankly uninteresting details on some of his sub-plots involving secondary and tertiary characters.

What other book might you compare Fatal Conceit to and why?

I would compare it with all the books in the Butch Karp/Marlene Campi series. All of the great characters are present in their typical form.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Bob Walter?

Yes, I would. He did an adequate job and also got an extra star from me for not making any blatant mispronunciations which are (regrettably) typical of so many readers---even some of the better ones. Nothing against Mr. Walter, but authors should stick with the same readers when they are writing books that are part of a series. People get used to particular voices and associate them with the respective characters.

Do you think Fatal Conceit needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

It doesn't "need" one but I'm sure it will get one.

Any additional comments?

Nope.

Far Fetched semi Thriller

If you like legal mysteries/thrillers that border on dystopian fantasy, you might like this one more than I did. All was generally okay with numerous back stories going on at the same time (extra marital affairs, malfeasance by high ups in gov) until the always-guarded-by police DA goes alone (wading through muck in the dark) into the NY sewer system to gain custody of an international terrorist who is being held by a lunatic serial killer whom the DA had prosecuted years earlier. Add to that the idea that this same DA's wife is a private detective who has no fear and takes it upon herself to solve the case of the murdered CIA chief, a daughter and son in law who are CIA operatives in peril in the Middle East, and his "best Friends" include a NY street kiosk vendor with Tourette's and a hulking homeless man. It was a plot with no boundaries and got more and more boundless as the hours rolled by. I don't exactly know why I kept listening, but there was something engaging about the tangled webs of intrigue. Some will love it, some not so much. I'm in the latter camp.

Simplicity plot, predictable.

Disappointed, though fairly well character development, following the career of Karp, and family.

It would be interesting to read more how the collaboration between
the whole family would grow, especially the two sons.

Superb legal and political thriller!

Fatal Conceit is about the use and abuse of raw political power by the president's campaign manager and chief of staff and how it affects the lives (and deaths) of those driven by personal honor and love of country rather that national political election outcomes. Committed leftists will not like this novel because of the realism of the portrayal. For those who like action and suspense there is lots of both inside and outside the courtroom. The major protagonists are prosecutor Butch Karp and his investigator and wife Marlene Ciampi.

Fatal Conceit has been in my Audible library for several months but I delayed listening to it because I doubted I would like it. Author Robert K Tanenbaum has been releasing novels for 30 years, but this is the first one I have listened to or read. It will not be the last! Bob Walter's narration is stellar.