Review by Booklist Review
In New York City, someone has been setting off explosives at public venues. Following the trail of evidence, district attorney Butch Karp (star of a string of novels that range in quality from excellent to mediocre) zeroes in on Thomas Munroe, president of the teachers' union whose vocal dislike of the charter-school system seems to have turned to violence and murder. But is Munroe the villain of the piece, or another victim? Is he, in fact, a target in someone else's grand scheme? This is one of the better recent Karp thrillers; it's tightly written and plotted, and the author seems to have rediscovered his passion for his characters (especially Butch and his wife, fellow attorney Marlene Ciampi) after a handful of books in which he seemed bored with his own creations. Like his previous Fatal Conceit (2014), this one signals a definite return to form and possibly an eventual return to the quality of early Karp novels published in the late 1980s and early 1990s.--Pitt, David Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A courtroom thriller that's a cut above the author's previous effort (Fatal Conceit, 2014, etc.). Teenage twins Zak and Giancarlo Karp are held captive along with an old woman, Goldie Sobelman, by Lars Forsling, a rabid seig heiler who blames all his misfortunes on the Jews. He threatens to kill the boys in a Manhattan building because their father is prosecutor Butch Karp, who is somehow at fault for Forsling's mom smoking in bed and burning herself to death. Then a variety of characters get into some nastiness regarding charter schoolsare they "precious little elitist schools" or a true opportunity for disadvantaged children? Three people die in a bomb blast, including Rose Dubitsky, who had championed a charter school bill in the New York legislature. The motive for murder emerges as Karp prosecutes a suspect for the crime. This story has a lot to like, balanced against a few weaknesses. Karp is rock-solid as both prosecutor and as person, though a flaw or two might have made him more interesting. The pace is fast, the courtroom scenes make you feel like you're there, and the ending satisfies. There are touching passages about the boys' upcoming bar mitzvahs and what it means to be Jewish. But Forsling strains credulity in his blind virulence and pure evil, as he tells himself "they made me do it...the Jew Karp and the nigger cop." The biggest issue, though, is the story's lack of surprises. Nothing rattles Karp, the courtroom juggernaut who makes fellow attorney Irving Mendelbaum want to "take the shingle down." Unless they keep expecting twists, readers will see the outcome from far over the horizon. But no matter. This is still an enjoyable tale of good vs. evil and the importance of knowing who you are. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
