Malice

Butch Karp/Marlene Ciampi, Book 19

By: Robert K. Tanenbaum

Narrated by: Mel Foster

Length: 16 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's Summary

New York District Attorney Butch Karp, recovering from an assassination attempt that came within a few millimeters of killing him, takes on a shadowy cartel that uses terrorists to further its criminal empire while sliding the United States toward a fascist state that the cartel controls. As Karp struggles to uncover those responsible for planning the terrorist murders of six schoolchildren, he goes to the aid of the younger brother of his college roommate, who has been unfairly suspended from his position as baseball coach at a university in Idaho.

Meanwhile, Marlene Ciampi is in Idaho to help her husband with the investigation, and she befriends a Basque sheepherder who is demanding answers to the disappearance of his daughter - a pretty college coed he suspects is having an affair with the school's president - which may be related to Karp's case. And if that wasn't enough, the couple's daughter, Lucy, and her eclectic group of accomplices must uncover a traitor's plot and stop an assassination attempt surreptitiously planned to occur in the heart of Manhattan.

©2007 Robert K. Tanenbaum (P)2007 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Getting stale

I’ve ready all the butch karp books up to this point and am a fan. The courtroom stuff here is still interesting, but the many near death episodes and numerous conspiracies get tiresome after a while, not to mention all the backstory infill. Still, this audio book would have been entertaining but for the narration. New narrator doesn’t capture the wit and heart of the characters (that I’ve grown to love) nor the quick banter that is such a part of the series.

Not my favorite, in this series had to listen to

Had to listen to this book twice taking notes of the MANY plots and sub plots and sub plots to the sub plots. narrator did not get favorite characters voices right. KARP'S VOICE sounded less than what you would think with Marlene sounding like a New York bouncer. Way to many plots.

Malice

White Supremacists, dirty officials, corrupt ACAA. What more could you want? Fast paced and hard to put down.

Excellent with caveats

Sadly I see a one star review… please ignore that … in my experience it is a breathtaking look at the types of the present day world situation written in 2008 …. 14 years ago it forecasted much of what you see in the global public square today..I am rereading it in 2022… amazing how clearly we can see a similar world today .. I don’t believe you have to be an ardent Tanenbaum fan ( as I am ) to enjoy this read… what you will find is an excellent narration by a skilled reader, (Mel Foster) Mr. Tanenbaum at the top of his game blending and updating the lives of all the characters he has meticulously created through the course of this series… (Ciampi/Karp) for those of us who has followed this story from the beginning when these two have just met and see them at this stage with grown children, and still dealing with truth, honesty ( and yes, the American way) law, politics, freedom and the love of the values still struggling to be as the constitution meant for America..
along with the full development of the some of the best characters you’ll ever meet… and story lines that grab you and hold you to the last page… you know it’s worth it, if a poor person ( me) saves up to purchase the joy of getting the audio books when I already have the entire series in hard copy… you know this is a series to indulge in.. their minds and ideas pare brilliant … treat yourself

Tedious

I'm seldom disappointed in my Audible selections so this is an exception. The book is very difficult to follow due to the many characters-many of whom are irrelavant to the story. Perhaps it would be easire to follow in hard copy.The author also insertedseveral transition blunders that caused me to lose context for a short time until I figured it out. The theme could be interesting without all the unnecessary chatter.