Counterplay

by Robert K. Tanenbaum

Book Overview

He's a political time bomb whose bid to become New York City's mayor was foiled by Butch Karp. Now Andrew Kane, awaiting trial for murder, escapes custody and stages a shocking and violent standoff in upstate New York. The manhunt is on for Kane before his plan for wide-scale destruction, targeting Karp and thousands of innocent lives, comes to pass. Karp's wife, Marlene Ciampi, is lured into an underworld of Russian gangsters whose ties to global...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416505393
• ISBN13: 9781416505396
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Pocket Star
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.5" x 7.6"

Customer Reviews

Tannenbaum

Tannenbaum is very good. I like the fact that the entire series has the same characters throughout, and he can continue to develop them as well as add new ones as the stories continue. It makes one feel as though they really know the characters, and that the reader has shared many years with them, not just through one story. I have been reading "Butch" and his crazy family for years, and I hope the stories continue for years to come!

The Karp Saga Continues

I'm a long time fan to Mr. Tannenbaum's work, and the Karp extended family is one of my favorites. I postponed reading the last 2 installments of the Karp family adventures, because I was put off by the less than stellar reviews. I'm sorry I waited. I enjoy Mr. Tannenbaum's writing style, his characters are flawed, heroic, and colorful. As long as their is a Karp family to read about, I will remain a loyal reader.

"A brilliant and intricate story..." - Cyril Wecht, MD, JD

Tanenbaum's last novel, Fury, ended with a breathtaking cliff-hanger. Now readers can enjoy the exciting conclusion -- bursting with more suspenseful twists -- in his latest, Counterplay. When betrayal results in the cold-blooded murder of a busload of schoolchildren to accomplish the escape from custody of vicious sociopath Andrew Kane, New York District Attorney Butch Karp finds himself embroiled in a raging quest for vengeance that could cost him, his family, and thousands of others their lives. With an intensive manhunt ongoing for the fugitive Kane, Karp and long-time colleague Ray Guma open a cold case and pursue murder charges against wealthy Manhattan power broker/banker Emil Stavros, whose socialite wife disappeared nearly fifteen years earlier. Meanwhile, Karp's wife, Marlene Ciampi, has let her fascination with her husband's lesser-known family comprised of Russian gangsters pull her into a dangerous world of Islamic terrorists, Chechen rebels, and Russian agents engaged in nefarious events straight out of today's real-world headlines. Yet again, Robert K. Tanenbaum writes a masterful thriller involving the most memorable -- and "un-put-downable" -- stories of corruption and courtroom confrontations. Counterplay, the latest book in the bestselling Butch Karp/Marlene Ciampi series, proves to be another full-bodied, riveting page-turner with yet another cliff-hanger not soon to be forgotten. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "A brilliant and intricate story involving international terrorism and incomprehensible personal evil. Robert K. Tanenbaum once again demonstrates his masterful ability to weave his cast of fantastic and formidable relatives and extended 'family' into an intriguing plot. You will never encounter a more motley and utterly charming group of heroes." -- Cyril H. Wecht , M.D., J.D.

Butch Karp for DA

I find this series absolutely brilliant. Mad characters and legal intricacies populate the well-planned tales. All the favorite characters are back -- more "good vs. evil" than side plots, and light on Lucy's language/saint phenomena.

exciting police procedural

Andrew Kane was a shoe-in to become the next mayor of New York City but New York District Attorney Roger "Butch" Karp exposed him for the master criminal he is. He has minions working for him within the police department, the Catholic Church, and the city government. Now he is on his way to be tested at a private psychiatric facility to see if he can get off on an insanity plea. The car stops by an overturned a school bus but it is a trap set by his allies to free Kane. Kane is working with al Qaeda agents to hit a target that will cause the world as much pain as 9/11 did. He is needed for his connections to make the incident happen and in return he has been promised a fortune and a place to live. Kane also has another goal: to kill the people Karp loves, including his wife, children, and friends before killing the district attorney. Many people die including young children making Butch determined to figure out what Kane is planning and stop it before more innocents are killed; an unusual band are working to help him including a homeless man who lives in the subway tunnels. Though a bit over the top, there is plenty of action in this exciting police procedural. The characters in COUNTER PLAY are well developed and readers will find it hard to figure out who are the villains masquerading as priests and law enforcement and who are the truly good men and women who will lay down their lives if necessary to stop Kane and the terrorists. Robert K. Tanenbaum keeps writing enthralling tales that are full of red herrings and unexpected curves. Harriet Klausner